#Quick reupload sorry the last one had issues

[royalarchivist]

Fit: I miss my Brazilian boyfriend, Tails. I miss him a lot. [Laughs]

[saipng]

Warming up

Fandom: Resident Evil (8 in particular)

Pairing: Ethan Winters/Karl Heisenberg

Rating: E

Word Count: 13,803

hey guess what i can post the full fic from my laptop lol so this is basically a reupload!

AO3 link in replies

Ethan accepts Heisenberg's offer and learns how to negotiate.

(P.S: Technically PWP but there is a tiny bit of P in the beginning, just to set things up. Lighting some candles, putting on some music, pouring some wine. You know how it is)

(P.P.S: There aren't any actual candles, wine, or music in this fic. I'm sorry.)

“Take a seat.”

The rusted, sickly looking chair clattered against the floor helplessly, its sad little legs looking as though they would give out underneath their own weight any second now – much less Ethan’s.

He did not take a seat.

Heisenberg turned his back, walked across the room to a small table with a blistering desk lamp at the other end. You’re not a threat to me, his body language all but screamed.

You’re nothing.

“Listen, Ethan, you’re being played-“

Ethan, in turn, felt his own body seize up.

“What are you talking about!? You think this is a game!?”

There was a second - half a second - where the other man stopped fiddling with his cigar, turned his head towards him giving him a look so pointed it bore right through the tiny jet black shades. And in the very next moment Heisenberg was throwing a steel blade into the poster laden wall, metal glinting as it flew through the air. Ethan could barely follow the movement with his eyes before he was suddenly being shoved onto the flimsy chair, its legs stubbornly refusing to collapse against all odds.

Heisenberg looked down at him, sneering.

Ethan couldn’t help the shaky breath.

Most dangerous of them all, Duke’s words echoed in his head, and he swallowed a lump in his throat. His knees felt weak.

And he could swear the man in front of him looked delighted to tower over him like this.

But then he took a step backwards, then another, and then, when he was certain enough Ethan wouldn’t dare make another move, he turned back towards the board, pointing at each one of his siblings in turn.

“Lady super-sized bitch...”- A glint, and the knife was slashing through the air, pulling right out of Dimitriscu’s face, leaving an ugly mark in between her eyes with a particular sort of malice.

“Ugly ass psycho doll...”- The knife stabbed into Donna Beneviento’s torso, the crack of wall underneath the poster almost painful.

“And that moronic freak.”

The blade easily lodged itself somewhere in Moreau’s face, or maybe his neck, maybe somewhere around the eyes or the shoulder – both Heisenberg and the knife barely spared the last sibling a second’s thought and the man turned back to Ethan, his hands outstretched.

“Don’t you get it? It’s a test, to see if you’re strong enough to be a part of Miranda’s family!”

“I don’t WANT to be a part of Miranda’s family-“- Ethan was growling before he could really think, and Heisenberg kept looking at him like he was saying all the wrong things.

“Neither did I. But here we are!”- He circled back, something in his voice cracking, -“And I’m next in line, right? Kill me, move up the chain! Well, fuck that!”

And with a quick sweep of his hand, the metal wall was splitting in two.

Miranda’s portrait tore.

Ethan felt nauseous.

“I don’t give a damn about your personal issues!”- He was sputtering incredulously, not knowing why he was expecting all of this to start making sense when it wasn’t, -“I just want to fix my daughter!”

And to his great surprise, Heisenberg laughed.

“So do I!”- He grinned, ear to ear, fists shaking, -“Do you have any idea how powerful that kid is? Even Miranda’s scared of her-“

It was then that whatever horror was lurking beneath them began revving its engines up again, and images of chainsaws and lawn mowers began to flash across Ethan’s mind. He grit his teeth while Heisenberg roared at whoever it was to quiet down, daring to tear his eyes away for a glance towards the hole.

Tufts of white smoke clouded the room below. He’s been around this accursed village long enough to know that there was nothing good waiting for him down there. He’s known Heisenberg for long enough to figure that whatever it was was sharp. And painful.

His captor looked at him for a moment. Took another to inhale deeply and look away.

Ethan could empathize. He could hardly catch his own breath.

Heisenberg removed his glasses.

“You and me, Ethan,”- He pleaded, and really, there was no better word to describe his voice just then - this monster pleaded with him and Ethan felt something in his neck crack, -“Together, we go and save Rose — and then we can use her to grind Miranda into paste!”

“My daughter is not a weapon,”- Ethan growled back at him, his chest hollow, -“Fuck you!”

Heisenberg took a step back. Looked at him for that one agonizing moment once more. Ethan expected more pleading. More reasoning that he would have to refute. A conversation.

What he didn’t expect was the chair flying right underneath him, the other man boring into his arm with an iron grip as Ethan dangled on flimsy footing right above the room that filled his lungs with nightmares.

His own hand clung frantically to Heisenberg’s, body faintly remembering what survivor’s instinct was.

“Last chance,”- The other man said, his face a spasm between amusement and frustration. I’m holding the trump card now, that expression told him.

I won, so why do you refuse to see it?

“You don’t want to find out what’s in that hole,”- He added as though for emphasis, and Ethan didn’t tear his eyes away.

Couldn’t tear his eyes away.

He thought of Rose bubbling around in pieces. Thought of her crying.

Thought of Miranda’s hands.

A painful current passed through his spine, and just like that, his mind was electrified. His stomach was turning.

The soles of his shoes were beginning to slip.

“I am not using my daughter,”- Ethan told him through clenched teeth, and felt the grip on his arm falter. He exhaled shakily through his nose, his own fingers curling tighter.

Heisenberg raised his chin up, and Ethan had to force the next words out through his red-hot sternum.

“But-“

He exhaled, that single syllable just as painful as a scythe through his leg. A knife through his ribs.

“-if Miranda really is as strong as you say she is-”

Coiling his fingers, Heisenberg gave him a barely noticeable pull, his eyes squinting. Ethan swallowed down the bitter bile rising in his throat.

“Well. We’re not exactly left with a lot of options.”

Another pull, and he was standing on solid ground now – still precariously close to the gaping hole, a single firm push away, but at least no longer dangling over it like some helpless worm.

The other man levelled him with a gaze, mouth thin. He didn’t let go of his arm.

“What, exactly, are you proposing?”

Ethan didn’t let go either.

“A truce.”

Heisenberg’s eyebrows shot up.

“You want to partner up?”

“Call it whatever you want, but it sounds like you’re going to need all the manpower you can get,”- Ethan took a step forward, unnecessary but needed. His grip tightened. He could negotiate this, -“And I sure as hell am not going to turn out the only helping hand that’s been offered – even if it is yours.”

He could save Rose.

That was all that mattered.

Heisenberg made a sudden noise, something between a gasp and a chuckle. Something angry. Something incredulous.

“So now it’s you doing me a favor!?”

“Take it or leave it,”- He offered cautiously, words somehow both softer and harsher than he intended, -“We rescue Rose. Make sure she’s safe. Kill Miranda. This was always the plan, and I will do it with or without you.”

And just as he was certain no more words were needed, he found himself talking anyway.

“Help out or don’t get in my way.”

He watched the other man watch him, his eyes all too sharp without the shades, all too quick and bright on that gray and beige face, and Ethan’s pulse began to quicken once more. His breath hitched.

He hated the way his breath hitched.

His arm was beginning to ache.

Just as suddenly and impulsively as everything else he’s seen this man do, Heisenberg was throwing his head back, his laughter echoing up and down and out of the hole, mixing in with the revving noises that once again filled up the electric air.

“There’s that unfounded confidence that kept you breathing through the night!”- He roared over the sound of metal splitting metal, arms wide as he finally let go of Ethan, taking a large step back and putting his sunglasses back on, -“Now I see what’s been keeping them all hooked!”

Ethan turned his head in the direction of “them”, took one more look at the faces of the people – the monsters – he’s slaughtered in the course of the day.

He tried to suppress whatever feeling was beginning to claw its way up his throat.

By the time he turned back towards Heisenberg he could only see the man’s back briskly striding down a hall he could swear wasn’t there just a moment ago, beckoning him to follow.

“Let’s get moving then, Ethan!”- He yelled, voice faint over the constant noise that Ethan was now beginning to associate with the sound of a plane propeller and certain death, -“Can’t even hear myself think in this goddamn shithole!”

He spat that last part as though it was an insult to whomever – or whatever – it was that so insistently kept on interrupting their conversation, and Ethan realized that he could move again. Inhaling sharply before taking a couple of all too precarious steps away from the hole, he finally resolved to trudge along behind, only briefly wondering if this decision was eventually going to get him killed.

He didn’t want to think whether it would get Rose-

He couldn’t think about it.

“I’m assuming you have some sort of a plan,”- He said instead, if only not to think.

“Some sort of a- Are you kidding me?”- Heisenberg snarled, not bothering to turn around as they made their way down a shoddy corridor that looked as though touching any surface would give you instant tetanus, -“What, you think I was going to walk up to Miranda, shove a gun in her face, and hope for the best?”

He didn’t look back as he said this either – Ethan knew exactly what his face looked like just then anyway.

“Has been working out for me so far,”- He muttered under his breath, kicking at a loose screw on the floor.

“Yes, well, it’s not going to work against her.”

They finally reached a single door decorated with a large golden horse crest. Heisenberg fumbled inside his coat pockets before pulling out a large keychain with a single key.

It glinted in the dim light.

“A whole army isn’t going to work against her.”

He threw the door open, and Ethan suddenly saw the inside of a surprisingly accommodating room that did not belong in this run down factory. It bore a single metal framed bed tucked away in a far corner, a tiny kitchenette right across from that, and a small round metallic table and couple of equally metallic rusted through chairs strewn about that looked only slightly sturdier than the one he found himself sitting in and falling out of mere moments ago. Random scraps and chunks littered the floor, paper and metal and god knew what else. The space looked barely used, counters barren and bed sheets made, yet Ethan still felt out of sorts stepping into what he could only presume were Heisenberg’s personal quarters.

“And we have that? An army?”- He asked uncertainly after looking around, wondering whether they came here to retrieve said army and whether it could be found biding its time in the rickety wardrobe to his right.

“Oh, we have so much more than that,”- Heisenberg grinned at him, reaching back into his coat to tuck away the key ring and bring out a new cigar instead, placing it against his lips as he struggled with a box of matches, -“There are still preparations to be made, Ethan, but once it’s done - well, let’s just say Miranda won’t see any of it coming.”

He took a long drag, exhaling a puff of ashy smoke into the ceiling, and then, as though an afterthought, extended the cigar towards Ethan with a nod.

“I don’t smoke,”- Ethan said instead, watching the other man shrug and take another long drag. He tried to disregard the sudden shiver that came over him as a winter chill, -“W-Well, what the hell are we waiting for, then!? Let’s get out of here and-“

“Hold your horses, pops. We’re not ready yet.”

“Ready? What is there to be ready for, we just-“

“Listen, Ethan,”- Heisenberg was up in his face in a flash once again, and Ethan suddenly could see himself being forced onto another chair, shoved down and made to sit in place. His legs felt pathetic and his chest clenched in anticipation – but the man didn’t make another move, simply stood there. Entirely too close.

“It’s like you don’t even listen.”

Ethan tried to pretend he didn’t feel awkwardly disappointed. Tightened the grip around his gun instead.

“I just said there was a plan. And plans require time.”

He could deal with being pushed around, with constant attacks and violence. He had no idea how to handle a sudden moment of peace, even if he did propose it himself.

Heisenberg smelled like cigar smoke.

“Time!? Time!?”- Ethan felt his hands shake, -“We don’t have any goddamn time to-“

“Do you want to throw all this out the goddamn window!? Want Miranda to do as she pleases with Rose!?”

He was now dangerously close to walking out the door.

“Okay, look. Why don’t you take some time to regroup?”- The other man finally moved away, letting him breathe in a breath he didn’t know he desperately needed, -“Take a seat, relax, put your feet up, for fuck’s sake! Make yourself at home! You deserve a little rest after everything you’ve been through, don’t you, Ethan?”

It’s not a trap, Heisenberg told him when he was on his way to this factory, and it sounded about as reassuring then as this did now. Ethan was certain that he won’t be able to relax for the rest of his actual life after this. Not after everything he’s been through. Especially not after everything.

“And where will you be going?”

“To make those final preparations,”- He was now moving backwards across the room, hands splayed out, that shit-eating smile never leaving his face, -“Check up on few things, add a few final tweaks. You know how it is.”

And right before he stepped out the back door and right after Ethan missed his chance to protest, he added, -“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, Ethan. I’ll be back before you know it.”

And with that, Heisenberg disappeared into the noise filled air of his factory.

-

It has been several hours until he returned.

Actually, it could as well have been several minutes, but that thought was way less reassuring and way more pitiful.

After rummaging through every drawer possible, picking up piles of metal scrap, random packs of ammo and several herbs, pocketing one of Heisenberg’s slightly damp cigars and flipping through several pages of his diary denoting the creation of “Soldats”, Ethan resolved to plopping one of the shitty metal chairs against the closest wall and plopping himself right down on it. He was definitely feeling way too exhausted to actually sit and soak it all in, way too agitated to be here in the first place. His every nerve and sense was buzzing with the need to move, and his numerous injuries burned, burned, burned. For the first time since losing his fingers was he beginning to feel phantom pains, the loss acutely piercing through his left arm and shoulder when he tried to flex his hand, wincing at the movement that never reached his ring and pinky phalanges. His knee was bouncing and his mind kept replaying scenarios of all and everything that could go wrong going wrong, and amidst all that his gaze was fixed on a single spot of rust colored stain on the old worn out carpet all the way until Heisenberg unceremoniously burst through the backdoor, scattering a few metallic parts across the floor.

Ethan’s first impulse was to jump right out of the chair, and when his body didn’t listen, he resorted to simply snapping his head up in equal parts greeting, inquiry, annoyance and excitement.

Most dangerous of them all, Duke told him a forever ago, and those words kept replaying over and over and over in his restless brain like a broken record until he’d almost convinced himself he was actually glad to have Heisenberg on his side.

“Good. You’re still here!”- Said man stopped in his step, voice colored with surprise, -“Feeling better?”

Maybe he expected Ethan to bail by now. Maybe he simply forgot he was there.

“How’re the Soldats coming along?”- Ethan asked instead, fingers interlacing with one another, ring and pinky awkwardly hanging out without their proper place, legs simply refusing to let him stand.

Heisenberg quirked his head to one side, a small incredulous smile gracing his lips, -“How do you- Hm. I see someone’s been doing their homework.”

“You leave stuff lying around.”

He nodded for a long moment, slowly placing his hands on his hips as he kept on staring at Ethan.

And kept on staring.

And kept on staring long enough for that weird alien ache to return to Ethan’s bones, make him want to squirm in his seat if his body had any resolve whatsoever left in it.

And then he simply shook his head, looked at his feet as though he couldn’t believe any of this was happening, and turned back to walking across the room towards the tiny bedside table.

“Well, to answer your question, they’re coming along just fine. Revving and ravenous,”- He stated simply, rummaging around for something Ethan couldn’t see.

“Great,”- He swallowed down in turn, finally willing his heavy, ginormous, colossal feeling body to lean forward in the chair, getting ready to stand up powering through on fumes and the rushing adrenalin alone, -“Let’s do this.”

“Woah, slow down there, cowboy,”- Heisenberg suddenly turned to him, a precariously small bottle dangling in his hand as he spread his arms out, -“We still got several hours until-“

“Several hours!?”- Ethan’s head shot up, something way too close to the surface of his skin slowly beginning to boil.

Not a trap.

“You said you were going to make checks and tweaks!”

“Yes, and now that those are mostly done we need to wait until dawn for the ceremony to start so-“

“Have you gone completely crazy!?”- He was shouting now, realizing that he had finally managed to stand up without noticing it. That his knees were shaking, -“We don’t have that kind of time, Rose will-“

“With all due respect, Ethan, your daughter isn’t exactly going anywhere. Not in the state she’s in.”

Heisenberg grinned. Ethan heard his breath catch.

“No, you know what? Fuck this. Fuck you. I’m going alone.”

He didn’t have the time to figure out how he was going to take the next step – didn’t have to. Because in the very next second, metal scraps were levitating off of the floor and darting out to throw him backwards, knees buckling against the metal chair so he was sitting back down, his wrists now pinned painfully against the wall.

He immediately tried to dash forward, and the metal bore right down into his very bone.

“Sit. Down.”

Ethan let out a breath.

Now this? This, he understood.

He only wished he could reach his gun.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going!? Miranda is going to kill you!”

Heisenberg moved slowly towards him, his outstretched hand lowering back down, a snarl over his face which made Ethan think of full moons and howling and silver bullets to the face.

He wouldn’t be able to stop silver bullets, would he?

“I’m starting to think I might as well take my chances,”- Ethan growled back, voice hoarse and aching.

“And leave me to clean up your mess!? No, thank you, I’d rather just kill you myself.”

“Big talk for someone who’s too afraid to go up against mommy-”

Wrong thing to say, the metal cuffs on his wrists told him, their grasp suddenly growing that much tighter, extracting another hopeless grunt. Ethan tried not to think of how much force it would require to pop his hands clean off. Crush his bone into dust. Sever at his skin. He somehow had no doubt Heisenberg could do it if he wanted to.

Most dangerous of them all.

No amount of chem fluid was going to reattach his hands after that.

“You have no goddamn clue what she’s capable of, you pathetic idiot. She won’t leave a wet stain once she’s through with you – and then she’ll come for me. I am not going to let that happen, Ethan.”

“Yes, well,”- He tried again, feeling as though the metal was crushing his larynx and not his arms, -“I’ve taken out three of your kind already. What’s a couple more to boot?”

Heisenberg lurched forward then, a mean expression painted over his features as he leaned in, further, further, that snarl so visceral it was all canines and blood and meat and bone, and Ethan could pull back only so far until his head connected with the wall and Heisenberg’s face was in his neck.

He groaned involuntarily. Shut his eyes and prepared for the sting-

- And then Heisenberg took a deep, deep breath in through his nose.

“Did you just- Did you just smell me!?”- Ethan stammered out breathlessly, eyes flying open as something in his abdomen sunk and he bucked against the metal restraints once more. And here he thought he could predict where this was going.

This damn village was going to drive him completely mad.

“Death… and decay,”- The other man muttered, coarse beard hairs scratching at Ethan’s Adam’s apple, his neck craning further and further till the strain was tugging at his very veins, -“You reek of it, Ethan. You really think Miranda is going to let you walk when you smell like that?”

Ethan didn’t say a word – couldn’t even form a word in his mind, had no idea what he could possibly say, Heisenberg’s own smell of metal and gasoline and cigar smoke penetrating his every sense. His breath was everything but stable, his pulse breaking through his skin.

Was this room always this suffocating?

“Dammit, Ethan, I’m on your side here!”- Heisenberg barked, the noise resonating in Ethan’s very chest cavity, his every hair standing on end by the time he pulled away and took a step back, -“Don’t you get it!?”

He didn’t get it. Didn’t want to get it.

He swallowed down, and the air was still too hot.

“We need to wait till Miranda’s busy with the ceremony - then, we strike. She’ll never see it coming.”

He was taking his sunglasses off again, running a heavy hand over his eyes. Then he looked up, and looked at Ethan, and Ethan breathed out heavy because he was starting to hate the way the other man looked.

In this light, his irises were practically white.

“Who is going to protect Rose once you’re fucking dead?”

He said nothing. The restraints let up, and he missed the pain intensely.

He understood pain. There was nothing to negotiate when violence was involved.

And now, there was only a dull itch, and the sense that his very world was crumbling – just like when he woke up outside that overturned van, a dead body and a ringing phone for company.

“Trust me on this, Ethan.”

Then, it was lonely and frigid and cold. But now…

“We’re partners, remember?”

Every inch of his being was burning up as he slowly nodded, not trusting his dried up throat with making a sound.

“At least till Miranda’s done and dealt with,”- Heisenberg added with an almost imperceptible smile, and Ethan’s brows furrowed.

“...And after?”

“Let’s not jump too far ahead, shall we? All that matters is that I’m not going to betray you.”

He took a slow step forward, too close. Too far. Ethan hated everything in that one moment.

“You will get Rose back.”

“Fine,”- He finally relented, hating it all that much more, the word tasting acidic on his tongue. He wanted, needed the metal on his wrists to tighten. Why was it still there.

Why was it barely touching his skin.

“We wait till dawn,”- Ethan nodded once again, more to himself than anyone else, saying something just to say anything and stop inhaling the smell of cigar and rust, -“But this better work.”

“It will. It has to,”- Heisenberg nodded at him, no longer looking his way, –“I’ve waited too damn long.”

He whispered that last part. A hollow silence stretched the room thin.

Ethan was still burning, and it concentrated just below his waist.

And he missed home dearly. Everything was so monochrome back then. Their hiding, their fear, their happiness – quiet, simple, muted. The pain wasn’t painful. The smiles didn’t hurt.

It was fine. It was good. Lukewarm.

“...Rose.”

Everything felt so much now. Absolutely everything.

He was miserable.

Heisenberg looked at him from the corner of his eye, and Ethan looked up slowly.

“Rose will be sacrificed at the ceremony?”

He saw the other man sigh. Watched him pull out yet another cigar.

“In a manner of speaking. She is going to become the new vessel for Miranda’s true child.”

“True child?”- Ethan blinked at him, and thought that this was good. He could handle conversation. Probably.

“What, another Lord?”

“Please. We were never her children,”- Heisenberg placed the cigar on the table without lighting, not sparing it a second glance, -“Just a bunch of ragtag experiments that didn’t lose their minds. Well, not all of us, anyway.”

“But why...”- Ethan couldn’t help the question he’s been so successfully avoiding all night, morning, day, and evening. A question he had no idea if he truly wanted to know the answer to. Whatever was holding it back now has burned through, though, and his guts were spilling onto the floor, -“Why her? Out of everyone in the goddamn world, why did it have to be Rose!?”

The other man looked amused, smile almost gentle as his eyes developed crinkles at their edges. Ethan grit his teeth. Tried not to blink.

“You really have no clue how powerful she is, do you?”

He had no idea if he actually was expected to answer – so he kept quiet. Watched Heisenberg and that out of place look on his face. He thought it didn’t suit him. He thought about that giant hammer and wondered where it was.

“It doesn’t matter, really,”- Heisenberg finally said as he shook his head, smile dropping, -“I suspect a lot of it has to do with you, anyway.”

And Ethan held his breath.

“...Me?”

“Who else? You are very special indeed, Ethan,”- He began to walk closer yet again. Ethan could swear the corners of his vision blurred. The scrape of metal against his wrists became that much more noticeable, like a couple of snakes slowly coiling their way around him.

He swallowed hard as that pair of impossibly gray eyes scanned him up and down. Slowly. Shamelessly.

“Your body is... Well, it’s something. Personally, I’m quite... interested in it.”

Filthily.

Ethan felt filthy.

And Heisenberg definitely took pleasure from standing over him like this.

His stomach turned in knots and his jaw clenched painfully as he tried his best and failed to prevent the words from spilling out of his lips.

“Are you... hitting on me?”

Fuck.

He asked and cursed internally immediately after, feeling that much dirtier.

Filthy, filthy, filthy.

It didn’t matter that the thought first entered his head back when he heard the other man enunciate his name, it didn’t matter that it continued to haunt him and evolve from ridiculous to creepy to anxiety-inducing all in the span of a couple of hours. And it definitely did not matter that Heisenberg was now staring at him like a piece of meat moments away from being torn apart, a small incredulous smirk blooming into a full sized grin – it did not matter that he felt his damned pulse betray him once again as it began to jump around his body.

Didn’t matter.

He should have stayed quiet.

By the look on Heisenberg’s face, he should have stayed quiet.

“Oh! Oh, that is rich!”

He wished it didn’t burn.

Loud laughter filled the impossibly hot air of the tiny room, Heisenberg’s eyes blown wide open in that very same expression that told Ethan You never fail to surprise me, -“Where does it all come from!?”

He laughed. And he shook his head. And he laughed some more.

And then Ethan shifted in his chair, and suddenly he was no longer laughing – rather, he was walking closer, those metal cuffs piercing and cutting through Ethan’s skin without so much as a warning, and Ethan’s heart was in his throat and his curse was out his chest.

“Fuck-!”

“Then again... You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Fuck,”- Was all Ethan could manage, wondering if he would even be able to move his wrists afterwards. His hands have been through worse than this – he could manage. He could…

“Only if you ask nicely.”

He threw his head back against the wall again, banging it with a loud thud, incapable of nothing more when Heisenberg crouched down in front of him and began to slowly rack his gloved hands up his thighs.

Whatever Ethan was breathing with just then, it certainly weren’t his lungs – his entire chest was on fire and he meekly tugged at the restraints. It stung.

This – this, he had no clue how he could handle.

Heisenberg laughed again, but it was almost aggressive. A bark of a sound, a single ‘Ha!’, low and reverberating in Ethan’s lower abdomen despite the overpowering need to vomit.

“Really, Ethan, your wife’s body is still warm to the touch and you’re already spreading your legs for another man-“

“Don’t talk about her like that,”- Ethan remembered himself for a moment, a brief goddamn moment that felt akin to a breath in freezing winter air after spending an eternity in a furnace. He tried to kick, and his legs did not listen, -“And don’t fucking touch me.”

Heisenberg’s hands did pause – if only for a second. And then he looked up, and his grin was all sharp teeth and promise to use them.

“No one can blame you for being exhausted, papa,”- He continued to growl, the now soft, barely-there hands tracing the fine seaming of Ethan’s denim jeans, - “All that running around, the pain and the adrenalin... And the worst is yet to come!”

He dug his fingers into Ethan’s legs at that, and Ethan gasped out as his insides twitched.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to let go? Just for a minute?”

“I said-“- He began, voice sharp, and swallowed his own damn tongue when his eyes met Heisenberg’s.

He was no longer smiling.

Ethan wanted to melt into the wall. Dammit, he should have stayed quiet.

“Look, Ethan, I think we have a misunderstanding here,”- Heisenberg began, thumbs slowly, slowly, so painfully slowly rubbing up, the leather and the denim heating up in between sweaty skin.

“Damn right we do,“- Ethan muttered, and tried not to push into the touch.

“You see, this is hardly any more dignified for me than it is for you,”- The other man continued, fingers circling, impossibly light, as though trying to pretend they weren’t there in the first place. Ethan knew they were. He felt them just fine, -“But I’ve been working, too. And personally, I think I’d like to let go. Waste some time, so to speak.”

And at this, Heisenberg tilted his head, and grinned.

“We got time to waste.”

He kept on looking at Ethan, as though waiting for a sign. As though Ethan could ever possibly agree to-

As though Ethan could even entertain the idea of-

“How about this then,”- He suddenly said with a heavy breath when whatever expression Ethan’s face was contorted into didn’t seem to satisfy, -“You… don’t have to say anything.”

His voice dropped to a whisper at the same time as his eyes dropped down to stare at Ethan’s crotch. Ethan’s hips reared back into the chair. His heart was in his throat.

“Just don’t stop me, Ethan. And then we can both... Pretend.”

Heisenberg didn’t say anything else, barely made another sound or move. Just licked at his lips, slowly.

And Ethan- Well, Ethan just sat there, constrained to the wall, legs shaking, hands shaking, this- this man that he was fully intent on killing just a couple of hours ago in between his thighs, and his cock fucking throbbing. It was the most miserable he’s felt in goddamn years.

He was burning.

He never wanted to not be burning.

Heisenberg didn’t look like he was breathing.

Without making a sound, Ethan turned his head to the side and held his own breath. Grit his teeth. He felt those damn hands methodically, achingly move up his thighs, pet up his lap and slide alongside his jeans’ pockets over to his belt. He could swear he was experiencing vertigo.

“Okay. Okay,”- Heisenberg kept on whispering, and he couldn’t see his face but he could swear that that shit-eating grin was plastered all over it, and suddenly, the hands were gone, and Ethan didn’t dare look, -“Good. Perfect. Close your eyes.”

He did as he was told without a thought. Was simply glad the other didn’t gloat.

He didn’t dare think. In fact, thinking was the last thing he wanted to do, ever, because then he would realize that he’s made a decision here, and god, what did that say about him-

“Shit...”- He muttered when the hands returned, now noticeably glove free, and burning even hotter than Ethan himself, something about Heisenberg’s skin scorching like a goddamn oven. His eyes flew open involuntarily when he felt, heard his belt being opened, his body already shifting in its seat for easier access. He didn’t dare turn his head.

He really wanted to turn his head.

He exhaled a slow breath, and he didn’t think.

Heisenberg’s fingers were at his zipper now, the sound of it sliding down like the crack of thunder to his ear in the quiet room. Ethan was struggling not to pant, swallowing hard when his tongue kept drying up from all the hot air. The silence was killing him. The sound of his breathing was making him sick.

When did this room become so stuffy. He needed air. He desperately needed-

“Fuck!”- Ethan screamed desperately bucking forward when Heisenberg’s face was suddenly stuffed into his crotch, nose and mouth pressed to his still-covered cock as he took another deep, filthy inhale.

When did this happen. How did this-

“Fuck is right, Ethan,”- He muttered, lips moving against the shaft with every word, hot breath making Ethan’s hips twitch and his legs fall apart wider, -“You smell like... Fuck.”

Ethan couldn’t breathe. He could not goddamn breathe and he didn’t want to breathe.

He tried pulling at the restraints again, and they still did not let up. An electric chill ran down his spine and he began to grind his hips against Heisenberg’s face, desperate for literally any kind of friction, even if the beard did itch.

“Fuck,”- He muttered breathlessly again when the other pulled away, finally looking at Heisenberg for the first time since he somehow agreed to this happening, saw that exact grin that he was expecting, and suddenly, those canines did not look so much terrifying as inviting.

Suddenly, he felt like he could negotiate this too.

“Your mouth-“

Ethan swallowed again, Adam’s apple bobbing up and down painfully as whatever he wanted to say died down just as suddenly as it came up. He saw Heisenberg blink at him in dry amusement, watched him slowly stand up and take off his stained-through trench.

“Don’t talk, alright? Make this easier for both of us.”

Ethan obeyed gladly, instead opting to look over the curve of muscle underneath the yellow shirt, the peak of collarbone where the buttons weren’t closed. Everything about Heisenberg was distinctly man and that, too, drove him absolutely wild. He’s never done this before. Never thought he’d want to. Never had any reason to.

