For the meantime, just picture it
this way: I gave up my 8-year old very stable job to pursue an online career.
.. all because of Google Adwords. Now
call it serendipity because I also found another path worth taking – the world of online advertising. In fact I
am readying myself when the time comes that I need to give up my online shop
which is my only bread and butter from the start to become an online
advertising professional. I know it is
going to be really hard. It’s like breaking up with your first love because you
have finally found your true love. .. even if it meant losing everything you
have and starting all over again.
It was in December of 2012 when I
started using Google Adwords upon following my brother programmer’s advice who
learned that I am selling tour packages in my blog but I hardly close any
sales. The stars seemed to perfectly
align in the sky that time because I also received an email from Google
regarding a promo offer for Adwords first time users. I only need to pay P500
for a P2500 worth of credit! I did not know how I was targeted by Google but I
think one reason is I use Google Adsense - Google’s platform for advertising. This is
also another avenue of making money out of valid clicks from an advertisement
shown in my blog. I hardly make money
out of this before since my blog is not famous so I don’t have a lot of
visitors… until I started using Adwords. I received tremendous traffic that I
was literally blown away. Of course I add a lot of valid contents in my site
that helps too.
Now I know you are going to ask, YES I PAY FOR THIS TRAFFIC. I
don’t mind though because the profit
that is given back is X TIMES MORE than what I paid. That is why I want to
share this to every business owners particularly those who are just starting.
Weeks ago I also took TWO
seminars about Google Adwords Fundamentals and Advanced – Search from a Google
accredited learning academy. Each of these is 2-days long and there is an
examination after. The fee is P6, 000 each so if you take the two that will
cost you P12, 000! This amount of money is already big for a freelancer like me
but I knew this amount is worth it so I have no problem paying. Note that for Google Partners, the seminars
and examinations are 90% off so that’s only P600!
What is Google Adwords? This is a platform where advertisements of
products and services are placed next to organic search results to attract
traffic and sales. You can see these on
top, sides or at the bottom of Google’s search pages upon typing a particular
query. This is Google’s main form of revenue that is why they can make their
other products free of charge like gmail, search engine, translate etc…
They are in the form of a text
ad, image banner, rich media ads and videos. Note that if you are a business
owner and wants to use this, you should have a basic knowledge of how search
engine works particularly how to use the right keywords for your ads. Budget is
not a problem here because it does not matter how big or how small your budget
is. There is no particular amount required. You are free to set an amount you
are willing to gamble, that’s it!
What is good about Adwords is this is not a game of whoever has
the highest money to spend, wins. There are other factors that will determine
whose ad will be placed on the very top of the page: the landing page of the
website, quality score, relevance of the ad message, click-through rate so and
so forth. For text ads which is the most
basic type of advertisement in Adwords, you only pay when someone clicks your
ad. Again it is you who decide how much
you are willing to pay for each of the
clicks and for how many clicks you are willing to pay to pay each day.
Now you might wonder what is the
credibility of those traffic that is sent by Adwords to your site? Those people
who are only typing the keywords of your business will only get to see your
ads. Meaning if they are not looking for a product or service that concerns
your ads, it won’t show up. This method of finding potential clients are
targeted which is one of the most effective way of marketing.
You need to have a credit card
where you will allow Adwords to bill you of your paid clicks. If you think you
cannot handle your own Adwords campaigns, you may join Google Partners and find
an individual like myself or an accredited agency run it for a fee. The fact that they are listed on the Google
Partner Search, meaning they have passed the
Google AdWords certification: a
professional accreditation that Google offers to individuals who demonstrate
proficiency in basic and advanced aspects of AdWords. It also means Google
recognizes them as an online advertising professional.
I decided to join Google Partners
because I want to help more online shop owners especially those who started
just like the way I did – without knowledge of how online advertising can make
or break a business. Also this is one of my baby steps to fulfill my dream of
becoming a digital nomad who can work anywhere and anytime I want. I want to
travel around Asia or maybe the world for months and make a living via online.
Profile pic of Google handout courtesy of Wide-Out Workforces Inc where I took my Google Adwords certifications and exams.
Disclaimer: I am not in any way promising A SURE SALES in your business in any way through Adwords. All I meant is a considerable amount of TRAFFIC website. It will still depend on what is the quality and affordability of your product.
Profile pic of Google handout courtesy of Wide-Out Workforces Inc where I took my Google Adwords certifications and exams.
Disclaimer: I am not in any way promising A SURE SALES in your business in any way through Adwords. All I meant is a considerable amount of TRAFFIC website. It will still depend on what is the quality and affordability of your product.
I will talk more about Google
Partners in my next post. Stay tuned!
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