Build an online business with facebook advertising

TheBoomerBusinessOwner.com
Presents:
Build An
Online
Business
With Facebook
Advertising
with Brian Carter

Welcome to the Boomer Business Owner.
My guest today is Brian Carter. Brian is an
acclaimed sales and marketing keynote
speaker. He is the author of three social
media books, including The Like Economy,
LinkedIn for Business and Facebook
Marketing. Brian has 14 years of experience
with search and social marketing, both as a
consultant and marketing agency director.
He does comedy in his spare time, and his
101 year old grandma thinks he is pretty
neat. Brian, welcome to the show.
Charlie

Thanks, Charlie. Thanks for having me.
Brian

So you are in social media--we will get into
that in just a minute, but can you take just
a few minutes to tell us a little bit about
your background and, specifically, how you
got to doing what you are doing today?
Charlie

Yeah. I will try and say it quickly--it is kind of a
weird story. I was in school for acupuncture,
and I was going to be an acupuncturist and an
herbalist, and I created a website to explain
that to the lay person. Over time I figured out
how to get a lot of people to that site with
search item optimization. I started making
money on it because I had Google ads on my
website.
Brian

I started making a lot of money at that and
eventually it kind of shifted over. There were a
couple of months where I got $20,000 checks
from Google; that did not last forever, but that
was my first experience going, "Hm, maybe I
can do something else," and finding out that I
did not--I loved learning the acupuncture stuff;
I did not like actually practicing it.
Brian

That is how I started and eventually I did a little
freelance, and then I did some Ecommerce, and
the agency job, and eventually went freelance
again. Now we are really building a small,
boutique kind of agency.
Brian

How can you help me? I am a guy, I have
an online business. What services do you
provide to me?
Charlie

We basically do marketing. There are a lot of
different marketing and advertising channels
online, from Google's ads in the search results
to Facebook ads, LinkedIn ads, YouTube ads--I
mean, if you have a video, we can show your
video before somebody else's video.
Brian

We also do consulting and audits if you have an
existing site or social media presence; we can
go look at that, evaluate it for you, tell you
what the next steps are--that is an audit. And
then I also do hourly, if people are just trying to
brainstorm something.
Brian

So if I am kind of starting out an online
business, early in the game, are there a
couple of different social media platforms
that you would recommend over others?
Charlie

Yeah. Facebook is controversial in some ways,
but it reaches 1.2 billion people. It is the
biggest one, so that is part of the deal. You
have got to reach the people who are going to
be your prospects.
That means people have to be on the network;
for example, Twitter has more like 200 million--
not quite as many people. Facebook has the
most people of all different types.
Brian

I think the real advantage that Facebook has
for businesses is the advertising because let's
say you have got those 1.2 billion people, or
you just want to narrow it down to America--
we have got 300 million--then you can target it
pretty specifically to who you want to see your
ads.
Brian

I usually tell people, "This is a lot like TV in that
you can reach almost everybody, but it is way
more targeted, so we can reach just the people
who are enthusiastic about the thing that you
sell.“
It is also a very low commitment-you can go to
Facebook and spend $5 a day, $150 a month,
and with that you are going to reach, on
average, about 20,000 people a day and you
get to target which 20,000 people those are. In
a way, it is better than TV.
Brian

And then there is also YouTube. That is a lot like
TV because it is video. The cool thing about the
advertising methods is you can go in and just
have a pretty low minimum starting budget.
Brian

Are you helping me figure out the whole
package? I mean, I get that you are going
to help me put together, maybe, a
Facebook ad; but are you helping me
figure out where the Facebook ad goes?
Does it go to the homepage of my website?
Does it go to a separate page? Things like
that.
Charlie

Yeah, definitely. I mean, some of that is in the
initial discussion of strategy and the things we
have found sometimes determine that.
Do you want to grow fans on a page? You do
not have to do that--you could just use the ads
that send people to your website.
But you do have to have a way to reach people
repeatedly; so this is the strategy phase-I talk
to people about what they are going to do.
What is the whole strategy going to look like?
Brian

There are at least 15 different types of internet
marketing we could do and they all have
strengths and weaknesses. Some of them are
very good at raising awareness, if that is what
you need to do; others, like Google ads, are
pretty strong at getting people who are ready to
buy right now so you could get that immediate
profit, but it is a little more expensive.
Brian