Then the other lurched forward towards his face, and Ethan’s head connected with the concrete wall one more painful time.

Heisenberg stopped just shy of his lips, still grinning as a deep, cigar stained laugh escaped his chest.

“Ethan, please. Did you really think I’d stoop so low as to defile you with a kiss?”

Then again, he never met any other man quite like Karl Heisenberg.

His words were one thing, but they were also burning against Ethan’s mouth and they were hungrily gulping each other’s breaths in the tiny space between them. And then, just as fast and unassuming as everything he did, Heisenberg stuffed his nose into Ethan’s neck again and took another desperate huff.

“Could smell you all day when you’re like this,”- Ethan heard him mutter, low enough to be a vibration, quiet enough that Ethan thought it wasn’t meant to be heard at all, and it was almost concerning how flattering he found those words to be all things considered. The heat went straight to his cheeks. He was goddamn blushing.

Heisenberg placed a steady hand on his cheek, angled his face away as he swiftly licked at his neck, and then just as quickly bit down with his horribly sharp teeth.

“Shit!”- Ethan yelled, his voice a shameful moan that he couldn’t prevent even if he wanted to, and his hips were once again seeking friction in the shitty metal chair that he was beginning to hate. It scraped against the floor painfully.

The bite wasn’t anything Ethan expected, and it was everything he wanted. He threw his wrists against the restraints again, panting hard as Heisenberg sucked at his pulse, never feeling so exposed in his life. The other man’s hand slid down to palm his cock, and Ethan felt his eyes roll backwards in his head.

The words were spilling out of his mouth before he could even catch himself, his voice low and distant and not his own when he heard himself begging, -“Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me.”

He could only remain quiet for so long, it seemed.

Heisenberg paused in leaving hard bites at his neck, raised his head to look at him once again in raw wonder.

Interesting, he called Ethan, and in hindsight, that statement could have meant absolutely anything. Facts about European bird migration patterns were interesting. Didn’t mean Ethan was going to fuck a crow any time soon.

“Please,”- He asked. Nicely.

And just this once – just this goddamn once he was glad that interesting really did mean what he thought it meant, because Ethan was so hard it hurt to move, and Heisenberg looked like he could very easily move Ethan himself.

And so he did exactly that.

As if in slow motion, he saw the other man pull back and take a few certain steps back, eyes never leaving Ethan’s, a hand flying out in front as Ethan simultaneously found himself being lifted off into the air, the pull on his wrists unreal, his arms feeling like they were going to pop right out of their shoulder sockets any second now. The world went black for a second as he was being turned around in mid-air, the room and all its contents tumbling in his vision as he was sent flying back across the entirety of it, finally landing with his back thrown against the weirdly hard bedding.

His breath was knocked out of him.

His entire body melted regardless.

And his wrists were still pinned up over his head with the metal scraps, arms beginning to feel sore.

He was lying on this shitty, dusty bed in this shitty, dusty room, completely helpless and hopeless after what was definitely the absolute worst day of his life, body and mind burning through with pain, this person who was more animal than man, who came excruciatingly close to ending Ethan’s very life, who could still end it with a single sweep of his hand looking at him like he was going to consume him.

And as Heisenberg quietly began to make his way over there, taking the time to unstrap his belts and tug off the random pieces of scrap he had hanging around his neck, Ethan wondered why in the fucking hell was he finding all of this so agonizingly arousing.

He heard the other man throw the belts down to the floor, buckles hitting the shaggy carpet with a dull clink, shirt undone to mid-waist by the time he reached the bed; watched as he climbed onto it one knee at a time, throwing them over Ethan’s body and lowering his full weight on top of his thighs.

Ethan squirmed underneath it, and refused to think any more.

“I figured you were impatient, but really, Ethan…”- Heisenberg leaned down slowly, hovered over his lips for the briefest of seconds before going for the neck again, and Ethan practically whined, -“You need to learn how to let go.”

He felt a scrape of teeth right in the middle of his throat, Heisenberg making his way down as he licked with his tongue, reaching the hollow spot between the collarbones and just- sucking right at the skin there. Ethan’s entire body arched up, and the other man’s hands were on his hip and shoulder, holding him down easily, pressing him into the bed like he didn’t weigh a thing.

“Yeah, well- Some might say I got issues,”- He rasped out finally finding his voice, pushing against the hold that he was certain was going to leave blisters on his skin. He felt the following chuckle rumble through Heisenberg’s chest into his own and shuddered.

“Then I’ll just have to fuck you so hard you’ll forget all about those, hm?”

His whole body was shuddering. His head was swimming.

Ethan was used to being manhandled – it was basically his second nature at this point, what with everything that happened in Louisiana and in the past day. But he was no goddamn pushover – he was used to fighting back.

So he pulled at the restraints again, desperate, knowing full well they wouldn’t budge a bit, and he bucked his body against the hand that was as solid as metal itself, that was now travelling underneath his shirt, slowly, painstakingly, and he craned his neck back far enough that he was now staring at the rust colored wall.

And when none of that worked, and when Heisenberg simply continued to nip at his collarbone, his burning fingers slowly raking up Ethan’s stomach, up to his nipple where he began to rub with his thumb, Ethan swallowed down the remainders of his pride that he didn’t think he’d still have anywhere on him, and did what he hated most.

He asked for help.

“Heisenberg,”- He whispered, voice hoarse and dry as his wrists kept wriggling in the cuffs, still trying knowing full well there was no point. He could negotiate this one, too.

“Ethan, please,”- The other man murmured against his stomach, where he was now pressing a particularly wet and toothy bite. Ethan let out a hiss, -“I think we might as well be on a first name basis, all things considered. At least, while your cock is still hard.”

And he punctuated his claim by pressing an almost gentle kiss down next to Ethan’s navel as he ran his fingertips alongside his bulge, making Ethan’s guts knot together.

Swallowing down the suffocating grip on his throat, Ethan tried again.

“Karl.”

His bones were at their breaking point with how hard he was pulling.

“I also wouldn’t object to ‘sir’, or maybe ‘daddy’, but use those at your own discretion,”- The other muttered from somewhere close to Ethan’s ribs, his smile stretched out against sore skin.

“Karl,”- Ethan simply said, and then, when Heisenberg didn’t so much as budge, he huffed out an angry breath, his tone guttural, -“Karl, goddammit, look at me.”

He did.

Heisenberg raised his eyes, blinking slowly from underneath his hat. From this angle, they somehow looked a soft brown. Almost like a puppy’s.

He raised an eyebrow.

Ethan swallowed.

“I want you to free my arms,”- He stated matter of fact, and watched as the other man grew tense, shoulders visibly stiffening up underneath the rumpled shirt.

There was a gut-wrenching moment of absolute silence, with nothing but the distant sounds of machine whirring and their heavy, messed up breathing to fill in the gaps. Ethan squared his jaw, and tried not to lick his dried out lips.

And then, Heisenberg moved his hand, and the restraints were gone, violently scratching Ethan’s hands as they flew into the wall across and got lodged in the concrete, cracks webbing their way around the holes.

“What, the daddy thing was too far for you?”

Ethan suddenly felt drunk with the regained freedom, immediately rubbing at his burning, itching, pulsing wrists, each bearing red rings of angry inflamed skin.

“Hm. You’re no fun,”- Heisenberg said then, voice a breathless whisper and expression dark as he began to throw his knees off of Ethan. And before he could move another inch, Ethan’s hands were on his shoulders, his face, his neck, roughly pulling him back in, lips pressing hard against Heisenberg’s and he didn’t hesitate for even a second before darting out a tongue and inserting it into the other man’s mouth. The beard was coarse and itchy against Ethan’s skin, their teeth clicking together from the sheer force, and his hands immediately got lost in the long frustratingly soft hair, finally knocking back that stupid hat that he’s hated since the moment he laid eyes on it. He thought Heisenberg made a noise and proceeded to ignore it, moved instead to take his own jacket off tongue still in the other’s cheek, threw it across the room without ever opening his eyes, and in a second his hands were back on Heisenberg’s face. He held it with enough force to bruise, was hoping to leave a bruise, his fingernails digging in and leaving angry red marks against his cheeks, adding more scars to his collection, his teeth meanwhile catching on the one that decorated Heisenberg’s lips. He licked at it temperamentally, liked the shape it formed against his tongue, and felt the other man press an unsteady hand against his chest, pushing him back. Ethan allowed it to, but not before catching his bottom lip between his teeth and pulling back - and only then did he finally let go and take the deepest goddamn breath he’d taken yet.

Well. He, for one, had no idea he was going to do that. That was the drawback of not thinking.

Things happened.

Heisenberg was panting loudly, mouth hanging open, something canine in his expression as he simply stared, eyes wide in shock and wonder and a nasty trail of saliva smeared against his crimson lips. Ethan’s fingers detangled from the messy hair and got wrapped inside his collar instead, pulling him down on top.

That was the benefit of not thinking too, actually. Things happened.

“Well, well, well. Ethan Winters,”- Heisenberg practically purred, stretching out that final ‘S’ against Ethan’s lips, -“Playing dirty, are we?”

“Wouldn’t have to if you weren’t taking your damn time,”- Ethan bit back, drinking in Heisenberg’s laughter with his throat as his own fingers kept travelling further down, finding those remaining buttons of his shirt and working to undo them.

If they were doing this, they were doing this. He didn’t give a damn anymore. Not after tonight.

“So impatient,”- The other man muttered before leaning back into the kiss, his full body weight pressing Ethan down into the bed as he lapped at Ethan’s mouth, tongue practically in his throat, and Ethan moaned desperate, dirty, loud. He did not give a damn.

His hips ground upwards, finally finding friction against Heisenberg’s solid leg, and Ethan dry humped his thigh while Heisenberg’s cigar tasting tongue did horribly filthy things to his mouth. Ethan’s hands grew their own consciousness, suddenly travelling to his dick completely of their own volition, grabbing at the sweaty, hot skin inside his boxers and pulling it out to feel the coarse texture of Heisenberg’s pants. Heisenberg, in turn, finally moved his hands away from Ethan’s face, and was now actively trying to pull off his jeans and sweaty boxers. Ethan didn’t even hesitate before lifting his hips up, found himself gasping and whining when Heisenberg pulled away, his leg and that desperately needed friction now replaced with the frustrating air of the room that was somehow both too hot and too cold.

Ethan more felt than saw the other man begin to untie his boots, throwing an arm over his eyes as his other hand kept working his dick, a slow but steady rhythm, his entire willpower in that one movement that was so much but not nearly enough. He was nearing his edge, and he needed to calm down. He wouldn’t come yet. He couldn’t.

Because then it’d be over. Because then he’d have to face-

“Look at me,”- Heisenberg’s rough hand was suddenly at his jaw, forcing Ethan’s head from underneath his arm, -“Ethan. I want you to watch me. Want you to see me make you cum.”

Ethan near damn choked on his own saliva, eyes practically glued to the other as he pulled off his shirt and threw it somewhere behind, somewhere into the other pile of their dirty messed up clothes – and everything about his body practically smelled of man. The curve of the muscle, the edge of the collarbone, the musk – Ethan was driven crazy by how unfamiliar everything was. Terrifying.

Hot as fuck.

His hands finally left his dick to touch at Heisenberg’s chest hair, thick and curling and strange and so unlike anything of his own. His fingers got lost in it as the other man leaned in once again, an absolutely feral smile painted over his lips as he muttered into Ethan’s neck, -“What? Like what you see?”

“Don’t get cocky,”- Ethan spat back, pinching at a nipple and receiving a way more enthusiastic response than he’d anticipated.

“Mm. Say cocky again.”

He felt Heisenberg’s bulge at his thigh then, grinding once, twice, all the while his lips kept sucking at a single spot at the base of his neck, and he momentarily wondered if he was being fucked or eaten here. Feeling curiosity get the damn better of him yet again, he bit down his lip hard, before allowing himself to mutter quietly, -“Think I’d much rather just take your cock.”

Heisenberg bit down. Hard.

Ethan moaned loudly and didn’t hate how the pain spread throughout the arm like a jolt of lightning. Lycan teeth sinking into his flesh momentarily flashed behind his closed eyes, and he wasn’t sure he could ever sustain another bite ever again without his dick immediately taking interest.

His hands were pulling at Heisenberg’s hair, wanting him to move, needing him to move, to feel those hands, those teeth, that dick. And when the other man finally unclenched his jaws and let go, Ethan immediately crashed their mouths together with no regard for how messy it felt to taste his own blood on the other’s tongue.

“Yeah? You’re gonna take my cock, Ethan?”- Heisenberg panted into his mouth, pulling him up, -“Just wait. Gonna fuck you long and hard. Gonna make you fucking scream.”

Before he knew it, he had somehow climbed into Heisenberg’s lap, was now grinding against his stomach, against his happy trail, his gut, fingers clutching at the beard and tongue lost inside a mouth that was all cigar and wet, and he felt like a damn bitch in heat trying to get off on his own here, more desperate than ever to be fucked. And Heisenberg, damn that fucking monster of a man, pressed his giant calloused hands into Ethan’s hips, fingernails digging into his ass, and in a single move lifted him up into the air and dropped him back down on the hard, spring loaded bed.

Ethan felt the wind get knocked out of him, exhaled hard into the musty air.

“I said wait,”- The other man commanded looking down on him, lips purple and wet and stomach stained with precome, and Ethan felt a full-body shudder run through him like a fucking electric current.

“Do we have to teach you how to behave, Ethan,”- Heisenberg asked, more a statement than a question. He slowly got off the bed, a hand carefully slipping down the waist of his pants, and Ethan felt his mouth run dry.

“Don’t fucking move until I get back.”

He watched with baited breath as that hand snaked underneath the slacks, strokes slow and methodical, his eyes glued to the movement. It certainly helped that Heisenberg was walking through the room backwards, his own gaze just as fixated on watching Ethan’s every twitch.

“That’s right. Just watch. See how fucking hard I am for you, Ethan.”

And Ethan didn’t dare twitch.

His fingers were tangled in the rough yellowed bed sheets and his jaw hurt. But he didn’t move. Didn’t know if he could at this point, really.

Heisenberg only turned his back when he reached the table, picked up something off it and then turned to make his way back, all while jacking himself off shamelessly, breathily. Ethan could see the tip of his dick now and his throat closed up.

When Heisenberg sat back down on the bed, knees spread wide open in between Ethan’s legs, he watched him open a familiar looking bottle and squeeze it into his hand.

“That’s the one from before,”- Ethan noted astutely, eyes frantically travelling between Heisenberg’s own and his hand that was now dipping below the waist of his pants again. He was begging to seriously hate that one single article of clothing.

“Lubricant, Ethan,”- Heisenberg replied just as wisely, licking his lips when his voice sounded a tad too dry, -“Had a feeling we might need it.”

He had a smile on his face. Ethan’s eyes only grew larger.

“Not when- I mean, now. Not when I first-“- The other man suddenly scrambled for an explanation, and Ethan couldn’t help sitting up on his elbows to quirk an eyebrow at him, -“What I mean to say is- I didn’t intend to fuck you the moment I came into this room.”

“You didn’t,”- And despite the absolutely god awful- well, everything that has been going on since he opened his eyes the night before, Ethan found himself actually beginning to smile.

“No, it- One of the Soldats downstairs was sounding rusty.“

“So you were going to use..?”

“Lube is lube, Ethan!”- Heisenberg cracked down, both his hands flying up in the air, and fuck, Ethan couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his throat. He was having fun. He hated that he was having fun, -“I’m running out of oil, alright!? Not exactly a wide variety of suppliers around these parts. Do you even have any idea how much-!”

Ethan didn’t have any idea, and he didn’t care to find out. Instead, he reached to shut the other man up with a kiss that felt disgustingly and alarmingly tender even to himself, and at the same time he reached for the lube that was now staining the bed sheets even further.

“Well, if you didn’t intend to fuck me the moment you came into this room-“- It was Ethan’s turn to graze at the other’s neck, lips and teeth running over heated skin all the way down to the shoulder, tongue darting out to lick at the curve of muscle and tasting salt and bitterness, -“-When did you intend to fuck me?”

It’s not as though he was trying to sound salacious – he was actively curious. Besides, talking gave him the courage to finally slip a lubed up hand down Heisenberg’s disgusting trousers and curve his fingers around a thick, pulsating dick. He ran his thumb down a throbbing vein at the same time as his tongue pressed against the beat of a pulse on the other’s throat, and he felt more than heard the growl that that evoked. He gave the dick a few strokes as he continued to lick, suck, bite, patiently waiting for the answer, his own cock slowly grinding back into Heisenberg’s stomach. He felt it raise and fall with every hitched breath, every stutter and sigh, and he felt powerful. In control.

He felt good.

Until, of course, Heisenberg’s hands came to tug him by the hair, raise his face up to be kissed as he was being pushed onto his back once more, hand still desperately trying to find the right rhythm at which to jack off another guy. Touching a dick that was not his own was novel. The smell in the room was novel.

Despite everything, he still felt damn good.

And then Heisenberg pulled back entirely, taking a moment to look Ethan down with a smile so small it made his insides twist, and then just as suddenly his hands were behind Ethan’s knees, lifting them up as he began to manually turn him over like a life-sized doll.

“Hey, what are you-“

“Well,”- Heisenberg interrupted him, voice something else entirely now as his slick hands ran up and down Ethan’s bare legs, nails lightly scratching where they caught on scars, -“I first thought about fucking you when I saw your dainty little face.”

Another twist, and Ethan was on his stomach now, unsure of how he ended up in this position and feeling weirdly exposed, all things considered. He furrowed his eyebrows at the statement still, trying to recall what he could about their first meeting.

“I first wanted to fuck you-“- A tug at his hips, and Ethan was now basically ass up in the air, feeling like he should probably say something about this and finding that his throat very much refused to work, -“-When you survived my game, and I realized you were very much unlike all the other meat that went through the grinder.”

He could barely breathe now, nose stuffed into the dust smelling pillow and eyes staring wildly into the darkness, terrified of what was going to come next. His dick gave a desperate twitch, neglected, aching. His fingers clutched at the bed sheets.

“And I first knew I was going to fuck you-“- Heisenberg slapped at one of his thighs, then the other, moving them further apart, and Ethan frantically tried not to think about what this looked like, what he was doing, what was going to happen, because-

“-When you first spread those gorgeous legs of yours for me, Ethan.”

Ethan swallowed hard as he felt a wet and slick finger push its way inside him, stomach tied in knots and nausea clouding his barely functioning mind as he didn’t want to remember when exactly was it that he first spread his legs for this man.

He groaned painfully when it was fully in, Heisenberg, for once, not bothering to take his time. Ethan brought up his own arm to bite down on it painfully, the thought that he really was spreading his legs for Heisenberg not leaving his damn head for a second.

Spreading his legs while his wife was-

But that, too, was interrupted when Heisenberg pulled out roughly and replaced the single finger with two, the awkward discomfort now turning into a proper burn inside and out. Ethan’s teeth sank into his flesh deeper, back arching out, and he whined.

“C’mon, don’t be shy now,”- Heisenberg all but mocked him, and for a second Ethan wondered how offended would he be if he were to shoot him just then. Not like it would kill him.

That’d be too easy.

“I want to hear you scream, Ethan.”

And when he added a third finger, definitely way too goddamn early, punctuated with a quick and filthy bite to Ethan’s ass, Ethan obliged readily.

“Fuck you,”- Ethan only just managed, voice coming out barely audible through his strained neck, bucking his hips further as he wondered at what point was this going to feel actually good.

Heisenberg only laughed in return – but maybe that point was coming sooner than Ethan anticipated, because he began to move his fingers then, his other hand finding its way to Ethan’s leaking cock, and fuck, this was everything.

“Pretty sure it’s the other way around, precious.”

Ethan didn’t hesitate to moan at that, too, dignity long forgotten.

“That’s right. Spread those legs for me, Ethan,”- Heisenberg laughed, pressing another wet bite somewhere between his ass and thigh, -“Gonna fuck you till you can’t breathe.”

There was definitely no dignity to speak of in the position he was in, and it was beginning to feel way too damn good to even bother. In fact, it was beginning to feel like not enough.

“Fuck me, fuck me, fuck, c’mon, fuck me-”- He whined loudly, breathily, the end of each phrase cut off with the thrust of fingers, hanging his head low as his hips were now fucking right into Heisenberg’s hand.

“Yeah- Yeah, that’s better,”- Heisenberg muttered, sounding not quite there himself, and Ethan desperately wanted to see his face. Taste his mouth. Touch his skin.

He bit down on his lip and thought he could taste blood.

“You’re so good, Ethan. So fucking good.”

He was emptied out almost painfully, his insides and outsides pulsating wildly, and his dick ached, but fuck, no way in hell was he coming without having Heisenberg inside him. And just as he turned around to see what the fuck was taking him so long, his eyes landed on Heisenberg’s. His pants were finally, finally off, his cock was out, and he was shamelessly jacking himself once again, lube shining on his fist as he stared at Ethan, mouth hanging open.

“Thought you were going to fuck me long and hard,”- Ethan heard himself saying, breath slowly getting there, anticipation making his knees tremble. He didn’t recognize himself. Had no idea what was happening to him. Only knew he needed to get off, and fuck, he needed it now, -“Are you going to make me cum or what?”

Heisenberg only laughed again.

“Are you always this demanding?”

And Ethan couldn’t help his own smile.

“What can I say. I’m special.”

“That you are, Ethan. That you are.”

Ethan turned back at that, unable to sustain eye contact any longer, thought about biting the pillow and decided against it. Something inside of him was getting ready to burst and he wasn’t sure it was just the arousal speaking, and he couldn’t handle any of that right now. He just wanted to get fucked.

He needed to get fucked.

And so when he felt Heisenberg finally grab him by the hips, he groaned in anticipation.

“Ready?”- He heard a voice ask him, and before he could even so much as think about replying, there was a definite pressure against his ass, and it was almost insulting how fantastic the burn felt inside his guts.

Heisenberg didn’t say anything else, only moaned high and needy, and as he felt him draw back his hips again, Ethan felt himself being tugged back by his shirt, back arching. There was a sudden smell of cigar and gasoline and rust and a hot tongue running up the back of his neck. Ethan cried out, stretching his arms out in front of him and feeling one of Heisenberg’s hands come up and grip at his wrists, pinning him in place yet again, sore skin pulsating wildly against the iron hold.

“Fuck- Never been fucked like this,”- He gasped into the sweat-stained bed sheets, tongue running on its own, lips trembling, -“Feels good. So fucking good.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you- You feel fucking amazing, Ethan,”- Heisenberg breathed into his ear, moaned as he went in deeper, and deeper yet, and that was the moment where Ethan definitely felt him hit something inside his guts, and his knees all but gave out from underneath him.

“I could fuck you all night.”

Then do it, he thought, realizing that he would gladly let him if only Heisenberg would keep hitting that fucking spot, because fuck.

“Fuck- Harder, harder- Please.”

Ethan bucked his hips once, twice, falling into rhythm, realizing that before he even knew it he was fucking as much down into the mattress as he was up into the other’s dick, overstimulation hitting him like a pile of bricks and suddenly he was so much closer than he wanted to be. Heisenberg’s hair tickled his cheeks, and when he turned his face, he received a sloppy, lopsided kiss that was every bit as messy as the rest of this experience. Ethan drooled on the pillow as he turned back, bit into it after all as he felt himself nearing the edge, and as though sensing his thoughts, Heisenberg’s hand moved from his hip to his cock to give it the much needed friction.

“You look fantastic like this, Ethan,”- He heard a breathy voice in his ear, felt his eyes roll back in his head as he gasped and groaned, -“I’m going to make you feel so good. So good.”

“I’m-“- He wanted to say and couldn’t, and Heisenberg picked up his pace without question.

“Cum for me, Ethan,”- He gasped against his earlobe, nipping at it in between, something frantic about his movements, -“I want to watch you cum. I want you- I want you-“

Ethan couldn’t hear the rest, didn’t know if there even was a rest. He was coming as though on fucking command, his body in spasms, eyes rolling back in their orbits. He couldn’t move, could barely breathe, and Heisenberg was still fucking into him, still pumping his dick through the orgasm, and fuck, this was the hardest Ethan’s come in all his goddamn life.

He could swear his vision went blank for a good moment there – but that could also have been because he stuffed his face into the pillow. And he only realized that this was the case when his body loudly demanded oxygen – and Ethan wriggled out of the grasp on his wrists to rise up on his elbows and take a deep breath.

Heisenberg slowed his movements, the roll of his hips almost in sync with Ethan’s heartbeat. His vision settled.

It was disgusting.

He felt disgusting.

Spent and tired and wasted and already so full of acidic regret it was beginning to eat him alive.

“You’re so fucking hot when you cum,”- Heisenberg whispered into his ear, breathless. Ethan inhaled sharply.

And so he grit his teeth and swallowed down the repulsive sticky feeling, shifting slowly, certainly. He heard Heisenberg groan, and he knew wanted to see. For how perfectly filthy he was feeling then, he still wanted to fucking see.

“Pull out,”- He demanded when turning around didn’t quite work and he felt the other man still, -“Karl. Come on now, trust me. I won’t leave you hanging.”

He surprised even himself with how earnest he was being there. And then, for emphasis and own personal amusement, he added, -“We’re partners, right?”

Because who didn’t love some good irony.

He had no idea what Heisenberg was thinking, of course, couldn’t claim to - but he wanted to believe that something like this would work. That he knew him well enough by now for this to work.

And it did.

With much hesitation and huffing, Heisenberg did pull out, leaving Ethan throbbing and empty and weirdly cold. And Ethan grit his teeth as he forced his shaky body to work again, at least enough to turn around. Enough to push the panting, confused, and perfectly compliant Heisenberg onto his back and climb on top.

“Let me take care of you now.”

Ethan tried not to think that he looked good lying like that, his sweaty hair spread out on the bed sheets, his eyes somehow both the color of orange rust and clear crystals at the same time, blown out, unfocused yet watching his every move. He really did try not to think about how enjoyable it was to kiss that mouth with that scar, to explore every other scar littering that frustratingly handsome face with his tongue, to hear the soft moans and know he was causing them – but dammit, without arousal clouding his every move, it was too damn difficult. And so he kissed that mouth again and again and again, licked at that scar, at every other scar, if only because he could.

For now, he could.

But then Heisenberg’s hands were moving back to his cock, and Ethan couldn’t have that. He was a man of his word if nothing else, dammit. And now, it was time for payback.

“You going to jerk off while I’m right here? Really?”

It was his turn to grab the other man’s wrists, force them above his head with minimal resistance (and he suspected resistance would be completely fatal in this case anyway), and slowly wrap his own fingers around the swollen cock, drop the remainder of lube on it and spread it through slowly. Heisenberg shuddered, releasing a soundless chuckle as he looked up at the ceiling, visibly trying to relax into the touch.

“You’re going to choose now to learn to take it slow, huh?”- He rasped, breath slowly picking back up again with every stroke Ethan gave him, and Ethan drank it all in like he was watching the most fascinating performance of his life.

“I’m a hands-on learner,”- He quipped back easily, swirling the head with his thumb and forefinger just because he could, and watched Heisenberg quiver.

“Going to fucking kill me,”- Ethan heard him mutter, and he really couldn’t suppress his smile then, licking his dry lips and mentally preparing himself for what he was planning on doing next. He reached down and finally pulled off his disgusting shirt, exposing his chest to the hot air and the sound of Heisenberg groaning in approval.

“Told you I could take you on.”

“Ethan, I swear to-“

Ethan didn’t know who Heisenberg was going to swear to, because at that point he finally managed to swallow down the rest of his disgust, anxiety, and apprehension, and use gravity to lower himself back down on Heisenberg’s dick once more. And sure, it was loads more uncomfortable, painful, the second time around, but fuck if the look on the other’s face wasn’t worth it – Heisenberg swore loudly, throwing his head back as he moaned and his hands immediately shot up to dig into Ethan’s hips and hold him as though his life depended on it.

“You’re goddamn insane,”- He half-whispered, half-laughed out, expressions twitching between incredulity, arousal, and just a simple fucking smile, and it was that last part that allowed Ethan to try and buck his hips forward. Just as an experiment. Just to see what would happen.

“Nah, just special.”

And what happened was that Heisenberg growled, stomach curling in, and Ethan moved again, and again, and again, until he was riding the other’s hips, until he felt himself suddenly get half-hard again and wondered if this was a normal thing to happen right after he’d already come, and before long Heisenberg was moving his hips too and his fingers were leaving bruises on Ethan’s pale skin.

“Fucking hell, Ethan, you feel so fucking hot,”- He breathed out, nails digging in to leave soft scratches against Ethan’s ass, -“So fucking- I knew you were gonna be a good fuck, but- Fuck.”

Ethan spread his legs wider, balls against a sweat-soaked stomach, hands spread out atop the twitching chest, fingers twirling the nipples, and he watched, watched, watched as Heisenberg fell apart.

“Gonna make you cum so hard,”- He whispered seeing him bite down on his lip so hard it bled.

Most dangerous of them all, echoed in his head once again and he barked out a single laugh as he leaned in and captured his mouth in a horrible kiss that was barely reciprocated – Heisenberg was close, and his eyes were screwed shut, and he was gasping and panting and whining and Ethan wanted to consume it all until that was the only thing left between the two of them. He pried away a reluctant hand from his hip and took a couple slick fingers into his mouth, sucking and licking and pressing his tongue into the webbing in between.

“Want you to suck me like this,”- His teeth grazed against the scars there, and he groaned when he felt a trickle of saliva run down his chin, -“Want your lips around my cock. Like this. Just like this.”

With a desperate moan, Heisenberg was coming, and Ethan’s already sticky feeling grew impossibly larger as he felt himself fill up, and if he wasn’t already working his dick to come a second time, this just might have sent him over the edge and turned this whole situation unbearable. As it stood, though, he was simply sitting there, taking it all in, desperately panting and moaning himself as he fucked his hand, twirled his tongue around the press of Heisenberg’s fingers, and tried to get it over with quickly.

And Heisenberg watched him through it all, eyes half-lidded, his mouth a thin, plump line, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. He slowly moved to sit up on his elbows, his soft dick still moving inside Ethan, still doing things to him.

With a messy pop he pulled his fingers out of Ethan’s mouth, used that hand to bend him in half, giving him yet another messy kiss.

Only this time, it was slow.

It was slow, and it felt different, and Ethan’s dick was twitching in his hand and it ached.

