Articles by Sam Hurley
I’m One Bad Day and a Chemical Spill Away from Becoming a Batman Villain
It's ten years from now… I am the head creative for Insurance Corp. A solemn saxophone blows in the distance. On one side of my cubicle is a poster with that cat from the “Hang in There” posters, but time has passed for him too, so he's just drunk, crawling down an alley with his two-thirds of an ear, as wolves loom in the distance. On the bottom, it says, in shiny Lisa Frank letters: “Things Could Be Worse.” The shimmer is blinding.
3 Slick Upsell & Cross-Sell Methods to Boost Revenue + Profit
All business models can benefit by offering both subtle choice and persuasive suggestions — are you using these powerful value enhancers? By: Sam Hurley Whether you’re B2B or B2C orientated, digital upselling and cross-selling are two major influencers of customer loyalty — and in turn, net growth. However: These two terms can often be confused, or inappropriately implemented… I’ll explain more in a moment.
New Zealand: Diocesan School for Girls slammed over hijab ban
One of Auckland’s most exclusive private schools is copping criticism for a ban on the hijab, which it says violates the school dress code. News of the prohibition on the headscarf at Diocesan School for Girls comes less than a week after 50 Muslims were killed in two Christchurch mosques, The New Zealand Herald reports. The ban may also be in contravention of the Human Rights Act and the New Zealand Bill of Rights.
3 Major Reasons To 'Go Guerrilla' Marketing in 2019 (& Beyond)
Sam Hurley February 25 2019 ‘Going guerrilla’ doesn’t involve a business trip to the zoo, unfortunately. Well, it’s entirely possible depending on your brand’s purpose — but I’ll get to that later. Guerrilla Marketing is actually a unique, intriguing way to surge your brand exposure and sales by generating impactful buzz that people can’t resist exploring. The name interestingly derives from combative guerrilla warfare: Now it begins to make sense.
On a mission to save democracy
Last week, former prime minister John Howard played down the Liberal Party’s hammering in the Victorian election by describing the state as “the Massachusetts of Australia.” In the American parlance, Massachusetts is a deep Democrat blue. It was the only state not to vote for Richard Nixon in his landslide re-election victory in 1972 (a fact that, with the benefit of hindsight, might reflect uniquely good judgement).
5 SUPER SHARP Conversion Rate Boosters for 2019 (& Beyond)
Sam Hurley November 24 2018 It’s often a challenge to gain relevant website traffic today. Many online discussions revolve around this topic — with business owners and marketers evermore challenged to find the next rich source of fresh visitors.
Cheltenham Festivals news : Chris Hoy speaking at #cheltlitfest on the cyclists versus motorists issue…
If every gig sounded this good the world would be a joyous place. CUD’s return to the Islington Academy some ten years and a handful […]
5 Naughty Conversion 'Dark Patterns' to Avoid in 2019
Sam Hurley September 21 2018 ‘Dark patterns’ aren’t supernatural digital forces plaguing our websites, as the term might suggest — don’t worry about an internet-based apocalypse (just yet). However, dark patterns are evil in varying degrees (some even illegal), and often very deliberately, used on many types of websites and apps where either money or data is transmitted from user to company.
3 Eye-Opening Content Hacks for 'Boring' Businesses
Sam Hurley August 20 2018 Many people admire vibrant, inventive companies… Red Bull, Amazon, Lamborghini and Oreo, to name just a few. Not only are the public fond of them — but also those fortunate marketers who get paid for producing awesome content to market these luminous brands. After all, it seems relatively easy (and ludicrously fun) to dream up fantastic, viral material for such powerhouses of stimulation, right?
5 SUPER SHARP Conversion Rate Boosters for 2018 (& Beyond)
Sam Hurley June 24 2018 It’s often a challenge to gain relevant website traffic today. Many online discussions revolve around this topic — with business owners and marketers evermore challenged to find the next rich source of fresh visitors.
In-House vs Marketing Agency
The age-old debate — but times change. Here’s exactly what you need to know in 2018 (& beyond) for maximum marketing efficiency & ROI. It’s one of the toughest choices for any growing business… “Do we recruit an internal marketing team, or do we hire a marketing agency?” You may have neither at the moment. Perhaps you already have one, while considering the other.
5 Naughty Conversion 'Dark Patterns' to Avoid in 2018
Sam Hurley May 21 2018 ‘Dark patterns’ aren’t supernatural digital forces plaguing our websites, as the term might suggest — don’t worry about an internet-based apocalypse (just yet). However, dark patterns are evil in varying degrees (some even illegal), and often very deliberately, used on many types of websites and apps where either money or data is transmitted from user to company.
3 Prime B2B Content Marketing Shifts in 2018 & Beyond
This core marketing strategy demands up-to-date analysis, planning and deployment for bottom line ROI — Get ahead of the content curve! Content underpins everything we do online (as marketers, and customers).
