Working From Home With Mike Zima

How can you build an Affordable WordPress website? In this week's podcast of Working From Home With Mike Zima, I interview Dan Bochichio, a WordPress developer from rural Albany, New York. Dan started building websites in the late 1990s using notepad and MS Paint at the age of 14. In 2004, Dan started his freelancing career with uniquely designed Craigslist Ads and finding clever places to leave business cards. In 2010, Dan launched Bocain Designs with his wife Rebecca, to offer small businesses agency-quality web design services without the agency pricing. Today, Dan helps businesses all around the world improve their online presence by designing and developing efficient websites, and by empowering his clients with the tools necessary to reach their goals. Bocain Design has launched over 900 websites in the last decade. https://www.bocaindesigns.com/ https://www.facebook.com/BocainDesigns https://twitter.com/bocaindesigns https://www.instagram.com/bocaindesigns/

Web 3.0 is the new buzzword. But what is it, and will it be much of the same? The truth has been hidden, buried, and labeled untrustworthy. The truth may be stretched thin, but it never breaks, and it always surfaces above lies as oil floats on water. -Don Quixote The truth has surfaced and started a fragmentation of our internet. The internet was never supposed to be centralized. Censorship broke the internet in half, and Web 3.0 is not about the metaverse or cryptocurrency. Web 3.0 is about YOUR community and Bitcoin. Without going down that rabbit hole of orange pills. Let’s see what’s happening with social networks. Truth Social launched with a Trump stamp of approval. Probably as good as his steaks and university. There’s nothing new here with Parlar, Gettr, Telegram all emerging as different platforms to tear social networks apart. We had Friendster, MySpace, Xanga, and all of that faded away. It became easier to speak with your friends, faster to look up old buddies, and quicker to send ideas to YOUR community. Before long, it was a parade of information we grew numb to after all those friend requests and years of liking. People on platforms can no longer express their idea to THEIR community, trolls stoke the flames, and personal attacks and bullying are where we are at in mature social media platforms. Truth Social is promoting the most advanced AI to moderate content on its platform from violence, bullying, hate speech, and even spam. If you’re on Gettr right now, all your replies will have tons of spammers selling junk. But is censorship the objective here? Facebook seems to think so! Basically, on the same day. Facebook is gunning after Truth social is sharing their AI supercomputer. Is the answer to social media more censorship? More computers? More centralization? Probably not. The evolution of social media has been happening for over 25-years. You got mail. You got poked. You got deplatformed. Words. Truth. Integrity. We are heading into a post-Facebook world. If you want to participate inside the metaverse and try to “earn” a digital life. The same caveats we have in social media today inside a new restricted metaverse reality. A closed economy. Facebook tried to create Libra. Failed. Facebook rebranded it as Diem. Failed. Communication is what powers social media. The number #1 driver for social networks is advertising revenue. There is no other business model. Over 20-years, it’s been the same. Banner ads. Facebook and Advertising agencies are spending millions of dollars to launch Metaverse ads. Resources are pouring in when we are ignoring problems in reality. Here’s a banner from artist David Sebastian. “Billionaires are spending millions in the metaverse while people are starving in our universe!!!” So, it’s the same business model re-hashed into another form. Web 3.0 is the new slogan. There’s nothing new about it. Silicon Valley knows what the future of Web 3.0 is all about. It’s bitcoin. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Gettr: https://gettr.com/user/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/  Website: https://zimamedia.com