Heisenberg lifted him off with a tired grunt, Ethan desperately ignoring the sensation of everything leaking out of him, and placed him back on the mattress, back in his place. And then, he yanked Ethan’s hand off, and without so much as another word, replaced it with his mouth.

“Fuck,”- Ethan screamed, the swirl of hot wet tongue making his hips spasm frantically, fingers tugging at the long hair.

Heisenberg took his cock nearly all the way down to the base, then went back up and pressed his tongue against the slit, lapped up at the fluid coming out and removed his mouth again.

“Taste fucking amazing, Ethan,”- He stated, and Ethan had no doubt that that was true. He licked at the shaft in one slow motion, starting at the base and making his way to the head, then back down again, and Ethan heard him take a deep inhale, practically nuzzle against his balls, and he wanted to scream, -“You’re good. You’re so good. Is this what you wanted?”

“Yeah. Yeah,”- He panted, holding the other man by the base of his neck as he fucked against his lips, his cheek, his mouth, leaving streaks of white across hot skin, -“You get me so hard. So fucking hard. Make me cum. Make me cum again.”

“I will. You will cum for me again and again, Ethan. You smell amazing,”- Heisenberg told him just as well, stroking and licking and it was the absolute weirdest blowjob Ethan has ever received in his life, but he was watching Heisenberg practically worship his dick with a look that many did not bother worshipping their gods with, and he was never a fan of dirty talk, but somehow this was now making his guts explode. He watched that mouth wrap around his tip, suck at it almost gently, his breath now a confused mess of moans and curses and growls.

“Fuck. Like that. Fuck, I’m going to fucking cum all over you-“

“Do it. Whatever you want. My face, my mouth, my chest. Anything,”- Heisenberg muttered against the shaft, then took it back down his throat, swallowed hard, and Ethan practically saw stars. By the time Heisenberg pulled back, half of Ethan’s cum was dripping down his chin, onto his beard, his collarbones, his arms.

“Like that, Ethan. Let go. Let it all go.”

And Ethan hated how gently he worked him through the rest of the orgasm, how that made him feel dirtier than the first one when he was ass up and practically blinded, how staring at Heisenberg’s cum-stained face pressed into his thigh was making him feel weak and desperate and like he never wanted to move ever again.

Heisenberg was still pressing a wet hicky into his leg by the time Ethan had finished, had time to come back down from his high, had time to remember everything he’d said and everything that was said to him, had time to feel the dried up fluids covering his body, and had time to realize that this was it. That the distraction was over.

He wanted to sink into the bed and wake up a week later.

He had no idea whose bed he wanted to wake up in.

Heisenberg gave his skin another whiff as he was standing up, looked at Ethan from underneath those greatly hooded eyes and smirked, and then simply walked back across the room to the table butt-naked, cum stains across his abdomen and crotch and chest and beard.

Ethan crawled up the bed slowly, no idea what he was supposed to say now. What was supposed to happen. He was beginning to get cold. His teeth ached.

He watched a very naked Heisenberg wipe at his mouth with the back of his hand, pick up the cigar he discarded earlier, then crouch down and search around for a lighter, which he used immediately.

And then he watched a puff of white smoke cloud the already hot and mussed up room.

This time, when Heisenberg reached over and offered the cigar, Ethan didn’t refuse.

He took a long drag and smoke filled his senses, seeped into his lungs and came back out as a violent cough, everything about the taste making him think of the man in front of him, the feeling weirdly soft for as sickly as it made him feel. His backside burned and he desperately needed a shower.

He didn’t know if regret was the right term for what he was feeling then. It felt about right.

Heisenberg simply laughed, and the sound, too, was making him melt further down into the bed.

“You have no idea what you’re doing, do you?”- He asked settling back into bed, throwing a tattered blanket over both of them, and Ethan automatically moved aside to make space. His knees protested the new position.

He passed the cigar over, trying and failing not to move closer. The other man was still burning hot – and Ethan was so damn cold for so damn long.

He watched him take another long, slow drag, and this time instead of releasing it into the air, Heisenberg turned to look at him, blinked slowly once and then smiled and reached over.

Ethan didn’t have the time to think before opening his mouth up for the kiss, tasting the smoke and the cum and thinking it disgusting and yet reaching his tongue deeper in for more.

“Better?”- Heisenberg asked pulling back way too soon, watching as Ethan released a thinning cloud into a room that was beginning to look and feel like a fire hazard.

And Ethan took that moment to look him over. All sweaty and dirty and sullied, hair a wild mess, bite marks covering the entirety of his neck and shoulder, lips puffed out and red, that scar lost amongst the color. Eyes hooded, pupils blown out. A smile so gentle it could crack any second now.

And he looked- Karl looked- Heisenberg looked like a man. A normal, regular, content fucking person who was just happy to be there. Ethan swallowed down a lump in his throat, the smoke beginning to sting at his eyes.

He shuffled in closer, threw a leg over Heisenberg’s own. To warm up, he told himself, and Heisenberg’s expression told him he didn’t mind one bit. You’re alright, it told him. It’s okay.

“Yeah. I think I’m getting the hang of it,”- Ethan told him in a quiet voice. Didn’t know if regret was still in the room with him, or if it managed to slip out somewhere in between all the cigar smoke. He inhaled, and his lungs burned sweetly.

Heisenberg took another slow drag. Leaned back in for another kiss.

And this time, it lasted longer. The graze of lips was slow, the tongue slower yet to follow, gentle and intent on exploring, learning, mapping. And the second Ethan pulled back to release the smoke that was beginning to choke, Heisenberg was back in with another dose. Another kiss that lasted even longer.

Ethan was beginning to suspect the cigar was just an excuse.

His hand slipped over a warm thigh and squeezed. Nothing felt alien anymore.

Just slow. And sleepy.

“You should rest,”- Heisenberg told him when Ethan found himself inexplicably resting on his chest, fingers mindlessly playing with the hairs, throat weirdly tight.

“But-“

“Believe it or not, there’s still time, Ethan,”- He told him, a soft hand running up and down his arm. Ethan exhaled and tried not to think about how this looked. About how this felt. About how he felt, -“Sleep. Rest. I will wake you in the morning.”

He inhaled the smell of cigar smoke readily. Took another look around the tiny room that was the closest he felt to home in what felt like forever. Finally felt like he was no longer cold or hot.

Just warm.

“Okay. Morning it is.”

He settled back. Looked into the ceiling for a long moment, then rose up on his elbows to give Heisenberg another slow kiss – this time, in between cigar drags. Sighed into the little surprised sound he’d managed to extract. Settled back again and crawled further under the blankets.

The room was beginning to look like a dream, and for once, it wasn’t a nightmare.

He pressed his back to Heisenberg. Immediately, he felt an arm wrap around his waist. Lips pressed against his shoulder.

Ethan closed his eyes.

“And in the morning, we change everything.”

[fiction-in-my-blood]

Obey Me! Brothers W/ Mentally Slow MC HC

~Longer than necessary A/N ahead so, if you don’t care, you don’t need to read it, just sharing stuff about myself to random strangers on the internet lol.~

So... I’m slow. Like, my brain just does not computer things quick enough a majority of the time? I’m not a great conversationalist because of it, I have a pretty bad stammer, I mix up names even though they don’t sound at all the same, and I get too excited when I do know something that when I try to say it its just a jumble of words that don’t make sense and I tell my friends to just forget about it because I know I won’t be able to say the right words lol. Luckily I have great friends and they give me the time to rethink my sentence so I can say what I want to say. Oh, and I daydream to the point I never dream in my sleep haha. So, this is basically an HC for me lol. That being said, I’m pulling from mostly my own experiences here, so I’m sorry if they sound a lil depressy haha. 

And I would like to say, if anyone can relate, there’s literally nothing wrong with you!!! (Cannot stress this enough). We just have our fun lil quirks.

~Also, I’m so sorry for missing out on Belphie. I love him somuch but I could not think of a scenario for him. If I do in the future I’ll edit or reupload idk.~

~Oh, and @theshove , I finally posted again ;), although I’m sure it’s not gonna be as spicy as you’d like.~

