Cory Henke’s path to his current stop, leading his media buying and analytics agency, is anything but a straight line. From convincing his college basketball coach to let him walk on as a novice to being taken into investor meetings by his last boss and CEO, Cory’s learned a lot of things by being unafraid to ask questions, take risks, and be the best at whatever role is needed, especially if that role is ‘Dad.’ Episode Highlights[1:27] Cory shares how being an unlikely member of the basketball team at California Lutheran University taught him how to mold yourself to the a role and the importance of experience.[6:38] A mentor is someone willing to tell you the truth. They don't need anything from you, and are willing to spend the time to help mold you.[7:28] Cory's first mentor and boss, Cat, was ruthless, but helped instill a sense of urgency and the importance of being a team member. [13:19] Cory shares how he found himself loving the combination of disruption and innovation that digital marketing brings when working with a particular client - Mormon.org.[18:05] A position at Molio brought Cory to Utah and spurred the launch of his own agency.[23:55] Now, Cory is the mentor, and focuses on doing it all with transparency and love, allowing his employees the space and freedom to grow.[29:00] Cory shares his keys to mentoring success[30:00] Learn why Cory lists the role of 'Dad' first in his LinkedIn bio.[32:29] Cory's favorite element of digital marketing is data - he believes it's the gold to success in this field, and wants to be the best at mining it.[34:40] Why does YouTube hold such a place of focus for Cory?[38:32] Beginning in 2020 and into 2021, scaling a business required a talented media buyer. In the last year, successful scaling has come from those focusing on product innovation.[44:54] Cory shares is top 3 tips for getting into media buying[47:31] Cory shares why Variable Media's website uses NotionEpisode LinksCalifornia Lutheran UniversityYouTube ChannelsPaid Media ProsLex FridmanAndrew HubermanCory HenkeVariable MediaTwitterLinkedInFollow The Digital Marketing Mentor: Website and Blog: thedmmentor.com Instagram: @thedmmentor Linkedin: @thedmmentor YouTube: @thedmmentor Interested in Digital Marketing Services, Careers, or Courses? Check out more from the TDMM Family: Optidge.com - Full Service Digital Marketing Agency specializing in SEO, PPC, Paid Social, and Lead Generation efforts for established B2C and B2B businesses and organizations. ODEOacademy.com - Digital Marketing online education and course platform. ODEO gives you solid digital marketing knowledge to launch/boost your career or understand your business’s digital marketing strategy.

We discuss the purpose, benefits, and process of a solid SEO content writing strategy with Mandy Politi, a  Senior SEO Strategist at Optidge. Her career journey began as a child in the Greek education system with a strong focus on written content, continued with a degree in linguistics, and has led to a passionate approach to creating ever-evolving content briefs for writers and valuable content for consumers. Get ready for SEO Content Writing 101 in this episode of the Digital Marketing Mentor. An Optidge "Office Hours" EpisodeOur Office Hours episodes are your go-to for details, how-to’s, and advice on specific marketing topics. Join our fellow Optidge team members, and sometimes even 1:1 teachings from Danny himself, in these shorter, marketing-focused episodes every few weeks. Get ready to get marketing!Episode Highlights[1:28] Mandy is Optidge’s Senior SEO Strategist. She grew up in Greece, moved to Scotland to get her Master's degree in Applied Linguistics, and now lives in Mexico City. Her primary education in Greece certainly influenced her decision to go into the field of Search Engine Optimization with a focus on written content. [6:52] What does it mean to “write for SEO?”[8:00] Why is SEO content important and what's the goal of optimizing content?[11:50] Consider a hypothetical scenario. An orthodontist only supplies Invisalign and does not offer traditional braces. Is it okay for them to write content to try and rank for “braces?” [14:40] Mandy shares her process for writing for SEO[23:45] For true optimization, you must go back and review the content you’ve published after a month or two. Has the content been indexed? Does it rank for what was originally intended? [26:18] Mandy isn’t always writing the content herself. She shares how she works with other writers by providing them with content briefs.[34:36] The Greek education system was probably Mandy’s biggest mentor for SEO content. In Greece, every single year of formal education teaches you how to write, why you’ll write a certain way, different structures, what makes content good, and the skill of summarizing content and ideas. Guest + Episode LinksThe Ride of a Lifetime by Robert IgerAtomic Habits by James ClearDon’t Shoot the Dog by Karen PryorMandy Politi | LinkedInFollow The Digital Marketing Mentor: Website and Blog: thedmmentor.com Instagram: @thedmmentor Linkedin: @thedmmentor YouTube: @thedmmentor Interested in Digital Marketing Services, Careers, or Courses? Check out more from the TDMM Family: Optidge.com - Full Service Digital Marketing Agency specializing in SEO, PPC, Paid Social, and Lead Generation efforts for established B2C and B2B businesses and organizations. ODEOacademy.com - Digital Marketing online education and course platform. ODEO gives you solid digital marketing knowledge to launch/boost your career or understand your business’s digital marketing strategy.