We have looked into such common marketing mistakes as not knowing your results, not investing in SEO and content, not running advertising campaigns, and ignoring your social media. Today, we’re going to discuss another fatal mistake → Neglecting Your Website Your website is the face of your business. If it doesn’t give a good first impression, no one will want to revisit it. Since marketing's primary goal is to bring people to your site, its quality is responsible for the results of all your marketing efforts, including SEO and Google Ads. If you see that users leave your site shortly after opening it and you have only a few sales, maybe it means you need to improve your website to attract more leads. Here are a few important questions you need to ask yourself: ☑️  Is your site fast? (If your website visitors have to wait 3 seconds before the page loads, don’t be surprised when they leave without even checking out what you have to offer.) ☑️  Does your site look good on mobile? (If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, then you might be losing 44.7% of sales from mobile devices.) ☑️  When was the last time you updated your website? (If you don’t keep up with the latest industry news, don’t publish new content, and don’t maintain your site’s design fresh, you might be losing a lot of money.) ☑️  Do you have testimonials on your site? (If you want to gain trust in the eyes of Google and your prospects, you should include as many testimonials as you can on your website.) ☑️  How do you generate leads from your website? (If you want your potential customers to take action, you need to have a way to gather emails from potential customers to make them realize your product or service is the solution to their problem.) ☑️ Do the answers to these questions satisfy you? If not, it’s time for a change in your marketing strategy. Now, you are aware of the five most common mistakes such as: Not Knowing Your Results, Not Investing in SEO & Content, Not Running Advertising Campaigns Because the Budget Is Small, Ignoring Social Media, and Neglecting Your Website. So, you better try avoiding them as much as possible. If you missed our previous videos, you can find the links below. Also, feel free to go ahead and download our Free Marketing Audit right now! Just click the link in the description and get to know whether you’re doing your marketing right! And if you’re ready to boost your business, don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss your marketing strategy and discover how we can help you improve it.   Link, Share and Subscribe if you liked this prodcast. Here's your 5 marketing mistakes template👇 http://zima.media/5-marketing-mistakes FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/ #marketingmistakes #digitalmarketingtips #webdesign

We have already talked about such common marketing mistakes as not knowing your results, not investing in SEO and content, and not running advertising campaigns. If you haven’t checked them yet, you can find links in the description. Today, we’re going to discuss another big mistake →  Ignoring Social Media Writing amazing content without sharing it is pointless. Now, almost everyone has a profile on various social media platforms, including your customers. And if you aren’t taking advantage of this free opportunity to reach your target audience, you might be slowing down your marketing efforts. If you don’t remember the last time you posted on social or whether you even have a business profile, maybe you should start working on improving your social media strategy. Here are a few important questions you need to ask yourself before jumping to any conclusions: ☑️   Do you have a Facebook Business Page? (If you’re a business, you should have one. It gives you many more opportunities than just a personal page.) ☑️   When was your last company post on social media? (Consistency is the key. Make your potential customers expect the updates and useful insights from you. If you don’t post on social, it makes it much easier for your audience to forget about you.) ☑️   How many followers do you have on social media? (Remember that it’s better to have 300 relevant followers than 3000 random people or bots that don’t care about your business.) ☑️   Do you have trust signals such as testimonials and reviews? (If you have reviews and testimonials, it’s a signal for your target audience to trust your brand and know that you’re not another scam business.) ☑️   How many website visitors are coming from social media? (If you don’t get any traffic from social media, you should rethink your social media strategy and adjust it accordingly.) ☑️   Do you have a social media calendar? (If you want to post consistently and ensure you’re not repeating yourself, having a social media calendar is a must.) ☑️   When was the last time you optimized your strategy? (Social media platforms change very often, and your social media strategy should reflect those changes to keep up with their algorithms.) ☑️   Are your competitors active on social media? (If your competitors aren’t taking the full advantage of social media, maybe it’s your chance to overcome them with the help of a well-thought-through strategy.) Can you answer these questions easily? If not, it might be time you rethink your marketing strategy. Link, Share and Subscribe if you liked this video. Here's your 5 marketing mistakes template👇 http://zima.media/5-marketing-mistakes FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/ #marketingmistakes #digitalmarketingtips #socialmedia