Warnings: Descriptive explanation of a panic attack in Mammon’s HC, reference to bullying in Satan’s

~~~~~~

Lucifer:

At first, he was secretly pretty frustrated.

He thought it was a confidence issue, he heard that was a common thing in human youth, to not believe in yourself and have anxiety about the way you looked, spoke, sounded. 

You would often be having conversations with his brothers, debating a subject that Lucifer took no interest in, and you would be about to put in your input when a stream of nonsense passed your lips.

“Y’know what, nevermind.” Was a frequent phrase that left your lips when you did slip up, sighing to yourself as you thought about how ridiculous you just sounded. 

Lucifer would ensure none of the brothers, or Solomon, ever teased you about your mistakes.

Although, it was mortifying everytime you accidentally called him Levi, and vice versa. 

It was hard enough when you were still getting to know the brothers, but even on a date with the eldest, Levi just seemed like an easier word to say in the moment. It led to a few upsetting misunderstandings and some pretty severe punches to Lucifer’s pride.

Once you two got closer, you explained you mixed up your words because you used to be practically mute.

You weren’t a particularly extroverted child, nor were you interested in much, so you hardly spoke at all. You never got the practice you needed to familiarise yourself with words. It was Devildom that really brought them out of you.

After you did share that with him, he thrived off hearing your voice, even when it took a solid ten seconds to contemplate what you needed to say, even stretching your mouth muscles before you started just in case you stumbled again.

Of course, you made your mistakes now and again, got stuck on a word, laughing at how ridiculous you sounded saying ‘in’ several times in a row when you were trying to argue over tonight’s dinner, but Lucifer never cracked a joke like you did about yourself. 

He smiled, happy that you didn’t let this impact your personality and recovered quickly and, gradually, at snail's pace it felt like at the time, you could hold a conversation, a bright smile on your face when you were able to pull it off.

“Lucifer, I didn’t stutter this time!”

“Well done, MC, shall I give you a reward?”

Mammon:

“Useless human, can’t even talk, huh?” 

Trying to act like the big tough guy he played himself out to be didn’t fare well when you first arrived in Devildom, his brothers practically beat him up every other day for it.

The first time you laid your eyes upon a demon and they explained you would be a transfer student, it took you a few minutes of silence to understand what was actually going on.

It wasn’t because this wasn’t an extraordinary situation, you were an avid reader of fantasy novels and had waited for the day to be transported away from your boring, mundane life, but you just couldn’t compute verbal speech.

In potion class, you had to ask the teacher to write down the ingredients and the quantities because you couldn’t picture the words themselves, so you couldn’t understand what the potion was actually meant to do.

“What’re you writing it all down for?”

“It’s easier for me to listen when I can read what they’re saying. I guess it’s because my hearing’s crap?” 

But your hearing wasn’t all that bad, it was just easier to explain it that way than explaining how transcriptions help you listen.

Sometimes, in the hallways of RAD, the bustling students and whispering gossiping of you, a human, making a pact with Mammon? Apparently it was hilarious to everyone else.

But it wasn’t what the demons were saying, it was how loud they were saying it. 

It was just too many noises at once, you couldn’t decipher the surround-sound mumbling and it stressed you out, made you uncomfortable, and gave you that all too familiar feeling of a panic attack due to the sensory overload. 

Mammon realised your discomfort as tears grew in your eyes and your breathing quickened and, for a moment, he was moving to beat up every single devil that ever even mentioned the word ‘human’.

“Ma-Mammon!” Your frail voice and a tug on his sleeve pulled him back to Devildom and he turned back around to you, watching as you clenched your eyes shut, trying to ignore the buzzing that continued to rattle your brain. 

“Can you take me some place quiet?”

From then on, you would often spend your lunch breaks in a quiet classroom away from the majority of students. It was a good place for you to wind down, especially, when you two were close enough, Mammon would hug you closely, helping the panic in your heart when you did have a panic attack due to all the noises.

You didn’t have them as much now, the noise cancelling headphones he had bought you brought solace as you walked from classroom to classroom.

In class, he would try his best to act as scribe when you were running behind, but he did a terrible job. His handwriting was abysmal, only now did he appreciate how quickly you had to write to keep up with the lessons. 

You appreciate the sentiment all the same, placing a quick kiss on his cheek- you were dating at this point- and explained that he didn’t have to do that for you, you could just get a copy of the teacher’s notes after class.

Now he could never feel more guilty about picking on you when you first got to Devildom.

“Hey, Mamo?”

“Yeah, MC?”

“Thanks for not getting angry at me.”

Leviathan:

You were pretty silent, never really talking unless you were spoken to directly.

Yet, you still had that dumb, normie trap of cute smile on your face when you listened to everyone ranting and raving. 

When you did speak, it was quiet, almost a whisper.

Thank Diavolo for the demon’s enhanced hearing because, if they didn’t, they would be constantly asking you to speak up.

It wasn’t because you didn’t like your voice or you thought you were too loud otherwise, it was just because you couldn’t really be bothered to be louder.

You were content with just listening, watching everyone have a vivid conversation about the latest trouble Mammon had gotten into or Satan raving about the last Detective show you needed to watch. 

You never had any questions to ask in class, and the ones you did have would usually be asked by another student before you got the chance to even raise your hand. You weren’t a genius, just a good listener.

Levi understood, somewhat. Why would you want to talk to his normie brothers? They had nothing interesting to say.

Most of the time he suspected you just weren’t listening to them. 

But, it’s when you were alone together in his room as he told you about the latest anime he was enjoying, he got annoyed.

“Are you even listening to me? I don’t even know why I try. You don’t deserve Henry!”

“I was listening. You were explaining how you think the next season of TSL is going to go. I’ll admit, the Lord of Shadow saving that servant from the Lord of Corruption seems a little far fetched, but it’d be interesting to watch.” 

That had possibly been the longest group of sentences he had ever heard you string together at once. And they were so soft, no hint of trepidation from his accusation.

Eyes wide in embarrassment for misreading the situation, and getting so aggressive about it, Leviathan looked away.

“I’m sorry, I know I seem really dismissive all the time. I just enjoy listening to you talk about your passions.”

The bright smile on your face calmed him down, as it usually did, and, every so often, you would make your comments about the shows you know only because of him. He was very good at explaining plot lines. Even when you had never seen the show, you felt like you had.

You would mainly just talk to Levi from then on, getting to the point where you could express your own hobbies without him judging you as a normie and more as a friend.

Well, not a friend, more than that, much more, but a friend would have to do for now.

The first time you strike up a conversation with him, calling his name from down the hallway of the house you’re staying in as he walks with Asmodeus, Mammon and Beelzebub is possibly the greatest day of Levi’s life.

“Lefty.” You accidentally pronounce his name wrong, like you sometimes do with “Bell” and “Ashmo”.

You didn’t have any problems with saying their names normally, but when you were tired, all hopes of communicating like a normal human being went out the window.

Your words were a low mumble, but they were something Levi had learnt to understand fluently from your late night gaming sessions that would usually end in ruin when your tired brain drastically slowed your reflexes.

“I heard it was your 200,000th bicentennial birthday coming up, so I asked one of my friends to commission this for you.”

Only Diavolo knows how you managed to pronounce centennial at this time of night, but you did it, handing him a paper-wrapped, flat square, a light blush dusting both your cheeks. 

Asmo made a flirty, teasing comment about how close you two seemed and how, now, Levi was the lucky one.

Mammon got jealous, demanding that he wanted a birthday present, even though his milestone couple centuries had literally been a couple centuries ago.

Beel’s stomach grumbled, but he was a little curious about what you could have possibly gifted Levi, and how many words you just said as loud as they would usually be, which was wildly out of character for you.

“It’s the Lord of Shadow and the servant.” Levi gasped upon seeing the magnificent drawing your friend had made for you, which you insisted on paying for, and never had Levi been so jealous to have a friend like that. A friend with such talent. 

“You were right, he did save her.” You smiled, eyes twinkling at the positive reaction Levithan had made. 

You had seen the similarities in the characters with you and the demon. The servant was said to have had their voice stolen as a child, long before they and the Lord of Shadow had met. And it was obvious to you the similarities the anime brothers had with the demon brothers, but you wouldn’t dare tell Levi that. You were worried he’d get shy and call you a normie again.

So that statement you made was a form of confession to Levi. Something you hoped he would understand.

“You watched the season without me?! How did you even get the DVD? It’s not even out yet!”

Yeah, no such luck there.

“Levi, you know what isn’t fair?”

“What could possibly be unfair for you in this situation?”

“That you aren’t as good a listener as I am.”

Satan:

You were an avid texter, just like Satan. 

Your fingers moved so quickly against the screen of your D.D.D or the keyboard of a computer, it was amazing someone could see them. 

And you were smart. On electronics, you could keep up conversations on the latest book you were reading and discuss the detective shows you and he liked to watch together.

It was only when you spoke in person did your conversations so down.

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” You cried out after a particularly long and troublesome stutter, mainly annoyed because it was an easy word but all the b’s tied your tongue like a tongue twister. Ironically, you felt like you were blubbering like an idiot.

Your stammer used to be worse, far worse. So bad you couldn’t even tell your parents anything without getting angry at yourself, but you got the speech therapy and learnt to just take it slow when you got eager. 

Everytime you see Satan, you want to be able to match his intellect and speed. You felt almost competitive. 

But it would hardly ever work out in your favour, your ‘S’s coming out like you were trying to start an old engine and ‘B’s and ‘D’s being switched in for each other like you were a toddler.

You spoke before you thought of what you were going to say, hoping the words would just float out of my mouth like everyone else’s did.

But no. Not for you. 

You had to carefully plan each sentence, thinking about every conversation you had so you could make a pre-made answer just so you wouldn’t look like a fool taking so long to speak.

You were ashamed most of the time, bullied for your impediment as a child and even in your teen years by people you told yourself were your friends but really weren’t when they called you teasing nicknames instead of your given one after you had asked them several times to use it. 

They were the main reason you still didn’t have the confidence to speak well now.

“Hey, take it easy. We’re not in a rush.” 

Satan would always be nice, politely giving you the time you needed to take a breather, calm down, and start over again, still blushing from your last stuttering episode.

“Why don’t you call me an idiot?”

A lot of questions similar to these, the only difference- the name you would be called, passed your lips sometimes, when there was a lull in your time together. 

You were used to people making fun, telling you to just shut up already so they didn’t have to hear your stupidity anymore.

“You’re not stupid. I care about what you have to say.”

Satan was always so serious everytime he answered a variation of your question, showing you he really cared. 

You blushed, your mind blank and it would take a couple minutes after that initial compliment for you to reboot.

It was true, though. 

Satan enjoyed watching your lips move and the sound of your voice as you two discussed who the killer in his detective show could be.

You both always came to the same conclusion before the episode ended.

Because most of your conversations happened through text, he found he missed your tone and expressive face when you got really into a subject.

He didn’t care if you stuttered, it was far better than just watching words flash across a screen, as most of your conversations went, on his D.D.D

Although, he did care that you got so angry with yourself. 

Being the Avatar of Wrath, he understood how easy it was to give into frustration and just want to hit something every time you made a mistake, he had done that many times in his younger years, and it wasn’t healthy.

It wasn’t healthy to be ashamed of a mere stumble or get mad at yourself for it, you never learnt that way.

One night, laying in his bed, platonically, you shared your reasoning behind getting so mad everytime you stuttered. 

You had seen Satan’s demon-form once before, but never had you seen it arise so quickly and so fiercely. 

You had been down all day and he had brought you to his room so you could feel comfortable enough to talk to him, but this fearful man, no, creature before you only put you more on edge.

But he continued to hold you.

He continued to wrap his arms around you from behind, spooning your body, trying his best not to fly out of hell right now and hunt down those who had picked on and teased you for all those years for something you couldn’t even help.

To think the reason you hated something he found so endearing was because some mere humans had made you think your excitement to communicate with people was something wrong?

“I don’t think this exchange program is going to work out.”

“Wh...Why?” You tried your hardest now to sound strong, sighing to yourself when you repeated the letters.

“Because I won’t be able to hold back if I have free access to the human world. What kind of assholes do that?”

“Teenage assholes.”

Asmodeus:

What a cute little airhead.

From the moment he first met you, Asmo loved the clueless looks on your face as you sifted through the information you were being given, seconds behind the punch everyone else could get to. 

You were slow, but you were meticulous, combing through every piece of information you could to give the correct response.

You were actually pretty smart because of that fact, studying so hard on everything you did so you weren’t embarrassed by being wrong.

And you weren’t too big with the whole ‘social cues’ thing either, mistaking Satan’s sarcasm for truth and Leviathan’s anger for genuine, relationship-ruining upset, desperately trying to fix the situation so that no one would get hurt.

You were selfless in the strangest of ways, too, opting to go without something you actually, really needed before asking someone for help. 

Once, you had tried ordering shower gel off of Akuzon, but, instead, ordered Shaitan Gell, a special ingredient often used by witches to summon demons. 

You had wondered why it was so expensive, but thought that maybe the Devildom economy wasn’t doing so well right now.

(It wasn’t your money you were using, so what the hell?)

It was even more confusing when it smelled a little off, but demons had strange tastes. Beelzebub literally ate brains and bat wings on the daily.

When Diavolo showed up in your shower the first time you used the oddly thick, black liquid, you just cocked your head, too weird to be embarrassed. Thinking this was a regular occurance in Devildom, you gave the prince a hearty hello and asked him, if he needed anything, could he please wait outside so you could get dressed first.

The news spread like wildfire, especially when Diavolo randomly vanished from a meeting with Lucifer. 

When everyone did find out, as Lucifer was reprimanding you for using such a relic in that way, they teased you endlessly, some offering you their own makes of the potion so you might accidentally summon them in the same way.

Every flirty or sexual remark Asmo made went right over your head, thinking that with every personal question he asked was just asked to make conversation and not genuine interest on his part.

“Do you have a partner?”

“Well, no, I don’t really compete in dance competitions or anything.”

“What positions do you usually go for?”

“I don’t play many sports, but if I had to pick, I’d say a pitcher in baseball. I have a pretty mean throw!”

It actually became a little bewildering how oblivious you were to all of his advances, thinking every time he draped himself over you he was cold and you offered him your jumper.

He took them everytime, so you were starting to run low. He tended to hoard them in his room, savouring the sweet scent of the body wash he had bought for you after the Shaitan incident.

“Asmo, can I get my hoodie back?”

You called through his closed door at some point after returning from school in the dead of winter, shivering in the sweat pants and long sleeved top you already had on.

You were generous, you didn’t think you personally were, but all the brothers knew you would give anyone anything if they asked for it. 

That’s why it wasn’t that ridiculous when Asmo had all of your jackets. Hoodies from years ago, sweaters you bought just to treat yourself because they were so soft, and even this jumper you got from your ex-boyfriend in high school, something you meant to give back but never managed to. You forgot every time you went to meet him with that exact intent the reason for seeing him.

It didn’t remind you of him, he barely wore it before you practically stole it, but it did make Asmo’s heart skip a beat at the ‘sweater-paws’ you got from the much-too-long sleeves. 

Following a clattering from what sounded like trash cans, followed by a comical shriek of a cat, the door flew open to a slightly disheveled Asmodeus, fabric clutched in his hand as he stood topless before you.

“Oh, sorry, Asmo. I didn’t mean to disturb you. I’m just so cold.”

You laughed to show you weren’t upset with him as you rubbed your arms, bouncing on the balls of your feets to get your blood moving enough to create some heat. 

How could all these devils, avatars of the seven deadly sins, not have heating?

“Let me warm you up, MC!”

Without even stopping to hear your answer, but he knew you’d say yes, no matter what, Asmo pulled you in by the wrist, immediately wrapping his bare arms around you the moment the door was closed.

He was warm and you were comfortable with him, he showed you curiosity and care, so you eased into that embrace, thinking it a friendly gesture as a thank you for using your clothes all the time.

When you felt a slight nibble on your ear, you started to freak out a little.

You stuttered out an inquiry as to what he was doing, shyly pushing away as he drew back with his flirtatious smirk.

“I’ve made it so obvious for so long, MC. I really like you.”

Asmo cooed back, prodding your puffed out cheek with the tip of his tongue as you tilted your head to the side the same way you did every time someone told you something new. 

Knowing you would be taking a moment to compute the information, Asmo used this chance to bury his face in the crook of your neck.

“I really like you too, Asmo.” 

The realisation came pretty suddenly. 

You had never put much thought into it.

Sure, he was the Avatar of Lust, he could just be saying this so he could express his temporary desires, but that was how you felt. You weren’t one for holding back, you were always scared of forgetting the topics of your thoughts if you didn’t say them aloud, so you just went for it.

Beelzebub:

Does this person even have bones?!

Like, seriously, your tripping over your feet like they’re not even attached to your body.

Rolling your ankle, walking off in directions that definitely don’t lead to where you intend on going, skipping right passed the class you’re meant to be attending.

The amount of times you’ve gotten lost in both the House of Lamentation and RAD is honestly worrying. 

Your sense of direction? What even is a map because it seems like you’ve never even heard of the concept of signs or specific routes you need to take to get to your bedroom.

To help with your impossibly slow way of getting a lay of the land in your new dorm, you would often take midnight strolls.

Often getting lost, which is how you found Belphegor up in the attic, even when you had stayed on the same floor.

That’s how you and Beel got so close. 

Because of the delectable scents coming from the kitchen, you would often find him having his late night snacks. 

He would invite you to stay, at first only because Lucifer had instructed him to walk you back to your room every time he found you aimlessly wandering the house late at night. 

“Is your ankle okay?” He would ask through a mouthful of food, but somehow you were still able to understand him.

Blushing, you looked down as your injury that was caused earlier in the day. You had stepped weird on the side of your foot- something that would usually happen and something you would usually be able to walk away from- but this time it was on the tall spiral stairs of the school you were still getting to know, sending you tumbling down flights and flights of steps. 

It was a wonder you were human, because even Solomon was shocked you survived that. 

“Y-Yeah, just a little red,” was an understatement.

You’re ankle killed. It was only a little swollen thanks to the spell your sorcerer friend used on you, but that didn’t help the sprain of your tendons. It was slightly bruised, covered by your loosest, most comfortable socks.

“Are you embarrassed?” Beel pointed out your bashful blush and you looked back up. He had seen your obvious hobble as you made your way to his side, but didn’t want to mention it in case you were feeling fragile about the subject.

“It just gives me flashbacks, is all.”

Oh? 

Memories from MC’s past?

Yes, Beel would very much like to hear about that. 

Not to tease or bribe you with, he was genuinely curious about your little human life. Not that you could tell, but he had never been so curious about another being like that. 

“Oh, god, well, I guess I trust you.” You joked, blushing harder as you laughed about the memory that plagues your thoughts. 

One time, in high school, you were walking out of the cantine when you tripped over literally nothing, throwing your bottle of water across the school yard like you needed to save it from your fall. It landed in the middle of a group of older students. 

The amount of laughs you got from that. The teacher that came up to you to ask if you were okay. The cut that occured on your knee. 

(Yes, this is a personal story. Yes, I have ptsd every time I pick up a plastic bottle of water)

Oh, it was like you were reliving the horror right there and then.

“It was mortifying! My friends still bring it up. To. this. day.” You sulk, resting your forehead on the table to hide the deep red on your face. 

“Did it hurt?” The blunt question came as a shock, that’s for sure, and you no longer felt unbearably hot when you looked up to see him. There was little look of amusement except for a kind-hearted smile. 

“W-Well, not as much as this other time...” 

You found yourself telling him all of your most embarrassing tales, seeking for that one story that would make him laugh the way everyone else would laugh at you. 

He didn’t. At all. It was actually a little worrying that he found none of your stories funny. 

Truthfully, he did find the want to chuckle at a few of them, but he didn’t want to betray your trust by laughing at such ‘precious’ memories for you. 

[idrellegames]

Hello! First, I want to say I love your game and the world you've created in it. Its abolutely one of my favorites! Secondly, I have quick question. I played the game last time much before April and decided today to visit it again and used my old saves. (I hope this doesn't spoil for anyone) I got with my old save to the Count's villa, had that ordeal there but after checking my stats and seeing it was all weird I started a new game and it seems to stop after the map selection altogether? Tried to scroll through here in your tumblr about it but couldn't find anything, hence this ask. Have I just missed an update info or is it a bug? I am sorry if this ask is a bit weird. Thank you in advance, I hope you have a great day and are keeping well during this ongoing pandemic!💕

Hi, thanks for reaching out! I’m glad you’re enjoying the game. <3

Wayfarer underwent a major update on April 10th that reconfigured the way the game handles skills and skill checks. Because the numbers are different, that’s why the stats from your pre-April save file are messed up. You can see the full changelog for Version 1.0.4 here. 

Depending how you saved your game (downloaded a save to your hard drive and reuploaded it or used the browser save slots), you may also want to clear your browser history before you start a new file. 

There are currently two major routes in Chapter 1. The Chapter 1 A Route, which results in the boss fight at the Count’s villa, is complete. The Chapter 1 B Route is not. If you reached any of these story events:

Fought Kane in Rat Alley

Went to the Docks and turned down Zenaida’s contract

Went to the Docks and failed to persuade Aeran to accept Zenaida’s contract

Then you are on the incomplete B Route, the game will end after you choose your first Exploration area and set your nickname. 

If you encountered another issue (a blank passage, no options to proceed, basically anything that isn’t the “Demo End” screen that prevents you from continuing), you can submit a bug report with as much detail as possible so I can track down the error. 

Hope this helps! 

[xbaepsae]

prove it (m)

“How could he not see how this was all affecting you? Why didn’t he realize you needed him to be present in your life? But as much as you needed him to be one hundred percent here for you, a part of you would just rather have him one hundred percent gone.”

[boyfriend!jeongguk x girlfriend!reader]

genre: estranged relationship!au, smut, some angst

word count: 4.9k

rating: mature

warnings: mutual masturbation, jealousy, language

a/n: this is another reupload! i went back and reread this and, honestly, it’s not too shabby. granted, it’s not that complex, but i enjoyed writing this estranged relationship between jk and the reader. kind of want to write a follow up. let me know lol. xoxo

Long distance relationships suck.

Even for the strongest of people, separation is never easy. Ideally, everyone wants to believe that not being with the person they love all the time isn’t a big deal. However, after a while, there are different factors that cause major stress in a relationship.

There’s a lack of communication sometimes; you can’t physically see them often, so you resort to the basic text and phone call. Still, it’s not the same. Seeing someone through a phone is vastly different than physically being with them. There’s a lack of intimacy too; no holding hands, late night cuddles. Your toys and hands can only do so much, unfortunately.

Being long distance wasn’t always the case for you and Jeongguk, but it became a reality when you both decided to attend different universities.

Early in your relationship, you both avoided talks about the future. In the back of your mind, you already knew that you both had different plans for college. But you didn’t want to admit it out loud—not even to him.

A part of you was afraid about the longevity of your relationship. Most long-distance relationships, and even more so with high school relationships, don’t really make it. But you loved Jeongguk; you don’t think you’ll ever be able to love anyone else as much. As cheesy as it may sound, he’s your other half. You knew that there were others out there, but you didn’t want anyone else.

“You’ll call me every day, yeah?” you asked him the day you both graduated.

“Of course,” he caressed your arm. “Every day.”

The first semester at college, you both talked nearly every day. And you were happy; so happy that despite the distance, not much had changed. Even with your different schedules, you both still made time for each other. You both even visited each other—you went to see him during Halloween, and he surprised you before your finals.

But of course, life gets in the way.

After the first winter break, the communication between you two dwindled. And after that first summer, everything changed. Even when you both did happen to be home, you barely had the time to talk let alone hang out. You found out more about Jeongguk’s life from his Instagram account than you did directly from him. Every time you scrolled onto his page, countless pictures of him partying and hanging out with his friends filled your screen—and yet, no time to give you a quick phone call. It was frustrating.

You considered calling it quits multiple times—what is the use of being with someone if you both don’t act like a couple? It was so bad; you couldn’t even remember the last time you two were in the same room. But every time you brought up the issue, Jeongguk did some redeemable act and you forgave him instantly.

It seemed to be a never-ending cycle.

And now, even though you both were well into your third year in college, Jeongguk was still tethering you on a string. How could he not see how this was all affecting you? Why didn’t he realize you needed him to be present in your life? But as much as you needed him to be one hundred percent here for you, a part of you would just rather have him one hundred percent gone.

***

3:14 PM | Jeongguk: I’ll call you later

3:15 PM | You: for real?

You watched the text bubble pop up for a few seconds before disappearing. And when it disappears, it doesn’t pop up again. A sigh leaves your mouth as you drop your phone onto the table.

“Are you texting him?”

Looking up, you make eye contact with your friend Taehyung. “Yeah…”

“And?” Taehyung prompts you to finish your sentence.

“And…he said he’ll call me later,” you say, “but these types of texts from Jeongguk are pointless and disappointing.”

You met Taehyung your first year at college, and immediately hit it off. You helped him with his math homework, and he paid you back by listening to all of your Jeongguk drama. Sometimes you wished you could fall for Taehyung—a relationship with him was bound to be easier than the one you had right now—but he was already in a deeply committed relationship with the cute librarian assistant, Jimin.

“I mean, at least he texted you, right?” your friend attempts to make you feel better, but you feel anything but that.

“I guess.”

“Well don’t be too hard on yourself, buttercup,” Taehyung smiles, “because today is not the day to be down in the dumps!”

Half the time, you have no idea what the words that came out of his mouth even mean. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you remember?” You have no idea. “It’s Hoseok’s birthday tonight!”

After a few moments, the gears in your head begin moving and you remember Taehyung mentioning something about it last week. You aren’t really close with Hoseok though; he’s Taehyung’s friend and a member of the soccer team, so it slipped your mind.

You have only chatted with Hoseok twice; once was at a party freshman year and you were wasted, and the second was in line for coffee at Starbucks; but you were pretty sure he had no idea who you were. “But I don’t really even know him.”

“Y/n, he doesn’t care who comes; hell, I think he invited the entire school. Besides, I already told him that you’re my plus one since Jimin can’t make it.”

Even though it was a Friday, you were not in the mood to do anything. All you wanted was to return back to your apartment and sleep until Monday rolled around. “Tae…”

“It’ll take your mind off of Jeongguk,” he says in a sing-song voice.

And he’s right—it will be a distraction from your issues in the love department. You think about it for a moment before deciding to hell with it; you’re going to allow yourself to enjoy tonight. “Okay fine, I’ll go.”

Taehyung gets up in that moment and engulfs you in a hug, which attracts the stares of many people in the room. “Thanks y/n!”

“I think you can let me go now,” you pat his back and he lets you go with an airy oh.

“Okay, well, I’ll swing by your place at around seven and then we’ll goooooo!”

You laugh at his enthusiasm and bid your friend goodbye as you both leave. You’re pretty sure Taehyung has a class, but he’s going the opposite direction…so you’re not sure what he’s doing. But you don’t think too much about it and make it back to your apartment. There, you greet your roommate, Nana.

“Hey, girl hey,” she smiles, and you’re struck once again by how pretty she is.

You and Nana have been roommates since you both started going to school here. Most people don’t end up living with their first roommate their entire stay at college, but you both got along well and there has never been a problem. Also, you two just knew too much about each other’s living habits at this point to live with other people.

“Hi,” you smile back, setting your things down before falling down onto the couch beside her.

“So, how was your day?”

Since you both are juniors and have busy schedules, it seems like you never really get to see each other. Which sucks because you honestly consider Nana to be your best friend, besides Taehyung of course.

“It’s been okay,” you begin, “I barely passed my exam in history and managed to turn in my paper for lit right before the deadline…and Jeongguk texted me.”

“Jeongguk texted you?” she only seems to pick up the last bit you said.

“Yep,” you pop the end of the word.

“How’d that go?”

You give her a look, “Horrible.”

Nana gives you a sympathetic smile, “Sorry boo that you have such a shitty boyfriend.”

“He’s not shitty…he’s just…” you try to get the words out about how loving Jeongguk really is, but your mind fails you. Maybe she’s right. “Okay, maybe he is being a little shit right now.”

“You know, I really liked Jeongguk when I first met him,” your roommate says. “But then he just stopped coming to see you.”

You sigh and burry your head into a pillow, “I know.”

“What did he even text you about?”

“He said that he’ll call or whatever—but I’m not even sure if he’s serious, or just messing with me,” you lift your head up. “Do you know that we haven’t talked since school started again?”

Nana gasps, “That was almost two months ago.”

“Exactly.”

“Y/n!” she screams your name. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“I’m actually going crazy, Nana,” you feel defeated; what kind of relationship is this? “But maybe tonight will get this shit off my mind.”

“What are you doing tonight?” she asks.

You explain how Taehyung has basically dragged you to Hoseok’s birthday party and even though you don’t want to go that much, you need to forget about Jeongguk for one night. Nana thankfully agrees with you. She even says that you can borrow one of her dresses since you don’t, in her words, own anything nice.

“Wow are you saying I have no style?” you pretend to be hurt.

“I’m saying you don’t have clothes appropriate for nights like these,” Nana laughs and tells you to follow her to her closet.

When you walk into her room and open her closet—you let her have the bigger closet because she has more clothes than you anyway—you’re not surprised to see a variety of mini skirts and dresses. Nana definitely goes out more than you ever do and proclaims that she can never wear the same outfit twice. “What shall we put you in?”

You shrug, “I’m down to wear anything.”

But maybe you’re giving Nana too much free reign because as she begins to dig through her closet, she pulls out the most revealing dress you’ve ever seen. She tosses it you before you can blink and demands that you have to wear it.

You nearly fall over from the force of the dress, but somehow manage to catch it. Pulling it away from your body, you immediately begin to shake your head. There was no way in hell you can go out in public like this—you don’t even want to wear it in the safety of your apartment. The dress is black with a plunging back and an equally plunging front. And with its short length, it leaves nothing to the imagination. “Hell no.”

“Come on, y/n!” Nana whines, mouth dropping when you fling the dress onto the floor. “This dress will look so good on you!”

“I don’t think anyone can wear this dress,” you frown as she hands you the dress again.

Your roommate rolls her eyes, “Please—I wore this! And I got a ton of male attention that night…you will too.”

But you don’t want the attention of multiple guys, just want the attention of one. “I don’t know, Nana. I’m not one to wear this kind of stuff…”

“Just this one time! Trust me.”

And even though you’re completely out of your element, you succumb to Nana’s demands and trudge into the closet to try the dress on. You let your clothes fall onto the carpeted floor and slip the revealing dress on. Surprisingly, even though you and Nana aren’t necessarily the same size, the dress seems to fit; you just hope all your precious body parts aren’t hanging out on full display.

When you step out for your roommate to see the dress, her jaw drops, and she lets out the loudest ear piercing scream you’ve ever heard. It’s so loud, you’re positive the neighbors heard it.

“Oh my god, y/n! You look so fucking good,” she pushes you towards her full-length mirror and the air seems to leave your lungs.

“I…” you’re at a loss for words, “I…actually like it?”

Nana screams again and proceeds to hug you, but you can’t stop staring at the mirror. You hated the way the dress looked on the hanger; now, is it crazy for you to say it makes you feel like a bad bitch? It feels like you can conquer the world.

“I told you!” Nana exclaims. “God—you look so good; you can just keep the dress after this. I don’t think I could ever wear it again after you just slayed my existence.”

“Okay, you’re just being dramatic at this point.”

“But no seriously, you look amazing and fucking Jeon Jeongguk is missing out,” she says hugging you again. “Can I do your hair and makeup?”

A few hours later, the doorbell rings as you slip your shoes on. Nana runs to answer the door and you smile as Taehyung walks in. The moment his eyes land on you, he stops in his tracks and brings a hand up to his mouth. “Y/n?”

“Don’t look so shocked,” you roll your eyes.

“Who are you and what did you do with y/n?” he runs up to you, inspecting your body from head to toe. “Who knew you had this side in you?”

“You can thank me for that,” Nana slides beside you, offering a bright smile.

After a little convincing, you managed to bribe Nana in coming out tonight too. Your main argument for making her go out too is that you needed someone to last the night with. Even though you are technically Taehyung’s date, he never stays out long and you didn’t want to be left alone with Hoseok and his friends. And you promised that all the drinks were on you, which made her agree in a heartbeat.

“I’m actually blown away,” Taehyung rubs his eyes.

You feel a bit of pride flare up inside of you; if your friends were already so blown away, you can only imagine the reactions from other people.

“You guys are so nice,” you smile before Taehyung makes it known that you all have to go before the party begins.

The three of you hop into his car as he drives to the place where Hoseok’s hosting his party. It’s at a local bar just down the street from school and when you get there, you see a huge sign with the words ‘Happy Birthday Hoseok’ in bold letters. Well, that’s one way to let everyone know. As Taehyung parks, you realize just how many people are here; birthday boy must’ve really invited everyone.

Walking inside the bar, Hoseok stands front and center and immediately greets you guys.

“Taehyung!” he excitedly says, a bright smile om his face. “Glad you could make it.”

The two of them shake hands before Taehyung wishes him a happy birthday and points to you, “You know y/n and Nana, right?”

“Of course,” Hoseok turns to you and immediately takes in your appearance. You notice his eyes widen at your dress before they meet your gaze. “Glad you guys could make it.”

You redden under his heated look as he reaches a hand out and you return the favor by extending your own too. Taehyung quickly suggests that you all take a picture together before the night gets too crazy and Nana forces you beside Hoseok. You give her a wide-eyed look, but she just smiles. You offer your phone to someone nearby and they tell you four to get into position.

The phone camera flashes while you offer your biggest smile. A few more flashes go off before the phone gets passed back in your direction. You swipe through the pictures, because one is simply not sufficient, and are pleasantly pleased with yourself. You have to admit it, you look pretty good.

“Damn, y/n!” Nana brings the attention to you and everyone begins to ask to see the pictures. But before Nana can pass your phone around, Hoseok tells you that he has to attend to the rest of his guests. At that, you quickly send everyone the pictures.

“I’ll catch you later?” he asks, and you realize he’s talking to you. Heat creeps up your face as you reply with a tentative sure and watch Hoseok walk away.

The moment he’s out of sight, Taehyung and Nana turn to you simultaneously saying that he definitely likes you. And while you’re flattered by the attention, you’re not interested. So you just brush your friends off and walk deeper into the bar. You order the three of you drinks and look at the pictures again.

“I think you should post the pictures,” Nana says sipping her drink.

You raise a brow, “Why?”

“Because you look good,” she talks like it’s the most obvious thing ever.