There are strengths and weaknesses to each of
these marketing options and usually the best
thing to do is to have at least three or four of
them together that do everything you need to
do.
You need to think about a sales funnel where
you have all of these people who could be your
customers. First off, are they even aware that
you exist? You cannot sell to someone who is
not aware of you.
Brian

Then move down the funnel to what we call
owned media, which is like email or anything
where you can contact them again, basically. In
the old days that was direct mail.
It could be an email list, or it could be a
Facebook fan, or even a retargeting audience,
which comes from Google or Facebook-they can
do these ads where if you have been to
somebody's website, you will see their ads
again, either on Facebook or on all of these
other websites that show Google ads.
Brian

All of those are owned media, right? I am trying
to talk about the sales funnel-at the top, you
have got awareness; in the middle, you have
ways to reach people again; and at the bottom,
you have got getting that sale or getting a lead
so you can call them up and try to sell to them.
Brian

Let's step back for a second. I am going to
give you the benefit of the doubt that you
are going to be able to help me get people
to my website. What about how to
monetize those people when they come the
website? Are you involved in that process
at all?
Charlie

I certainly can be. Usually people do not contact
us before they have a business model, but
based on my experience I could give you
feedback on whether I think it will work; but
there is going to be some kind of testing phase.
If you have not done any online marketing, and
you do not have a website, and your product is
new, there are a lot of unknowns.
Brian

The first thing you have to figure out is: Is
anyone going to want to buy this? Right? We
could start marketing with Google or Facebook,
and no one buys.
It could be because we are not doing a good job
with the ads or it could be we are reaching the
wrong people, or it could be nobody will ever
buy what you are offering. It is definitely harder
in the beginning, when you do not even know if
people are going to want it.
Brian

There is a red ocean and a blue ocean. I do not
know if you have heard that concept, but red
oceans are like Wal-Mart: People only go there
looking to buy something they have already
heard of, for the most part, and Wal-Mart is
competing on price.
It is called a red ocean because in the analogy
we have got all of these fish trying to eat each
other and it is creating the blood in the water
that is red.
Brian

A blue ocean is a new product that no one has
heard of and we are not totally sure if people
want it; like when the iPhone was totally new, or
when the iPod was new-that was still at least a
Walkman or something people were used to, but
in a blue ocean you have no competitors, and
your biggest problem is getting awareness.
Sometimes somebody's new idea for a business
may be a blue ocean, but it may be a blue ocean
because no one will ever want to buy it.
Brian

It begs the question: A lot of times I will
ask our guest on the show about the
concept of idea generation, because I
think a lot of listeners are probably in that
phase. Maybe they have an existing
business, or are thinking about some new
things.
How would you suggest that people
brainstorm or come up with an idea, and
then vent that idea before they start
spending a lot of money on that?
Charlie

There are a few different types of businesses
there, too. I mean, coming up with a random
product--I am thinking of those cable TV ads
where they are like, "We'll help you market
your invention." It could be something like that,
or it could be that you have a specific passion
or skill, or talent.
I know one of your questions is about authors
and books that have changed your life, right?
One of those is Jim Collins' "Built to Last, Good
to Great.“ He has got the hedgehog concept in
there.
Brian

If you are considering being a service person of
some sort, that can help you look at what you
are really passionate about, that you could
make money at, that you could be one of the
best people at--those three criteria help you
come up with your hedgehog concept; and the
analogy there is that a hedgehog has really only
one strategy when a predator comes towards it-
-it just puts its quills out.
Brian

It does one thing really well and that works for
it. The idea there is to figure out what you do
really well that you are passionate about and
you can make money with. That is one way to
brainstorm it.
But again, if it is going to be something totally
separate from you-you are going to invent
something-then it is a little harder.
Brian

You can look online for indicators of what
people want. One way to do that is: The Google
ad tool ad words has this keyword tool which
allows you to put in keywords for just random
things that you are thinking about selling, and
then it will come back and tell you all of the
actual phrases people are typing into Google to
search for and exactly how many people are
searching on that phrase per month.
Brian