We have already talked about such common marketing mistakes as not knowing your results and not investing in SEO and content. If you haven’t checked them yet, you can find links in the description. Today, we’re going to elaborate on another crucial mistake →  Not Running Advertising Campaigns Because Your Budget Is Small  The key to successful advertising isn’t only increasing your daily budget but also making sure to set up your campaigns properly.  It includes creating a strong strategy, following the best practices, targeting keywords with a high search volume, keeping a close eye on your competitors, constantly testing new ads and ideas, and knowing your industry advertising averages to have realistic expectations. If you spend a fortune without getting results, maybe you should restructure your campaigns, stop focusing on low-performing keywords, change your bidding strategy, create better ads, and review your target audiences.  These are the questions you need to ask yourself: ☑️  How many site visitors do you have from Google, Facebook, or LinkedIn Ads? (If you’re getting more conversions from Facebook and only a few from other platforms, you should focus on Facebook since it’s already working for you.) ☑️  Are you remarketing to previous website visitors and clients? (If you don’t encourage your past website visitors to complete their purchase, then who will? Your advertising strategy should always include a remarketing campaign.) ☑️  What is the Click-Through Rate of your ads? (The average click-through rate on Google Ads is 2%, but if you polish and experiment with your ad copy you might get 15% and increase the chance of getting a conversion.) ☑️  How often do you create new ads? (Advertising is all about testing. It means that you need to review your campaigns and try something new at least once per week to find out what works best for your business.) ☑️  What is your advertising ROI and cost per lead? (In short, do you lose or gain money from your advertising efforts? Of course, you’d want to stick to the latter. Average advertising ROI is 300%, but with the right advertising tactics you can get it up to 1000% and more.) ☑️  Are you taking advantage of advanced and new ad formats? (If you don’t use dynamic and responsive search ads yet, it’s time to restructure your ad campaign as they have proven to drive more clicks and increase the conversion rate.) ☑️  How much money do you invest compared to your competitors? (The more money you spend on advertising, the more exposure your ads get. If your daily ad budget is $30 while your competitor is spending $150 on the same keywords, you can easily guess whose ads will get more clicks and possibly bring more purchases or leads.) ☑️  Are you spending money the right way after all or could you improve your advertising campaigns for more sales, more leads, and a higher return on ad spend? In our next video tomorrow, we’re going to talk about the fourth most common marketing mistake you might be making.  Stay tuned and if you’re curious, go ahead and download our Free Marketing Audit right now! Just click the link in the description and get to know whether you’re doing your marketing right! Here's your 5 marketing mistakes template👇 http://zima.media/5-marketing-mistakes FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/ #marketingmistakes #digitalmarketingtips

Last time we talked about the first marketing mistake businesses usually make - not knowing your results. If you haven’t checked it yet, you can find the link in the description. Now, it’s time for mistake #2 → Not Investing in SEO & Content Because It’s Too Slow Did you know that 90% of web pages never get any traffic? While it’s good to run successful advertising campaigns, it’s still crucial to work on your website’s SEO & Content to get free organic traffic and leads. Yes, you can’t see the results overnight, but, in the long run, quality content and proper SEO optimizations will pay off by bringing you more website visitors and prospects. If your website doesn’t get enough organic traffic, maybe it’s time to create a proper content plan to boost it. But first, here are a few important questions you need to ask yourself: ☑️   Do you have any articles on the first page of Google? (If yes, awesome, if no, you should start working towards this goal. Of course, it takes time to get there, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.) ☑️   Is your content bringing you any traffic? (If you’re posting blog posts but no one visits them, you should rethink your strategy and maybe focus on less competitive topics.) ☑️  Do you have a content plan in place? (If you have an end goal, your content plan should reflect it. In other words, posting content without a specific purpose won’t bring you much.) ☑️  How much time do people spend reading your content? (If your website visitors spend only 30 seconds on a 1500-word article, they probably don’t find it very useful or relative. Yet, if they spend at least 3 min on it, then you’re on the right path.) ☑️  Do people share your blog posts? (If users read your articles but rarely share them, then they don’t find it particularly compelling or more insightful than the already existing content on the internet. It’s time to give them more value and unique insights.) ☑️  Has your content generated any leads or sales? (If your content doesn’t make people want to buy your products or services, maybe you should rethink its structure or experiment with lead generation tactics and CTAs.) So, were the answers what you were expecting? If not, it's another sign you need a change in your strategy. In our next video tomorrow, we’re going to talk about the third most common marketing mistake you might be making. Stay tuned and if you’re curious, you can download our Free Marketing Audit right now! Just click the link in the description and get to know whether you’re doing your marketing right! Link, Share and Subscribe if you liked this podcast. Here's your 5 marketing mistakes template👇 http://zima.media/5-marketing-mistakes FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/ #marketingmistakes #digitalmarketingtips

Google is giving businesses more insights to interactions happening on your Google My Business profile. This is going to be valuable for brick and mortar businesses. In my example, I will take a look at Doors Dubai. A high-end restaurant in Dubai. Link, Share and Subscribe if you liked this podcast. FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/