“Isn’t it a bit scandalous?”

“No?” Taehyung’s words come out like a question. “I’m posting one of these too.”

“Yeah but it’s normal for you to post stuff like this.” You honestly aren’t one to post suggestive pictures. Your feed is rather plain and simple. Also, you don’t party much either so might just look weird, or are you thinking way too much about this?

“Maybe it will elicit a reaction from that boyfriend of yours.”

Your ears perk up at Nana’s words. “I don’t think he even checks my social media…”

She raises a brow, “Girl, all men check their girls social accounts whether they like to admit it or not. Besides, he posted up pics with his boys earlier��why can’t you?”

She has a point. As the two of you were getting ready before, you scrolled through Jeongguk’s profile and saw that he posted a picture from last night. And it was the same pictures he was always posting—him and his friends with those damn red solo cups. If Jeongguk can post pictures of him at parties, why can’t you?

And at the end of the day, they are just pictures—completely harmless. You quickly scroll through the pictures again and pick the one that you look best in. After editing the picture and adding a witty caption, you press post. As you watch the page load, your heart races. Soon, a text bubble pops up signaling that the picture has been posted and you internally scream.

“Did you do it?” Nana asks, looking over your shoulder.

All you can do is nod and shove your phone away from you. “Can we just forget I did that?”

Taehyung and Nana don’t need to be told twice before ordering a round of shots for you, which you down without a fight.

***

As the night progresses, you actually do forget that you posted the picture.

With your phone on silent and your body a little more than slightly buzzed, you let the music and atmosphere of the bar take you away. By this point, you aren’t sure what time it is or where Taehyung went. You’re betting that he already left, but you’re too absentminded to really care right now. Beside you is Nana, but she’s rather preoccupied with a guy.

You try to grab her attention, to let her know that you need to run to the bathroom, but it’s fruitless so you just leave. In the bathroom, you push open a stall and let out a cry when your phone falls and narrowly misses the toilet. Thank god. Picking up the phone, you suddenly realize how many unread messages and missed phones you actually have…and they’re all from Jeongguk. You briefly run over the messages and see that he’s been leaving message after message for you to call him.

As if the ten missed calls weren’t enough.

Quickly doing your business, you run out of the bathroom and tell Nana that you need to go back to the apartment. But instead of the both of you leaving, she tells you that she’s more than likely not coming back tonight, and you catch the look in her eyes. Before calling an Uber back, you make her promise to text you and then you’re off.

The moment you step through the threshold of your place, you call him. And surprisingly enough, he answers on the first ring.

“Y/n.” As much as you hate to admit it, you’ve missed his voice.

“Hello to you, too,” you dismiss such defeating thoughts and try to remember your anger towards him.

On the other side of the phone, he sighs, “Where are you?”

“At home,” you tell him, kicking off your heels and walking into your bedroom.

“I see…” he says. “So, you’re not out at a party? I saw the picture you posted.”

You release a deep breath. So that’s what this phone call is about.

“Did you just call to chew me out?” you fall onto your bed. “Because if that’s the case, I don’t want to hear it.”

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“Why the fuck do even you care?” you retort. “I see you partying every week too, and do I make a big deal out of it? No. You’re such a hypocrite.”

Jeongguk is quiet for a moment. He’s so quiet you almost think he’s hung up on you, but before you can say anything else, he asks, “Are you still at the party?”

You roll your eyes, “I told you I’m at home already.”

“Prove it,” he says.

You don’t even know what he’s asking for. How are you supposed to prove you were at your apartment? “What?”

“Skype me.” Oh.

“Isn’t it a little late,” you say, peering at the clock on your wall that reads a little after midnight. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

Even though you’re angry at Jeongguk ninety-five percent of the time, that doesn’t mean you don’t care to know what goes on in his life. You know that he has practice every Saturday morning and if he doesn’t sleep, he’ll be a cranky little baby.

“Practice is cancelled tomorrow.” It’s like he’s read your mind or something. And after much contemplating, you tell him you’ll skype him.

Grabbing your laptop from the floor, you can’t deny the anxious excitement you feel. You also can’t deny the fact that you miss Jeongguk desperately, even though he can be an asshole. It’s honestly been so long and you want nothing more than to see his face again. Logging onto your skype account, you click on his little icon and watch as the screen begins to make a call. As it loads and connects, you situate your laptop away from you.

And the moment Jeongguk appears on your screen, you feel an array of emotions. He’s in his room, you can tell from his blue pillows and the posters that line the wall behind him. A part of you wants to cry as dumb as it sounds; it just feels like you haven’t seen him in so long. Your eyes run over the softness of his features before meeting his piercing gaze.

“Hey,” you offer a half-smile.

“Hey.”

“So,” you clear your throat, “as you can see, I am at home…in my room.”

He nods, not looking away from you, “Sorry for doubting you. That picture…just really fucked me up.”

“Why?” you question, shifting your position.

“First of all, you look fucking amazing in that dress,” Jeongguk smirks and you remember that you’re still in Nana’s revealing dress, face heating up. “Second, that guy’s hand on your body was literally too much.”

You’re not sure what he’s talking about, so you look back at the picture and notice that Hoseok’s hand was wrapped rather tightly your waist. “I didn’t even realize.”

“Sure.”

“No, I’m serious,” you look back at Jeongguk. “I barely know the guy. It was his birthday tonight and Taehyung invited me.”

“And you still let him put his hands all over you?” he asks.

Why is he getting so angry about the picture? It was just a photo. Never in all the years you two have been together has he ever been like this. Is he jealous? You haven’t thought to pin him as the jealous type, but perhaps it’s finally showing.

“Are you jealous?” you narrow your eyes as his own widen.

“Of course not,” he brushes you off. “I just don’t like it when guys put their hands all over other people’s girlfriends.”

He’s totally jealous and your heart begins to warm at his words. “I’m your girlfriend?”

You’re teasing him and he doesn’t seem to catch on. “Are you not?”

“I don’t know,” you shrug. “Doesn’t really seem like it sometimes. I mean, you never call me. Aren’t people supposed to call their girlfriends? And I just feel neglected, you know? Like you’re living a completely different life from me—like we’re not even dating.”

“I’m sorry,” he immediately says, wetting his bottom lip. “I just—I’ve gotten caught up with life lately. I mean it when I say I’m going to call, because I really want to, but it doesn’t always happen.”

You’re a bit shocked at his apologetic confession because you were not expecting it. Jeongguk is not usually the one in your relationship to cave in first; you’re usually the one who comes running to him. Maybe he does still care about you in the same way he did all those years ago.

“You’re sorry?” you ask. “Prove it.”

His eyebrows raise at your repeated phrase. “What?”

“If you’re so sorry…show me.”

Where these words are coming from, you literally have no idea. While you cave in first, Jeongguk is way more forward about his intentions. It’s like your roles have switched and you strangely love it. His eyes stare into yours with so much intensity, it almost feels like he’s right here with you and not just on your laptop screen.

You wait for him to say something—do something; the anticipation of his actions have you squirming on your bed.

“Take off the dress,” he suddenly says, voice much lower than before.

Your insides clench as you raise your body to kneel on the bed and unzip the dress, letting it fall into a pile around your knees. Jeongguk lets out a deep breath as he takes in your smooth skin, body only covered by your flimsy underwear.

“I couldn’t wear a bra with the dress,” you smile at his reaction.

“Fuck, y/n,” he swears. “Take off the underwear and sit back on the bed. I want to see you.”

You oblige and fling your last item of clothing onto the floor. You’re about to do as Jeongguk wishes and lay back, but you stop. “I want to see you, too.”

His eyes darken as he pushes his laptop forward to reveal more of himself and peels the white t-shirt off his body. Your eyes drink in the muscles that adorns his body—god, it’s been so long since you’ve seen him like this. You’ve missed this all terribly. After chucking his skirt to the side, he pushes the waistband of his sweats down and reveals his already hard cock.

“Commando?” you smile, body heating up with desire. As you say this, he begins to slowly stroke himself and you swear that nothing hotter has ever graced your eyes.

“Lay back for me baby,” he whispers, and you follow his instructions, leaning back onto your headboard so you can still see him. “Touch that pretty pussy of yours for me.”

And you begin touching yourself, hands rubbing your sensitive clit. The first touch already has you moaning Jeongguk’s name. Fuck; you wish he was here with you right now. You wish it was him whose hands were touching you instead of your own. So you imagine his hands on your body instead and your eyes nearly roll to the back of your head.

“It feels so good,” you moan, watching your boyfriend as he moves his hand up and down his hard shaft. You can see the bit of pre-cum that has already leaked out of his head and you want nothing more than to lick it off. “Jeongguk…”

“You’re so hot,” he forces through clenched teeth. “Stick a finger inside baby. I want to see you fuck yourself.”

You do—you stick one and then another, pretending Jeongguk is actually entering you instead of your fingers. You start with a steady rhythm, slowly moving in and out before going a little faster. Jeongguk begins to match his pace with you and you feel yourself getting close. Your hips begin to buck up into your hands and your palm rubs against your sweet spot.

Sweat begins to bead along your forehead and you use your other hand to rub little circles into your clit again. “I’m so close.”

Jeongguk groans at the image he’s seeing, you desperate for relief. “Cum for me baby; I need you to cum, okay?”

And you can’t help it, you cry as your orgasm hits. It sends waves of pleasure throughout your body, causing your legs to shake. The entire time you ride the high, you’re saying Jeongguk’s name and it isn’t long before his own orgasm arrives. You watch as his face contorts, brows furrowed together and mouth slightly parted, and his load shoots onto his abdomen.

His dark hair is drenched in sweat, and chest rises and falls with each heavy breath. Jeongguk brushes his hair back and grabs his discarded t-shirt to wipe himself. You sit back up on the bed after you catch your own breath and brush your hair to the side.

“Thanks for that,” you tell him, and he laughs.

“Thank you, too,” Jeongguk smiles. “I needed that.”

“Same,” your eyes bore into his and silence passes between the two of you. You know this moment doesn’t change much; there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in your relationship. However, what you do know is that Jeongguk still cares and that give you hope. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you more.”

[ladymelissaduthe]

Challenge #1

Alternately Titled: To be a Princess

I actually don’t have wifi right now, but hopefully data can come through for now. I’l probably reupload this with the gdoc format soon hehe 

I actually wanted to post Missy’s RP with Jackson which happens the night before all of this, but I’m not too happy with it right now so SJKNJKDNDK yeah here is the reaction fic for now + the first meeting RP,,, cause it’s technically late... I’M SORRY BSDJKDNKJD Mentions of @safiya-schreave and @felicity-graham HAHAHAHA and features the first meeting with @arin-schreave hehe, thank you guys for some spicy material to work with <3 (2341 words,,, I think)

When I was a little girl, I learned that to be a princess was to have a thousand pairs of shoes. Shoulders back and tummy in, lift the chin and slowly turn your head from side to side.

I would personally like to thank Barbie for being the role model I didn’t think I’d need on a day like today.

Sure, Barbie had Julian, (The superior Ken from a Barbie movie if you asked me), but today, we had a real life princess give us a crash course on… royal life amongst us. It was like Barbie: Princess and the Popstar more than the Princess and the Pauper really. She walked in, and well, it felt like the chatter in the room quieted down once she came in. Princess Safiya.

She seemed nice when she came in, clipboard an all—ah well doesn’t that sight remind me of days I’d be instructing relatives around a rehearsal dinner. She begins to read from a script attached to the clipboard.

“I hope you all had a restful first night in the palace because now our work begins. Today I will begin to instruct you on conduct and protocol, a process that will continue for the duration of your stay. Please know that I will be reporting any missteps on your part to the royal family.” An amused expression ghosts her features before she continues. “I know it sounds harsh, but this isn’t a game to be taken lightly. Someone in this room will be the next princess of Illéa. It is no small task. You must endeavor to elevate yourselves, no matter your previous station. You will become ladies from the ground up. And this very morning, you will receive your first lesson.”

Hm… fair. I nod from my spot in the room, ready as ever to learn. I mean, how hard could it be? The sound of the door opening catches my attention, was another girl late?

Oh… OH.

Well I’ll be damned, that was Felicity Graham.

I thought she was taller.

I focus my attention back to what the princess was saying, only seeing Felicity move through the corner of my eyes until she came right back into my line of sight when she walks over to where Safiya stood, the two seemingly having a hushed conversation the no one probably an ear away could hear. I lift a shoulder up, busying myself and turning my attention to around the room. Guess they needed their privacy.

The set up was simple around here, simple at a glance but most probably high quality and very expensive. The room was mostly decorated like it was straight out of a home décor issue on an old money family. The elongated room was complemented with high-rise curtains tied with golden chords, tables were laid with cloths that were definitely a multi-count. There were centerpiece bouquets at the center of every table: dahlias and veronicas, if I wasn’t mistaken, the accent cloths were pinned to the sides with a lighter tulle? No, more of a sheath with gold weaved into it.

A few months, I decorated a wedding in a location similar to this, a sort of hall in an old building back in Orleans for the governor’s daughter. Except, maybe this has twice the budget…. Or maybe five times the budget. I wonder what was happening with the princess right now?

Oh they’re still talking. Why does the princess give Felicity a look? You know, one of those scary looking faces you shoot at a girl when you both see the same dress on sale and it’s the last one in-stock.

I try to wrack my brain up for anything I knew about them, figuring out why Felicity would be here. Those two were best friends, I know, but I wouldn’t be caught dead in the same room with the girl(s) my ex was replacing me with. Well, ya know, that’s just me. I just needed a refresher on which glass was for water and which one for juice.

“My sister sent someone to replace her. Lucky for us.”

The princess doesn’t seem too happy. Sometimes I wonder what it’s like for your best friend to be your brother’s ex-fiancée. That whole… situation was a big question for the entire country. My circles of other wedding planners whispered reasons why it was called off. Interesting allegations really. Oh their poor wedding planners, they better had a cancellation clause.

“Table manners are very important, and before you can eat in front of the royal family, you must be aware of certain etiquette. The faster we get through this little lesson, the sooner you get to have your breakfasts, so faces forward, please.”

The princess continues onto basic table manners, easy things that my Grammy used to grill me for back when I was little girl. Then again, there was a time when she used to be a Debutante ‘round Midston and her habits never left her.

“If you follow this one, I’ll be disappointed.” Oh so I guess we were allowed to speak with our inside voices. That’s… convenient. I nod along, hearing a snort from Felicity. The princess makes a face before continuing.

“She wanted me to make a final addition about how to address me and the rest of my family.” I should be paying attention to this one. The whole addressing royalty was definitely a new thing to me. The princess proceeds to explain who we call what, all the formalities and whatnot before we’re asked to stand and start with a crash course on curtsies.

“Now, I suppose you’ll be practicing your curtsies. I’ll be walking around if you have any questions. Or to critique.”

A good piece advice my mama gave me rings in my head, Imagine that a string is attached to the top of your head and pulling ya up. Maybe it’ll help me right now. It was something she always told brides during wedding rehearsals so they looked like they just glided down the aisle. I straighten up, imagining a string on the top of my head.

“and don’t forget I’m here to help you.” I hear Felicity say.

Wow, was she really?  

let’s just insert a timeskip here

It took a bit of a while before it was my turn to meet the prince. Not too long, but I suppose the buffet breakfast was a nice consolation. It was lovely that there were some vegan options. I was careful not to eat anything that could have stained the lovely lilac dress that took me literally forever to pick last night.

I was led outside of the room right after I finished some sliced fruits, careful that my lipstick wasn’t ruined from the meal. Someone opened the door for me as I was led into the room.

Alrighty, here we go, Missy. It’s just like meeting a new client. Winning smile, spring in your step, genuine interest. You practiced a couple of questions with yourself last night. It’s just a boy. It’s just a boy. You could do this. Just, try to impress him. No pressure.

There was a sofa, and beside it stood the prince. Oh, he seemed shorter in pictures. I walk towards him, reminding myself to keep my smile on and recall that I needed to dip down in a quick curtsey.

“Hello Lady Melissa. Please have a seat.” The prince greets before motioning to the sofa.

“Good morning, Prince Arin.” I glance over to the sofa before taking a seat, keeping my smile. “Thank you.”

He sits beside me. Up close, the first thing I notice was that his hair looked nice. Was that shallow? I mean… hair care and personal grooming was a good sign, right?

“How is your morning going?”

Compared to last night, I was in a much better mood, but of course I still felt tense. The cameras around wasn’t helping.

“Nothing short of spectacular.” I reply, recalling the answer I practiced in my head. Sometimes, it helps to practice answers. Oh wow, I really was nervous about this, wasn’t I? Shoot. “Woke up, never though I’d see such a great view of the ocean from my room, but there it was,” without knowing it my hands go up, “the sky was orange and glowing.”

I look to him, the memory of the sunrise bringing a genuine smile to my face. “How about you? How has your morning been going?”

“My morning has been fine, thank you.” He smiles at me. “Which province are you from?”

“Proud to be representing Midston. I bet you kind of had a hunch from the accent, but Orleans to be more specific, home to Mardi Gras and the best looking French Quarter in Illéa.”

The prince shakes his head, “Sorry, I honestly hadn’t noticed. But how do you like Angeles so far? It must be different from Midston.” His eyes trail elsewhere. Maybe towards the cameras?

“Well one thing I noticed was that… the buildings here are pretty tall.” I lift a shoulder up. “Don’t see that often where I’m from.” I chuckle before I look to where he looked, and realize that it indeed was a camera he glanced at a couple of seconds ago.

Don’t fix your hair, don’t fix your hair. My hand reaches up to tuck literally nothing back into place. Shoot. Don’t fix yourself around cameras, much less the prince, MISSY.

“It’s just as hot here though,” I add while fanning myself with my hand, “but I don’t know if that’s the weather or I’m just really nervous.”

“Nervous about which part?” the prince seems to watch me, still trying to maintain his smile.

I try to stop fidgeting, letting out a deep breath. “Not might be the same for you but I think meeting a prince for the first time would make you feel the slightest bit of jitters.�� An unintentional laugh escapes me, and I try to smile. “Sorry, is it a little too much?”

The prince seems to shake his head, “No, uh… I’m mostly used to it.” He seems to pause for a moment before speaking up. “What do you do in Orleans?”

Without thinking, “Weddings.” I instantly say, “I mean, I plan weddings and debuts.” I start to ramble, “Catering, decorations, invitation, whatever a client wants for their special day, I can make it happen.”

He blows out a breath and nods, “Ah, I see. And how is…” he seems to hesitate at the next word, “wedding planning?”

Someone please, slap me.

Oh dear, it must still be a sensitive topic for him.

I try to give him a comforting smile, “It’s quite lovely, I don’t think I’ve experienced something as magical as someone’s wedding day. I’m just happy to help make the magic happen.” I’m reminded of my conversation with Jackson in the kitchen last night. The happiest business… he called it.

I blink, ah yes… way to rub some salt into a wound. QUICK. Find a way to salvage this. “Debuts are just as fun too. Just as much cake and magic.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” He seems to shift slightly, “So you enjoy it?”

“Very much.” I reply. He still seems weirded out by it. QUICK. Change the topic. “Are you… a party person, your highness? Or a little more of a party of one kind of person?”

Prince Arin tilts his head, “I’ve enjoyed parties and sometimes I like to be alone. But honestly I don’t mind the chaos.” He then frowns. Why would he be frowning? Is he… one of those extra-introvert types? What did they call those people again? Eh, the only thing I really knew about those kinds of people was that they had a social battery or something like that.

“I think there’s always something to celebrate,” I bobble my head, “but we’ve all got a battery that can only take up so much uh… chaos. Nothing too different.”

He seems to blink in surprise, “That’s a different way of looking at things. It seems like you have a pretty high tolerance.”

Well, that’s one way to put it. I’ve always just been a really social type.

“I believe it’s all about perspective.” I smile, recalling another piece of advice my Grammy always told me. “Just gotta choose how you wanna perceive things instead of accepting them the way you first saw it. I mean, that’s what my Grammy’s always reminded me.”

“So move on with your life?” The prince looks at me curiously.

If only moving on was easy as saying that you were moving on.

“You make moving on sound bad.” I chuckle, recalling how… bad it really could be. “See it more of moving forward. Someone used to tell me , ‘Forward to a tomorrow, completely different from yesterday’. ” I glance to the prince. “I’m still figuring out that last piece of advice out though.”

I don’t know why I still quoted that. Quoted him of all people, but good advice… was good advice.

“And who was that?” Prince Arin asks, I catch him tilting his head to the side, “That sounds like something my mother would say.”

The answer seems to be stuck in my throat, I pause before saying, “That’s a story for another day, your highness.” I try to change the topic. “Your mother sounds very wise though. Are you two very close?”

“We are,” he nods before glancing at his watch. “But I can tell you more about that another day.” Touché, a chuckle escapes me.

Prince Arin stands, “It’s been a pleasure speaking with you this morning, Lady Melissa. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay.”

“Missy, you can call me Missy.” I follow and stand up, dipping into another curtsy. “Have a nice day ahead of you, your Highness.” I give him one last smile, seeing him nod and take it as my cue to turn and leave.

Someone please tell me that was a good first impression.

[brieannakeogh]

Give a Bow- Chapter 10

**Second time posting this, just reuploading**

Ok 18+ b/c of Smut in this chapter. Never written smut before, and I don’t count that veiled attempt in Broken either. It’s still not super dirty but yeah. Go away kiddies. Only warning is smut.

Sebastian Stan x plus sized reader

Summery: You move to NYC and finally get your first job as an actor on...well, off Broadway, far off Broadway. You are surprised to learn one of your favorite actors is in the same show. 

Previous Chapter / Master List

Stepping out of the subway tunnel in Manhattan, Sebastian quickly hailed a cab. He was anxious to get back to his apartment. The subway car you two were on wasn’t very crowded for the middle of a night on a weekday, and you had been teasing him the whole way, just enough to get him wanting more before pulling away. He was becoming desperate for a private room with a door that locked, until he heard your stomach grumble in the cab.

Upon hearing the noise you removed your arm around his to wrap around your middle, embarrassment colored your cheeks. “Sorry, I hadn’t eaten dinner yet. I was just going to have Sal make something for me and take it home. I would have gone ahead and eaten if I had known you were coming.” Guilty look on your face.

Sebastian runs a hand down his face, willing the blood back to his brain to think better. “Ok, there is a great little late night place by my apartment that we can get something to go and take it back to my place.” Not liking the distance between you now, he pull you closer to his side and you rest your cheek on his chest, as he tells the driver the modified directions to the restaurant.

When the cab stops in front of the place, you weren’t sure exactly what you were expecting, but the upscale restaurant that Sebastian was leading you to wasn’t it. Walking in you can tell the waitstaff recognize him, but not just because of his celebrity status, he apparently was a regular.

“Hey Sebastian,” The brunette greeted him. “Hadn’t seen you in a while. Is it two tonight?” She glances around him to you standing a couple of steps behind.

He looks over his shoulder and takes your hand pulling you up beside him, arm around your waist. “Not tonight Brittany, my girl hasn’t had dinner yet so I’m just going to get her something to go and taking it back to my place.” He smiles down at you.

“Not a problem!” She riffles through her hostess podium producing a menu. “Here you go ma’am. You two can sit over there while you decide. Just let me know when you are ready to order.” She addresses you.

Sebastians says a quick thanks and you go sit at the table indicated. Opening the menu, your eyes pop at the prices. “Sebastian,” you hiss at him. “We can just get a $1 pizza slice somewhere, I don’t need all this.”

He frowns. “Why? Don’t you see anything you like? It’s one of my favorite places, I was hoping you would like it too.”

“That’s not the issue. It all sounds great, but I can’t spend this on a quick dinner.” You argue.

“Number one, I asked you out so I expected to pay. Number two, if I didn’t go to Sal’s, this is what I would have eaten, and I didn’t even pay at Sal’s because of the incident so you’ll have to pay him back for me. It’s all even.” He smirks.

“Ok, ok, I get it.” You relent. “It does look good.” You say quietly, biting your lip.

He looks over the top of the menu pointing out a few of his favorite dishes. You end up going with the one he brought to your attention first, getting up and going to tell Brittnay your order. It’s not a long wait before someone comes out, loaded with tiny boxes. It was apparently some assembly required.

Sebastian paid for the food and took the bag from you as you walked the two blocks to his apartment building. Saying hello to Rodney, you and Seb went up to his floor and into his place. He sat the food on the kitchen bar, taking out the boxes while you grabbed a plate from the cabinet. He plated up the food, pouring sauces, and there was even a garnish in the box that he put on the plate.

“Voila!” He sat the plate in front of one of the bar stools and pulled it out for you.

“Thank you.” You say as you sit down, hopping a little to get up the high bar stool. “It’s like you’ve done that before.”

He chuckles at you. “Yeah, one or two times. I’ve gone there quite a bit and you picked my favorite thing on the menu.” He sat beside you in another stool.

“Holy cow!” You exclaim after taking a bite. “Slap my ass and call me Sally, that’s good!”

“Slap your what now?” He says laughing, his confusion on his face making you laugh so hard you almost choke on your food.

“It’s just a southern expression.” You reply once you get your breath back, still chuckling. “I thought you would like it.” Winking at him.

“Just finish your food.” He shakes his head at you as he walks to the fridge to grab a water. Passing it to you when he comes back.

“This is really good, but I’m stuffed. I don’t think I can finish all this.” Patting your stomach. He takes the plate from you.

“It’s not great left over so I’ll finish it off.” He smirks at you.

“You just wanted an excuse to eat my food.”

“Revenge for my bacon.” He scrapes the last of it off the plate and stuffing his mouth.

“Yeah, yeah.” Getting up to take the empty plate and fork, rinsing them off at the sink. “Wow, I can’t believe how late it is.” Looking at the clock. “I don’t want to go to bed yet until my stomach settles.”

“I’m sure we can find a way to pass the time.” He says as he comes around the bar, hands settling on your hips, pressing you to the counter, front flush against yours.

“Hmmm, what about scrabble.” You tease as your arms make their way around his neck.

“Don’t have scrabble. I wouldn’t say no to a version of twister though.” He leans down and captures your lips. Hands sliding up to the waistband of your pants, thumbs running under your shirt, teasing the bit of skin he finds there. He pulls you closer by the belt loops, so you can feel the reaction he has to you. A soft moan escapes when you feel him pressed against you. He takes the opportunity to dive deeper into the kiss, tasting you. Hands exploring up under your shirt, running along your soft sides, one hand splayed on your back. Your hands in his hair, nails scraping against his scalp. He lets out a moan of his own and pulls you away from the counter, backpedaling towards the hall and his bedroom. By the time you’ve hit the door, his hand has found the clasp of your bra, using a flick of the wrist it’s undone and just your shirt covers you from his eyes, but his hands are already on you. You reach for his belt, tugging and pulling until it’s off and thrown somewhere at the foot of the bed. Stumbling a bit as your knees hit the bed’s edge, he grabs you to keep you from falling and it’s like the first time he had pulled you close. You look up into his blue eyes, crinkles around the edges from the smile he wears, you know he is thinking the same. The look he gives you and the chuckle quickly turn dark as he bends to grab under your knees, effectively making you fall back in the middle of the bed with a yelp.

“You made me fall.” You complain with a pout.

“I told you, you would.” He winks at you, tugging his shirt over his head. You lose concentration when his bare chest comes into view. “My eyes are up here.” He smirks.

“I could say the same.” You counter, noticing his gaze moving to your breasts, nipples poking out of the thin top you’re still wearing.

He crawls on the bed, hovering over you, moving one hand down to pull the hem of your shirt up, finally about to see what he has been fondling all night. “Wait, Seb.” You put a hand to his chest.

He sits up a bit on his heels. “Am I going to fast?” He questions, concern in his eyes.

You look away. “No, it’s not that. I just….I don’t want you to be disappointed.” Biting your lip you look back to him.

His brows are furrowed until a look of realization comes over his features. Reaching out he pulls your lip from your teeth. “What did I tell you? Hmmm?”

“That if you couldn’t have it, I couldn’t either?” You reply

“Well, yes, but that’s not what I’m talking about. That this….” He waves a hand over your body, ending at your face to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear, “....is beautiful. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, even me.” He leans down, hand resting on your cheek to present you with the most searing kiss you’ve ever had. It reaches into your soul and opens a space deep within you, filling you with warmth. This time when he reaches to remove your shirt you don’t stop him. He worships every inch of exposed skin, pulling your loose bra over your arms. His fingers going down the waistband of your pants as you tug open the button and zipper of his own. His hands find your heat and all you can think is this man is magic, you’ve barely started and already you are right on the edge.

“Please, Sebastian.” You whine into his mouth, weakly trying to push his pants down and hold back your bliss. He pulls back to search your eyes, and smirks when he sees the desperation there. Removing his hand completely he stands and sheds the last bit of clothing he has left, reaching for your legs he pulls you to the edge of the bed so he can get your pants undone, ripping them down in one go.

You barely notice that you are naked in front of him as your eyes hadn’t left purple tipped, leaking member between his legs. It doesn’t falter or waver as you expose yourself more, only growing impossibly harder. A surge of confidence at the thought it’s all for you. That you were the one making him like this. Sitting up before he can move back onto the bed, your hands go over his hips, looking up to his eyes as your tongue swipes up from base to tip. The sinful groan he releases makes you shutter. Taking him in fully, he settles his hand in your hair, carding through it as his head goes back, eyes closing, more pants spur you on, before he’s gripping your hair and tugging you off. “Baby, ya got to stop. Can’t take that tonight, you’ve had me riled up for an hour.”

“Next time.” You say as you wipe your mouth with the back of your hand. A growl is heard above you, before his knees come into view, pressing on the bed as he pushes you to lay back. He fits into your open and willing legs, teasing you and slicking himself up, leaning down on one elbow, hand going to the back of your head to pull you in for another searing kiss, he seats himself full into you.

“Ah, fuck!” He moans as he comes up for air. “How long has it been baby? You’re so tight.” He groans into your ear, as his hand moves down to your hip, pulling your leg around him to change the angle, thrusting slowing for himself and you.

“Never like this.” You pant out, brain turned to mush.

He stills and jerks his head up. “Never?!” Jaw falling open.

“Not what I meant.” You laugh. “Just not this good, and not your size.” The flush on your face growing darker, as you look away embarrassed.

You look back up when you hear his laugh and see the light in his eyes. “Glad to hear it.” He says before he gives you a sweet quick kiss to the lips, moving to pepper them all over your face before moving on to your neck, finding the sensitive spot he knows you love. Testing the waters with shallow strokes, he soon finds an unforgiving pace that has you both tumbling quicker and quicker to your release. He sits up on his knees, holding your legs over his shoulders as a hand makes it’s way between you, to find that little button to make you soar. You’re shouting his name and seeing stars as he works you over the edge. Once you’re over he falls back down, pressing you against him with his head in your neck, rutting against you, chasing his own release with your name on his lips. You’re both coming back down from you high, you kiss every bit of skin you can find, shoulder, arm, neck. He repays in kind once he catches his breath, leaving kisses and nips on your neck, not caring if another mark is left.

He settles his weight on you, as he wraps his arms under your body, holding you close, still intimately connected. “Hmmm, I could go to sleep right here.” He breaths into your ear.

“While that would be lovely, I think we need to clean up.” You tell him, patting him on the back, indicating he should get up. The excess weight not bothering you now, but will soon be uncomfortable.

Groaning he pushes himself up, pecking you on the lips one last time, before removing himself completely from your body, hissing on the way out. You sit up from the bed and take the hand offered to you, helping you up. In the bathroom, you both do the necessary clean up before going back to the room and settling in the bed. He’s on his back with your cheek on his chest, arm and leg thrown over him as he gets the covers up and pulls them over the both of you.

“Ya know? I never did get to try the guest bed.” You comment.

“Maybe we can break that in tomorrow? I did promise after all.” He says kissing the hair at the top of your head. “But now get some sleep, we have practice in the morning.”

You hum your approval and are quickly pulled under.

Next Chapter

So yeah it’s short, it took me forever to write this, b/c I was so scared to write smut. Please let me know if I shouldn’t ever do that again lol. **Future me comes in...Yeah I write a good bit of smut now...heh.**

NO TAGS AS IT IS A REPOST

[sassylavellen]

Retribution: Prologue (Reuploaded)

Story: Dragon Age Retribution REUPLOADED TO FIX ISSUES AND TO INCLUDE MORE CONTEXT AT THE END A short(?) story by Sam Shenberger Words: 4,980 (oh boy…)

This is my first time really writing this style in years, and certainly the first time I’m sharing something like this on tumblr, so please forgive me if there are some formatting issues.

Any feedback of any kind (positive or negative) is greatly appreciated! I’m good with constructive criticism, it won’t hurt my feelings!

*the keep reading thing doesn’t work on moblie apparently*

The day of the Grand Tourney had come. Evelyn awoke to the sounds of the first bird songs of the spring. The window had apparently blown open in the night wind. With a groan, she rolled out of the little cot she had set up and trudged over to the window. The breeze blew her bangs out of her face as she looked out at the first lights of dawn creeping over the tall, impressive buildings that made up the city of Ostwick. It was a clear morning, but it was still cold. With a sigh, she closed the window and turned away. It was mornings like these that made her homesick. She had always been on the move and on her own since she was seventeen, there was really no place she called home. But she still pined for a place of comfort. She just hadn’t found it yet. With a sigh, Evelyn turned and looked around the room. For the past few months, she had been living in a tiny room in a stable. Her bedroom was only large enough for a small cot with no blankets, a bucket full of water that she used for cleaning and bathing, a large trunk and a satchel that she kept her personal belongings in, and a cracked mirror hanging crooked on the wall. She crossed over to the bucket and splashed water onto her face. The water was colder than Evelyn expected - the window must have been opened longer than she thought. She caught sight of her own reflection in the mirror. Her hair was messy and sticking out at weird angles and her big pointy ears stuck out like sore thumbs. The make-up she had been using to hide the Dalish tattoo on her face was now running off from the water. She truly looked like a mess.

“What are you doing with yourself?” She mumbled to herself. With one last look, she turned away. “The same damn thing I’ve been doing.”

She knelt down and opened her trunk. There were leather and metal armor pieces inside, and she set them aside as she dug deeper into the trunk to find some clean clothing. There were none. She hadn’t had time to wash any of her clothes recently. With another sigh, she pulled out the least dirty tunic she could find and a pair of leather trousers. After dressing, she began strapping on the armor pieces. Evelyn took one last look in the mirror as she passed to the door. She quickly brushed some make-up onto her face to hide her tattoo, and then ruffled her hair up until it hid both of her ears. With a heavy sigh she pulled up her hood, grabbed her satchel, then left the room. She had been trying to find a place to call home. This wasn’t it.

In the stable, a black horse came up to the edge of his enclosure as Evelyn approached. With a smile, she produced a carrot from her pocket and gave it to him.

“One more day, Shadow.” She whispered to him with a pat. “One more day.”

Ostwick was a very rich place. Buildings made out of beautiful polished marble towered high about Evelyn as she walked down the busiest road in the main part of the city. The citizens there walked about the streets in their finest coats, flaunting their fancy jewelry and other possessions. Some of them shot Evelyn some strange looks. She was dressed nothing like them, but at least most people didn’t look close enough to notice she was an elf. Evelyn was tall for an elf. She was actually taller than some of the humans here, which worked to her advantage many times. Evelyn didn’t care. It was what got her the job she currently had, after all. She made her way through the winding streets towards the center of the town, where a large crowd was gathering. Several town criers were shouting at the top of their lungs, announcing that the Grand Tourney was soon to begin.

Off to one side of the crowd near a small shop, Damien Mohanan stood in the shadows, waiting. His shifty eyes darted to and fro, looking for someone. After a moment, Evelyn appeared in the alley behind him.

