Hobbs' Notes

My one-person media company procedure

November 6, 2018 By Jason Hobbs Leave a Comment

I begin with a slide deck in Google Slides. I build the slide deck as I walk through each unresearched example strategic plan for digital marketing.

I write to a single person. I’m increasingly finding that other people are able to relate deeply to and learn from the vastly different point-of-view.

I use the slide deck coupled with Soapbox by Wistia to record my video.

Video Version

I have Soapbox Pro, so I can download the video file to my computer, which I then edit using iMovie.

From iMovie, I export the video for upload to my Wistia account, which I embed on jasonhobbsllc.com in the example’s blog post. URL naming convention is jasonhobbsllc.com/example-3/ etc.

From iMovie, I export the audio only version for upload to Anchor.fm, which I turn into an episode of my podcast, Non-Digital Native.

I release the blog post on my website first. Followed by publishing the video file (edited to under ten total minutes) to LinkedIn, where I also add as much of my blog post with the video as possible.

I natively upload the video file to my Facebook Brand page and post it with as much of my blog post for context as possible.

I publish the podcast episode using Anchor.FM and I also embed the podcast episode and the Wistia video within the blog post on my website.

The blog post on my website also includes my explanation for choosing this particular brand perspective as my latest unresearched example.

Examples of this media process:

Slide Deck

My Notes From: 7 New Bots That Created 700 Net New Meetings

June 21, 2018 By Jason Hobbs Leave a Comment

Why did I sign up for the AI Growth summit?

I signed up because two of the main characters from the best Webinar I ever attended were giving the talk together titled, “7 New Bots That Created 700 Meetings.”

The headline meant I had to at least sign up to get access to the recording.

I watched the recording today and it was glorious.

The aforementioned characters:

Alexandra Orfao – Conversational Marketing Manager
Sara Pion – Conversational Marketing Specialist

The webinar a few weeks back along with this talk have been instrumental in helping me wrap my head around how to start using successful bots for non-digital natives running 1-10 person organizations.

Here are my conversational marketing notes from their 20min talk

The current best practice marketing funnel is old news

Screenshot of the slide laying out the old default funnel for sales calls.

We buy on our time and our terms thanks to the internet

The problem with the old way is that it hasn't matched the way people want to buy. — The problem with the old way is that it hasn’t matched the way people want to buy.

People are paying attention to you, when they are on your website, benefit from that understanding

Working hard to get people to your website only to put a barrier to immediate help is not logical.

In my humble opinion, this makes your website the equivalent to a hospital. And that is not an experience I ever want to be associated with my business. And my mom is an RN at the hospital located less than a mile from where I sit and type this.

The bot operates as your connector between visitors and their solution

Treat the bot as part of your team. Allow the bot to greet, qualify, and help with the intent of connecting visitors with the right human on your team for the visitor's needs. — Treat the bot as part of your team. Allow the bot to greet, qualify, and help with the intent of connecting visitors with the right human on your team for the visitor’s needs.

In marketing terms of a local pizza establishment, your bot waves down cars from the street and learns about them along the way inside to hand off to you.

To put as much human focus on the customer and the service they’re provided as possible.

Talk to your customers where they are and make it contextual

The L side of the screenshot shows that the pages to put bots are your pages with the most traffic. The free drift account includes the conversation stats (R side of screenshot) by page, which shows the number of chats initiated on each page.

So you want to focus bot playbooks on your highest traffic pages.

Hook em with the first 100 characters (or lose em forever)

My takeaway from this slide is to treat the first 100 characters like a headline. Speak to your people in language they'll relate to and reply to. — My takeaway from this slide is to treat the first 100 characters like a headline. Speak to your people in language they’ll relate to and reply to.

Clearbit ain’t cheap but boy is it powerful for Drift bots

Not possible currently. Because these parameters rely on Clearbit.com. I checked, for the Clearbit product being used here, it's $12K/yr, which is due up front. — Not possible currently. Because these parameters rely on Clearbit.com. I checked, for the Clearbit product being used here, it’s $12K/yr, which is due up front.

To be clear, and I believe my math is correct, an upfront payment of $15,900 gets you a year of Drift’s $500/mo plan AND a year of the Clearbit.com product used by Sara’s content in this screenshot.

Retargeting bots, welcome folks back to your website

Retargeting Bot, notice the settings begin with a simple parameter of having visited the site once. It then weeds out all the host domains that can't customers. And lastly defines the two specific URLs upon which this retargeting bot is focused. — Retargeting Bot, notice the settings begin with a simple parameter of having visited the site once. It then weeds out all the host domains that can’t customers. And lastly defines the two specific URLs upon which this retargeting bot is focused.

I’m specifically using this in my second conversational marketing recipe. (My first recipe was for my longtime local bank) Adding the personable greeting for a return visitor mirrors the interaction each time I carry my 95lb boxer, Max, into the Irwin Animal Clinic lobby.

Follow up a just browsing response to learn more/better help

Just browsing net. Important to not only offer the just browsing option, but to also have a followup question when visitors choose the just browsing response.

(1) Helpfulness of your bot (1a) Your bot needs a distinct voice/personality

My takeaway from this slide is that bot helpfulness just barely beat out bot personality in a photo finish for the key to bot success.

Conclusion

The bots can come second and Clearbit can be an investment in the future, but fulfilling two Drift live chat seats to add live chat to your website is just smart business in 2018 in my humble opinion.

My notes from Alex and Sara of Drift

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Life is an inside game by GaryVee

June 21, 2018 By Jason Hobbs Leave a Comment

Five minutes-six second video vs 481 DailyVee Episodes

I watched this video today and instantly realized that it boiled down the primary lesson I’ve taken away from watching every DailyVee at least once so far. Yep, all 481.