After working with more than 2000 clients, we’ve seen a lot of marketing mistakes businesses are making without even realizing it. We decided to share all our secrets so that YOU don’t make the same mistakes. Not Knowing Your Results is one of the five most common marketing mistakes. You need to know what you’re spending your money on and whether it’s worth it. For example, you might be paying for social media posts, while the one blog you wrote three months ago is actually bringing you most of your total traffic organically. Or you might be paying for ads that bring only clicks, but no sales. If your ROI is positive, maybe you should invest more into the best performing platforms and cut the budget for the least performing ones, or stop using some of them completely. If you want to avoid ruining your marketing efforts, here are a few questions you need to ask yourself: ☑️   What is your cost per lead? (If you’re a dental clinic, paying $100 for a lead that’s going to spend thousands once booking your services is pretty good. However, if you’re an ecommerce store selling a product worth of $20, and your cost per conversion is $40, then something is wrong.) ☑️   What is your ROI? (If your marketing budget is bigger than the overall sales revenue, then you need to take action asap.) ☑️   What is your most important audience demographic? (If your most profitable target audience consists of millennial women who are into cruelty-free skincare, then you should probably focus more on building your marketing strategy and a brand message around this buyer persona and stop advertising to 65+ men :) ☑️   How many people visited your website last month? (If the number isn’t significant, you should work on getting people to the site with the help of ads, seo, content, social, etc. And if the number is big but you get no conversions, work on adding more value to your site.) ☑️   Are your website visitors turning into customers? (If you get only a few conversions or leads per month, you might need to rethink your business offer and website design, or change your Call-to-Action.) ☑️   How much time do people spend on your site? (If people spend 10 seconds on your website, they probably didn’t find what they were looking for. It means you might need to add more useful information or target a different audience.) ☑️   What is your most successful channel? (If 95% of your traffic comes from paid advertising and only 5% from organic Google searches, you might need to double down on ads and try improving your SEO.)     If you can't answer these questions or the answer doesn’t satisfy you, it’s the sign you need to rethink your marketing. Simple as that. In our next video, we’re going to talk about the second most common marketing mistake you might be making. Stay tuned and if you’re curious, you can download our Free Marketing Audit right now! Just click the link in the description and get to know whether you’re doing your marketing right! FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/

Since early December, Apple requires developers to publish privacy labels. If you inspect the App Store, it says one month ago on Chrome, Google Search, and YouTube, among many others. On December 7th was the last time Google updated its ranges of apps before the December 8th deadline Apple set for developers to adopt new privacy label disclosures to users on iOS devices. The privacy label is filled out by developers' containing what data the app is tracking. This would give us an insight into what Google is collecting about users and how that user data is being used. This label will be added to the App Store to increase transparency in the ways apps collect data. This gives more freedom of choice to align with more privacy-conscious Apps.  The exciting part about all of this is 1-month has gone by, and there are entrepreneurs out there ready to offer and market new Apps to capture users that could have a strong sense of brand loyalty but find themselves to be a "switcher" because they value their privacy and data. This label will introduce a new level of sophistication with unique points of thought about your brand positioning. In 2021, putting privacy into the center of your message will help you win new business on the App Store.  Apple made a claim hoping other app stores copy the model, but  E-Foundation is a privacy-focused smartphone software company, and they already have this feature in their App Store since 2018. It can be downloaded to certain android phones or bought with it installed. This is a good move for consumers, nonetheless.  What will be included in the Privacy Label? Your Physical Address, Email, Name, Phone, This can feed into the app developer, advertising analytics, product personalization. This can include the habits that are linked to you too. You Purchase History, Financial Info, Location, Physical Address, Contacts, Photos, Videos, Search History, Browsing History This private information again can go to the app developer, advertising analytics, product personalization. Next time you update your Google Apps on iOS. It will be a little more privacy-focused!  That is a win for brand loyalty. Give a big thumbs up if that's the case! FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/