3 Slick Upsell & Cross-Sell Methods to Boost Revenue + Profit
Sam Hurley April 30 2018 Whether you’re B2B or B2C oriented, digital upselling and cross-selling are two major influencers of customer loyalty — and in turn, net growth. However: These two terms can often be confused, or inappropriately implemented… I’ll explain more in a moment. For now, here’s the lowdown on why you may need to reconsider your current approach to selling.
Kasmeer Lata: NZ mother sold teen 1000 times as a sex slave
A mother of a teenage daughter has been jailed for six years and 11 months after keeping her daughter as a sex slave and selling her body to men some 1000 times over a two-year period. She was sold as many as five times a day. The teen, who has permanent name suppression, escaped her horror in November 2016 and fled to police.
3 B2B Marketing Trends to Not Ignore in 2018 & Beyond
3 B2B Marketing ‘Hot Topics’ Not to Be Ignored in 2018 (& Beyond) The B2B space is ever more fluid — Discover some of the most important considerations to inform your marketing strategy today. Before we go any further, I’ll give you peace of mind: This isn’t a typical “B2B Trends” piece that outlines evident trends as key points (influencer marketing, video, content marketing, AI, chatbots, personalization, etc.) — although these are intertwined and discussed.
SEO & Content Marketing Blog
Optimize your SaaS website for maximum sales and engagement using these 5 validated conversion optimization strategies from the experts. Conversion rate optimization is essential...
3 Building Blocks of a Superior Customer Experience Strategy
There are still many companies that get it wrong… Revenue doesn’t come first — your customers do. “Of course they do! You need customers to gain revenue, right?” However, I’m not merely referring to how the standard business model works. I’m talking about the very culture of a brand. At its heart, an experience-led organization prioritizes the happiness and enjoyment levels of its customers — rather than placing evident, primary focus on money. What does this mean from an analytical viewpoint?
5 Expert Methods to Guarantee SaaS Growth
Optimize your SaaS website for maximum sales and engagement using these 5 validated conversion optimization strategies from the experts. Conversion rate optimization is essential for any website. However, the undulating Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business model demands particularly impeccable attention to detail and ongoing CRO experiments.
3 Striking Steps: How To Use Color Psychology for Glowing Sales
Sam Hurley February 26 2018 Psychology is everything in business. To attract new customers, keep your current advocates magnetized and simply sell more, you must tap into their minds; communicating on both a conscious and subconscious level. What does this mean? Let’s demonstrate using a familiar sight… We all know what ‘SALE NOW ON’ refers to — in a literal sense. However, what about the deeper meaning behind this message?
Expert Round-Up: Top SEO Trends to Focus in 2018
A great SEO strategy can exponentially increase the ranking and the performance of a website. SEO is a complete game-changing area, and with the right focus on it, the entire website can garner much higher views. We requested many digital marketing industry experts to share their predictions on SEO in 2018 and we are sharing their valuable thoughts here. The following list is organized by the date we received their feedback. Please share your feedback in the comments.
5 Expert-Proven SEO Strategies to Boost SaaS Revenue
Use these 5 proven SEO strategies from the experts to improve SaaS companies’ rankings and revenue in 2018. Software as a Service (SaaS) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be described as two of the fastest-paced industries today. Keeping up with trends and techniques in these specialisms (those actually confirmed to reap rewards!) can be extremely challenging.
3 No-Nonsense Ways To Measure The Value Of Your SEO Strategy - Brand Quarterly
Creating and implementing an SEO strategy requires vast amounts of hard work and sustained efforts. Once the initial hurdle is overcome and a brand realises the importance of SEO, it comes as great relief to finally feel as though progress has been made. The next obstacle is actually achieving results. That first glimpse of return on investment is all that’s needed to gain the trust of colleagues and stakeholders in such a notorious ‘smoke and mirrors’ industry.
7 Mighty Customer Experience Trends for Retention in 2018 | Post Funnel
The way businesses operate is transforming as environments constantly shift — our digital world is fast-paced, technology-led and even chaotic. While attempting to keep up with the times and simultaneously scale, it’s easy to become caught up in the surrounding hype of new marketing concepts, innovative software…and the actions of the latest disruptive startups.
7 Vital SaaS Trends for Marketing Domination in 2018
The SaaS industry grows more competitive each year, making it evermore difficult to stand out. Discover 7 vital SaaS marketing trends to achieve success in 2018. Software as a Service (SaaS) is an incredibly vibrant, pioneering industry — and one of the most fluid. It’s now also extremely competitive.
