Videos

Here's a list of all of the equipment that you need to get started with short-form video... Your phone. That's it. Sure, it would be nice to have a good mic, good audio, lighting, and software. But these are all excuses that will prevent you from getting started. Your first…

When should you use all placements when running Facebook ads? Whenever you're optimizing for conversions. It's not that complicated. This is the one time when you can trust the algorithm. It will make changes dynamically based on costs, competition, effectiveness, and your audience. Don't try to outsmart the algorithm. You…

Last week, I ran a test to compare the costs associated with driving quality traffic to a blog post based on different optimization: 1. Link Clicks 2. Landing Page Views 3. Quality Visitor Custom Event The Quality Visitor event fires when someone stays on a page for at least 2…

Can we use the words "you" or "your" in Facebook ads or will it get them rejected? I've long seen the claim that we can't use these words, which has baffled me since I regularly use them in my ads without an issue. Let's get to the bottom of it...…

Jon put off this episode for as long as he could. He discusses the three phases of procrastination that he has dealt with, and maybe it can help you. 1. Shame 2. Acceptance 3. Dealing with It Productively

Should we publish videos on Pinterest now? I already publish videos to TikTok, Facebook Reels, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and LinkedIn. But I've been hearing that I should give Pinterest a try, too. I'm normally pretty resistant to this kind of thing, but there's no reason not to experiment with…

How does the exact same video perform across TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook Reels? I edit all of my videos externally. I then publish that video across all of these platforms (as well as YouTube Shorts and LinkedIn). There are no differences in the video on the first three platforms. I…

One of the biggest mistakes Facebook advertisers make is related to conversion rate. Is this you? You're looking at your Google Analytics for a product landing page. And you realize that you have a 10% conversion rate. Suddenly, the wheels start spinning... If I send 100 people to this page,…

Are you an unnatural connector? Maybe you say you're introverted or even antisocial. It could be related. But I'm talking about the difficulty making personal connections. You're at a party or conference and you're surrounded by people you don't know. Do you wait for someone to talk to you? Do…

Here's how to detect whether a Facebook ads placement has become a problem. Usually this happens when your results are too good to be true. Use Breakdown by Placements to get a better sense of performance by placement. Look at the distribution of actions and budget by placement, but also…

Should you ever turn on the Audience Network placement? It has a bad reputation, and for good reason. Audience Network is notorious for driving low-quality traffic due to accidental clicks and click fraud. But while you should definitely remove it when optimizing for link clicks and landing page views, you…

If you want to drive quality traffic with Facebook ads, do this instead... Create a custom event that fires when something happens that signifies a quality website visit. Then use it to measure your results. You may be surprised by what you see. When optimizing for a link click or…

Jon invites Joel Hughes to the Pub to discuss WordPress, GA4, and AI. Joel is the founder of Glass Mountains, which is a web support agency with clients in the UK and US (including Jon). Topics covered... 0:23 Music, CDs, minidisc players, and what they're drinking (Corona and Manic Confidence…

You can clone your voice with AI now. I did this with Resemble.ai. You can create a free account to try it out like I did. First, you submit three to 25 audio samples by reading various sentences and phrases the app gives you. I tried really hard to talk…

If you live in a cold winter climate like I do, this is one of the toughest times of the year. It's easy to make excuses when it comes to staying inside. And if you're a solopreneur or simply work from home generally, this can be dangerous. You can go…

If you're on TikTok, you've likely heard creators recommend reposting the exact same video. This could be to leverage a good performing video, but it could also be to try again if something didn't do well. This is something I wouldn't normally ever consider on other platforms. And really, I…

Sometimes, you need to switch up the look and feel of your videos to add variety. Do all of your videos look the same? That's something I've realized after recording more than 200 videos. I needed to switch it up. Almost all of my videos have the same look and…

This is what my office setup looks like... I do everything here. Writing, video and podcast recording, meetings, you name it. When you spend that much time in one place, you want it the way you want it. I have an old 2016 MacBook Pro. I recently scaled back to…

There is a huge potential problem with Meta Verified, but there is a solution... If you're a creator and you sign up for this, what happens in a couple of years if you miss a payment? Or if you cancel? I assume you'll lose your verification badge. And that creates…

Here's what I think about Meta Verified. It's a mixture of good and bad... The good: 1. Diversifying is good so that Meta doesn't rely entirely on advertising. 2. Better support is good, and such a package is something many of us have been pushing for years. 3. More verification…

The Meta Verified subscription test begins in Australia and New Zealand. Here's what we know... It's for Creators 18 or over, though Meta doesn't make it clear if this includes creators who create a personal brand with pages (businesses otherwise not involved yet). Benefits include: - Verified badge that requires…

This has been a popular claim lately. While I'll concede that general remarketing isn't as necessary anymore, this claim misses some important caveats. Sure, targeting all of your website visitors because they are more likely to convert may not be as necessary anymore. You could go broad and as long…

Here's why I'm publishing at least one video every day of 2023. This has very little to do with strategy. It's not about the algorithm or trying to go viral. While it's certainly beneficial to stay in front of our audience with daily content, that's not truly the primary motivation…

Don’t let excuses keep you from recording! While this is true for any type of content creation, most roadblocks and excuses exist for people around video. The process can be overwhelming. It's intimidating. You're making yourself vulnerable. As a result, you'll come up with every reason imaginable not to hit…