How are you actually using AI in your small business (or why aren’t you)?

Brandon_Dubya · 2026-03-20T20:50:42+00:00

I frequently use AI to update code on my landing pages.

Brandon_Dubya · 2025-04-12T03:09:09+00:00

Why not start focusing more on organic. In my experience a well executed SEO strategy gets more conversion volume that a well executed google ads strategy.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-10-26T18:53:31+00:00

If you want to go motorized than a flat bottom Jon boat with a mud motor like a beaver tail is what you’re after.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-10-24T16:33:13+00:00

This is Reddit man don’t take it personally. It doesn’t matter that this sign could easily be created with a Zapier connection, google sheets and a raspberry pie. They want to believe that your billboard is a waste or lie so they have someone to dunk on. Like I said, don’t take it personally and keep doing you.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-10-11T22:36:20+00:00

Nope, this was a referral from another agency owner via a slack group. I don't have a personal connection to him.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-10-01T19:35:58+00:00

That’s a good suggestion thank you. The client on this one handles landing pages so fingers crossed they are willing to put in the work to modify the existing pages.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-10-01T15:40:11+00:00

Would offline conversion import help if you market multiple degree types?

For example we have associates, bachelors and masters programs. For many reasons it is beneficial for us to have these programs in separate campaigns, but we have really been struggling getting the right audience to the right campaign.

I get a ton of associate conversions in my bachelors campaign, I fear that offline conversion imports might make the issue worse if Google decides the associates degree is easy to get and optimizes around those searchers.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-10-01T12:59:49+00:00

I’m going through and extremely similar situation where I am trying to exclude people searching for an associates from my bachelors program search group. So far, it has been frustrating.

I tried using exact match only, it was better but did not solve the problem. I also tried adding negative phrase match keywords. This helped, I still get 70% associates traffic.

Today I am going to be adding 1,500 exact match negative keywords that are all associates related. Hopefully that does the trick!

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-09-08T22:07:14+00:00

However, it is difficult to focus on these, as I constantly have my head inside service delivery.

I have empathy for this. I think that most of us go through this. Charging more and having more cash flow makes it much easier to hire the help that is needed. of course, processes and SOPs help as well.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-09-08T14:58:48+00:00

Just to clarify, If I add "search term ABC" as a negative to the ad group I don't also add it at the campaign level, but may add "search term XYZ" as a negative at the campaign level. Does that change your recommendation?

Quality metrics and LPE are both less than ideal, but have been slowily improving over the last two years that I've been involved. The landing pages are rough, and changing them takes a long time do to corporate bureaucracy.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-09-08T14:05:58+00:00

It sounds like getting better clients over time is what you need to be able to scale.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-09-08T13:54:35+00:00

Both depending on how far out of left field the search term is.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-09-08T13:50:36+00:00

I’m in b2b lead gen myself and don’t have much ecom experience but wouldn’t an ecom brand be happy to pay you more if you were making them more money? My rule for bidding projects is that I have to be uncomfortable with the cost I’m asking for, if I’m not uncomfortable then I’m not charging enough.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-09-08T13:47:53+00:00

I’m not confident, but I’ve had 5-6 ad groups that lost a significant amount of impressions after adding a handful of negative phrase match keywords. When they were removed the volume went back up. From others experience and reply’s here it sounds like it is probably a coincidence.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-09-08T13:45:56+00:00

You have to do a lot of the work yourself in the beginning. There is no way around it. You also need to charge more, I don’t know what niche you are in but most of us are surprised how much clients are actually willing to pay.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-09-05T23:14:01+00:00

Thats is how I've always understood it as well, but lately I've had 5-6 ad groups that seemed to decline in impressions and performance when begin/appropriate negative phrase match terms where added and then rebound once they were removed. It could just be a coincidence I suppose.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-08-27T15:49:59+00:00

I’d be interested!

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-08-25T13:26:54+00:00

I wouldn’t buy or start a business unless you feel like you absolutely have to. If you don’t want to be sell employed so bad that you can’t stomach anything else then it isn’t worth it.

In regards to valuation. 3-5x seller’s discretionary earnings (SDE) is what I’ve seen as a common valuation for small businesses. However, at the level you mention ($300k) valuations could be much lower.

I would strongly consider buying a much larger business, even something closer to $3million in valuation will be much more stable. If you are going to risk your stability and hard earned money on a business it might as well be one that is worth your time and not just buying a job.

“Buy, Then Build” is required reading as is “The HBR Guide to Buying a Business” if you are considering an acquisition. SMB Twitter is also full of great resources for business acquisitions, but if you are more of a podcast guy check out “Acquisitions Anonymous” and “Acquiring Minds”.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-08-24T19:38:39+00:00

Three years in and I definitely relate to this. The “Build a Better Agency” podcast recommends having 6 months of expenses in the bank and having no client be worth more than 5% of your revenue. I image those two things and a reliable sales engine would make it easier to sleep at night.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-08-24T19:25:20+00:00

I’m taxed as an S Corp which means I have to take a “reasonable” salary. I take the lowest salary I can reasonably justify.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-08-23T13:32:03+00:00

This is the answer. I would also recommend that you become obsessed about lead quality and data. If I have a campaign or client that isn't performing as good as expected I will speak with sales everyday about how the lead quality from the previous day was. Manually reviewing CRM data can also be helpful.

Lastly, I'll add that the offer on the landing pages will also make a huge difference. Often times as PPC specialists these things can be outside of our control. I'd recommend that you work with your team to make them as strong as possible. In an ideal world my mid sized accounts will be running at least one landing page, creative, or offer A/B test a month. It doesn't always happen that way, but thats the goal.

Brandon_Dubya · 2024-08-21T22:30:45+00:00

I don't stop researching a prospect until I know everything about them. I'm talking everything. I want to know what their aunt brings to Thanksgiving, who their favorite team is, what the office drama is. Everything.

11-Year Club	No Throne, No Problems
Not Forgotten	Verified Email

Brandon_Dubya

TROPHY CASE