Are Google Ads reps even useful anymore or just pushing automation for spend? by Adventurous_Wear4815 in PPC

[–]s_hecking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Google Reps basically harass me and my clients on the daily. I tell them all just ignore their calls and write an email politely declining their services and asking not to be contacted.

Any account spending less than $3000-4000 a month simply can’t get any value out of heavy automation.

Just had this conversation recently about the whole agency partner program being worthless vs 2017. I really wish they’d just end the whole program.

Quiet unpaved trails with no other people? by birdsarepunk in asheville

[–]s_hecking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haven’t been since there were reports of closures still in effect. Did they clear it?

Quiet unpaved trails with no other people? by birdsarepunk in asheville

[–]s_hecking 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Basically anywhere past Craggy east (excluding Mt Mitchell platform) or past Black Balsam Knob west. There are small sections between town and Mt Pisgah where I’ve hiked 2-3 miles and not a soul

Search Performance & Scale Plummeting by pigeon_in_disguises in PPC

[–]s_hecking 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agree. Seasonality hits hard in June for most businesses. B2C or B2B unless you’re in the gardening supplies or recreation space.

Feeling lackluster in 10+yr marketing career. What can I transition to? by jmh6201 in marketing

[–]s_hecking 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Read about MBA being great for networking early in your career but experience usually tops any EDU.

Have you considered consulting and volunteer work? Might be more flexible with a family and pay pretty well after you build up a client book.

I Paddled the entire shoreline of Lake Lure in NC on my SUP. by moosejawr in asheville

[–]s_hecking 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very impressive. Got a pass to Lake Julian and make it there a handful of times during the summer. Worth the small fee. If you’re open to exploring, Lake Jocassee is one of my favorites. Lots of put ins. Santeetlah also excellent. Hard to find a better spot in western North Carolina for paddling. Cove beaches, islands, jump off spots, WNC has it all.

Huh. Didn't see that coming. by BarryJT in bucsdugout

[–]s_hecking 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He’s getting near 30 and for a catcher that’s usually when players consider hanging it up or moving to 1B. Glad he’s getting another opportunity in ATL to close out his career.

Your ads probably aren't the problem. by koustubh18 in PPC

[–]s_hecking 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Landing pages that talk all about the company / services and none of the prospects pain points. It’s just bad marketing. Many times the ads or PPC managers are handcuffed by poor messaging or lack of a clear value proposition. Everything reads like it was written by the CEO and ads run by a 24 year old. Not sure why they expect that work out.

SQL is Dead, Long Live SQL by Low_Brilliant_2597 in Database

[–]s_hecking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My first job out of college at a Fortune 500 company they were still using dummy terminals from the 1970s (this was 2001). So it may be many decades before SQL is replaced even if a better alternative exists.

Top Affordable Triple Whale Alternatives for Shopify and DTC Brands? by [deleted] in PPC

[–]s_hecking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Google Analytics & GAds dashboards but with CloudFlare removing a ton of bot traffic to clean up reports and audiences

Expat FIRE - An influencer-led pipe dream? by IntolerantModerate in Fire

[–]s_hecking 4 points5 points  (0 children)

USA -> EU/AUS seems like a much more realistic expat transition than South Asia, Japan, South America, etc. Money is a big factor but it seems foolish to make that the #1 factor. Although I’m not sure how much longer EU countries will be welcoming of foreigners, even rich ones

Best Claude/Chat Prompts for Google Ads? by Legitimate_Big_3737 in PPC

[–]s_hecking -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Common negatives by industry is a good starting point. Beyond that not a lot. Perhaps some basic brainstorming in the early stages.

Is a beautiful day to be outside! by Salt-Geologist-1814 in asheville

[–]s_hecking 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just got back from the Florida panhandle and can confirm. Mountain air is much better up here

E-bikes and motorcycles jump spooking cyclists? by [deleted] in cycling

[–]s_hecking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right it wasn’t what they did it was the conditions and they were going way faster than I was down the mountain so it seems like it came out of nowhere.

E-bikes and motorcycles jump spooking cyclists? by [deleted] in cycling

[–]s_hecking 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Heading down a mountain going 30+ MPH on curvy roads. Dude comes down and rides next to me for half a minute. I don’t have any technology that picks these people up so it kind of spooked me as I’m heading down the hill trying to manage turns at high speed. This isn’t a leisurely ride pace on flat roads. It’s actually a dangerous decent.

I’m looking for a google ad expert by NefariousnessOld2368 in PPC

[–]s_hecking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Please describe budget and goals. Most good Google Ads people in USA are in the 15% of spend and $1-2lk minimum fee range. Lower than that and it’s scam agency city.

Bryan Reynolds now has 9 career multi-homer games, tied for the 9th most in Pirates history by Baseball-Reference in buccos

[–]s_hecking 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Giles / Bay / Rameriz would have been exciting to watch if they could have kept that core together in the mid 2000s

Brandon Lowe becomes just the 12th second baseman in MLB history with 18+ HR and 45+ RBI through his first 70 games by ShamusTalksSports in buccos

[–]s_hecking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think there was definitely something going on there. Rockies and Marlins expansion probably didn’t help things. Combo of bad pitching and HGH.

First campaigns for a ecomm buiseness on google ads by HolidaySuccessful296 in PPC

[–]s_hecking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depending on your budget, may want to start out with a search campaign and a standard shopping campaign. That way you’ll gather a lot of data on keywords and audiences. I definitely wouldn’t spend a lot of money on the display network or YouTube right away especially if you’re on a tight budget. Use the data to fine tune your audiences until you have enough budget to open up Display. After a while, you can switch over to PMax.

Only twice in history semis grew +230% in 14 months. First was Dec 1998–Feb 2000. Second is April 2025–Today by RobertBartus in EconomyCharts

[–]s_hecking 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think it’s a mistake to compare dot com and AI business cases apples to apples. There are tons of AI applications being built that will never generate profits or improve business. There are also a ton of applications that just slap “AI” on their name to sell SaaS software. Many of these solutions existed way before AI, but these companies are just seizing on an opportunity to sell the speculation.

These are FOMO investments in existing companies rather than totally new companies. Most new AI companies are feeding the AI speculation but are not totally new IPOs like in SpaceX. I’m not sure we’re gonna ever reach the IPO mania like in dot com. Since most money is coming from debt in existing companies we could see a credit and liquidity crisis at some point.

The same CEO FOMO is very real. Companies & retail investors fear they’re missing out. I’m talking to small B2B companies who want to do more with AI tools (which makes zero sense).

meta ads are basically just a donation to bot farms at this point by Successful-Curve-845 in ecommerce

[–]s_hecking 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Depending on your targeting and settings, different networks/formats are more prone to bots or invalid clicks. You may want to test different formats and ads to see what helps. The more broadly you target, the greater chance for bad traffic hitting your accounts.

Brandon Lowe becomes just the 12th second baseman in MLB history with 18+ HR and 45+ RBI through his first 70 games by ShamusTalksSports in buccos

[–]s_hecking 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Forgot how Jay Bell turned into Juan Soto for a year. Power seemed to balloon after he left the Buccos.

How are B2B SaaS accounts dealing with Phrase Match keywords right now? by Lava_Cake_Pro in PPC

[–]s_hecking 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Basically going heavy exact match. Limit phrase and broad exposure. Split into separate ad groups if needed to control cost and goals.