This month sees our Paid Traffic Guru, Jo Davies, celebrate 10 whole years working for Nige. In between the celebrations, we asked her to share with us 10 of the things she’s learned in the last decade. Happy 10 year, ECversary Jo! I was employee number 7 when I started working for N5 back in October 2005. I started doing PPC for thebestof, and by the time I arrived, they were looking for someone who could throw themselves into the job.
After lots of reading, a Christmas present from Nigel of the first edition of Perry Marshall’s Definitive Guide to Google AdWords, and a trip to Chicago for an AdWords event, I was able to take proper ownership of N5’s Google AdWords.
Aside from mastering AdWords (and more recently Google Analytics and Facebook Ads), I’ve learned a lot in the last 10 years. Here are some of the pearls of wisdom I’ve gained from a decade at N5, and a decade of working with Nige himself:
1. Wear a bright shirt when training.
Now you may think this is obvious – I do work for Nigel after all – but it’s a lesson I’ve learned the hard way.
The day I did my first AdWords course I wore a black shirt…and I’m not Damian Smyth, the man in black! I was promptly asked; “Where’s your bright shirt?!”
As someone who hadn’t been a trainer before, for my own confidence levels and so that everyone would know I was the one in charge because they could see me, I should be wearing something bright!
As a side note to this, cardigans are not acceptable on stage.
2. Be prepared.
This might be a lesson they teach you in the Brownies and Cub Scouts, but being prepared – for every possibility you can think of – is another key lesson I learned pretty early on in my journey.
For example, a couple of times for the annual National Conference for thebestof, when Nigel was due to be delivering the vast majority of the content, we have had to have a backup plan in place as to who could deliver what content if he couldn’t be there.
On one occasion Sue, Nigel’s wife, was due to give birth and he may have had to leave at very short notice. On another, he was trapped in Egypt because of the Icelandic Volcano ash blocking airspace and he only made it back into the country – following a lengthy cross continental drive, staying in hostels, multiple ferries and an argument with Hertz – at about 2am on the day of the event!
When I do training I always make sure I have an excess of material prepared. I want to make sure I am prepared to answer any questions that come up.
When working at one of our events, I know they are very long days, so I always have snacks and water in my handbag – they would be very long days without the snacks….
3. My job is as much about saving money as it is about spending it.
Nigel often speaks about how much of his money I have spent over the years on AdWords – the only other woman who spends much more of his money is his wife Sue! However without careful planning, I could have spent – and wasted – a lot of money.
I’ve done many 1:1s with members that have resulted in me showing them that their accounts are haemorrhaging money, and with a few nifty tricks they can be way more effective with their marketing spend, and avoid the infamous Google Stupidity Tax.
4. Email Subject lines matter. Even on internal communications.
I learned a long time ago that the subject lines of my emails matter, not just in marketing emails but also in the emails I send to my colleagues.
Nigel won’t prioritise reading an email I send to him unless the subject line in his preview pane has caught his attention!
5. Always think what the solution might be before you present a problem.
If you only bring up problems, you will be seen as negative. You will be thought of in a much better light if you have given the problem some thought, and come up with a solution when you present the problem. It may not be the right solution but at least it shows thinking and initiative.
6. Keep an eye on the little details
In 2007, we had a relaunch of thebestof at an event we called “The Power of One”. Part of what we wanted the franchisees to leave with that day were picture frames they could use to award certificates to their members in.
We wanted them to be available in boxes of 50, however this wasn’t specified in the order. On the day, a pallet of 5,000 frames – not individually boxed – turned up at the event. Queue most of our team having to unwrap, count then re-box 5,000 frames into packages of 50 – using whatever packaging we could lay our hands on.
Since then, I always check those little details!
7. You’re a performing monkey – get over yourself.
This is something I picked up from the Training Course course that the wonderful Mr Jez Rose runs for us.
When I started this job I had never spoken in public properly. Through my university degree I had successfully avoided ever having to present to a group, something which I was particularly proud of.
In my first week working for thebestof, Nigel made me get on stage and talk to franchisees. Twice. He didn’t give me any warning the first time, which was probably a good thing, he just told me to get up there and do it.
I’ve been running AdWords training for the Entrepreneurs Circle since 2011, and now do all our paid traffic Training Courses and wouldn’t consider talking to a big room my natural space. I have also been on stage at our National Events, and at the Convention last year in front of over 1,000 people (by the time my 10 minute slot was over my legs were shaking!).
Therefore, when I heard Jez say “You’re a performing monkey – get over yourself ” on his course, that really resonated with me. I’m there to deliver content to people who want to hear what I’ve got to say. Get over myself !
8. People don’t value free.
I recently upgraded my phone to an iPhone 6S. Instead of giving my Mum my old iPhone 5S (she loves the 4S I gave her a couple of years ago) I looked up how much I could sell it back to O2 for
(£165). I let her know this amount then agreed to sell it to her for £125.
“You’re charging your Mum for your old phone, why don’t you give it her for free – she’s your Mum!” I hear you cry.
Well, I’m not really fussed about the money – although it is nice – but I know if I just gave her this phone, she would put it on the shelf and never get round to setting it up. However, if she has paid money for it she will definitely want to get her money’s worth. It will definitely be used and it will free up the iPhone 4S to be passed to my Dad so he can stop using his 10 year old flip phone!
We’ve given away things as prizes over the years, from a free training course, a free 1:1 to a free Band D thebestof franchise. If it is free, we find people are less likely to use it than if they have paid for it – even if we only charge £20-£30, we find people are much more likely to come to an event.
9. Things change – get used to it.
Things that barely existed or didn’t exist at all when I started this job include:
iPhone
iPad
Podcasts
YouTube
Facebook
Instagram
Android phones
Mobile versions of website
Today, all of those and more are key to planning our marketing campaigns effectively. Keeping on top of what is new makes sure that I’m in a position to use all the media available to help craft the best campaign I can.
10. Good is Good enough – except when it’s not….
Careful planning and testing is key to getting stuff right, but at some point you have to press the ‘go’ button and launch your product/campaign. I’ve known quite a lot of business owners over the years who are ‘World Class at Getting Ready’ and never seem to actually launch.
Nigel has said before that if we carried on testing and checking and re-checking everything we would still be selling My Mags out of a bedroom in his house. You’ve got to say “This is good enough” at some point.
Bonus Bullet Point!
Keep up-to-date with new stuff
In AdWords and Facebook Ads, keeping up-to-date with new stuff is key. If people see the same old formats all the time, they can get what is known as ‘Ad Fatigue’ and stop noticing the carefully crafted messages that you need them to see. If it is new and shiny, it will stand out and be more likely to get noticed.
Some recent changes you might want to look into through AdWords are Customer Match, Youtube Remarketing and Gmail Promotions Ads.
Through Facebook Ads, you may want to look out for Video Ads, Carousel Ads, Instagram Ads and Lead Generation Ads.
I’ve met loads of great people doing this job and no two days are ever the same. Thanks everybody, it’s been a blast!