It is widespread in the marketing world today to hear about SEO and content marketing. We would even go so far as to say that these two things have become the bread and butter of many enterprises' marketing strategies. In this tutorial, we are going to explain the relationship between SEO and content marketing. What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? SEO is what businesses do when they want to improve their ranking in search engines. Historically SEO has a dark side, and many people still think it's a geek like me sitting in a dark room bashing a keyboard. We hear about algorithms and keywords, and that's a part of the process. Google SEO strategy comes from a combination of planning, research, preparation, and optimization. This is an endless loop to build your authority with Google. There's another word we hear a lot in the SEO world. Authority is how Google measures your expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness in my world; we call this E-A-T. What is Content Marketing? Content Marketing refers to the content generated by a company to attract potential customers, identify leads, and (hopefully) turn them into sales. Content can also be used as a retention strategy for existing customers. The Buyer's Journey starts on your website when they enter your funnel. Stage 1: Top of the funnel Stage 2: Middle of the funnel Stage 3: Bottom of the funnel Why is content marketing important for SEO? Your business can't fully reap the rewards of a good marketing campaign without effectively employing SEO and content marketing. Link, Share and Subscribe if you liked this podcast. Master #Shopify Marketing (Always Free Courses)👇 Shopify Marketing Playlist: https://zima.media/shopify-youtube-playlist Shopify Marketing Blogs: http://zima.media/shopify-marketing-free-course FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/

Happy New Year! It's time to take advantage of all the hard work Google has been doing updating its algorithms to provide better search results. So, how is the Google December 2020 Core Update going to impact your results? Here are our impressions, but first. What's a core update? "Several times a year, we make significant, broad changes to our search algorithms and systems. We refer to these as "core updates." They're designed to ensure that overall, we're delivering on our mission to present relevant and authoritative content to searchers. These core updates may also affect Google Discover." Google organizes content from your website and uses algorithms to determine the searcher's query's true meaning. If Google understands the importance of the search, it's goal will be to show the most relevant search results. If your website's traffic has declined following a Google core update, most likely, Google's algorithms have determined that there are other pages on the web that are more relevant and helpful than yours. Suppose you are still building spammy backlinks and writing poor or thin content. It won't be easy to rank your website in 2021. As a business owner, you have to care about reputation and brand. You are setting up all your social media accounts, having a modern and fast website, and excellent communication. These are factors that help elevate your brand trustworthiness with Google and website visitors from SEO. Reviews and many other interactions that happen on and off your website are essential. Holistically, you're building a reputation and a brand. This is easy to understand and improve without being an SEO geek like me. What it comes down to is the content. Google has been improving Natural Language Processing (NLP) to meet the needs of a search visitor. Artificial intelligence algorithms are doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. Focusing on your E-A-T is still very important in 2021. We are starting to see in our analytics for ourselves and our clients that more relevant keywords are seeing improvements in rankings. This could be related to Google improving its efforts to analyze more text to decode what you are searching for online. This is especially true with our medical niche clients. This relates a lot to the "Medic" update from many years back. The emphasis is on the quality of the text and how deep it goes on a specific topic. Google seems to be balancing YMYL queries better and is leading to less Medic interference in ranking swings. The pattern is consistent with every algorithm update. Some pages go up, and some pages go down. This is why understanding your internal content strategy is essential. The actual pages that are optimized and have improvements to content could be leading with results. Getting stuck inside the technical SEO is not essential, but that's easier than ever to set up with WordPress or Shopify. Getting critical with your content is the key to beating your competitors on the search result page. What should you focus on in 2021? Link, Share and Subscribe if you liked this video. Master #Shopify Marketing (Always Free Courses)👇 Shopify Marketing Playlist: https://zima.media/shopify-youtube-playlist Shopify Marketing Blogs: http://zima.media/shopify-marketing-free-course FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/ #google #googlealgorithm

Now, more than 150 million people in 30 countries use Google Pay every month. Google Pay is launching a new experience that is designed around relationships. Google is laying the pavement for a new kind of digital bank account with trusted financial institutions by 2021. Split bills, send money, and keep track of everything in one place. Google Pay is already available at over 100K restaurants, 30K gas stations, and paid parking lots in over 400 cities. Google is launching with brands such as Etsy, Target, and Warby Parker to offer redemption and loyalty built into the app. The Google Pay account links with your bank accounts and offers analytics on your purchase spending habits. Also, Google Search is coming to your finance to help find transactions quickly. The newest addition is data personalization, which is switched off by default, with a three month trial period to evaluate if you want to keep it on or off. Google Pay will not “leak” your transaction history to advertisers or anywhere on Google. Plex is going to be a new way to bank online!  Banks offer Plex Accounts and credit unions, including checking and savings accounts with no monthly fees, overdraft charges, or minimum balance requirements, and help you save toward your goals more quickly. Subscribe for daily podcasts! (Always fresh!) FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/

