A funny thing happened on the way to Malaysia to speak at the World Internet Summit – and that was while I was at the airport, luggage had been tagged, tickets were getting handed over to me… the ticket agent stopped.
She looked up at me.
Started to pound into the computer, while I start to wonder what my behaviour had been like in the last few months. I was a Canadian living in the US, was this about to be an issue. She leaves with my passport, talks to a supervisor. I was standing at China Air, people coming and going, and she comes back.
“I’m sorry you can’t board the plane, your passport only has 5 months until expiry, and in order to get into Malaysia, you need 6 months.” I give my US Green card, hoping that perhaps this will get me in. She says Canadians must have a 6 month leeway. Why? What did a Canadian ever do to Malaysia?
I leave somewhat dejected, not understanding why an Internet Marketer was not allowed to proceed, and quietly slip in for a mere 4 days. I inform the founders, and I work the next day trying to get some sort of back door entry. Thank God my next trip to the UK is not an issue.
What on earth was I going to do with this free time? Create a new site, optimize my pages, write another ebook, I had 4 days to play with, my 11-year-old was in Canada visiting friends, my husband and 2 other children were heading to Simon Leung’s Google Adwords Training, what was I going to do?
I email Simon, and say “Dude, I’m coming up with my husband to get the training, (God knows I need it), so I’ll see you soon”.
He emails back and says “What were you presenting – send me your PowerPoint”
And I do, and he emails me back and says “Why don’t you come up and speak at my event?”
So I do. I head up to San Jose, and hung around with Simon Leung, and additionally get caught up with Mark Widawer.
The extra added bonus – was what I learned from Simon, that I did not know. And I will reveal the $5000 price tag value (my husband paid to be there), and that was the following understanding of how Google works:
7 Keys to Avoiding the Google Slap!
1. Create a Google Ad campaign – per keyword (did not know that)
2. Create a landing page for every keyword and optimize it based on that – this will prevent Google slapping, and increase requirements for bid amounts
3. Call your landing page name the same as your keywords if possible
4. Use their Free tool – Traffic estimator – to help you determine bid prices
5. Pull out words from your landing page, and put them in the add.
Match the offer in your ad that is on the landing page.
ie. Register for Free newsletter, (But don’t say free in the ad, unless when you hit the page, there is something there for free – without registering to get it, unless you indicate the need to register in the ad.)
6. Adding negative keywords is very important
So from the training, I started the following:
ie. Keyword – Internet Marketing online training – new ad campaign
and new landing page
New Landing Page for this – www.internetmarketingnewbieclub.com/Internet-marketing-online-training.htm
So I started a new campaign, with all of the above, and where I used to spend thousands and get nothing – because of it attracting traffic that was not applicable (hence the negative keywords), my impressions were lower, but my click throughs were better, and subscribers based on that had increased. Already with this small test, it was an improvement to my Google Adwords results.
Now I just need to do that per keyword. It may sound like a lot of work, but a Google slap can cause you thousands of dollars in lost sales, and traffic. So a little time up front, can be very well spent. With Google constantly moving to a strategy of tighter requirements, getting used to these strategies now, can be worth it in the long run.
So silver lining – I got to speak after all – so you’ll see me in his DVD that will be available soon, made a stronger bond with Simon, met some great graphic guys so hired them immediately for all of my sites (the twins or Miami boys – those of you who use them will know what that means – ie. Joel comm), made a whole pile of new friends, got educated by the number one guru for Google Adwords, and hung out at some great local restaurants.
My motto – Always find the silver lining, because when you look for it, it will be there.
So, it may not have been as amazing as Malaysia, but it taught me to check out passport requirements for different countries, (I had checked if I needed a VISA and I didn’t), and keep my passport current within a year. Just tips for all you International travelers. Apparently the US, also has a similar rule, something to think about.
Have a wonderful day – and customs willing – I will be flying out on Monday for the UK.
Tracy Repchuk
Marketing Makeover Maestro
PS – Check out my latest release still at pre-launch pricing, Marketing Makeover Maestro Kit