“You’re late” he mumbled.

“No I’m not.” Evelyn retorted impatiently. She hated Damien, but he paid well. She had been running in his little smuggling ring for about a year now, and she had been one of his most effective workers. But he was a slimy, greedy son of a bitch who wouldn’t give two coppers to save his dying mother. Recently, Damien had got it in his head that he could make a ton of sovereigns betting on the tourney. To do that and win, he would need to sponsor a fighter who would for sure win. Evelyn was that fighter. The only problem was that elves were not allowed to participate in the tourney. That was why Evelyn had been hiding her elven features.

“Your armor is shit. Where is that armor I got you?” he asked.

“No it’s not, it’s effective!” Evelyn retorted. “I didn’t like the armor you gave me.”

“It wasn’t a request, knife ears!” He snapped back at her. Quick as a flash, Evelyn pulled a knife out of her belt and had it at his throat before he could so much as blink.

“Don’t. Call. Me. Knife-ears” Evelyn growled through her teeth. She lowered the knife and put it back in her belt. “That’s why I wear my armor like this. So I can move faster than they do.”

Damien gave her a dirty look and brushed off his coat, trying to act like she didn’t just scare the shit out of him. “Just don’t let me down and I’ll overlook that little show of insolence.”

Evelyn rolled her eyes and walked away. “That’s what I do best!” She called over her shoulder. She reached into her satchel and pulled out a leather helmet. With a deep breath, she threw her hood off and put the helmet on. It wasn’t comfortable and it flattened her ears against her head, but it was a necessity.

A few hours later, the Tourney had been going on for some time and Evelyn had won every round in the melee so far. She had faced six fighters and bested them all. There was only one final fighter for her to face. For now, she was sitting in a champion’s room in the arena, waiting. Several other winners from other events in the Tourney were also in the room with her. An elven servant came up to her and offered her a cup of water. Evelyn took it and gave the elf a smile. “You don’t have to serve me.” She said.

“It’s no trouble, my lady.” The elf replied.

At that moment, the sound of the crowd cheering uproariously came through the doorways.

“Sounds like we have another champion,” said the elf. Evelyn looked up to see a human enter into the champion room. He had long brown hair and a boyish grin on his face. Several of the other winners stood up and applauded him.

"Seems like he’s pretty popular.” Evelyn remarked.

“Popular?” The elf replied. “He’s only won the archery championship three years in a row!” Evelyn noticed a hint of attraction in her voice. The man sat down in a chair nearby and the elf rushed over to offer him water. He took it with laugh.

“Thank you, Vhenna!” he said. She smiled widely, then ran away blushing. He shook his head, but noticed Evelyn looking at him. She looked away quickly.

“I haven’t seen you before” he said.

“I’m new.” she said shortly.

"Nice.” he nodded. “Your accent… Starkhaven?”

“More or less.”

“I like Starkhaven.” he said. “It’s beautiful this time of year.”

Evelyn rolled her eyes. “Look, I’m not much of a talker and I don’t even know you.”

The man chuckled. “Sorry, how rude of me… I know most of the people around here. My name is Stephen Trevelyan.”

Evelyn glanced up. Everyone in Ostwick knew the name Trevelyan. They were one of the largest and most important noble families in the land, certainly one of the richest. They had almost all the power and authority in Ostwick, second only to the Templars. Even there, many members of the family were a part of the Templar order. And Evelyn had just sassed one of them.

“I’m sorry, my lord.” She said quickly. “I meant no-”

At that moment, a bell rang out. Evelyn looked up.

“Ah, the final melee match.” said Stephen. “That’s you, right? Good luck.”

Evelyn stood up and hurried to the door without answering. She did glance over her shoulder back at him before she exited. Her mind was beginning to race. What would happen if she were found out? Now there was a noble kid involved. She took a huge deep breath. It wasn’t that bad, she reminded herself. He wasn’t in the warrior ring, he wasn’t directly involved. Evelyn just continued down the hall to the arena. It was going to be okay. Right?

The gates in front of her opened up and she walked out into the arena. She was still panicking a little bit inside. She was only partly aware of the crier standing next to her announcing her name to the cheering crowd… and what a crowd it was. The audience seating went in a large circle around the fighting ground, and not a single seat looked like it was empty. Evelyn suddenly caught sight of her opponent on the opposite side of the arena and her heart dropped again. It was a large man, dressed in beautiful golden-tinted armor from head to toe, and wielding a double-sided broadsword. And there she was, standing there like a child in her mix-match armor and tiny sword with chips and dents in the blade. The other opponents didn’t intimidate her at all but suddenly she was frozen. He had to be part Qunari, Evelyn thought to herself. There was no other way he could be that tall and that muscular.

Suddenly a bell rang out. The fight had begun. The man came barreling towards her with a shout like a war cry. Evelyn gripped her sword tighter as he charged. Now that the fight was started, her head was clearing. She stood her ground until he was almost upon her, then right as he raised his sword to strike at her; she ducked and rolled under his swing, spinning around to strike herself. To her surprise, the man also whirled around with her and countered her blow.

He swung again. And again. With each parry and every dodge, Evelyn felt nothing but ferocity. That man was not going to play nice. This was more than a competition to him. She knew there had to be a way to use this against him. She just couldn’t focus long enough between blows to figure it out.

Attack. Parry. Attack. Parry. Dodge. Attack. It felt like this fight was going on for an eternity, and she was losing. He stuck her again and she parried, but this time instead of pushing against his blow, she swung her sword the same direction, spinning around and hoping it would either disarm him or at least make him lose his balance. Miraculously, it worked. The man fell flat on the ground and his blade flew away. Evelyn stood in shock, just as surprised that it happened as the crowd was. This brief pause was a mistake. He kicked and knocked her legs out from under her. She fell, her sword landing several feet away. Almost as quickly as she fell, the man stood up. Evelyn tried to scramble up, but he put his foot on her chest, keeping her down.

“I know what you are.” he growled as Evelyn struggled under his foot. “I’ve seen this style of fighting before… Elf.” He reached down and ripped her helmet off her head. The crowd gasped in unison. He pulled her up by her hair and held her up to the crowd.

“My lords and ladies, it seems we have an elf in the arena,” The Tourney announcer shouted out. “The fight is forfeit, and the defending champion wins!”

Evelyn glanced at the crowd. They were booing her. Now she was panicking. She was in deep shit. She had broken the rules of the tourney, and if they find out about her smuggling… Elves got the alienage for far less. She was facing prison or worse… She had to get out of here. And fast.

The arena doors opened up again and two Templars emerged. She began to struggle against her opponent, and managed to break free of his grip. She could feel hair being ripped from her scalp, but she couldn’t stop to react. She dashed towards the arena doors. The Templars shouted at her to stop, but she ran right for them. They drew their swords, prepared to fight her. As they came at her, she ducked and rolled under their blades. As she sped into the hallway, she slammed the door behind them. She was surprised that there were no more guards in there, but she kept running. She stumbled through the entrance to the champion’s room. As she paused looking around for the quickest exit, Stephen Trevelyan stood up in surprised.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Evelyn could hear the Templars running through the hall behind her. She didn’t have time to find a better exit. The only way out was forward. She dashed towards the exit again, shoving Stephen out of her way. Hopefully a bruised noble would slow them down, she thought. The rest of the mad dash to the outside was a blur and Evelyn barely processed it until she reached the exit. Now she could get lost in the crowd. She began speed walking through the crowded streets, looking over her shoulder every few seconds. It seemed to have worked. The Templars were nowhere to be seen, but she couldn’t drop her guard just yet. She wasn’t far from her stable. She could lie low there, and then make a run for it before the Templars could find her. With a last glance over her shoulder, she picked up her pace and cut through an alleyway to get to her stable. As she reached the door, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up slightly. She could feel eyes upon her. She took a quick glace behind her and her heart stopped.

It was Damien, standing at the far end of the alley with two shadowy men. There was rage in his eyes. She couldn’t hear what he was saying, but she saw him talking with the men. He was sending them after her, she was sure. Quickly, Evelyn stepped into the stable.

“Shit!” she shouted out loud. Her mind was racing faster than she could comprehend. She could only understand one thing: she needed to run. Evelyn dashed into her little room and began stuffing her belongings into her satchel. She couldn’t fit everything, and Shadow couldn’t carry the trunk.

“Shit!” she suddenly cried out again. At that moment, she had realized that she left her sword at the arena. She was weaponless. Slung the bag over her shoulder and took one last look in the mirror. Her makeup was mostly run off and her vallaslin tattoo was showing again. She quickly wrapped her hand in a thick cloth, and then with a deep breath she punched the mirror. Glass shards broke off onto the floor. Evelyn picked one of the larger shards up with her wrapped hand. At that moment, she heard the stable door open. She took another look at the jagged piece of glass in her hand. It was going to have to do. She stood there in her little room, waiting for her attackers to barge in.

There was a knock at the door. Evelyn lowered her shard in confusion. What kind of assassins were these? They knocked again, and then a woman’s voice rang out.

“Hello? Is anyone in there?”

Evelyn didn’t know how to respond. This was definitely was first for her. But then she remembered, Damien was talking with two men. So who was this woman? Slowly she approached the door.

“What do you want?” She called back.

“Thank the Maker,” the voice replied, a tone of relief in her voice. “I’m looking for an elf. Tall, running through this area?”

“Shit…” Evelyn repeated under her breath. This woman had to be part of Damien’s plan. Why else would she be looking for her?

“What’s she to you?” Evelyn asked.

“Can I come in? I feel awkward talking to a door,” said the voice.

Evelyn knew this was a bad idea, but there was something about this voice that didn’t give off an assassin feel. She hid the glass shard behind her back, and then slowly opened the door.

The woman on the other side was also tall, but not quite as tall as Evelyn. She was obviously another noble, judging by her fine clothing. The woman’s eyes lit up, excited.

"You’re her! I recognize your armor from the fight!” She exclaimed.

“Keep your voice down!” said Evelyn, throwing her unwrapped hand up. The woman looked at her, puzzled. Evelyn cleared her throat. “The um… The horses get startled easily.”

“I’d think running in like you did would have spooked them more than me raising my voice.” the woman replied, with a small smirk. Evelyn narrowed her eyes. Another funny one, she thought.

“What do you want?” asked Evelyn. “You were obviously at the fight, you know what I did. Who sent you? Damien? The Templars? That lord kid I knocked over?”

“No one.” replied the woman. “I came looking for you.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve never seen a woman fight like that… human or elf.”

Evelyn heard the sounds of people scuffling outside and tightened her grip on the shard. “Listen, lady. I don’t have time for fan clubs. Why did you come here?”

The woman was starting to get annoyed.

“Fine. I’ll get to the point. I wish to train as a warrior, and I’d like for you to teach me.”

Evelyn stared at her blankly. Was this woman serious? Why would she ever wish for her to teach her? Her of all people? Evelyn had no training herself; she had just made it up as she went, learning from experience out in the real world.

“Who are you?” Evelyn said finally.

“Shit, where are my manners… My name is Holli.” said the woman, holding out her hand. Evelyn glanced down at the hand. She was definitely a noble kid; she had a fancy ring with a tiny house crest on it. Evelyn was sure she had seen it before, but was too preoccupied to think of when.

“And why do you want-” Evelyn began, but at that moment, the doors burst open. The horses in the stable snorted and cried in surprise. Standing in the doorway were the two mercs that Evelyn had seen with Damien. The first one gestured at Evelyn to the second.

“Watch out, lady.” said Evelyn, as she pushed Holli out of the way and pulled out her makeshift weapon. The mercs unsheathed their swords and rushed towards her. Quick as a flash, Evelyn nimbly dodged the swing from the first merc, then ducked under the blow from the second, stabbing her shard into his leg. The force of the stab cut through the wraps on her hand and cut her. She instinctively let go of it. The shard fell and shattered on the ground. Once again, Evelyn was without a weapon. Quickly, she rolled out of the way of another blow and picked up the chair by the door. She brought it down hard on the first merc, then with all the strength she could muster, kicked the second merc into the stable across from her. The horse became startled again and kicked him in return. Evelyn stood there, looking at the men sprawled on the ground, one in front of her, the other behind. Holli stood up and brushed hay and dirt off her dress.

“This is what I mean” she said. “I want to be able to do that.”

“Why?” Evelyn asked, stepping away from the men to look Holli in the eye. “Why would a noble kid like you ever want to get your hands dirty? And why would you want an elf of all people to get your hands dirty?”

“I’m not a kid!” Holli replied, indignant. “I’m 31 years old!”

“You’re older than me…?” Evelyn mumbled. “But you didn’t answer my question. Why me?”

“I come from a long line of warriors,” said Holli. "My father was before me, and his father before him, and his father before him and so on for generations. And I wish to continue this family tradition.”

“Doesn’t your family have a trainer?” Evelyn asked.

“No.” Holli replied. “The family has been without for some time. I had no interest in training when I was younger, but I’ve recently had a change of heart. As for your question of you being an elf… That I’ll just admit I saw your performance today and I was impressed.”

Evelyn was even more confused by this answer. “But… I broke the rules to get there, doesn’t that bother you?”

Holli shrugged. “That just makes you more interesting to me. Look, I’m offering to pay you to train me. What say you?”

Evelyn sighed. She was out of a job now, but it wasn’t safe for her to stay in Ostwick anymore. It might not even be safe for her in the Free Marches anymore.

“Look…” she began, but suddenly, the hair on her neck stood up again. She turned to see the first man had gotten back up and was swinging at her. Holli gasped in shock. Evelyn leaned away from the blade, but not quite fast enough. She could feel the cold metal slice on her face. She crashed to the ground with a cry of pain. Holli threw up her arms.

“Hey!” she cried as she tried to wrestle the sword from the man’s hands. SMACK! His metal glove backhanded her in the face and she too fell to the ground.

“We have orders!” The man grunted, but then he caught sight of Holli’s crest ring. His eyes widened in shock.

“My lady!” He said, dropping his sword. “My lady, I… I meant no offense!”

Evelyn was still on the ground, blood trickling from her forehead down into her eyes. Holli stood back up and confronted the man. She had two cuts on her own face, one on her temple, and the other across her nose.

“Do you have any idea of what you and your friend have done?” She said, menacingly.

“I’m terribly sorry, your worship!” the man said, bowing before her. “I am but a humble…”

“Shut up!” said Holli sharply. “Get your man and leave at once before I call the guard!”

The man scrambled back up and picked his friend up, slinging him over one shoulder and leaving promptly.

On the ground, Evelyn felt her wound. It wasn’t as bad as it felt, just a slash across her forehead, but she was sure it would probably leave a scar. “You must be from a real important family for that to have worked.”

At that moment, someone else rushed into the stable. Evelyn wiped her eyes to see who it was. It was Stephen, the noble who won the archery tournament.

“Holli!” he said, catching sight of her bleeding face. “What happened here?”

“We got attacked.” Holli said in a matter-of-fact tone, as if this happened to her regularly.

“Are you alright?” asked Stephen, whom had caught sight of Evelyn sprawled on the ground.

“Yeah, no thanks to you, brother.” replied Holli, as she reach down to help Evelyn up.

“Brother?” Evelyn began to put the two together. “He’s your brother?”

“Yes.”

“So… so then you’re a Trevelyan?” Evelyn groaned. There was no way she could salvage this, not only had she cheated in the tourney but now her new job offer came from the sister of one of the contestants from the tourney she cheated.

“Holli…” said Stephen cautiously. It was clear he recognized Evelyn. “What’s going on here?” For what felt like the hundredth time that morning, Evelyn felt her heart drop.

“Nothing.” Holli replied. “I just wanted to hire her.”

“Hire her?”

“That’s what I said. So how about it? We can discuss exact payment when we assess your duties, but I assure you, I can pay quite handsomely. What do you think?”

Holli held out her hand. Evelyn stood there, unsure of what to think. She was either in deep shit, or just had the luckiest break of her life. But then, Evelyn thought, she had been in deep shit ever since she ran away from her home at age seventeen. How could it get worse? Holli was obviously willing to stick her neck out for her for some reason. Evelyn took Holli’s hand and shook it.

“Fine. Deal.” said Evelyn with a smile.

It took about an hour to travel from Ostwick city to the Trevelyan estate. The whole ride was awkward and Evelyn didn't even know what to say or how to talk to her new employers. Holli was talkitive, going on and on about trivial things like new dresses and apples. Evelyn had no idea what apples were. She guessed they were a food by the way she spoke of it, but she hadn't heard of them before. Stephen on the other hand remained mostly silent. Evelyn could tell he was still upset about the tourney and she had nothing to say. Holli was riding a beautiful chestnut brown mare, that trotted like a royal stalion. Stephen's horse was also a majestic steed, white without a spot on it. Meanwhile Evelyn was riding Shadow, an old midnight black horse who had definitely seen better days.

The Trevelyan estate was a bit removed from the Ostwick city and was close to the Starkhaven border. It was very large and full of acres of open fields and gardens. The house itself was almost as big as a castle, and despite her distrust of nobles, Evelyn knew it had to be beautiful on the inside.

They reached a fork in the path to the house. Holli turned her horse around to face Stephen and Evelyn. "Brother, you go on ahead and let Father know we've returned. I'm going to show Evelyn where she'll be staying." she said. Stephen nodded, then continued forward down the current path. Evelyn looked down the path to the left.

"So it's the slaves' quarters for me?" she blurted out. Holli laughed.

"Far from it! You'll see." she said as she steered her horse down the left path. After a pause, Evelyn gave Shadow a pat and followed her.

After a few minutes of silence, a small cottage came into view. Holli lead her right to it, then dismounted her horse.

"Here it is!" she said.

It was tiny compared to the Trevelyan house, but still larger than any home Evelyn had known. It was only one story, but there was a large well next to it, a stable for her horse, and even a decently sized garden behind it. One of the trees in the front had bright red fruits hanging from it. Evelyn couldn't find any words to say, she thought she'd be living in some dark servant's quarters.

"I don't... this is..." Evelyn couldn't find words to say. Holli chuckled. Finally Evelyn cleared her throat and turned to face her. "I'll be honest, I don't know where this is going. I cheated in the Tourney, I got attacked by mercs, got hired to train a human, and now you're just giving me a house...?"

"Consider it more of a loan." said Holli. "This house once belonged to our house tutor. He was a great scholar and taught my siblings and I everything we know. Once we were all adults, he decided to move on with his life and I think he's now teaching for another noble family. I thought it fitting that you'd take up occupancy seeing as how you'll be teaching me." As Holli spoke, she crossed over to the tree and picked one of the red fruits and took a bite.

"You can just do that?" Evelyn asked. "You can just loan me a house on your estate?"

"I can." replied Holli. "My father is advancing in age, and since my older sisters are..." she paused, as if she wasn't sure how to say something. "Well, they're not going to inherit the estate. My father put me in charge of our lands and properties, so I can basically do whatever I want. Here, have an apple." She picked another fruit from the tree and tossed it to Evelyn.

"Even give a home on your estate to an elf?" asked Evelyn as she caught it.

"To a friend." said Holli, taking another bite.

"Is that what we are?" ask Evelyn.

"I hope so." replied Holli. "Well, I'll let you settle in and explore your new home. I'll be back in a few hours to check in on you." With a smile, she mounted her horse again and rode off. Evelyn stood there. The events of the day were finally starting to overwhelm her. She took a bite of the apple. It was delicious. Shadow trotted over and nudged her. Evelyn stroked his mane.

"Well, Shadow..." she said, her mouth full, "This is going to be interesting."

Next Chapter

[howardkuester22]

Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 214

Click on the video above to watch Episode 214 of the Semantic Mastery Hump Day Hangouts.

Full timestamps with topics and times can be found at the link above.

The latest upcoming free SEO Q&A Hump Day Hangout can be found at http://semanticmastery.com/humpday.

  Announcement

Adam: All right, welcome everybody to Hump Day Hangouts, episode 214. This time it actually is 214. I’m able to use my numbers this week, which is great. I almost wore my little Christmas hat, but I decided I gotta hold off for like another week.

We got a lot of good stuff. We got some news we want to share with you guys, and then jump into questions. But first, let’s say hi. We got Hernan and Bradley with us. So, let’s start on the left with Hernan. It looks like I can see half of his face. How’s it going man?

Hernan: Cool.

Adam: Oh, there we go.

Hernan: How about now? Is that better? I’m doing great, actually, I’m doing really well. So, yeah, we’re having a lot of good stuff coming out for ‘17 last year for the Mastermind. We have a bunch of good stuff for this month. I’m really, really excited for what’s coming.

Bradley: I’m going to get a seizure from your fricking Christmas tree in the background.

Hernan: [inaudible 00:00:49].

Adam: No, come on we want to see …

Bradley: Stop doing that.

Adam: Oh my God. Stop doing that right along. Bradley, what are you doing, are you still alive?

Bradley: I’m convulsing, that’s what I’m doing. No, I’m good man. I just finished the Syndication Academy Update Webinar, the first one in several months. Anyways, it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped because I’m having some slight issues with one of the things I wanted to share. Because of that, I’m going to schedule another one for next month. So, just be on the lookout for that guys.

Adam: Thanks.

Bradley: Marco made it.

Adam: Yeah. Hey, Marco, are you there?

Marco: No, I’m not.

Adam: Well, we’re just saying hello to everybody. If you’ve got a sec, if you want to say, “Hi, how you doing?”

Marco: Of course, man, what’s up? I’m excited man. End of the year, so it’s always good. Family time, just getting together. My wife’s a chef, so I’m lucky and I’m really looking forward to 2019. We have so much coming down the pipeline, it’s not even funny. It’s ridiculous. The kind of money that’s to be made right now. Dude, we’re back into 2003, 2004, 2005 when I started out.

It’s ridiculous the way you can just go out there and with almost nothing, make a bucket full of money.

Adam: Definitely. Now’s the time. Well, we’ll be speaking of that in a little bit more in just a minute. There’s some really good opportunities, but I want to say too, if you’re new to [inaudible 00:02:24], of course, thank you for watching. If you’re checking out the replay on YouTube down the road, come join us live for these. You can always come to the most up to date or the recent or upcoming one. That’s semanticmastery.com/hdquestions.

Again, if you’re new to Semantic Mastery, you’re wondering where to start, start with the battle plan, all right. That’s going to get you repeatable results. Covers a ton of different areas, different stuff you need. Then, once you’ve got that, we even encourage our Mastermind members, everyone to get the battle plan. Once you’re ready, take yourself a few notches, if you want to either start or grow your own local digital marketing agency, come join the Mastermind.

I can talk about Masterminds just in general, all day about how much good they do for you. We love ours, we’re very proud of it. We’ve got a bunch of kickass members and we’ve got a lot of really good stuff coming here very soon. We’re putting it to action right now. The [pofu 00:03:16] pass and we’re going to have a little bit of a special to do with that. We’re going to explain much more about that. Let you guys see a little bit behind the curtains here, more closer to Christmas, I guess, is the way to say that.

But, in the very near future, Bradley’s going to be doing a webinar on Monday, right?

Bradley: Yes, Monday’s the Local Lease Pro Update Webinar to share some additional things that I’ve discovered for that … Myself and my team have discovered over the last … Since we’ve launched the course, essentially. Several things that we’re going to talk about is location research is much more granular now than before, so I’m going to be sharing that process on that webinar. I can show you guys how to use … How to run that software that we use in that course to find easy opportunities for GMB assets.

It’s on a much more granular level and I’ll explain all of that during the webinar, which will be on Monday. I’m also going to be talking about some things to avoid, to prevent getting locations terminated for spam. There’s certain things that we’ve learned through all the very heavy custing that we’ve been doing the last couple of months. So, I want to talk about that.

So, you guys that aren’t part of Local Lease Pro, you’ll get information, like behind the scenes in some of the information, but it’s not going to be the whole picture, right? So, we’re going to make it public, everybody can come join because I want you guys to … This is our primary push right now in Semantic Mastery, we’ve really shifted directions entirely to building out legion assets right now because there’s so much opportunity, more so than I’ve ever seen, since I’ve started in digital marketing and local marketing, which was in 2010 and I mean that.

Marco was just saying, “This is like 2003, 4, of 5, or whatever.” Well, I wasn’t in digital marketing back in, so I don’t know what it was like. But, since 2010 when I got started, I’ve never seen this much opportunity. So, that’s why we’re pushing it so hard and that’s why I wanted to make this update webinar Monday public because I want you guys to see how excited and enthusiastic we are about this and also why.

When you see what I talk about, with the location research alone, if that doesn’t get you excited, then you’re in the wrong damn business is all I’m saying. So, again, we’re going to have that public on Monday. Adam screwed up and put 48 hours in the email that it’s going to be public, I didn’t want it to be public for that long, so fuck you Adam.

Adam: Merry Christmas.

Bradley: Yeah. Merry Christmas you prick. Yeah, I was really only going to keep it public for 24 hours, but since the emails went out, it’ll be public for 48 hours and then it’s getting lockdown and then it’s going to be in the members area only, along with the rest of the training. So, I highly recommend that you guys come check it out.

If you haven’t joined Local Lease Pro, we’re going to also offer a shit ton of bonuses and stuff like that. If you do want to join on Monday, but it’ll be kind of a limited time thing. So, make sure you attend and absorb as much information as you can.

Adam: Yeah. I want to encourage people too who aren’t in, obviously for the members be there … We’re going to have some good stuff. For non-members, we are doing Q&A, so if you want, come and learn, see what’s going on a little bit behind the scenes, like Bradley said, you can see really what’s going on here, how big the opportunity is.” But then we’ll also be answering questions.

We realized if you don’t have the whole picture, there’s something missing. You’re not sure how this would work for you, this, that, or the other thing, be there. Ask questions, get them answered, and then like Bradley said, we’ve got a hell of a Christmas deal for you and happy to make that available, but yeah, that replays going to be only available for a limited time and then if you’re not there live, obviously, you can’t get questions answered as in depth as if you’re there. Sign up, be there.

Bradley: Yep. So, what else we got?

Adam: One last quick one, just want to tell people the special offer is going away for MGYB, we’ve got a killer deal on the deep keyboard research. All right, this is one of the new additions to MGYB, it’s a kickass keyboard research done for your service and it’s 40% off and that’s going away later today. So, I’m going to pop the link up there, check it out.

If you’ve got any projects coming up, you’ve got clients coming on board. You’ve got websites, thinking about building apps, need content ideas, this is the place to do it and 40% is a hell of a chunk of change. Highly suggest you make use of this today before it goes away.

Bradley: Okay.

Adam: I think that’s it, are we ready to go?

Would It Hinder The Ranking Of A GMB Page If The Images Uploaded In 2016 Will Be Removed And Reupload Them For Geotagging?

Bradley: Yes, let me finish sending Rob a message real quick. All right, sorry. Let me grab the screen, we’ll get right into questions. All right, here we go. Not a whole lot of questions yet, guys. You better get to asking some questions or we’re going to shut this down quick. Anyways, Dan’s up first, he says, “I had uploaded several images to a GMB for a customer back in 2016, will it hinder the rankings to take images … To take all of the images off of the GMB page, geotag them and then re-upload them? Perhaps I should just do a few at a time?”

Yeah, I don’t think it would be a problem. I would do a few at a time if I were to do it, Dan. I mean, again, maybe Marco has some additional information than I do. I don’t see why that would be a problem. If they’re just GMB images, you’re not taking post down and all that kind of stuff, then I don’t see why it would be a problem.

I wouldn’t want to take post down though, delete posts and then repost them again, I’d just leave the old posts up, if that makes sense. If it’s just images, taking it from the GMB photo section, like removing them, geo tagging them and then reuploading, I can’t see that as being an issue. But, I would still do it a handful at a time, dripped out of several days or whatever. What do you think, Marco?

Marco: Yeah, my question is why would you want to do that. Why not add new images.

Bradley: New images. Yeah, that’s a good point. That’s a very good point.

Marco: We teach how and I think Dan has Local GMB Pro. We teach you how to go in and get images anywhere you want and then you go and add all the information that you want and then you have new data. This is the whole point. You guys, I don’t know how much I can get into this, but you’re missing the whole point of what Local GMB Pros all about and what we’re doing with Local Lease Pro and Local PR Pro.

We’re trying to feed the fucking bot data and if you take stuff down and bring it back up, Google knows that the image existed already without the geo tagging. Why not give Google new images with new information, so not only is it looking at the front, it’s also looking at the back. I don’t understand the point, unless you can’t get images. If you can’t get images from your client, fire the client, or use the method that we teach in Local GMB Pro.

Always, for me, I always feed the bot more data. More data. It’s always about more data, fill in the variables, and get lots of love.

Bradley: Yeah, I like that. That’s just true. If you get more images … Dan, you should know, I think you’re part of Local GMB Pro, but … I think RYS members also had access to that webinar, on how to get additional images. There’s stuff like … Even if YouTube, you can just grab images from YouTube, I’ve done that a bunch. That’s what my VAs are currently doing right now because they’re a bit faster at it. Yeah, there’s a ton of ways to get additional images. I agree with Marco, his was definitely a better answer than mine. So, Marco’s the winner.

How Many GMBs Per Manager Account Is Acceptable?

Dan’s up again and he says, “How many GMBs per manager account is acceptable?” Well, it depends, Dan. It depends what you’re … What are the … What type of GMB assets are they? Are they real bonafide genuine businesses? If they’re genuine businesses, there’s no problem adding a manger and managing the genuine businesses from a manager account, right? They’re real businesses, there’s no problem with that at all.

Now, Marco and I have slightly differing opinions for lead gen assets, but personally for lead gen assets … Guys, let’s just be 100% clear here, let’s not sugarcoat this, when we’re doing lead gen GMB assets, they’re spammed, right? They’re spammed assets, that’s what they are. So, let’s be clear about that. So, when you’re doing lead gen stuff, then I don’t recommend using a manager account because that connects … That creates a footprint, right? You can connect to different locations.

So, what I’m doing currently now and I’ve tested … Because we’re scaling this lead gen asset building process so much right now, we’re testing all different types of configurations and I’ve got several out there right now where I’m doing location clusters, which is multiple locations where assets within a service area, like a radius. A 20 mile radius is typically what I’m doing right now.

So, I’ll secure many assets within that 20 mile radius. So, some of my location clusters are manged under a single manager account. In other words, each location is owned by a separate Google profile. So, it’s owned by a separate Google profile. But, it’s managed or there’s a manger account that connects those profiles, so a manager can access them. However, like I said, currently what I’ve kind of shifted to now, is doing everything under the owner account or at least logging it … Or, if I’m going to add a manager, only adding a manger long enough to make changes to the GMB asset and then removing that manger, so that the footprint doesn’t stay there.

In other words, for example, one of the things that we’re going to be doing is providing done for you GMB optimization services, so we can provide an MGYB, our store. It’s not available yet, but it’s coming very, very soon, guys. We’ve got VAs in training right now, to be able to provide you guys with full soup to nuts done for you GMB asset building. From verification, all the way through … Setup an optimization and scheduling GMB posts and scheduling them to republish to where you don’t have to do shit, except purchase it and then start making money from it once you monetize it, right.

So, one of the things that we’re going to have to do is whenever we create or somebody … Typically, you’re going to buy the asset from us, so we create it for you, but then the VAs that are going to optimizing it, will be … That asset will be … A manager will be added to that asset and then the VAs will optimize that profile, that GMB asset from the manager account. But, then as soon as we go to deliver it, we remove the manager account, right? That’s what the process is likely going to be and that way there’s the owner account and then you can add yourself as a manager if you’d like, but I would recommend using something like Browseo or Ghost Browser and always logging in and making changes to it from the primary owner account.

That way, it’s isolated to that one account. In other words, if you end up getting terminated from Google, for whatever reason … I’ve got a couple assets that have been terminated recently, that I don’t understand why they were terminated, but again, they’re spammed assets, so I’m not going to complain too much, I’m just going to move on and build another one, right? So, my point is if you end up catching some sort of penalty and it gets terminated, then it’s going to be isolated to one account and one account only. Okay? So, in the past, I’ve always said that it’s okay to add yourself as a manager to GMB assets and then manage … Make changes and things like that through the manager account.

But, that’s typically when for real businesses or maybe the occasional lead gen asset, I’ve never done it at scale, like we have been over the last few weeks. I’m really concerned because these are black hatted Google, GMB assets. I’m really worried about potential footprints. So, I’m trying to do as much as possible to reduce footprints. That means not using manager accounts when … If possible. If you’re using a good browser [inaudible 00:15:17] like Browseo or Ghost Browser, you should be able to accomplish that.

Now, Marco, I know you have a slightly different take on it, do you want to share yours?

Marco: Yeah, we have managers doing it all. The owner never, ever goes back in. That’s how we do it. It’s as if an agency were doing the work for that Google my business listing, which I think [crosstalk 00:15:40].

Bradley: So, you have different manager accounts, is what you’re saying?

Marco: Absolutely, yeah. Because we have a whole bunch of VAs.

Bradley: Gotcha.

Marco: Right? So, they all get spread out. We don’t have one BA that does … For example, what you always talk about, tree service, right? It’s not about a bunch of clustered tree service, GMBs that, that VA is doing. They’re out everywhere. They have a bunch of different niches that they handle. The team lead will spread them out. She’ll give, “Okay, you get three. You get three of these. You get three of these. You get three of these.” Then, she’ll come back and she’ll start adding them again until we get to a certain point and then we don’t add to those who will open a new account and that account we’ll manage the next set. They all won’t be in one niche. I think that’s just perfectly legitimate.

In fact, I haven’t seen any problems with any of the stuff that we’re doing getting suspended.

Bradley: Yeah, I haven’t had anything suspended through a manager account. So, again, I’ve had in the past, I’ve had a manager account suspended and it didn’t affect any of the GMB assets that it was managing because the asset was owned by a different Google profile. So, as far as I know, that’s still the case, but I don’t want to create a known footprint between assets. So, what Marco just said, Dan, just to clarify, is that he’s … Remember they’re making changes. His team is making changes to GMB assets through manager accounts, not through the owner accounts.

But, there’s not a footprint between the manager accounts and the assets because he’s randomly selecting different Gmail accounts to be added as managers and they manage more than just one vertical industry. Now, again, Marco’s got a team. Dan, I’m not sure if you have a team or not. So, that might not be the most efficient way for you, if you don’t have a team. If you have a team, then maybe it is. Also, it depends on again, like Marco said, if you’re dealing with multiple industries, that makes it easier to do that because each manager account can be managing multiple types of GMB assets. In other words, different types of industries, which would make sense because that acts very much like an agency that would be managing different client’s businesses, right?

So, what Marco’s saying is absolutely valid, I completely understand his method. Me, personally, in my business, I am targeting one industry. So, we’re targeting … For my business as tree service industry for contact media, it’s remodeling and general contractors. So, because of that, we’re targeting one industry, I don’t have that … Even if we had multiple manager accounts, every manager account will only be managing similar types of properties. So, that doesn’t work for my setup. Again, you’re going to have to customize the setup based upon what your specific business is currently and select which is best.

For me, for my business, because I’m targeting one industry, the best, so far … At least what I think to be the best method is doing everything through the primary owner account or if I’m going to add a manager, it’s only temporary, long enough for the manger to make whatever changes are going to the GMB and then that manager get removed, so that it’s not a long term manager connection, if that makes sense. Okay, so again, really take what Marcos said and take what I said, and determine which is the better fit for your business and then apply that method, okay. It’s a great question, by the way, Dan.