That helps you find out if people are actually
looking for something related to what you are
thinking of, and also how many. You may find
that 20 people are searching for something a
month and it lets you have a really high-priced
thing that you are only going to sell 10 of per
year. That is just not enough people looking for
it.
Brian

So, talking about resources, are there any
other courses or eBooks or blogs or
websites that you have used, or even
continued to use to this day, to help you
with your online knowledge?
Charlie

I think it is different for a beginner. I stopped
going to conferences to learn stuff, and I
stopped reading.
Brian

I will find, randomly, a blog post from an expert
that is good for me; but I am at a different
level. For a beginner, I would look at somebody
like a social media examiner, because they have
a lot of really good how-to, or tips articles. That
is just social media.
There are others for search--Moz has some
good stuff for search and for internet marketing.
That is M-O-Z. Those would be the two I would
suggest to start with.
Brian

How about specific tools like if someone is
looking to build a website? Are there
different email service providers, or
platforms on which you suggest or like to
see websites built?
Charlie

Yeah. There are a bunch out there. I know
some people use Constant Contact--I used that
years ago. There is Mail Chimp, A Webber-they
are all somewhat similar.
If you want to do email marketing, they will
help create a form to capture emails and then
create your emails in a really nice, graphical
user interface.
Brian

One thing that people do not necessarily
consider is that you can create what is called an
auto responder series, where if people sign up
for your email, you will send them out 5-10
emails in a row at a specific frequency.
They might go out every 2-3 days, so you could
say, "Sign up for my free emails, 'Seven tips for
blah, blah, blah...‘”
Brian

You put together those seven emails and
program it, and you do not have to send that
out after you set it up. It does it automatically.
Brian

So the concept of an auto responder is,
again, when I go to your website, I put my
name and email address in there to get
your "Seven Free Tips," and the next seven
emails I am getting--the next seven days--
you have already written them, they are
already programmed in, and they go out at
specific dates and times?
Charlie

Yep. It is a good way, because otherwise there
is no way to do this one-on-one. The principle
behind that is the idea that you-this would be
for something where you are trying to establish
either an expertise, or you are trying to just
prove to people that you are out there to help
them.
Brian

It is part of what we call content marketing,
where you are becoming a publisher, whether it
is with emails or blog posts or e-books or
videos. These days, companies, to be
effective... It is no longer an advantage to do
that--it is like if you are not doing that, you are
not keeping up.
Brian

I thought everybody just typed a personal
email to me.
You are misinformed.
So Brian, other than financial benefits,
what other benefits do you get from
running your own online business?
Charlie

That is a good one. I like to keep my own hours,
and I can be flexible with what I need to do
outside of work. I think it is all together,
though--I do this stand up, and I integrate that
into my keynotes, and I do improv, and I feel
like that helps me be creative because I need to
write ads and things like that.
Brian

Flexible hours are a good thing and also being
your own boss. I just turned 40, recently, and
my goal, from the time I was 38 or so, was to
no longer be working for "the man," whoever
that is. I am just an entrepreneurial type of
personality, so it fits me.
Brian

Now that I am just thinking about that:
Why is it not "I no longer want to work for
the woman.“
Charlie

Because, statistically, I do not think they have
caught up, yet.
Brian

Yeah, I hear you. You obviously have
other interests outside the business, with
your comedy. Is there some mission or
vision that you are trying to achieve with
your work in life?
Charlie

Yeah. I mean, I am trying to do the stuff that is
interesting to me that helps people. With
internet marketing and consulting and services
we do, that is partly to help businesses get
results.
Brian

Specifically, we need some sales, although
sometimes it is just for raising awareness.
When it comes to speaking and training and all
that stuff, even with the standup I do, I like to
educate people a little bit and inspire them, and
entertain them; and I know that people learn
better when they are laughing and paying
attention. I like to entertain, inspire and
educate.
Brian

What are your thoughts on the concept of
coaches, mentors or mastermind groups?
Charlie

They can be good, although on the internet
there are a lot of guys out there that make a lot
of money on it, and I am not quite sure how
much value that gives.
I think mentors in general are good. I am just
always wary of the ones where they are
charging $10,000 for this or that; but I do have
a mentor for speaking-his name is Garrison Win,
and he has been a business speaker for about
14 years; 13 or 14, but talking to him has
helped a lot.
Brian