How To Destroy Your Brand Reputation In 9 Easy Steps
Strategy Follow this actionable guide to ensure your brand never thrives and instead, generates (lasting) negative sentiment. It really is effortless… Sam Hurley October 23 2017 Your brand image = Your volume of sales. “45% said they stumbled on search results that made them decide not to buy”. (Source: Vendasta) Can you afford to lose nearly half of your potential business..? This is exactly how you should be thinking when it comes to reputation. And reputation is forever fragile.
OPTIM-EYEZ Launches — 1.5 Years Later! [Learn from Sam Hurley]
WARNING *** Not for the faint-hearted. If you’d rather not know the ins and outs of running a business … Please click here to see a cute, very happy dog. *** Intro It’s hard to believe and it definitely hasn’t sunk in yet — The time has finally come.
3 Key Advantages of Using E-Commerce Chatbots
3 Key Advantages of Using E-Commerce Chatbots (+ Platforms to Build Them!) I’m going to uncover the three biggest reasons why your e-commerce brand needs to start investing in chatbot technology ASAP…and the tools required to build them. Mobile shopping is steadily but surely gaining pace in terms of global online sales.
7 Actionable Customer Support Hacks to Boost Retention Rates
How do you rapidly grow your customer base? Stop losing your current customers. This is the fine art of retention — and the Pareto Principle states that 80% of business comes from only 20% of customers. Along with stats that suggest it costs up to 7x more to gain a new customer than keeping a current one, maximizing your retention rate should be at the very top of your business strategy. Gaining new customers is hard work. Keep those you have happy.
7 Key Learnings For Aspiring Entrepreneurs | Sam Hurley
Thinking of quitting your job to chase your dreams of entrepreneurship? It’s often a tough call for many people of all ages. Weighing up the pros and cons of self-employment or entrepreneurship seems an endless process and letting go of that ‘guaranteed’ salary is a decision not to be taken lightly. In fact, it’s most likely one of the biggest decisions you will ever make! Not so long ago, I made that very decision to launch my own digital marketing venture: OPTIM-EYEZ.
5 Reasons Why Your E-Commerce Brand Needs to Use AI
E-commerce remains a highly competitive field, but don’t fret, you can make it big amongst the giants thanks to artificial intelligence and machine-learning tools. Artificial intelligence and machine learning have far surpassed the “eye roll” reaction they once sparked… They have become essential tools for many large e-commerce brands to operate at such scale — and both, while also becoming more advanced, are increasing in prominence with each year that goes by (in a multitude of sectors).
Pricing Psychology: 7 Clever Tweaks To Make Customers Buy Again
Sam Hurley August 21 2017 Of course: Your level of service, the quality of experience you offer and many other emotion-driven factors come into play… But pricing has massive psychological impact. Ignore this critical aspect of business at your peril. Pricing affects immediate AND longer-term opinions formed around your brand. It changes how customers feel — and ultimately has the power to equal business success or failure.
5 Steps to Decode the E-Commerce Customer Journey
Customers now use multiple devices during the customer journey & it can be difficult to accurately track them between devices, but we’re here to help. Firstly: There is no ignoring the significance of the e-commerce industry. Its growth over the years has been phenomenal, constant, and ubiquitous. Even if the trend begins to slow down — we’re still talking trillions in global online sales each year.
4 Fantastic Social Media Tools to Rapidly Scale Your Marketing
There are a million and one other “social media tool” roundup posts — so I wanted to bring a completely fresh (and extraordinary) offering to the table. Not only are the following pieces of digital kit some of the best social tools around. Not only should you experiment with each. Not only do they hold the power to spectacularly scale your efforts… …But their CEOs have additionally provided their respected opinions on the future of social media marketing.
5 Magnetic Retention Concepts + 15 Tools You Can Use Today | Post Funnel
Businesses spend a lot of time and money acquiring each customer. While acquisition is undoubtedly important, it costs up to seven times more to gain a new customer than to keep a current one! With that in mind, why don’t businesses simply work harder to keep the customers they already have..? Here’s part of the problem: Customer loyalty has declined dramatically in recent years. Today’s consumers think nothing of buying from a different store every week.
7 Principles of Social Media Lead Generation
If you aren’t using social media channels to generate leads, check these core concepts to turn your social profiles into lead-generating machines! Over the last few years, social media has transformed from merely a business add-on, to a necessity. I can say from experience — if you’re not using social to drive traffic and therefore leads that convert to revenue, your brand is losing out. Big time. My business was built on social media. My website has never been live.
How To Accelerate Your Sales Cycle In 5 Swift Steps - Sparklane
For B2B companies, it makes perfect sense to shorten the sales cycle wherever possible. Sales processes cost valuable resource; The quicker you attract prospects and close deals, the more efficient and profitable your business becomes. Without the use of streamlining techniques, the typical sales rep makes less than 20 calls in an hour.