Marco: I’m also about to put it to the test because I’m about to close on a really deal, where we’re talking about thousands of GMBs and it’s in one vertical, one niche. I’m going to see which of the two methods works best for longevity.

Bradley: Yeah.

Marco: [crosstalk 00:19:42].

Bradley: That’s what we’re trying to do here. We’re trying to develop processes to scale all of this, which is really what local, excuse me, what [inaudible 00:19:51] is all about. So, we’re really trying to develop all of these processes and done for you services because we’re building out our own. Guys, we’re not just creating these services to sell them to you guys. We’re creating these services for our internal use. Since we’re going through all the trouble of creating all of these processes and training virtual assistants to do all this stuff, because we’re building our own businesses this way, we practice exactly what we preach guys.

Since we’re going through all this trouble anyways, it just makes sense to also … Because we’re going to have all the processes in place for training, for all of this, to be able to provide that to you guys, right? Because of that, we’re doing all of this testing right now. Remember, a lot of this is new at this level, at this level of volume that we’re doing. So, we’re trying to figure it out as we go and as soon as we get good information, we share it in the appropriate places. Like Local Lease Pro, Local GMB Pro, and then the Mastermind. Those are the three places where this stuff is getting shared, right?

Thoughts On Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s Testimony That Google Is Not Manually Intervening On Search Results

So, if you want to stay on top of it without having to do the testing yourself, then just come join us and … The Masterminds probably your best bet because that’s where the conversations are held on a daily basis. All right, Wayne’s up. He says, “Observation …” Yeah, this was funny. “Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai …” Or, Pikai, I can’t … Whatever. “Testified in front of the house judiciary committee and literally said, “Last year we served over three trillion searches, just as a fact, every single day, 15% of the searches Google seized, we have never seen them before.” That’s crazy.

So, this is working at scale. We don’t manually intervene any search results. Another SEO said, “Anyone else see the word manually in there? Duh, I would’ve preferred him to say, ‘We don’t intervene.’ Thought you slipped that one by, huh, Sundar? Maybe to that box of rocks they call Congress but not to us, SEOs.” That’s funny. I thought that was really interesting. So, thanks for sharing, Wayne.

Are There Any Laws Or Issues One Should Worry About When Running Ads To A Vacation Giveaway Offer That Is Free?

Frankie’s up, what’s up, Frankie? He’s coming to ask a lot of questions. He said, “Hey, guys. Happy holidays. I’ve got a new client who owns a travel vacation club in the travel niche.” Marco, this seems like might be up your alley. “In my city who’s giving me $1,000 with ad spend with Google Ads because they want results ASAP. Then, for each lead I bring in, they will be getting …” You will be getting paid, Frankie will be getting paid, “$200 to $250 regardless if they join the travel club or not.” There you go, that’s great Frankie.

So, they’re giving you the $1,000 for ad spend and they’re going to pay you with the leads that you generate with their money? Phew, that’s a really cool engagement, man. How’d you get that? How’d you manage that one? That’s great. I like that. “Since he is paying for the ad spend and I still get a nice chunk per lead, I agreed to do his deal at the potential … I agreed to do his deal as a potential … Here it’s huge for me.” Yes, I agree. Typically, in this industry, in order to generate the leads, the main way all the current marketing companies have done is to … They do a free giveaway offer for a vacation trip to Orlando or a free cruise in exchange for their contact info and having them attend a short sales presentation where they have the option to buy or not buy. But, they still get their promised free gift.

“My question is there any laws or issues I should worry about dealing with when running ads to a vacation giveaway offer that is free? Also, I know if you have used Answerconnect in the past. I know you have used Answerconnect in the past, so I wanted to ask in the service of Answerconnect make conversation outbound calls to the new leads and ask questions to qualify them, just as they would if they were inbound calls, thanks.”

Okay, so first thing, is there any potential issues with that? I don’t know. You’d have to contact Google. If you’re talking about setting up Google Ads, then I would just call Google Ads, formerly AdWords. Call Google Ads support and ask them that. They’ll tell. Guys, listen. I’ve always found Google Ads … The support line, to call them, always really helpful. I’m not kidding. Anytime I have a question that I’m unsure of, I just call Google Ads because I’m spending money with them, why not call them and just ask them so I don’t have to spend a bunch of money researching stuff.

Of course, I do a Google search first and if I can’t find a direct answer to my question within a few minutes, then I will call. They’re usually really responsive and they’re happy to help because you’re a paying advertiser. I found that to be the case, maybe other people have had different experiences, but I have always found it rather helpful. So, I would call in and ask. Do some Google research first if you can, Frankie.

It’s very funny, but there was a training course, I can’t remember the name of it, it was by Morrison, Anthony Morrison. He’s got a brother too. They do a bunch of stuff, but he’s got a training course, it’s rather old. A couple years old now. It was very much like what you’re talking about, but it was done on Facebook and that was giving away a free vacation, which cost him like $600 or $800. He could buy a three night or a two night, three day trip package at an Orlando resort or something like that, right? It would cost him like $800, $600 to $800 or something like that.

Then, he would do it on his Facebook page for that area, he would do a post and he would use Facebook ads on the page to promote this free giveaway for this free vacation giveaway, right? For two nights and three days at whatever this resort was. He did it in multiple locations and he would get thousands of people to opt-in for that free giveaway. On the thank you page, after the opt-in, there would just be AdSense. Straight up Google AdSense ads. Because so many thousands of people would click through and opt-in to be put on the list for the vacation giveaway and then land on the thank you page with the AdSense ads, which by the way you can put affiliate offers there and things too.

Then, he would end up making more money on just the AdSense clicks, then it cost to pay for the vacation, the giveaway, right? For the tickets of the giveaway. So, he ended up making money just on that giveaway alone and then he built a list of thousands of people that now he can email market to, right? Also, retarget or remarket through remarketing, right? So, it was huge because he was building a list with a free giveaway and making money on it. He as a training course about it, it’s all done on Facebook, but you could apply that same principle to a Google Ads campaign or apply Google Ads to that same type of campaign is what I’m saying.

Again, if it’s legal … Well, if it’s not a violation of Google Ads terms and service, but you can find that out either through some research or just calling Google and asking them. It’s a brilliant strategy. Brilliant strategy.

Marco: [crosstalk 00:26:35]. I just posted the URL for their policy regarding contests and giveaways.

Bradley: A no go?

Marco: No, yeah. He has to look through it. As long as the state where he is doing it doesn’t prohibit it, as long as it’s not prohibited in the U.S. or whatever, he can totally do it. [crosstalk 00:26:54]. Read through the URL, make sure that you understand it. Again, call Google. Frankie act real stupid. Look, “I want to spend some money with you, I’m not sure how? Can I do this?” If you act really stupid, they’re really going to help. I mean, seriously. They’re going to go out of their way to get you to spend your money with them.

Then, you go, after you’re done with them and take … Everything that they said, with a grain of salt. Because all you’re looking for is the clarification that yes, you can do it and what the conditions are. What the limitations are, that’s all you’re looking to get out of them. They’re going to try to talk you in to getting some of their reps to help you or whatever. You can always do it yourself. But, the whole point behind this is getting all those little nuggets out of the person that you’re talking to. The way that you do that is by acting really dumb.

Bradley: This is it. This is it. I was trying to think, I was sitting here the whole time you’re talking, I’m trying to think a name of that Facebook page, where that … Let’s see, was it this one or this one? It was Destin Florida and it was Anthony Morison’s course, I can’t remember. I think it’s this one. Yeah, this one here. Destinflorida.com.

Hernan: Yeah, Destin Florida. I don’t remember the name of the course either.

Bradley: Me neither.

Hernan: Yeah.

Bradley: But, this is it right here. Look, they’re still doing it. See, look, he’s still doing this, man. I don’t know why’d you ever quit. He’s crushing it with this guys. You can see, he’s still doing it. The course is still at least two years old. So, destinflorida.com, you can see the type of promotions he sets up. Live three day giveaway. Again, the training course is really good. We don’t have an affiliate link for it, I’d give it to you. But, honestly, it’s a good course. I actually set it up for my keto VIP project, which is the ketogenic diet thing that I was doing for a while, but I don’t do much of affiliate marketing, you guys. I just straight do local stuff. I certainly don’t like Facebook.

I know you can make a lot of money from Facebook, but I’m just not a fan of Facebook. So, I spent a lot of time setting up a similar giveaway with ketogenic diet stuff and I wasn’t nearly as successful with it and it’s probably just because I only attempted it once and then quit because I just don’t like Facebook. Like I said, this is a really good strategy, I think it’s something you should checkout for sure. It was a great question. As far as Answerconnect, it’s been several years since I’ve had Answerconnect do any outbound calls for me.

I used to do that with lead gen service providers, when I used to offer equity share or revenue, like when I would have a service provider where I would get a percentage of a closed job or of a closed sale. What I would do and I’ve mentioned this before, maybe I don’t have the hangouts, but I’ve done this with three different tree service contractors. Only one of them ended up being honest with me and not lying about jobs that closed and they said they didn’t get them.

One of the ways I found out that I had contractors lying to me and not giving me credit or paying me for jobs, for leads that came through my sites, was I had Answerconnect to … Answerconnect’s been my call center, like my call answering service since 2012, so I’ve been using them for many years. At the time, I would have Answerconnect go … I would provide the leads that came to a particular GMB location and I would provide the phone leads to Answerconnect and have them do an outbound customer survey, right?

That’s what it was disguised as a customer survey and they would call the leads that came through and say, “Hey, this is blah, blah, blah, tree service. We’re calling with a customer satisfaction survey. We understand that you didn’t use our services and we were just calling in order to improve our service, we’d like to ask you a couple questions as to what led you to make the decision to hire somebody else.” Something like that. It was worded something like that.

I provided them with a script. It was two to three questions. What would happen is the call, the person who would answer the phone, the lead that they were calling, right, would say, “Well, we made a decision to go … We just decided not to get the tree work done.” Or, “We went another company because of this …” Sometimes the answer would be, “Wait a minute, we did hire you guys to do the tree service. Go back and check your records.” Or, something like that. They would say, “No, we did hire you.” Then, I would call the contractor and say, “Okay, what about this lead here? Did you close this job?” When they would lie to me, I would show them proof, “Wait a minute, I had it confirmed that you did do the job, therefore, you’re fired. I’m going to send these leads somewhere else.”

That happened to me … I tried that with six different contractors and only one of them turned out to be honest. I don’t offer that anymore, unless I’ve developed a really good working relationship with somebody. But, at the time, Answerconnect was the service that did it. Now, I don’t know if they still do it, the easiest way to find out, Frankie, is just contact Answerconnect, right? Go to Answerconnect and go to contact us tab and ask them a question. You can call them. They’re an answering service, so call them, ask them, “Do you guys do outbound calls?” If they will, great. If not, just do a search on Google, right? Outbound calling, telemarketers, something like that and find a service and have them do the outbound calls. Okay? It’s that simple.

Answerconnect used to do that, but I don’t know if they still do because it’s been many years since I’ve done that. Okay? That’s a great … Man, that’s really sweet about this guy with giving you a $1,000 and … So, you’re going to spend his ad money and for every lead that you generate with his ad money, you’re going to get paid? That’s great, man. You should try to repeat that over and over again. So, congratulations.

How Do You Determine The Profit Margin Of A Potential Local Lead Gen Client?

Ken says, “Last week Bradley said …” That’s the webinar for Local Lease Pro Update on Monday, I’m sure Adam already dropped the link, so there you go, Ken. Will, what’s up Will he said, “Bradley, on LLP, you mentioned that …” Which is Local Lease Pro, guys. “You mentioned that one of the criteria for selecting a niche is to ensure that the service provider had good margins to afford your leads.” Which means good profits. “Question, how do you go about determining what profit margins that the client would have, as you explained with the carpet cleaning client you used as an example to drive your point?” Again, Will, ask, right.

For example, if you’re … If you’re looking for … Well, first of all, think about … You’ve got to think about the type of businesses … The carpet cleaning, they’re very, very small margins for the most part. So, it’s hard to justify marketing cost, especially lead generation cost for carpet cleaning companies. Like tree services, it’s almost all labor, right? It’s very rarely is there ever any material cost, other than fuel, right? Then, paying for labor for the workers and stuff like that. There’s very rarely any material cost. Remodeling leads, think about a kitchen remodel, right?

A kitchen remodel on the low end, an average kitchen remodel is about $30,000. Typically, most general contractors and remodeling contractors have about a 20% markup, right? So, if it’s a $30,000 job and again about the average is a 20% margin, markup, margin, right? Then, they’re looking at about a $6,000 profit margin, $24,000 would go out to materials and two subcontractors for labor, right? That’s about a $6,000 profit margin per lead there, so it’s easy or it’s much more easy to justify charging $100,000 a lead, when there’s $6,000 profit potential for that lead. Does that make sense?

So, again, think about it logically, Will, that’s first and foremost. Just think about the type of business that you may want to generate leads for. Think about what they charge for their product or service and think about what their cost may be. Try to guesstimate. You can try to do some simple Google searches, guys, and start looking for that kind of data. You will likely find it with a little bit of digging, just by Googling. As a last resort or if you’re not …

I personally, don’t like talking to people on the phone, for the most part, unless it’s something I purposely scheduled, unless I want to … You know what I mean? So, I don’t like to call people just out of the blue and ask questions. That is a way that you can do it. For example, you can call whatever business type in your local area that you’re considering doing lead gen services for and just ask them. Say, “Look, I’m a local marketing guy. I’m in the same area. I’m not calling you to sell you anything. I’m literally calling you to ask you some questions about your type of business because I’m considering getting into marketing for this type of business. I’d just like to know a little bit more about your industry. Would you be willing to answer a couple of questions.”

Send somebody a gift card for $20 or something like that to Starbucks or to a local restaurant and then call them after you know that it’s been delivered, right? Then, say, “Hey, I’m the guy that sent you the $20 gift card. Would you mind answering a couple questions about your business because I’m looking to get into marketing for that. I’m not trying to pitch you on anything, that’s why I sent you a $20 Starbucks gift card. Would you mind taking a few minutes?”

Butter them up first by giving them something. I’ve done that in the past, guys, and it works. So, again, it’s just a conversation starter and is it worth $20 to actually find out what the margins are for a particular business that you may be interested in generating leads for? Also, couldn’t they be the first person to buy leads from you, after you had that conversation and built some rapport with them? Think about it. So, there you go, Will. Like I said, a lot of the times, just think about it logically first. Do some research on Google. You’ll likely find the information you’re looking for, some sort of statistic sheets or something.

Lastly, you can always just send somebody a small gift. Or, you could just do a straight cold call, but if you want to butter them up first … Remember the law of reciprocity, when you give somebody something for nothing and you’re not trying to pitch them … You guys know, probably from prospecting and trying to sell marketing services, we’ve always talked about how we should lead with something free first and then you try to sell them something. What if you give them something free first and you don’t try to sell them anything. You just want to ask them a question.

You’ll probably close that sale because you’re not selling anything, you know what I mean? I would try that.

Marco: What I’ve also done, is I just have people call as a customer, just a typical customer to get a quote, just so that I have-

Bradley: That won’t reveal what the profit margin is for that.

Marco: No, no. It won’t reveal the profit margin, but it gives you an idea. If you have a quote and you know the general markup, which is 20% to 30% across the board, sometimes 10. It’s generally 20 to 30, then you know more or less where you are.

Should You Limit Your Service Area Within The Zip Code Where The GMB Is Secured?

Bradley: That’s true. So, Ted’s up. He says, “Local Lease Pro method question. I’m in a large city with a dozens zip codes … With a dozen zip codes within that city name. If I secure a GMB in one of those zip codes with the population of 10K, should I limit my service here to target just that zip code where the GMB is secure?”

Well, that’s up to you, it depends on really how you spaced out your assets. You don’t want there to be gaps or spaces between us, that’s if possible. So, that’s really determined … Again, this is more of a question that should be answered on Monday, not necessarily today, Ted, because we’re having the whole Local Lease Pro Update Webinar then. But, yeah, I would say it depends on how you have your other assets within that same service area radius spread out, right? Let’s say you have a 20 mile service area radius and you’ve got only four assets and they’re equally spaced out across those 24 or that 20 mile radius, then I would have the service area setup for each of those locations to where they all overlap in the middle slightly but that way the whole 20 mile service area is covered, by service area of each location, right?

So, each location will cover 25% in that particular example. So, that’s how I do it. If you’re doing a whole bunch of locations within a particular service area, then yeah, you can go hyper local, which is really what we’re teaching with Local Lease Pro anyways, is going hyper local and keeping your service area or radius very, very tight, or small. Something I typically have been doing is going about a 5 mile radius, guys. That’s only a 10 mile service area, right? 5 mile radius from the location itself, that’s typically what I’m doing. But, again, it depends on how many assets you have and how big your service area is and how you want to spread them out then.

We’ll talk more about that on Monday. Okay, there you go, Adam, thank you. Thank you. There you, Brian, it was just posted below you. “What time is the webinar on Monday?” It’s 4:00 PM, I believe Eastern, right? Hello?

Adam: Correct.

Bradley: Yeah. All right, Monday, September 17th, I believe, yeah, 4:00 PM>

Adam: I’ll put it on the page, it should’ve been on there.

Does A GMB Page Needs A GMB Site?

Bradley: Yeah. Okay, cool, thank you. Cool, we’re almost done. We can wrap it up either early or on time. GMB, Brian, okay. Says, “GMB, need to have GMB site in addition to the page, need to have a GMB site in addition to the page. I thought the GMB page was a site until I saw a link to a GMB site.” I think you’re talking about the maps page. No, a GMB website, Brian, is a web … Google gives you a free website now. It’s whatever sub domain you choose, .business.site, that’s a GMB website.

Okay, it’s just a one page site, but every time you create a GMB post, it gets … If you have a GMB website published, then it will also be converted into an internal page on the site. So, that’s a GMB website. Yes, if you’re doing GMB stuff, I say, setup the GMB website too. Use all the tools, all the features that Google gives you guys. That’s why we’re crushing it right now. We’re doing everything that Google is giving to us, where 95% of other businesses don’t even have a clue that it exists. That’s why we’re crushing it right now. That’s what Local GMB Pro is all about.

Just get in there and use all of the tools that Google gives within Google My Business and Google will promote your location, your asset, above everybody else because you’re using all the tools that nobody else is using. Does that make sense? Yes, Brian, use the GMB website if you can. Marco, do you want to comment on that?

Marco: No, you answered it perfectly. That’s all I use.

Bradley: Okay. I’m not even building WordPress websites anymore guys. I swear to God. The only time I’m going to build a WordPress website is if a client demands it. For lead gen assets, nope, don’t need them anymore. Why the hell would I want to go out and pay for a domain, setup hosting and deal with all the stupid WordPress shit that we have to deal with all the time, when I can setup lead gen assets all day long with a GMB single page website and I never have to do a damn thing to it, think about. So, again, if a client demands a website, which most clients will, then, that’s fine, I’ll work on their WordPress websites for them.

But, for my own stuff now, nope. No more WordPress sites, I’m done. At least for now, that may change.

Marco: For those of you who have worked out the page rank math that business.site is around a 5, 6 PR. That doesn’t mean that your sub domain is going to get a 5, 6. But, I mean, you’re attached not only to a Google property, but it’s like a 5, 6 PR. So, the quality score will be a … Not the quality score, but the ranking score will be just a touch lower than that, but it’s a really good indicator that it’s fucking powerful and you need to be there.

What Are Possible Reasons Why A Site Ranks Lower Than The Others Despite Having Better DR, UR And More Quality Backlinks Than Its Competitor?

Bradley: All right, so … Thank you, Marco. The next question, [Asheesh 00:43:01], I guess. I’m sorry if I mispronounced your name. That’s a metric question, Asheesh and I know it’s the first time you’ve posted a question for us, so I’m not going to slam you too hard, I promise. But, something we don’t care about here at Semantic Mastery is metrics. I could care less what [Moss 00:43:18] metrics say about a domain or a webpage. I could care less what Majestic SEO says or what an AH Ref says because we stopped tracking metrics over two years ago and I haven’t had any problems whatsoever.

I don’t give a shit what the metrics are from my competitors compared to the metrics that I work on or my client’s assets because we can still get results regardless of what those metrics say, period. We’ve proven that over and over again. So, again, I’m not picking on you. This is probably the first time you’ve asked a question here. This is really not the forum of Semantic Mastery is not the place to ask questions about metrics and why your higher metric property isn’t outranking somebody with lower metrics. Probably because they’re doing stuff that really speaks directly or feeds Googles … Feeds Google exactly what it wants and that’s independent, separate and apart from metrics.

Metrics are proprietary. So, Moss has its own algorithm that it tries to determine the strength of domains, pages, and things like that based upon what it things Google wants. And AH Ref has its own and Majestic has its own and everybody has their own metrics and they’re all proprietary. None of them work for Google. So, what I’m saying is because Google doesn’t give us page rank metrics anymore, which was the most accurate, then why bother with third-party metrics. I know some people out here live and die by third-party metrics. That’s fine.

If it’s working for you, that’s great. But, in your case Asheesh, you’re saying that your metrics are higher but it’s not ranking. So, apparently, it’s not just a metric thing that determines whether you rank or not, right? You’re saying that you have living proof right now that it’s not just a metric thing, which is why we don’t care about third-party metrics anymore. I don’t even track them, I don’t care. Does that make sense? Now, I know Marco has a strong opinion about this too.

Marco: Yeah, absolutely, because everything we do is meant to trigger the good parts, let’s call it, of the Google algorithm, freshness and proximity. Just everything that Google is looking for. They’re looking, as I said, for the ranking score, they’re looking … It’s not just pay join, pay join is part and I’ve been saying this for a couple of years. Pay join is part of the ranking score algorithm and that’s what we’re building up. As long as we’re working towards that, we can care less what Moss is doing or Majestic or anything else. It’s a guide, but theirs is a guess.

If you think of a whole bunch of people together and they got the math that Google gives you, because they don’t give you everything, and they made an educated guess, right? Some went for domain authority, some went for trust. Well, neither one has everything that Google has. The only one that has that Google has is Google and they’re not giving up the ghost. So, all we can do is … The Semantic Mastery, which is we test, we see what moves the needle and then we do some more of it.

We do some more of it to the point where we try to hammer it and try to break it and try to get Google to push back, so that we know when we come to you guys, we can tell you these are the boundaries as far as what you can do.

Hernan: Yeah, with the thresholders.

Marco: Yeah, absolutely. We need to know. We need to know what doesn’t work, so that we can give people what does work, right? That’s just obvious, that’s what everybody should be doing and if they’re not, then, Asheesh, avoid them. Go somewhere else.

Bradley: That’s it. Thank you, Marco. [inaudible 00:47:04], by the way, I don’t know if you saw that I commented on your question on the Syndication Academy update. Man, I really apologize, I missed your question. Yours was the first question, so I don’t know how I missed it. But, he was asking on that about can you get an RSS feed from Facebook. Yes, you can from Zapier, you can get an RSS feed from Zapier. So, yes you can.

In fact, I posted on that page the event page from earlier that I would try to squeeze that in from the update webinar we’re going to do next month in January, which is part two of this Syndication Academy Update Webinar that I held today. So, I’ll try to get to that.

Is There A Benefit Of Using Hashtag When Posting To GMB?

So, his question today or for here is there a benefit using a hashtag when posting to GMB? I have no idea. Marco, do you know? I still haven’t been using them, so I don’t know. Does it even take hashtags?

Marco: Yeah, you can use hashtags, I don’t know if they go … Actually, you can do jump links in posts. I just gave me something that I shouldn’t be giving away, but run with it.

Bradley: Yeah. I don’t know. Well, jump links are different from hashtags though. Again, I don’t know if hashtags if they hyperlink with a posted post, I don’t know or not, I haven’t tested that. I have no idea.

Marco: I don’t know if they would work. I don’t know if there’s a benefit. Everything that we’re doing does not include hashtags.

Bradley: Hashtags, yeah.

Marco: Maybe that’s something we should test, we should put that on our list of things to [crosstalk 00:48:31].

Bradley: I’m going ping Rob, test hashtags for GMB post.

Marco: Yeah. Tell him to contact Irene and then Irene will contact me.

Bradley: Whatever, he knows what I meant. Okay, yeah. That’s a good one, thanks for pointing that out, I haven’t even thought about that, we can test on that too. Yeah, the jump link thing, we will be talking about that in local Lease Pro or Local GMB Pro. Probably Local GMB Pro and then Mastermind guys in probably sometime next month, because I got part two of Syndication Academy Webinars very specifically about Q&A posts and Q&A schema, questions and answers schema. So, there’s something that we can apply with what Marco just leaked to that. We’ll talk about that once part two of Syndication Academy Update Webinar is complete. Okay. But, there’s something very powerful we can do with that.

What Are The Main Needle Movers For Boosting A GMB’s Ranking?

Edward says, “Hey, guys. Thanks for doing this.” I’ll plus one that. He says, “For a competitive search term, which are the main needle-movers for boosting GMBs ranking> Only a small team here.” Right now activity, Edward. Obviously, make sure it’s fully optimized, it’s well optimized. It’s got good content and then posting activity is probably the number one factor in my opinion for getting results. Getting traction with a GMB asset. So, guys use the data in the GMB assets to tell you what Google wants. The data in the GMB insights will tell you the best days to post.

Maybe you need to increase posting frequency on those days, right? It will also tell you the keywords that are … Or, the search queries that are bringing the most traffic to your site. For whatever reason, when you target those keywords in GMB posts, they tend to bring in more traffic. Also, by the way, you’ll probably notice, Edward, a lot of the keywords that are bringing traffic are near me keywords, near me queries, right? Or, variations nearby, close to me, in my area. Those types of queries. Target those, guys. You’re triggering the mobile algorithm that way. Google loves that shit.

So, go in there and collect … Start building a database in near me terms and all the variations thereof. Then, start targeting those in near me type posts. Again, we have post templates that are called near me post templates inside Local Lease Pro, as well as local GMB pro. Not going to give them to you here, but you can create your own too by the way. You don’t need my templates, you can sit down and just think about how to create your own near me templates. Post regularly and consistently and often, right? That’s the number one key.

Then, as far as getting ranked in the free pack, which isn’t really necessary to get results from GMB. It doesn’t even have to be in the three pack, guys, because you’re talking … Especially what I just mentioned with the mobile stuff, you don’t even need to be in three pack and you can still generate leads from GMB assets, we’ve proven that. If you want to be in the three pack because, let’s face it guys, that’s still something that we as us like to see, right? Local PR pro, I’m not shitting you.

Probably the quickest way I’ve ever seen, other than the other Local Lease Pro method, which is just researching locations and finding easy opportunities, other than that, the quickest way I’ve been able to get into the three pack is through press releases in the Local PR method, which is PR stacking and all of that. Again, that’s why Local Lease Pro guys is hands down … That is our number one front end product right now. It will be, as long as this opportunity exists, right? Local GMB Pro is the advanced training for GMB assets.

It’s for those assets that don’t push into the three pack and generate results right away. It’s for the more competitive areas. That’s what Local GMB Pro is, it’s about how to get the absolute power out of a GMB asset, whether it’s in a three pack of not, it makes no difference. Local PR pro, is the course that teaches you how to push that into a three pack in very, very quickly, whether it has a website or not. That’s why there’s three courses, guys. I’m telling you, they work hand-in-hand. Then, lastly to follow it all up, is RYS Academy and drive stacks, which is like … that’s super advanced stuff that just pushes a shit ton of power into whatever you want through Google properties, right?

So, it’s like those three courses are … They compound. They just build upon each other and then RYS is for … That’s just the icing on the cake and that’s for if you have … If you just want to push massive authority. Marco, you want to chat about that at all?

Marco: No, I think you nailed it on the head. They go hand in hand. Local PR Pro, Local GMB Pro, Local Lease Pro, each one acts differently. Then, when you want to … If you want it to stick, you throw drive stacks at it and then it’s like … Like I said, it’s never … I haven’t seen it this easy to make money in so long, that it’s not even funny. It’s just so easy. The main needle mover, as you said, it’s just activity, but it has to be the right kind of activity on that niche. Let me tell you right now, that each niche reacts differently, depending on the kind of posts that you do. I’ll give that away. I’m not going to give everything away, but I’ll tell you that.

How Much SEO Do You Do For GMB Sites?

Bradley: Jeff says, “How much SEO do you do for GMB sites? Also, how much can you throw at a GMB site without incurring the wrath of G?” Okay, as SEO, I just put well-optimized content on it, guys. The beautiful thing about a GMB website is you don’t … You cannot modify SEO elements of the page. You don’t put in header tags and you don’t … You just literally past content in. You can bold stuff and you can create links from within the content. You can’t add header tags. There’s nothing that you can modify on the elements of the page, it’s just text only, right? It’s all you can do.

All you need to do is have a well written piece of content for the GMB website and that’s it. That’s as far as you can go for on page, other than photos, which are incredibly important and GMB posts, which act as inner pages, if you have a GMB website. If you’re just doing GMB posts and you don’t have a GMB website, then you don’t … They don’t act as inner pages, they’re just posts. But, if you have a GMB website, then they’ll start as posts and then it’ll turn into an inner page of the website as well. So, you can silo those. I can’t get into how, but we’ll talk about that a little bit on Monday for the Local Lease Pro method.

Our auto-poster, the GMB auto-poster, that we have will also automate a siloing post, which is really, really cool. Okay, so you can do that. But, as far as the off page stuff, I don’t know because I haven’t done any massive spamming to the GMB websites yet because as I was just talking about in the previous question, the only exterior link building I have done thus far has been from press releases and drive stacks. I have not even thrown any spam link campaigns. We have a [inaudible 00:55:47], right? We have a link building manager who’s fabulous, he’s amazing at what he does.

I haven’t even started testing, sending link campaigns to a GMB asset yet, maybe Marco has, but all I’ve done is drive stacks and press releases. I just now starting to play with syndication networks and syndicating GMB posts because our auto-posts create an RSS feed from GMB posts. So, I’m starting to test with that a little bit too. I have almost … I said this with RYS stacks, but I’ve also tested just link building with Google sites, using a software from Peter Drew. I haven’t done enough testing there to determine whether that’s something I want to add in my standard operating procedure or not.

Yeah, again, since it’s a Google property, Marco can probably comment on this a little bit more, but I haven’t tested the limit on that. But, since it’s a Google property, will likely withstand anything you throw at it. What do you say, Marco?

Marco: I say that I haven’t needed to do anything, except what’s in the training so far. It’s so simple, you just go, you get an asset. You optimize it the way that it’s taught, you throw it up, it ranked or it doesn’t rank. If it doesn’t rank, you can still … The activity will create calls. The way that it’s setup will create calls, it’ll create activity. That activity, Google starts feeding on it because it starts seeing it. Activity is one of the major factors right now. I keep saying it, are activity, relevance, trust, and authority. Those are the things that will trump anything. I don’t care what it is, I don’t care what negative aspects there are. If you have activity, relevance, trust, and authority setup in whatever it is that you’re doing, it’s going to trump everything and Google is going to reward you over and over and over again.

What’s Stopping Someone From Creating Thousands Of Websites And GMBs and Renting Them Out?

Bradley: Yep, there you go. Kasey says, “What’s stopping someone from creating thousands of websites in GMBs and running them out?” Just time and any other major complications. Yeah, time, that’s it. Time and funding and having a team to be able to accomplish that. What do you think we’re in the process of doing right now? We’re building those teams so that we can do that kind of volume. That’s exactly what we’re doing, Kasey. That’s why I said, the opportunity while … Strike while the irons hot. Right now is the time to do it and that’s why I’ve been pushing for two months now, as far as I have been to try and build a … This in a scalable way. We’re training VAs. I’ve created … I spent weeks developing training videos and process stocks to be able to train virtual assistants how to do this entire process from start to finish.

The pofu live attendees are getting these updates from me in real time. They’re kind of helping me with this, right? They’re all using our scaling processes to build their businesses. So, we got all these people that are doing this right now and we’re teaching some of this in the Mastermind as it becomes refined and repeatable because it’s still kind of in its rough stage right now. The Mastermind as it becomes proven, I share this in the Mastermind as well.

That’s exactly why, I don’t know how long this opportunity is going to last. While it’s here, we’re going to try and secure as many as possible, right? So, Kasey, the only limitation that I know of right now is your bandwidth, and your funding, if you’re going to be hiring it out, right?

Marco: Definitely budget, unless he has his own method of securing GMB assets. 1,000 or 2,000 of them, if you get through us, we’re talking about quite a bit of money.

Bradley: Yeah. Yeah. All right, Wayne, last question and then we’re going to wrap it up. We’re right on time too, so that’s perfect. Wayne says, “Realized today that if a prospect in HVAC or plumbing can’t get into local service ads, then there’s a hell of an opportunity to do what you learned from Semantic Mastery to help prospect.” Yeah, that’s true. Thank you, Wayne. So, yeah, if you can’t … For example, guys, I know that in our Mastermind, somebody was talking about trying to get one of their clients into the local services ads section, which is what you’re seeing here, right? Apparently, it was funny. I think it was Muhammad.

So, anyways, one of our members in the Mastermind said, that there was real awkward conversation with the business owner, when they were trying to explain to them why they should be in local Google service ads. The business owner said that they couldn’t be because they couldn’t pass a background check. That’s funny because that’s going to happen, especially if you’re dealing with contractors. Trust me, there’s a lot of contractors out there that can’t pass background checks because of something in their past. I’m totally cool with working with those types of contractors, guys. People make mistakes and they can change.

But, if you can’t pass a background check because of something … You’ve got a skeleton in your closet, you can’t get into this section. So, what Wayne is saying is true. That doesn’t mean that they’re dead in the water, right. DITW, that means that they have … You just have to do other things, like Google Ads or like what we teach with maps, which is Local Lease Pro and Local PR Pro, right? Excuse me, Local GMB Pro. So, there you go. Thank you, Wayne, that’s a good point. All right, no other questions, right on time. Hot damn, that doesn’t happen very often. Whoo. Cool, and even Adam’s still here. Wow.

Adam: About to head out. Time to hit it before the sun goes down, go for a run. But, I want to remind everybody to show up for the webinar on Monday. If you’ve got any questions about this stuff, I know we talked about Local Lease Pro for a bit today, a lot of questions about it. Whether or not you’re a member, show up, go register, come hang out. This is a great way to close out 2018 and really start kicking ass in 2019.