The lesson is to listen to yourself. Surround yourself with positive influences because every person in your circle is an influence on your attitude each day. And in your head is the most important place you need positive influence.

I believe positive thoughts beget positive actions.

Most of the time my biggest problem is that my internal dialogue resembles a beat down. Just pummeling me verbally as I go through my day.

However, I’m working on it diligently and I’ve gotten progressively better at it, so far in 2018.

So I Moved This Website To Managed WordPress Hosting By Liquid Web, Here's How It Made Me Feel

April 14, 2018 By Jason Hobbs 2 Comments

And let me start by telling you that with Liquid Web’s managed WordPress hosting, my site is a whole lot faster.(NOT an affiliate link.)

But that’s not even the best part. The best part is how this move made me feel.

I felt relief. Excitement. Hope.

All that just from moving my website again? Those are the actual emotions I felt while relocating my business website for the second time in five months?

You betcha.

Let me start with how easy it was this time in order for me to move my WordPress website. My website had been on Rainmaker Platform for years and years, at least that is, until I moved my site to Siteground shared hosting around five months ago.

It could NOT have taken me less time to complete this migration from my old WordPress installation on Siteground’s Shared Hosting over to my new WordPress installation on Liquid Web’s Managed WordPress hosting.

Exact replica of my website was moved from my WordPress installation on Siteground over to my WordPress installation with Liquid Web’s managed WordPress hosting.

That’s because Liquid Web has a free WordPress plugin that, using BlogVault, makes a copy of your WordPress website on their servers.

This is accomplished by my clicking a button, followed by spending a few minutes watching a screen walk me through each step of the process. As it completed the process for me.

No duplicate entries to delete.

No images or files were left out of the transfer.

Both of which happened to me when moving my site from Rainmaker Platform over to Siteground’s shared hosting product.

This time, it was just done.

In a matter of moments, a HUGE item, was checked off of my to-do list.

Amazing!

To spread my excitement, I’m going to make your transition even a little bit easier for you.

My process for getting new sites setup in Liquid Web’s managed WordPress hosting

Let’s configure a new website in MWH’s dashboard (screenshot below)

Add Liquid Web migration plugin to the WordPress website you’re moving from.
Migrate the WordPress website from your domain name on your current hosting over to the temporary url for your WordPress website with Liquid Web. Example in the image below.

Go to DNS, I use I Want My Name, to point the domain to your new WordPress site on Liquid Web’s MWH, you need to add an “A” record.This means your nameservers for your domain will need to be hosted by whomever you use to manage your domain. And then you will want to add the “A” record using the IP address found on your MWH dashboard (the picture at the top of this page).
For me, it’s IWantMyName.com, for some clients it’s GoDaddy. There are many other options, wherever you bought your domain from is typically where you manage it.
Activate the plugins added to your website to optimize your site performance (speed). If I counted correctly, there are eight plugins.
Activate iThemes Sync for your website, yes it’s included for each site you have on your account for managed WordPress hosting by Liquid Web.

Have questions? Something I left out? LMK in the comments and I’ll reply asap

Notes To 76 Minutes on How to Get Your End Consumer to Pay Attention | DailyVee 373

January 15, 2018 By Jason Hobbs Leave a Comment

From the DailyVEE Episode #373

It’s a 76 minute video, my goal is to take notes as I watch it in order to share the key message and takeaway(s) without your need to invest an hour and seventeen minutes of your time to glean the knowledge.

Day trade attention

Produce videos on Facebook that your viewers want to watch.
Retargeting those that watch the video with the CTA to join a sales funnel
Work them through a sales funnel educating their buying decision for your offer.
Then onboard those that said yes, while continuing the conversation with the other 90%.

The Creative is the variable of success

The message makes the connection. The video, images, and words will determine if your Facebook ad sells zero or thousands.

Reverse engineer the audience. Don’t use the same content and treat social channels as distribution.

Getting Started With Facebook Audiences

October 4, 2017 By Jason Hobbs Leave a Comment

I’m still very early in teaching myself FB ads but the first step is to get the FB pixel installed on your website.

The pixel works together with your Facebook page to make your Facebook Ads warmer, because these audiences are comprised of people that know you.

How do we know that they know you?

Because they visited your website. (The Facebook Pixel is quite the tattle-tale imo)

The working Facebook pixel allows the building of Facebook audiences based on the people interactions with your website.

When did they visit your website? Was it within the last 30 days? 180 days?

What page(s) did they view on your website?

Were they in the top 25% in time spent?

Top 10%?

Top 5%? AKA, the cat’s meow of your business audience.

Combining the Facebook pixel with standard events creates a load of additional warm audiences for your business or organization.

Adding custom events to the mix delivers even more possible audience permutations to discover and use.

A few Facebook audiences I setup to begin with lower traffic clients (I define “lower traffic” as less than a thousand visitors a day) are:

All website visitors over the past 180 days
Visitors to a specific blog post over the past 180 days (I start with the best performing)
Visitors to a landing page within the past 30 days
Visitors to a confirmation/thank you page over the past 180 days
Those visitors which visited 5+ times in the past 180 days
The top 5% most active visitors over the past 180 days.

I learned these Facebook audiences from Jon Loomer’s FB Pixel training course. (I Highly recommend Jon’s courses btw)

Example from Jon Loomer's pixel course showing how to use a success page audience to filter out customers from the audience with ads running to it. — Example from Jon Loomer’s pixel course showing how to use a success page audience to filter out customers from the audience with ads running to it.

One thing I like about this setup is I can use Audience #4 above to filter people who converted on Audience #3 from the ad spend.

Of course, this only works as long as the success page is specific to the offer the landing page for Audience #3 makes.