Rollercoaster Of A Ride On The 3rd Rock From The Sun

Wow, publishing weekly has gone so well for us. Keep the feedback coming! In the last issue I talked about how I'm revamping my business processes, this week I'm putting them into place — so far so good.

This week's topic isn't directly relates to marketing, but it's been on mind mind, so I'm going to share. I promise these monologs will get more marketing-centric soon. 😏

I want to talk to you this crazy ride we're on.  The Earth is this huge rock, hurdling through space around a giant ball of gas and fire. Pretty freaky when you think about.

The past two years (it's hard to believe it's been that long) has been exhausting for all of us. But put the pandemic aside for a minute and take a moment to look past all the Covid-19 related craziness, how was your last approximately 24 months been?

Yes, there was tons of horrible moments, but was there times when things were lighter and less dismal?

For me, I got a chance to spend more time with the kiddo, which looking back on it was a blessing. Oh and my business didn't tank and it even grew in 2021, so that's a bonus!

I know I'm lucky and that many other have had a much rougher time. But as we go into 2022, I want look to back at last year and try to focus on what went well. This way, I can focus on improving this year.

So focusing on the good that happened, what positive things happened over the last ~24 months for you?  You might need to dig deep to find them, but there's got to be something. Hit Reply and let me know!

On to the meat of the newsletter...

Web Finds Of The Week

22 Smart Google SEO Tips for 2022

We’re back with a brand new season of Whiteboard Friday episodes for your viewing pleasure. First up: SEO expert Cyrus Shepard shares his top 22 tips for successful Google SEO in 2022. Watch to find out what to prioritize and what to look out for in the year ahead!

Moz•Cyrus Shepard

• This is one of the most thorough Whiteboard Friday's that Moz has put out in a while. Cyrus, who has now moved on from Moz, spells out what to focus on this year when it comes to SEO. I'd heed his advice.

How to extract value from zero-party data

Learn a set of strategies to encourage your customers to voluntarily deliver data about themselves and their preferences.

MarTech•William Terdoslavich

• With Web cookies on the way out, marketers need to get creative on how to get customer data. Martech.org has some great tips on how to go about gleaming information from what data we can still get on our customers to make decisions on how to market to them.

Word of mouth marketing: how to drive conversations and sales at the same time

Want to drive customer conversations and get more people talking about your brand? These 8 word of mouth marketing tactics can do the trick.

Sprout Social•Aria Solar

• Word of mouth marketing is what has gotten my agency, Goldstein Media, to the 14+ year mark of business. Word of mouth marketing in my opinion is the most important type of marketing, because it comes directly from your customers and fans. Sprout Social had a in-depth look at how to use word of mouth marketing in your business.

How small businesses are using TikTok to build brand awareness and sales

As TikTok has continued to grow in recent years, marketers and businesses have focused on the platform, often as a way to diversify their social media mix.

Digiday•Kristina Monllos

• TikTok is quite a phenomenon. It's not only for the 12 year-olds anymore. To be honest it hasn't been for a while. More and more small businesses are finding out TikTok is a great place to promote their brand in fun and different ways. If you're not on TikTok, at least perusing, you're missing out.

The Case for Permissionless Co-Marketing - SparkToro

There’s a marketing tactic you’ve never heard of. It barely has a name yet. But, many of the best marketers are already practicing it. It’s called

SparkToro•Amanda Natividad

• Amanda Natividad is one my favorite people online. She's incredibly smart and her marketing knowledge is top notch. In this article, Amanda talks about "Permissionless Co-Marketing" as a way to elevate your own brand by elevating other brands and services you admire. It's an interest technique that breed positive vibes and business all around.

The Next Big Thing in NFTs Will Be... - MackCollier.com

Last year saw NFTs explode onto the scene and in a big way. Driven by the popularity of art collections such as BAYC and Crypto Punks, NFT trading volume topped $13 Billion in 2021 alone. NFT marketplace OpenSea is on pace to have over $3 Billion in trading volume in January, so it seems 2022 […]

MackCollier.com•Mack Collier

• A great breakdown and think piece from marketer Mack Collier on NFTs. Personally, I'm still struggling to fully figure out the space, but it's definitely more than a fad.

My first impressions of web3

Despite considering myself a cryptographer, I have not found myself particularly drawn to “crypto.” I don’t think I’ve ever actually said the words “get off my lawn,” but I’m much more likely to click on Pepperidge Farm Remembers flavored memes about how “crypto” used to mean “cryptography” than ...

Moxie Marlinspike

• Another great take from a cryptographer and developer. Moxie Marlinspike just stepped down from Signal the privacy SMS platform, so he knows quite a bit about cryptography. Dig in, it's well worth you time.

Pinterest, the inspirational search engine

Pinterest processes more searches than DuckDuckGo and is the #1 destination for inspirational searches. Compared to Google, Pinterest has significant competitive advantages in the way it serves search results.

Kevin Indig - at the intersection of SEO and Growth•• 5 min read

• SEO wiz Kevin Indig thinks people are missing a great opportunity when it comes to Pinterest as an organic search engine competitor to Google. Pinterest, even more than, DuckDuckGo, can compete with Google, especially on the inspiration front. Inspiration Search Engine anyone?

Marketing Quote Of The Week

Podcast Of Note

This week I want to share a podcast I've been enjoying recently. It's also on the Marketing Podcast Network, which my two podcasts are on as well.

OnBrand with Nick Westergaard hits the spot when you want to learn more about branding and how it factors in to various facets of life, both business and personal.

Nick is a professor at University of Iowa, an author, and a brand strategist for hire. You can check out his show and other great marketing podcast over at MarketingPodcasts.net.

What do you think of this issue? Don't be shy. Hit reply and let me know!

Until next week (or sooner if something pops up 😄)

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