Shopify has announced a partnership with TikTok to connect over 1 million stores with the TikTok community.  This partnership is another facet that will solidify into a great influencer reach for Shopify stores. There’s an early adopter opportunity for brands to leverage a new advertising platform, and TikTok might be one of the most direct channels for many emerging and existing Shopify stores. This will make it easier for merchants to tap over 100 million active users in the US alone. This will be a new TikTok business manager features straight into Shopify with 1-click pixel setup, campaign targeting and creation, and an ad builder to create simple ads in minutes. TikTok is also offering a $300 ad credit to launch your first campaign. Subscribe for daily podcasts! (Always fresh!) FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/

Don’t be frugal, be a savvy investor in your marketing & advertising. You are not wasting money on your website and marketing. It’s an investment over time like your retirement fund. Some marketing decisions might have a negative return like advertising, and some marketing investments appreciate like SEO. Always measure and expect every investment should have a positive outcome. If it does not, measure and find out why. Every new business we help, we indoctrinate them to focus on testing and measuring. It will piss you off when you lose money. Get used to it. Your competitors lost way more to get to where they are. It’s a part of doing business, and you need to rectify where you’re bleeding the budget. This is why being a measurement expert helps make faster decisions instead of blowing it all on a pipe dream on hearsay from a successful friend and superstition you read about on a blog post. If you can apply, measure, and be patient, you’ll have dividends. Investors don’t grow rich overnight, they grow wealthy over the long-term. Form the right business questions. Why are you going to take this action? Are you just following some second-hand advice from a YouTube video? Are you basing this off experience? It’s easy to start looking for answers to the wrong business questions. Get clear on these as fast as possible. Everyone judges a book by its cover. Your website doesn’t have to look like apple.com after a new iPhone launch. You have to take your website seriously because high-end websites use the latest features to POP on your screen. Always improve, but don’t over-invest into your brand. Gradually do it over time. There might be 2-3 questions you focus on a quarter and that’s the length of time it can take to test ideas and patiently wait to recover results. Making decisions in real-time and slow-time takes a great deal of restraint. Focus on clear taxonomy and organization Your collections/categories should map to your products, and your products should be clear and detailed. Invest time into the story and give all the details possible. This is where Google Shopping and Google find relevant keywords and improve your Google rankings positions for SEO and Ads. Organizing your store will help you with your thoughts, inventory, and even your communication. The more aligned all your processes are, the less friction you’ll have. Make it clear to your customers, yourself, and your team. It will make the website feel more fluid for customers, and your team will operate more efficiently because you’re designing it around the website and sales experience. Start working with influencers Shopify and YouTube are launching a partnership to enable influencers to feature products and tag them to sell them. Tap influencers in your industry and start engaging their audience with your products. That extra push helps build young brands and helps emerging brands establish themselves in the market. Before the pandemic, the influencer market was $6.5 billion when Google ads allow is about $134.8 billion both in 2019. Be aware that there’s room to grow, and it’s an emerging market, and big players are creating tools for ecommerce stores to leverage their networks. It can give you instant social proof! Just have fun. If you don't jump out of bed excited to go to work, skip lunch, and have good days and bad days, and wish you can do it all over again and again. It's not for you. You'll have extended hours and sleepless nights, but you're building something that's yours at the end of the day. Subscribe for daily podcasts! (Always fresh!) FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/

The DOJ is alleging that Google has an illegal monopoly over search, search advertising, and exclusive contracts. “Since my confirmation, I have prioritized the Department’s review of online market-leading platforms to ensure that our technology industries remain competitive. This lawsuit strikes at the heart of Google’s drip over the internet for millions of American consumers. Advertisers, small business and entrepreneurs beholden to an unlawful monopolist.” William P. Barr, Attorney General Google responded by saying that, “Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed. People use Google because they choose to, not because they’re forced to, or because they can’t find alternatives.” The pursuit of this lawsuit could produce lower-quality search engines, Google claims. The lawsuit is also focusing on Android devices that have exclusive contract carriers to promote Google-branded applications. Google also mentions how Windows devices are not promoting its search engine but rather Bing. Google also defends its position as the leading search engine. “The bigger point is that people don’t use Google because they have to, they use it because they choose to. This isn’t the dial-up 1990s, when changing services was slow and difficult, and often required you to buy and install software with a CD-ROM. Today, you can easily download your choice of apps or change your default settings in a matter of seconds—faster than you can walk to another aisle in the grocery store.” Subscribe for daily podcasts! (Always fresh!) FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/ #google #doj #antitrust