Having immigrated to Toronto from Lithuania as a young child and moved multiple times, Akvile is no stranger to adjusting to new situations. She’s taken those life experiences and the skills she learned from her many mentors over her career and turned them into numerous awards and a thriving social media advertising agency. Learn about the path that got her there and how she was gifted a client list to start her agency journey. Episode Highlights[1:45] Akvile shares how her upbringing and educational background taught her how to communicate, demonstrate empathy, and help others overcome challenges.[8:23] What is a mentor to Akvile and where did she find her mentors?[11:34] A key mentor in Akvile's career took her under her wing and gave her a head start in focusing on her marketing career which culminated in founding AKvertise.[17:20] Akvile shares her insights on how she learned she was underpricing herself, and how a major mentor helped her restructure.[21:35] Why does Akvile think it’s important and fulfilling to mentor college students? How is this key to the continued success of the digital marketing world? [25:58] Akvile shares the beauty and challenges of social media advertising: Finding ways to reach an audience that will most likely be interested in the products and services you’re trying to sell and getting that audience into your funnel. She defines this as targeting people instead of keywords.[29:54] Attribution and targeting options within the Meta advertising space have changed significantly over the years., and although the attribution in Meta is more model-based than true data, Akvile still confidently recommends it to her clients. [33:30] If you’re a service provider and/or running your own agency, Akvile would recommend that you take part in both running and implementing campaigns as well as consulting.[39:18] Akvile shares that overcoming stage fright with Toastmaster led to the award she's most proud of and keeps within reaching distance on her desk - Toastmaster of the Year in 2017.Episode LinksAKvertiseAkvile DeFazio’s LinkedInPamela Lund | That Pam ChickJohn DohertyToastmastersPodcastsCriminalSold a StoryThe Daily by The New York TimesFollow The Digital Marketing Mentor: Website and Blog: thedmmentor.com Instagram: @thedmmentor Linkedin: @thedmmentor YouTube: @thedmmentor Interested in Digital Marketing Services, Careers, or Courses? Check out more from the TDMM Family: Optidge.com - Full Service Digital Marketing Agency specializing in SEO, PPC, Paid Social, and Lead Generation efforts for established B2C and B2B businesses and organizations. ODEOacademy.com - Digital Marketing online education and course platform. ODEO gives you solid digital marketing knowledge to launch/boost your career or understand your business’s digital marketing strategy.

Martha Van Berkel has never backed down from a challenge and wouldn’t know how to hit the brakes on a hairpin turn on a go-kart track. She is always wanting to move faster, solve clients’ problems better, add more value, and think bigger. This is why she created Schema App. Learn more about structured data and how her mentors helped guide her onto the path of success as we dive deep into being open to feedback and opportunities with Martha. Episode Highlights[1:37] Martha discusses growing up in Canada and her educational background at Queen's University and MIT.[12:20] After attending a “CEO Camp” weekend, Martha left wondering if she had a current mentor in her life and, if so, what did that look like? [10:55] Mentoring - getting/giving feedback.[17:05] Martha’s mentors at Cisco each played important roles at key decision points, and her time at Cisco lit the entrepreneurial spirit in her.[28:52] Martha shares how she makes a very concerted effort to mentor her team at Schema App, and what that looks like. [33:25] Martha shares that she is writing a chapter in the book: SEO in 2023, sponsored by Majestic.[35:50] What is schema markup, and how does Schema App provide solutions to businesses?[42:05] Does Google really need schema? Martha gets asked this a lot and shares her insight.Episode Links2022 Schema App Blog Post RetrospectiveSchema App | Create an AccountMartha on LinkedInFollow The Digital Marketing Mentor: Website and Blog: thedmmentor.com Instagram: @thedmmentor Linkedin: @thedmmentor YouTube: @thedmmentor Interested in Digital Marketing Services, Careers, or Courses? Check out more from the TDMM Family: Optidge.com - Full Service Digital Marketing Agency specializing in SEO, PPC, Paid Social, and Lead Generation efforts for established B2C and B2B businesses and organizations. ODEOacademy.com - Digital Marketing online education and course platform. ODEO gives you solid digital marketing knowledge to launch/boost your career or understand your business’s digital marketing strategy.