He did get me a few gigs, but he helped me
think about how my website should look, and
not making certain dumb mistakes.
What is funny is when I met him I showed him
one of my comedic videos that was me
pretending to be a Scandinavian punk rocker
singing a song about how you should not sniff
glue; and what was weird about that was the
Army actually used that in a training program
for young soldiers not to do stupid things.
Brian

He was like, "You know, maybe you shouldn't
have that sniffing glue video be public anymore.
Maybe that's not good for your speaking
career."
Little tips like that and the direction that I have
gone on topics and things like that-I think
mentors are very, very important.
Brian

Do you frequently use your entertainment
capabilities to help market your business?
Charlie

Some. I think it plays in, actually, with things
like account management, talking to clients, I
think that helps a lot. I think it is really
important, because a lot of the work that I do is
remote.
I am in South Carolina, and I have clients in
California, the UK and wherever, so when we
get on the phone, I think it helps me with
rapport. It helps them know that I am a real
person.
Brian

One day I would love to do some funny
sketches or videos for commercials. We have
not gotten there yet.
Brian

How about providing that service for other
people? If I said, "Hey, Brian, can you help
me market my business?" through comedy
or video, or a combination.
Charlie

Yeah. I would love to do it. We have not done it
yet, we have not really had it requested, but I
would be happy to work on it. I think it is really
important that you have a combination of
creativity and the marketing where you are
really getting the message across, and being
professional and appropriate.
Brian

That is the problem with comedy-a lot of new
comedians, or comedians who are not in the
business world, are not capable of doing it in an
inoffensive way.
Brian

Yeah, I hear you there. So, if somebody
calls you and says, "Hey, Brian, tell me
about your team," do you say, "Well, take
my customer service agent. Please.”
Charlie

No, I do not. I absolutely do not. I am not
actually very good at remembering my own
jokes. I am pretty good on my feet, so
sometimes funny stuff just comes out.
Brian

Let's kind of wrap things up by--I am going
to ask you for a couple of actionable pieces
of advice. I want to finish up this episode,
and I want you to give me a couple of
things to do to either get my business
going, or move my business forward. I am
a Baby Boomer, and that is what I want to
do. Help me out, here.
Charlie

First, you have to get into Google ad words--get
an account so that you can use the Google ad
words keyword tool; and then you want to put
all of your business ideas in there.
Find out what other people call it-not what you
call it, but what other people call it-and search
for it. Find out if a lot of people are looking for
it or not.
If you do not have searches with more than
1,000 or 10,000 people a month, it may not be
popular enough.
Brian

Then you need to know who your customer is
and keep learning that better. One of
Facebook's advantages is that you can learn
psychographics-stuff about peoples' real life, at
home, that we never knew.
You can learn who your customers are as
people with Facebook. Start advertising ad
words on Facebook. Again, like I said, you could
actually do one dollar a day on Facebook and
you are going to reach 4,000 people a day that
you were not going to reach before.
Brian

To me, it is a no-brainer, and it is a competitive
advantage to be using it. One last thing, too,
depending on where you are at-you can get a
video made to introduce your business
anywhere from $300 to $1,000, and then
promote that with preroll ads and that may give
you an advantage as well.
Brian

Do they call those explainer videos? It is
like a two minute video with a little stick-
figure or something?
Charlie

Yeah. There is one company called Cellmation
that makes it look like the guy is drawing it on
the screen. There is one company called
Promoshin--it is spelled really weird--Promo S-
H-I-N--and they do an animated explainer
video. That is exactly what it is.
Brian

Got it. So, Brian, what is the best way for
our listeners to connect with you?
Charlie

You could actually just email me at
bbcarter@gmail.com or go to
briancarteryeah.com; and speaking as in social
media, keynotespeaker.com.
Brian

Excellent. All of the fantastic resources
that were mentioned in today's episode
will be available on the Show Notes page
on the boomerbusinessowner.com. Brian,
thank you so much on behalf of all of your
listeners--we really, really appreciate your
help.
Charlie

Thanks. I am glad you had me--I really enjoyed
it.
Brian

Visit:

Build an online business with facebook advertising

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Featured

Featured (20)

Build an online business with facebook advertising