The Shopify Fulfillment Network is scaling, and adoption is surging. Shopify has increased its fulfillment volume by two-and-a-half times over Q1. New Shopify stores jumped 71% in Q2 over the previous quarter. Shopify is spending over $1 billion over the next five years to allow merchants to integrate with the network. This expansion will lead to about 40-50 warehouses dedicated to servicing ecommerce stores nestled between Amazon and Walmart. So how do shoppers find new products and make Shopify their next destination? Influencers will fuel the growth on YouTube with the recent trial to allow for tagging of products in videos to convert into sales. YouTube is turning into a fully decentralized studio for brands to have their products featured, reviewed, and unboxed with call-to-actions to purchase embedded into the content. Google has built a successful business running ads and is taking a stab at promoted content as a new potential revenue stream. Going back to the core of search and SEO, this is an advantage for Google to optimize its revenue if ad budgets are unexpectedly cut again by advertisers. The new Google Shopping destination, which is heavily integrated with Shopify, is the mechanism to allow for the transactions to happen. Subscribe for daily podcasts! (Always fresh!) FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/ #shopify #google #youtube

Bing is the fastest search engine to find and install Google Chrome. Microsoft finally added two new features to bing without arousing too much fanfare. First, you can Give With Bing by donating to nonprofits to help enrich the executive bonuses. Instead of Giving a tax write-off, why not find a foundation to support directly? Second, Bing was not called “Microsoft Bing” because most people still don’t know what Bing is, and co-branding might help increase the adoption of this search engine. It’s still only 3% of the market and 7% of the US market. It’s the little search engine that couldn’t. It’s been 11-years. Do we need another Yahoo? Oh wait, it’s the same thing. Subscribe for daily podcasts! (Always fresh!) FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/ #bing #googlevsbing

Google is investing $1 billion to create partnerships and the future of news. Google is going to pay publishers to create news. What could go wrong? Google Showcase is kind of like Google Reader with material design. It gives a tremendous AMP-like experience for readers. This new feature is available on Android, and it will roll out to other Google News apps, Google Discover, and even Search shortly. New features will allow publishers to integrate timelines, bullets, and inner-linking with related articles. This will be a text-only update, and support for audio and video is coming later. The update features more editor governance and less A.I. generation, as is the current form of Google News. This is rolling out now in Brasil and Germany. Other countries will follow as 200 publishers have already signed up for the program. This is an evolution of previous licensing agreements in place with news organizations. This is the first leg of a 3-year pilot program. Subscribe for daily podcasts! (Always fresh!) FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/ #googlenews #google

Google Shopping is now opening up to all ecommerce businesses worldwide. Google Shopping allows companies to list their products absolutely for free! Take advantage of this new feature for your ecommerce store to list your products on Google Shopping, where customers are looking for your goods already! There are some limitations, but most retailers are eligible to appear in these results at no cost to them. Get started today. Subscribe for daily podcasts! (Always fresh!) FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/ #googleshopping #merchantcenter

Triller is a music and video app built from the top down by recruiting the most popular TikTok stars. While TikTok is stuck in smash and grab court, Triller is cannibalizing the audience on TikTok. Young brands struggle with loyalty and the likelihood of a ban and restrictions on TikTok installation in some markets. Your audience is at risk if you don’t move to diversify your followers on other platforms that could surge. Triller has already added the top 100 influencers from across the US. “That [represents] about 26 percent of TikTok’s total audience, actively on Triller and engaged directly with us.” Ryan Kavanaugh, Hollywood Mogul They’re leading the pack with creating revenue sharing out the gate. This is an important move for a platform to put the creators and users at its center. Is this the next Quibi flop or a home run? Subscribe for daily podcasts! (Always fresh!) FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, AND LINKEDIN BELOW! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikedzima/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelzima LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikezima/ #Triller #TikTok