Matt Astifan: I started out being inspired by the movie Pulp Fiction, and so I got into that industry. I saw a lot of people who’d been in it a few years, and they were burnt out, they hated it, it was just a job. And it was really long hours, so I got into the real estate industry. I was a realtor, and called myself The Failed Realtor. I sold one property that year, and it was for my dad. I had a credit card, and by the end of the year I was $30k in debt, with no education etc. My managing broker said “why don’t you go figure out this internet marketing stuff, since you’re young?”
I had just met a guy from Microsoft who talked about SEO. I asked “are we hackers? Is this legal???” and then I went back to him and he mentored me and in exchange, I’d help him do sales. I called the guys with the biggest ads in the phone book. He said the first sale I made I’d keep 100%. I started cold calling, got a moving company out in Richmond, for $3000, and I was like I LOVE INTERNET MARKETING.
Slowly I made the conscious decision to become an internet marketer not a realtor. I started learning from a lot of different mentors, going online and learning. In 2009 I started WebFriendly and the Internet Masterminds groups, and also teaching people Facebook. I also have a program teaching people to be social media directors, which awards certificates. Even Ricky was in my program back then. We also had an SEO certificate. Last year I did a boot camp called four steps to social media success, and we made that into a video which I’ll make available for free at the end of this talk.
I’ve spoken at a lot of events both here and in Toronto. I took a five week trip to Thailand, during which I probably worked five hours the entire time. Vegas and Disneyland, as well. It is the lifestyle I’ve created deliberately. I even watch a lot of tv. I watched all of Lost in three months. And I also just had a baby, and this is his first time at a conference.
https://twitter.com/CathyBrowne/status/739232204052537344
You, Your Brand, and Your Ads
Each one of these steps is a challenge to you. I challenge you to put these into play. You will see a huge impact if you actually do this.
Challenge #1 Increase the conversion of YOU
Focus is the key to success. If you’re able to focus, you can eliminate failure. When you get into the zone, you can get a lot done in a short period of time. I attempt to work a five hour day, since I can get more done if the time is concentrated and so am I. Without focus you will fail, guaranteed. Distractions eliminate focus, so get away from distractions.
Did you ever have to do a project due the next day, you’ve procrastinated for two months, and then you cram it and get it done in an hour? That was focus. If you can suddenly focus like that, maybe you’ve been self-sabotaging all this time. This presentation took me an hour yesterday. I put myself in a position where I HAD to get it done, I self-sabotaged so I had no choice.
I turn off all notifications while working. I make sure it doesn’t vibrate either. I don’t answer my phone or engage in text messages etc when I’m at work. After interruptions, it takes you 20-30 minutes to get back in the zone.
Start your day by asking Am I in active mode or reactive mode? Are you directing your life or are you reacting to others. Both are necessary, but you need to make the decision. You want to stay in control of your day, so YOU need to make that choice.
Challenge #2 Increase conversion of your BRAND
One challenging thing about social media marketing is that it’s distracting as hell.
Make people think you’re cool, whether you’re actually cool or not IRL is unimportant. People want to associate with and do business with cool people. You want a profile pic that is going to capture the audience you want to attract. If your brand evolves, your avatar should do as well. Get a good headshot that makes you look cool.
Chris Hadfield used social media to communicate directly with people on Earth when he was in orbit. I got a call to go on tv to discuss his use of social media. And I had never heard of him, but I went online and hammered the research. I got it done.
The Selfie/story: stay positive, talk about mundane things that are happening in your life. People really enjoy those mundane things. It creates engagement and creates a brand for himself. Ricky does this really, really well. I embrace the humblebrag. People love it, they really do, so I will actually go out to do cool things specifically so that I can share them on social media.
Challenge #3 Increase conversion of your ADS
If you’ve run FB ads before, you’ll understand more about where it’s at in FB ads now. The way a campaign is set up, is you have your goal. You want to sell tickets, to buy a product, whatever. A Campaign has a goal. Then it has ad sets which break up your audience into buckets. Then you create ads that go to each of those buckets.
For an example, look at the White Rock Home Show. We broke up attendees to five buckets: people in White Rock over 30 years old. Interior design fans/pros. Home improvement. Gardening. HGTV viewers. We were paying about 59 cents per click for these ads. My campaign was to sell tickets. Now my ads…first you create a control ad, your best guess for what’s going to work. Eg “If you’re a fan of HGTV you’ll love this” and then you do a split test, where you change one thing, in this case the image. Then I changed the header. Then I changed the tagline. Create a minimum of three controls per ad set. The more of these sets you do the lower the cost per click. One of these ads is going to be a winner, but you just never know in advance. But when one wins you’re gonna know why it won, because of this testing.
You don’t have to do crazy things. People like mundane things, people bond over mundane things. It’s not the mundanity, it’s the identifiability.
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