Welcome to Optidge’s Office Hours! Our Office Hours episodes are your go-to for details, how-to’s, and advice on specific marketing topics. Join our fellow Optidge team members, and sometimes even 1:1 teachings from Danny himself, in these shorter, marketing-focused episodes every few weeks. Get ready to get marketing!Summary Learn the differences between paid search campaigns with a manual bidding strategy vs an automated (or smart) bidding strategy as we discuss the best methods you can use to optimize your ad spend. Rachael Howle is the Head of Paid Search at Optidge and shares her knowledge and experience utilizing manual bidding strategies and how and when to switch campaigns to automated bidding in Google Ads. Episode Highlights [6:52] Rachael and Danny chat about the differences between manual and automated bidding, including how automated bidding utilizes Google's platform.[8:55] Rachael discusses different automated bidding strategies and goals.[9:52] The successes we've seen moving to Maximize Conversions campaigns, and steps to take to evaluate manual bidding campaigns. [17:28] Why the big push from Google to shift to automated bid strategies?[20:44] Rachael provides insight into the continued need for the human touch with campaigns. Automation is only part of it; it’s only a tool. You still need to have the master craftsman. [22:55] Danny and Rachael dive into the significant benefits of utilizing an agency to manage your paid search campaigns[24:24] Rachael shares her parting thoughts: manual bidding is certainly still worthwhile. Episode LinksUniversity of TexasUniversity of Houston, Bauer College of BusinessGoogle Ads Automated BiddingAutomated Bidding StrategiesWe Had a Little Real Estate ProblemProject Hail MaryThe Humanized LeaderRachael on LinkedInFollow The Digital Marketing Mentor: Website and Blog: thedmmentor.com Instagram: @thedmmentor Linkedin: @thedmmentor YouTube: @thedmmentor Interested in Digital Marketing Services, Careers, or Courses? Check out more from the TDMM Family: Optidge.com - Full Service Digital Marketing Agency specializing in SEO, PPC, Paid Social, and Lead Generation efforts for established B2C and B2B businesses and organizations. ODEOacademy.com - Digital Marketing online education and course platform. ODEO gives you solid digital marketing knowledge to launch/boost your career or understand your business’s digital marketing strategy.

Kirk Williams, Founder and CEO of ZATO Marketing, a PPC micro agency, discusses the benefits of dedicating yourself to learning, sharing your knowledge and wisdom, and more of his background. We talk about how seminary school helped him become the marketer he is today, along with his Father-In-Law, and how he defines a mentor. He mentions the processes he’s implementing to mentor his team today, and we discuss Performance Max and the future of Google Shopping. Episode Highlights[4:00] Kirk discusses his educational background in seminary school (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) and learning to take in a multitude of different interpretations and backgrounds of ideas.[10:19] When it came to finding and building his team at ZATO, Kirk highlighted the importance of finding people who have curiosity and passion, and doing a cost-benefit analysis of how they commit to projects and learning. [14:25] What is a mentor? At a real, base level, Kirk defines a mentor as someone who has the willingness and knowledge to offer help to someone in an ongoing manner. He also stressed the importance of consent from your mentor, as well as respect for the knowledge and guidance shared. [31:15] Kirk discussed how he is still trying to figure out the details of how he is mentoring and fostering an environment of mentorship within the ZATO world now. [34:30] Performance Max is Google Ads' new goal-based campaign type that uses Google’s automation to target more converting customers and focuses on sales conversions. Kirk highlights how little is known across the digital marketing and PPC communities about how PMax truly works and the specifics of how it targets customers. He also dives into how PMax should be viewed and used within the marketing funnel.Episode LinksState of Search - Dallas ConferenceMinnesota SearchUtah DMC Who? By Geoff Smart and Randy StreetKirk’s New YouTube Channel: Merchant Center MasteryPPC Pondering PodcastZATO MarketingFollow The Digital Marketing Mentor: Website and Blog: thedmmentor.com Instagram: @thedmmentor Linkedin: @thedmmentor YouTube: @thedmmentor Interested in Digital Marketing Services, Careers, or Courses? Check out more from the TDMM Family: Optidge.com - Full Service Digital Marketing Agency specializing in SEO, PPC, Paid Social, and Lead Generation efforts for established B2C and B2B businesses and organizations. ODEOacademy.com - Digital Marketing online education and course platform. ODEO gives you solid digital marketing knowledge to launch/boost your career or understand your business’s digital marketing strategy.