Robert Brady
If you don’t want to spend 10,000 hours of your precious time mastering a skill, let us take 10 minutes to give you a crash course. This week we’ll be speaking to a one-man army of PPC marketting, Robert Brady.
From his awesomely named site, Righteous Marketing, Robert offers advice about everything to do with PPC (pay per click) marketting with a dash of humor and wit. We wanted to ask him a little more about how this works and for any advice he had for others who may want to do the same.
First things first, I’d like to congratulate you on the use of the word “righteous”—you are a great man, and possibly a hero for that. How did the name come about?
I like that it has two meanings. First, I feel that it represents how I conduct my business as ethically as I can. Second, I think that marketing should be “righteous” in that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/80’s kind of way.
Your “About Me” section blurs the line between professional and personal a little; the picture of you riding a pneumatic bull is a notable highlight. What benefit would you say this approach offers you over say a completely professional, clinical page on a similar site?
People do business with other people and I hope people get a sense of who I am as an individual. If they want the sterilized version they can check out my LinkedIn profile, but I want them to feel like they know me as a person. That context will help them to understand where my expertise and recommendations are coming from as well.
You also mention writing guest posts for a bunch of other websites; any notable ones you’d like to give a shout out to?
I write for SmallBizTrends.com, SearchEnginePeople.com, the iSpionage blog, the Trafficado blog and a few others.
Following on from that, have you tried to maintain a cohesive personality across those posts? If so, how have you managed to blend that personality with the theme and feel of those other sites?
I always write as myself and I feel that my experience and topics are relevant to the sites where I post. If GQ wanted a guest post about how to do PPC, I’d write for them.
How exactly do things differ for you as a freelancer than if you were a company or agency providing a comparable service?
Large companies tend to lose the personal touch. I like to have the relationship with the client and do the work. That improves communication and helps the client get the results they want.
How important do you feel social media is to a freelancer such as yourself? How do you normally use it?
Social media is a double-edged sword. It can be a great tool or a great distraction or both. I am quite active on Twitter, especially on the #ppcchat hashtag where there is a PPC related chat every Tuesday at noon Eastern time. I’m also active on LinkedIn and starting to get on board with Google+.
Speaking of which, your Twitter profile mentions that your expertise is business with humor. Has this ever gotten you in trouble in the past? Have any bigwigs not gotten the joke before?
Humor should never be used at another’s expense. I follow that advice and have thus far avoided a lot of drama (but I still keep my fingers crossed).
On the flip side, how have you found humor has helped you in the past?
My experience is that people like to be around people they like and most people like someone with a sense of humor. So tying it back to question 2, when they know me and like me, they’re more likely to do business with me.
Finally, your site notes that a PPC wizard like yourself “possesses the ability to write compelling ad copy that speaks to the needs of a search user and compels them to click – all in under 130.”So in 130 characters or less, how would you sell yourself?
PPC Mgmt For The SMB – Make Your Dollars Work Smarter By Working With A Pro!
When he isn’t being the most righteous man we’ve ever met, Robert tweets and guest blogs for more sites than you could shake a stick at.