Technical SEO: Check These 3 Errors Right Now
Technical SEO: 3 Embarrassing Errors You Need to Check Right Now! Check these technical SEO errors right now to ensure you aren’t hurting your search rankings and visibility online, and if you are, learn how to correct them. SEO is a tricky concept to grasp at the best of times… But technical SEO is on a whole different level entirely! Despite that, it really pays to spend time frequently brushing up on your knowledge.
Fundamental growth hacking for new ‘solopreneurs'
Successful digital marketing and website optimization = more business. Yes, it’s a fact and that’s great� But what about hacking your way to growth as a new entrepreneur working alone i.e. a ‘solopreneur’? The phenomenon has arrived and it’s here to stay. Many of us are now cutting the costly overheads that come with operating huge offices and numerous employees. It just makes sense.
Fundamental growth hacking for new ‘solopreneurs'
Successful digital marketing and website optimization = more business. Yes, it’s a fact and that’s great… But what about hacking your way to growth as a new entrepreneur working alone i.e. a ‘solopreneur’? The phenomenon has arrived and it’s here to stay. Many of us are now cutting the costly overheads that come with operating huge offices and numerous employees. It just makes sense.
Fundamental growth hacking for new ‘solopreneurs’
Successful digital marketing and website optimization = more business. Yes, it’s a fact and that’s great… But what about hacking your way to growth as a new entrepreneur working alone i.e. a ‘solopreneur’? The phenomenon has arrived and it’s here to stay. Many of us are now cutting the costly overheads that come with operating huge offices and numerous employees. It just makes sense.
The Ultimate Semantic SEO Guide for 2017 & Beyond | Digital Current
Implement these three SEO tactics in this ultimate semantic SEO guide for 2017 to fully optimize for voice search and the progression of Google search engine results. Semantics are now at the core of every search query answered on Google. As important as semantics are to Google, semantic SEO should hold equal value in your digital strategy for 2017 and the future.
The Ultimate Semantic SEO Guide for 2017 & Beyond | Digital Current
Implement these three SEO tactics in this ultimate semantic SEO guide for 2017 to fully optimize for voice search and the progression of Google search engine results. Semantics are now at the core of every search query answered on Google. As important as semantics are to Google, semantic SEO should hold equal value in your digital strategy for 2017 and the future.
Know Firmographics? The Best B2B Experts Do!
In a data-driven era, success in business is largely the result of thorough market research — research conducted to know 1) why you’re selling your product or service and 2) who you’re directing your product or service towards. That may sound like simple logic…but you’d be surprised how many startups fail to solve a valid need and target the right people.
Rapidly Grow your Startup using 3 Digital Marketing Tactics
Aside from your overactive mind and endless array of ideas, it’s the burning question which keeps you awake at night… “How do I get ‘it’ out there?” That depends entirely on what ‘it’ is. Each startup is different. Fortunately, any business can be simplified down to the bare bones with this essential yet commonly forgotten WWWWH method: What is your product or service? Who is your target audience? Where do they congregate? How do they buy? Why would they buy? Suddenly, everything becomes much clearer.
How To Ensure Devoted Brand Ambassadors Are Born
Your employees and customers can act as powerful brand ambassadors for your company. Here’s how to nurture their success. 1. Recruited ambassadors: Members of the public, employees, influencers, celebrities and/or even founders of companies who are engaged then specifically rewarded through a formulated endorsement program. Note: There are some crossovers and nuances with the term ‘influencer marketing,’ but I won’t go into detail here. 2.
Implement These 3 Superior Link Building Boosters in 2017
Shoot up the SERPs in 2017 by following these three link building boosters: creating linkable assets, leveraging influencers, and engaging in some link hustling. Backlinks, content, and RankBrain are Google’s top three confirmed ranking signals, likely in that order. Despite the industry buzz surrounding backlinks supposedly losing their SEO value, they remain absolutely essential. Explaining links in a nutshell: Links are effectively, online recommendations.
Implement These 3 Superior Link Building Boosters in 2017
Shoot up the SERPs in 2017 by following these three link building boosters: creating linkable assets, leveraging influencers, and engaging in some link hustling. Backlinks, content, and RankBrain are Google’s top three confirmed ranking signals, likely in that order. Despite the industry buzz surrounding backlinks supposedly losing their SEO value, they remain absolutely essential. Explaining links in a nutshell: Links are effectively, online recommendations.
5 Shocking Mistakes In Your Sales Methods
Considering the importance of sales pipelines, it would be absolutely crazy to neglect this area of your company…right?
Use These Conversion Killers As Conversion Rate Optimization Tips
Closely inspect these 7 conversion-killing crimes to learn if your site is guilty, or what to absolutely avoid in order to turn these into conversion rate optimization tips. Gaining qualified traffic to your website is only half the journey. The other, most important half is transforming that traffic into paying customers. To be profitable, conversion is imperative. You must make every visitor count if you want your marketing dollars to go a long way.
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