Bradley: There you go. Also, we have a Mastermind seminar tomorrow, for those of you in the Mastermind. So, post your questions through the forum, the Google forum, guys, because we’ve got a lot to go through tomorrow. So, thanks everybody for hanging out. Thanks, Marco and Adam.

Marco: Bye everybody.

Bradley: See you.

  Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 214 published first on your-t1-blog-url

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Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 214

Click on the video above to watch Episode 214 of the Semantic Mastery Hump Day Hangouts.

Full timestamps with topics and times can be found at the link above.

The latest upcoming free SEO Q&A Hump Day Hangout can be found at http://semanticmastery.com/humpday.

  Announcement

Adam: All right, welcome everybody to Hump Day Hangouts, episode 214. This time it actually is 214. I’m able to use my numbers this week, which is great. I almost wore my little Christmas hat, but I decided I gotta hold off for like another week.

We got a lot of good stuff. We got some news we want to share with you guys, and then jump into questions. But first, let’s say hi. We got Hernan and Bradley with us. So, let’s start on the left with Hernan. It looks like I can see half of his face. How’s it going man?

Hernan: Cool.

Adam: Oh, there we go.

Hernan: How about now? Is that better? I’m doing great, actually, I’m doing really well. So, yeah, we’re having a lot of good stuff coming out for ‘17 last year for the Mastermind. We have a bunch of good stuff for this month. I’m really, really excited for what’s coming.

Bradley: I’m going to get a seizure from your fricking Christmas tree in the background.

Hernan: [inaudible 00:00:49].

Adam: No, come on we want to see …

Bradley: Stop doing that.

Adam: Oh my God. Stop doing that right along. Bradley, what are you doing, are you still alive?

Bradley: I’m convulsing, that’s what I’m doing. No, I’m good man. I just finished the Syndication Academy Update Webinar, the first one in several months. Anyways, it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped because I’m having some slight issues with one of the things I wanted to share. Because of that, I’m going to schedule another one for next month. So, just be on the lookout for that guys.

Adam: Thanks.

Bradley: Marco made it.

Adam: Yeah. Hey, Marco, are you there?

Marco: No, I’m not.

Adam: Well, we’re just saying hello to everybody. If you’ve got a sec, if you want to say, “Hi, how you doing?”

Marco: Of course, man, what’s up? I’m excited man. End of the year, so it’s always good. Family time, just getting together. My wife’s a chef, so I’m lucky and I’m really looking forward to 2019. We have so much coming down the pipeline, it’s not even funny. It’s ridiculous. The kind of money that’s to be made right now. Dude, we’re back into 2003, 2004, 2005 when I started out.

It’s ridiculous the way you can just go out there and with almost nothing, make a bucket full of money.

Adam: Definitely. Now’s the time. Well, we’ll be speaking of that in a little bit more in just a minute. There’s some really good opportunities, but I want to say too, if you’re new to [inaudible 00:02:24], of course, thank you for watching. If you’re checking out the replay on YouTube down the road, come join us live for these. You can always come to the most up to date or the recent or upcoming one. That’s semanticmastery.com/hdquestions.

Again, if you’re new to Semantic Mastery, you’re wondering where to start, start with the battle plan, all right. That’s going to get you repeatable results. Covers a ton of different areas, different stuff you need. Then, once you’ve got that, we even encourage our Mastermind members, everyone to get the battle plan. Once you’re ready, take yourself a few notches, if you want to either start or grow your own local digital marketing agency, come join the Mastermind.

I can talk about Masterminds just in general, all day about how much good they do for you. We love ours, we’re very proud of it. We’ve got a bunch of kickass members and we’ve got a lot of really good stuff coming here very soon. We’re putting it to action right now. The [pofu 00:03:16] pass and we’re going to have a little bit of a special to do with that. We’re going to explain much more about that. Let you guys see a little bit behind the curtains here, more closer to Christmas, I guess, is the way to say that.

But, in the very near future, Bradley’s going to be doing a webinar on Monday, right?

Bradley: Yes, Monday’s the Local Lease Pro Update Webinar to share some additional things that I’ve discovered for that … Myself and my team have discovered over the last … Since we’ve launched the course, essentially. Several things that we’re going to talk about is location research is much more granular now than before, so I’m going to be sharing that process on that webinar. I can show you guys how to use … How to run that software that we use in that course to find easy opportunities for GMB assets.

It’s on a much more granular level and I’ll explain all of that during the webinar, which will be on Monday. I’m also going to be talking about some things to avoid, to prevent getting locations terminated for spam. There’s certain things that we’ve learned through all the very heavy custing that we’ve been doing the last couple of months. So, I want to talk about that.

So, you guys that aren’t part of Local Lease Pro, you’ll get information, like behind the scenes in some of the information, but it’s not going to be the whole picture, right? So, we’re going to make it public, everybody can come join because I want you guys to … This is our primary push right now in Semantic Mastery, we’ve really shifted directions entirely to building out legion assets right now because there’s so much opportunity, more so than I’ve ever seen, since I’ve started in digital marketing and local marketing, which was in 2010 and I mean that.

Marco was just saying, “This is like 2003, 4, of 5, or whatever.” Well, I wasn’t in digital marketing back in, so I don’t know what it was like. But, since 2010 when I got started, I’ve never seen this much opportunity. So, that’s why we’re pushing it so hard and that’s why I wanted to make this update webinar Monday public because I want you guys to see how excited and enthusiastic we are about this and also why.

When you see what I talk about, with the location research alone, if that doesn’t get you excited, then you’re in the wrong damn business is all I’m saying. So, again, we’re going to have that public on Monday. Adam screwed up and put 48 hours in the email that it’s going to be public, I didn’t want it to be public for that long, so fuck you Adam.

Adam: Merry Christmas.

Bradley: Yeah. Merry Christmas you prick. Yeah, I was really only going to keep it public for 24 hours, but since the emails went out, it’ll be public for 48 hours and then it’s getting lockdown and then it’s going to be in the members area only, along with the rest of the training. So, I highly recommend that you guys come check it out.

If you haven’t joined Local Lease Pro, we’re going to also offer a shit ton of bonuses and stuff like that. If you do want to join on Monday, but it’ll be kind of a limited time thing. So, make sure you attend and absorb as much information as you can.

Adam: Yeah. I want to encourage people too who aren’t in, obviously for the members be there … We’re going to have some good stuff. For non-members, we are doing Q&A, so if you want, come and learn, see what’s going on a little bit behind the scenes, like Bradley said, you can see really what’s going on here, how big the opportunity is.” But then we’ll also be answering questions.

We realized if you don’t have the whole picture, there’s something missing. You’re not sure how this would work for you, this, that, or the other thing, be there. Ask questions, get them answered, and then like Bradley said, we’ve got a hell of a Christmas deal for you and happy to make that available, but yeah, that replays going to be only available for a limited time and then if you’re not there live, obviously, you can’t get questions answered as in depth as if you’re there. Sign up, be there.

Bradley: Yep. So, what else we got?

Adam: One last quick one, just want to tell people the special offer is going away for MGYB, we’ve got a killer deal on the deep keyboard research. All right, this is one of the new additions to MGYB, it’s a kickass keyboard research done for your service and it’s 40% off and that’s going away later today. So, I’m going to pop the link up there, check it out.

If you’ve got any projects coming up, you’ve got clients coming on board. You’ve got websites, thinking about building apps, need content ideas, this is the place to do it and 40% is a hell of a chunk of change. Highly suggest you make use of this today before it goes away.

Bradley: Okay.

Adam: I think that’s it, are we ready to go?

Would It Hinder The Ranking Of A GMB Page If The Images Uploaded In 2016 Will Be Removed And Reupload Them For Geotagging?

Bradley: Yes, let me finish sending Rob a message real quick. All right, sorry. Let me grab the screen, we’ll get right into questions. All right, here we go. Not a whole lot of questions yet, guys. You better get to asking some questions or we’re going to shut this down quick. Anyways, Dan’s up first, he says, “I had uploaded several images to a GMB for a customer back in 2016, will it hinder the rankings to take images … To take all of the images off of the GMB page, geotag them and then re-upload them? Perhaps I should just do a few at a time?”

Yeah, I don’t think it would be a problem. I would do a few at a time if I were to do it, Dan. I mean, again, maybe Marco has some additional information than I do. I don’t see why that would be a problem. If they’re just GMB images, you’re not taking post down and all that kind of stuff, then I don’t see why it would be a problem.

I wouldn’t want to take post down though, delete posts and then repost them again, I’d just leave the old posts up, if that makes sense. If it’s just images, taking it from the GMB photo section, like removing them, geo tagging them and then reuploading, I can’t see that as being an issue. But, I would still do it a handful at a time, dripped out of several days or whatever. What do you think, Marco?

Marco: Yeah, my question is why would you want to do that. Why not add new images.

Bradley: New images. Yeah, that’s a good point. That’s a very good point.

Marco: We teach how and I think Dan has Local GMB Pro. We teach you how to go in and get images anywhere you want and then you go and add all the information that you want and then you have new data. This is the whole point. You guys, I don’t know how much I can get into this, but you’re missing the whole point of what Local GMB Pros all about and what we’re doing with Local Lease Pro and Local PR Pro.

We’re trying to feed the fucking bot data and if you take stuff down and bring it back up, Google knows that the image existed already without the geo tagging. Why not give Google new images with new information, so not only is it looking at the front, it’s also looking at the back. I don’t understand the point, unless you can’t get images. If you can’t get images from your client, fire the client, or use the method that we teach in Local GMB Pro.

Always, for me, I always feed the bot more data. More data. It’s always about more data, fill in the variables, and get lots of love.

Bradley: Yeah, I like that. That’s just true. If you get more images … Dan, you should know, I think you’re part of Local GMB Pro, but … I think RYS members also had access to that webinar, on how to get additional images. There’s stuff like … Even if YouTube, you can just grab images from YouTube, I’ve done that a bunch. That’s what my VAs are currently doing right now because they’re a bit faster at it. Yeah, there’s a ton of ways to get additional images. I agree with Marco, his was definitely a better answer than mine. So, Marco’s the winner.

How Many GMBs Per Manager Account Is Acceptable?

Dan’s up again and he says, “How many GMBs per manager account is acceptable?” Well, it depends, Dan. It depends what you’re … What are the … What type of GMB assets are they? Are they real bonafide genuine businesses? If they’re genuine businesses, there’s no problem adding a manger and managing the genuine businesses from a manager account, right? They’re real businesses, there’s no problem with that at all.

Now, Marco and I have slightly differing opinions for lead gen assets, but personally for lead gen assets … Guys, let’s just be 100% clear here, let’s not sugarcoat this, when we’re doing lead gen GMB assets, they’re spammed, right? They’re spammed assets, that’s what they are. So, let’s be clear about that. So, when you’re doing lead gen stuff, then I don’t recommend using a manager account because that connects … That creates a footprint, right? You can connect to different locations.

So, what I’m doing currently now and I’ve tested … Because we’re scaling this lead gen asset building process so much right now, we’re testing all different types of configurations and I’ve got several out there right now where I’m doing location clusters, which is multiple locations where assets within a service area, like a radius. A 20 mile radius is typically what I’m doing right now.

So, I’ll secure many assets within that 20 mile radius. So, some of my location clusters are manged under a single manager account. In other words, each location is owned by a separate Google profile. So, it’s owned by a separate Google profile. But, it’s managed or there’s a manger account that connects those profiles, so a manager can access them. However, like I said, currently what I’ve kind of shifted to now, is doing everything under the owner account or at least logging it … Or, if I’m going to add a manager, only adding a manger long enough to make changes to the GMB asset and then removing that manger, so that the footprint doesn’t stay there.

In other words, for example, one of the things that we’re going to be doing is providing done for you GMB optimization services, so we can provide an MGYB, our store. It’s not available yet, but it’s coming very, very soon, guys. We’ve got VAs in training right now, to be able to provide you guys with full soup to nuts done for you GMB asset building. From verification, all the way through … Setup an optimization and scheduling GMB posts and scheduling them to republish to where you don’t have to do shit, except purchase it and then start making money from it once you monetize it, right.

So, one of the things that we’re going to have to do is whenever we create or somebody … Typically, you’re going to buy the asset from us, so we create it for you, but then the VAs that are going to optimizing it, will be … That asset will be … A manager will be added to that asset and then the VAs will optimize that profile, that GMB asset from the manager account. But, then as soon as we go to deliver it, we remove the manager account, right? That’s what the process is likely going to be and that way there’s the owner account and then you can add yourself as a manager if you’d like, but I would recommend using something like Browseo or Ghost Browser and always logging in and making changes to it from the primary owner account.

That way, it’s isolated to that one account. In other words, if you end up getting terminated from Google, for whatever reason … I’ve got a couple assets that have been terminated recently, that I don’t understand why they were terminated, but again, they’re spammed assets, so I’m not going to complain too much, I’m just going to move on and build another one, right? So, my point is if you end up catching some sort of penalty and it gets terminated, then it’s going to be isolated to one account and one account only. Okay? So, in the past, I’ve always said that it’s okay to add yourself as a manager to GMB assets and then manage … Make changes and things like that through the manager account.

But, that’s typically when for real businesses or maybe the occasional lead gen asset, I’ve never done it at scale, like we have been over the last few weeks. I’m really concerned because these are black hatted Google, GMB assets. I’m really worried about potential footprints. So, I’m trying to do as much as possible to reduce footprints. That means not using manager accounts when … If possible. If you’re using a good browser [inaudible 00:15:17] like Browseo or Ghost Browser, you should be able to accomplish that.

Now, Marco, I know you have a slightly different take on it, do you want to share yours?

Marco: Yeah, we have managers doing it all. The owner never, ever goes back in. That’s how we do it. It’s as if an agency were doing the work for that Google my business listing, which I think [crosstalk 00:15:40].

Bradley: So, you have different manager accounts, is what you’re saying?

Marco: Absolutely, yeah. Because we have a whole bunch of VAs.

Bradley: Gotcha.

Marco: Right? So, they all get spread out. We don’t have one BA that does … For example, what you always talk about, tree service, right? It’s not about a bunch of clustered tree service, GMBs that, that VA is doing. They’re out everywhere. They have a bunch of different niches that they handle. The team lead will spread them out. She’ll give, “Okay, you get three. You get three of these. You get three of these. You get three of these.” Then, she’ll come back and she’ll start adding them again until we get to a certain point and then we don’t add to those who will open a new account and that account we’ll manage the next set. They all won’t be in one niche. I think that’s just perfectly legitimate.

In fact, I haven’t seen any problems with any of the stuff that we’re doing getting suspended.

Bradley: Yeah, I haven’t had anything suspended through a manager account. So, again, I’ve had in the past, I’ve had a manager account suspended and it didn’t affect any of the GMB assets that it was managing because the asset was owned by a different Google profile. So, as far as I know, that’s still the case, but I don’t want to create a known footprint between assets. So, what Marco just said, Dan, just to clarify, is that he’s … Remember they’re making changes. His team is making changes to GMB assets through manager accounts, not through the owner accounts.

But, there’s not a footprint between the manager accounts and the assets because he’s randomly selecting different Gmail accounts to be added as managers and they manage more than just one vertical industry. Now, again, Marco’s got a team. Dan, I’m not sure if you have a team or not. So, that might not be the most efficient way for you, if you don’t have a team. If you have a team, then maybe it is. Also, it depends on again, like Marco said, if you’re dealing with multiple industries, that makes it easier to do that because each manager account can be managing multiple types of GMB assets. In other words, different types of industries, which would make sense because that acts very much like an agency that would be managing different client’s businesses, right?

So, what Marco’s saying is absolutely valid, I completely understand his method. Me, personally, in my business, I am targeting one industry. So, we’re targeting … For my business as tree service industry for contact media, it’s remodeling and general contractors. So, because of that, we’re targeting one industry, I don’t have that … Even if we had multiple manager accounts, every manager account will only be managing similar types of properties. So, that doesn’t work for my setup. Again, you’re going to have to customize the setup based upon what your specific business is currently and select which is best.

For me, for my business, because I’m targeting one industry, the best, so far … At least what I think to be the best method is doing everything through the primary owner account or if I’m going to add a manager, it’s only temporary, long enough for the manger to make whatever changes are going to the GMB and then that manager get removed, so that it’s not a long term manager connection, if that makes sense. Okay, so again, really take what Marcos said and take what I said, and determine which is the better fit for your business and then apply that method, okay. It’s a great question, by the way, Dan.

Marco: I’m also about to put it to the test because I’m about to close on a really deal, where we’re talking about thousands of GMBs and it’s in one vertical, one niche. I’m going to see which of the two methods works best for longevity.

Bradley: Yeah.

Marco: [crosstalk 00:19:42].

Bradley: That’s what we’re trying to do here. We’re trying to develop processes to scale all of this, which is really what local, excuse me, what [inaudible 00:19:51] is all about. So, we’re really trying to develop all of these processes and done for you services because we’re building out our own. Guys, we’re not just creating these services to sell them to you guys. We’re creating these services for our internal use. Since we’re going through all the trouble of creating all of these processes and training virtual assistants to do all this stuff, because we’re building our own businesses this way, we practice exactly what we preach guys.

Since we’re going through all this trouble anyways, it just makes sense to also … Because we’re going to have all the processes in place for training, for all of this, to be able to provide that to you guys, right? Because of that, we’re doing all of this testing right now. Remember, a lot of this is new at this level, at this level of volume that we’re doing. So, we’re trying to figure it out as we go and as soon as we get good information, we share it in the appropriate places. Like Local Lease Pro, Local GMB Pro, and then the Mastermind. Those are the three places where this stuff is getting shared, right?

Thoughts On Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s Testimony That Google Is Not Manually Intervening On Search Results

So, if you want to stay on top of it without having to do the testing yourself, then just come join us and … The Masterminds probably your best bet because that’s where the conversations are held on a daily basis. All right, Wayne’s up. He says, “Observation …” Yeah, this was funny. “Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai …” Or, Pikai, I can’t … Whatever. “Testified in front of the house judiciary committee and literally said, “Last year we served over three trillion searches, just as a fact, every single day, 15% of the searches Google seized, we have never seen them before.” That’s crazy.

So, this is working at scale. We don’t manually intervene any search results. Another SEO said, “Anyone else see the word manually in there? Duh, I would’ve preferred him to say, ‘We don’t intervene.’ Thought you slipped that one by, huh, Sundar? Maybe to that box of rocks they call Congress but not to us, SEOs.” That’s funny. I thought that was really interesting. So, thanks for sharing, Wayne.

Are There Any Laws Or Issues One Should Worry About When Running Ads To A Vacation Giveaway Offer That Is Free?

Frankie’s up, what’s up, Frankie? He’s coming to ask a lot of questions. He said, “Hey, guys. Happy holidays. I’ve got a new client who owns a travel vacation club in the travel niche.” Marco, this seems like might be up your alley. “In my city who’s giving me $1,000 with ad spend with Google Ads because they want results ASAP. Then, for each lead I bring in, they will be getting …” You will be getting paid, Frankie will be getting paid, “$200 to $250 regardless if they join the travel club or not.” There you go, that’s great Frankie.

So, they’re giving you the $1,000 for ad spend and they’re going to pay you with the leads that you generate with their money? Phew, that’s a really cool engagement, man. How’d you get that? How’d you manage that one? That’s great. I like that. “Since he is paying for the ad spend and I still get a nice chunk per lead, I agreed to do his deal at the potential … I agreed to do his deal as a potential … Here it’s huge for me.” Yes, I agree. Typically, in this industry, in order to generate the leads, the main way all the current marketing companies have done is to … They do a free giveaway offer for a vacation trip to Orlando or a free cruise in exchange for their contact info and having them attend a short sales presentation where they have the option to buy or not buy. But, they still get their promised free gift.

“My question is there any laws or issues I should worry about dealing with when running ads to a vacation giveaway offer that is free? Also, I know if you have used Answerconnect in the past. I know you have used Answerconnect in the past, so I wanted to ask in the service of Answerconnect make conversation outbound calls to the new leads and ask questions to qualify them, just as they would if they were inbound calls, thanks.”

Okay, so first thing, is there any potential issues with that? I don’t know. You’d have to contact Google. If you’re talking about setting up Google Ads, then I would just call Google Ads, formerly AdWords. Call Google Ads support and ask them that. They’ll tell. Guys, listen. I’ve always found Google Ads … The support line, to call them, always really helpful. I’m not kidding. Anytime I have a question that I’m unsure of, I just call Google Ads because I’m spending money with them, why not call them and just ask them so I don’t have to spend a bunch of money researching stuff.

Of course, I do a Google search first and if I can’t find a direct answer to my question within a few minutes, then I will call. They’re usually really responsive and they’re happy to help because you’re a paying advertiser. I found that to be the case, maybe other people have had different experiences, but I have always found it rather helpful. So, I would call in and ask. Do some Google research first if you can, Frankie.

It’s very funny, but there was a training course, I can’t remember the name of it, it was by Morrison, Anthony Morrison. He’s got a brother too. They do a bunch of stuff, but he’s got a training course, it’s rather old. A couple years old now. It was very much like what you’re talking about, but it was done on Facebook and that was giving away a free vacation, which cost him like $600 or $800. He could buy a three night or a two night, three day trip package at an Orlando resort or something like that, right? It would cost him like $800, $600 to $800 or something like that.

Then, he would do it on his Facebook page for that area, he would do a post and he would use Facebook ads on the page to promote this free giveaway for this free vacation giveaway, right? For two nights and three days at whatever this resort was. He did it in multiple locations and he would get thousands of people to opt-in for that free giveaway. On the thank you page, after the opt-in, there would just be AdSense. Straight up Google AdSense ads. Because so many thousands of people would click through and opt-in to be put on the list for the vacation giveaway and then land on the thank you page with the AdSense ads, which by the way you can put affiliate offers there and things too.

Then, he would end up making more money on just the AdSense clicks, then it cost to pay for the vacation, the giveaway, right? For the tickets of the giveaway. So, he ended up making money just on that giveaway alone and then he built a list of thousands of people that now he can email market to, right? Also, retarget or remarket through remarketing, right? So, it was huge because he was building a list with a free giveaway and making money on it. He as a training course about it, it’s all done on Facebook, but you could apply that same principle to a Google Ads campaign or apply Google Ads to that same type of campaign is what I’m saying.

Again, if it’s legal … Well, if it’s not a violation of Google Ads terms and service, but you can find that out either through some research or just calling Google and asking them. It’s a brilliant strategy. Brilliant strategy.

Marco: [crosstalk 00:26:35]. I just posted the URL for their policy regarding contests and giveaways.

Bradley: A no go?

Marco: No, yeah. He has to look through it. As long as the state where he is doing it doesn’t prohibit it, as long as it’s not prohibited in the U.S. or whatever, he can totally do it. [crosstalk 00:26:54]. Read through the URL, make sure that you understand it. Again, call Google. Frankie act real stupid. Look, “I want to spend some money with you, I’m not sure how? Can I do this?” If you act really stupid, they’re really going to help. I mean, seriously. They’re going to go out of their way to get you to spend your money with them.

Then, you go, after you’re done with them and take … Everything that they said, with a grain of salt. Because all you’re looking for is the clarification that yes, you can do it and what the conditions are. What the limitations are, that’s all you’re looking to get out of them. They’re going to try to talk you in to getting some of their reps to help you or whatever. You can always do it yourself. But, the whole point behind this is getting all those little nuggets out of the person that you’re talking to. The way that you do that is by acting really dumb.

Bradley: This is it. This is it. I was trying to think, I was sitting here the whole time you’re talking, I’m trying to think a name of that Facebook page, where that … Let’s see, was it this one or this one? It was Destin Florida and it was Anthony Morison’s course, I can’t remember. I think it’s this one. Yeah, this one here. Destinflorida.com.

Hernan: Yeah, Destin Florida. I don’t remember the name of the course either.

Bradley: Me neither.

Hernan: Yeah.

Bradley: But, this is it right here. Look, they’re still doing it. See, look, he’s still doing this, man. I don’t know why’d you ever quit. He’s crushing it with this guys. You can see, he’s still doing it. The course is still at least two years old. So, destinflorida.com, you can see the type of promotions he sets up. Live three day giveaway. Again, the training course is really good. We don’t have an affiliate link for it, I’d give it to you. But, honestly, it’s a good course. I actually set it up for my keto VIP project, which is the ketogenic diet thing that I was doing for a while, but I don’t do much of affiliate marketing, you guys. I just straight do local stuff. I certainly don’t like Facebook.

I know you can make a lot of money from Facebook, but I’m just not a fan of Facebook. So, I spent a lot of time setting up a similar giveaway with ketogenic diet stuff and I wasn’t nearly as successful with it and it’s probably just because I only attempted it once and then quit because I just don’t like Facebook. Like I said, this is a really good strategy, I think it’s something you should checkout for sure. It was a great question. As far as Answerconnect, it’s been several years since I’ve had Answerconnect do any outbound calls for me.

I used to do that with lead gen service providers, when I used to offer equity share or revenue, like when I would have a service provider where I would get a percentage of a closed job or of a closed sale. What I would do and I’ve mentioned this before, maybe I don’t have the hangouts, but I’ve done this with three different tree service contractors. Only one of them ended up being honest with me and not lying about jobs that closed and they said they didn’t get them.

One of the ways I found out that I had contractors lying to me and not giving me credit or paying me for jobs, for leads that came through my sites, was I had Answerconnect to … Answerconnect’s been my call center, like my call answering service since 2012, so I’ve been using them for many years. At the time, I would have Answerconnect go … I would provide the leads that came to a particular GMB location and I would provide the phone leads to Answerconnect and have them do an outbound customer survey, right?

That’s what it was disguised as a customer survey and they would call the leads that came through and say, “Hey, this is blah, blah, blah, tree service. We’re calling with a customer satisfaction survey. We understand that you didn’t use our services and we were just calling in order to improve our service, we’d like to ask you a couple questions as to what led you to make the decision to hire somebody else.” Something like that. It was worded something like that.

I provided them with a script. It was two to three questions. What would happen is the call, the person who would answer the phone, the lead that they were calling, right, would say, “Well, we made a decision to go … We just decided not to get the tree work done.” Or, “We went another company because of this …” Sometimes the answer would be, “Wait a minute, we did hire you guys to do the tree service. Go back and check your records.” Or, something like that. They would say, “No, we did hire you.” Then, I would call the contractor and say, “Okay, what about this lead here? Did you close this job?” When they would lie to me, I would show them proof, “Wait a minute, I had it confirmed that you did do the job, therefore, you’re fired. I’m going to send these leads somewhere else.”

That happened to me … I tried that with six different contractors and only one of them turned out to be honest. I don’t offer that anymore, unless I’ve developed a really good working relationship with somebody. But, at the time, Answerconnect was the service that did it. Now, I don’t know if they still do it, the easiest way to find out, Frankie, is just contact Answerconnect, right? Go to Answerconnect and go to contact us tab and ask them a question. You can call them. They’re an answering service, so call them, ask them, “Do you guys do outbound calls?” If they will, great. If not, just do a search on Google, right? Outbound calling, telemarketers, something like that and find a service and have them do the outbound calls. Okay? It’s that simple.

Answerconnect used to do that, but I don’t know if they still do because it’s been many years since I’ve done that. Okay? That’s a great … Man, that’s really sweet about this guy with giving you a $1,000 and … So, you’re going to spend his ad money and for every lead that you generate with his ad money, you’re going to get paid? That’s great, man. You should try to repeat that over and over again. So, congratulations.

How Do You Determine The Profit Margin Of A Potential Local Lead Gen Client?

Ken says, “Last week Bradley said …” That’s the webinar for Local Lease Pro Update on Monday, I’m sure Adam already dropped the link, so there you go, Ken. Will, what’s up Will he said, “Bradley, on LLP, you mentioned that …” Which is Local Lease Pro, guys. “You mentioned that one of the criteria for selecting a niche is to ensure that the service provider had good margins to afford your leads.” Which means good profits. “Question, how do you go about determining what profit margins that the client would have, as you explained with the carpet cleaning client you used as an example to drive your point?” Again, Will, ask, right.

For example, if you’re … If you’re looking for … Well, first of all, think about … You’ve got to think about the type of businesses … The carpet cleaning, they’re very, very small margins for the most part. So, it’s hard to justify marketing cost, especially lead generation cost for carpet cleaning companies. Like tree services, it’s almost all labor, right? It’s very rarely is there ever any material cost, other than fuel, right? Then, paying for labor for the workers and stuff like that. There’s very rarely any material cost. Remodeling leads, think about a kitchen remodel, right?

A kitchen remodel on the low end, an average kitchen remodel is about $30,000. Typically, most general contractors and remodeling contractors have about a 20% markup, right? So, if it’s a $30,000 job and again about the average is a 20% margin, markup, margin, right? Then, they’re looking at about a $6,000 profit margin, $24,000 would go out to materials and two subcontractors for labor, right? That’s about a $6,000 profit margin per lead there, so it’s easy or it’s much more easy to justify charging $100,000 a lead, when there’s $6,000 profit potential for that lead. Does that make sense?

So, again, think about it logically, Will, that’s first and foremost. Just think about the type of business that you may want to generate leads for. Think about what they charge for their product or service and think about what their cost may be. Try to guesstimate. You can try to do some simple Google searches, guys, and start looking for that kind of data. You will likely find it with a little bit of digging, just by Googling. As a last resort or if you’re not …

I personally, don’t like talking to people on the phone, for the most part, unless it’s something I purposely scheduled, unless I want to … You know what I mean? So, I don’t like to call people just out of the blue and ask questions. That is a way that you can do it. For example, you can call whatever business type in your local area that you’re considering doing lead gen services for and just ask them. Say, “Look, I’m a local marketing guy. I’m in the same area. I’m not calling you to sell you anything. I’m literally calling you to ask you some questions about your type of business because I’m considering getting into marketing for this type of business. I’d just like to know a little bit more about your industry. Would you be willing to answer a couple of questions.”

Send somebody a gift card for $20 or something like that to Starbucks or to a local restaurant and then call them after you know that it’s been delivered, right? Then, say, “Hey, I’m the guy that sent you the $20 gift card. Would you mind answering a couple questions about your business because I’m looking to get into marketing for that. I’m not trying to pitch you on anything, that’s why I sent you a $20 Starbucks gift card. Would you mind taking a few minutes?”

Butter them up first by giving them something. I’ve done that in the past, guys, and it works. So, again, it’s just a conversation starter and is it worth $20 to actually find out what the margins are for a particular business that you may be interested in generating leads for? Also, couldn’t they be the first person to buy leads from you, after you had that conversation and built some rapport with them? Think about it. So, there you go, Will. Like I said, a lot of the times, just think about it logically first. Do some research on Google. You’ll likely find the information you’re looking for, some sort of statistic sheets or something.

Lastly, you can always just send somebody a small gift. Or, you could just do a straight cold call, but if you want to butter them up first … Remember the law of reciprocity, when you give somebody something for nothing and you’re not trying to pitch them … You guys know, probably from prospecting and trying to sell marketing services, we’ve always talked about how we should lead with something free first and then you try to sell them something. What if you give them something free first and you don’t try to sell them anything. You just want to ask them a question.

You’ll probably close that sale because you’re not selling anything, you know what I mean? I would try that.

Marco: What I’ve also done, is I just have people call as a customer, just a typical customer to get a quote, just so that I have-

Bradley: That won’t reveal what the profit margin is for that.

Marco: No, no. It won’t reveal the profit margin, but it gives you an idea. If you have a quote and you know the general markup, which is 20% to 30% across the board, sometimes 10. It’s generally 20 to 30, then you know more or less where you are.

Should You Limit Your Service Area Within The Zip Code Where The GMB Is Secured?

Bradley: That’s true. So, Ted’s up. He says, “Local Lease Pro method question. I’m in a large city with a dozens zip codes … With a dozen zip codes within that city name. If I secure a GMB in one of those zip codes with the population of 10K, should I limit my service here to target just that zip code where the GMB is secure?”

Well, that’s up to you, it depends on really how you spaced out your assets. You don’t want there to be gaps or spaces between us, that’s if possible. So, that’s really determined … Again, this is more of a question that should be answered on Monday, not necessarily today, Ted, because we’re having the whole Local Lease Pro Update Webinar then. But, yeah, I would say it depends on how you have your other assets within that same service area radius spread out, right? Let’s say you have a 20 mile service area radius and you’ve got only four assets and they’re equally spaced out across those 24 or that 20 mile radius, then I would have the service area setup for each of those locations to where they all overlap in the middle slightly but that way the whole 20 mile service area is covered, by service area of each location, right?

So, each location will cover 25% in that particular example. So, that’s how I do it. If you’re doing a whole bunch of locations within a particular service area, then yeah, you can go hyper local, which is really what we’re teaching with Local Lease Pro anyways, is going hyper local and keeping your service area or radius very, very tight, or small. Something I typically have been doing is going about a 5 mile radius, guys. That’s only a 10 mile service area, right? 5 mile radius from the location itself, that’s typically what I’m doing. But, again, it depends on how many assets you have and how big your service area is and how you want to spread them out then.

We’ll talk more about that on Monday. Okay, there you go, Adam, thank you. Thank you. There you, Brian, it was just posted below you. “What time is the webinar on Monday?” It’s 4:00 PM, I believe Eastern, right? Hello?

Adam: Correct.

Bradley: Yeah. All right, Monday, September 17th, I believe, yeah, 4:00 PM>

Adam: I’ll put it on the page, it should’ve been on there.

Does A GMB Page Needs A GMB Site?

Bradley: Yeah. Okay, cool, thank you. Cool, we’re almost done. We can wrap it up either early or on time. GMB, Brian, okay. Says, “GMB, need to have GMB site in addition to the page, need to have a GMB site in addition to the page. I thought the GMB page was a site until I saw a link to a GMB site.” I think you’re talking about the maps page. No, a GMB website, Brian, is a web … Google gives you a free website now. It’s whatever sub domain you choose, .business.site, that’s a GMB website.

Okay, it’s just a one page site, but every time you create a GMB post, it gets … If you have a GMB website published, then it will also be converted into an internal page on the site. So, that’s a GMB website. Yes, if you’re doing GMB stuff, I say, setup the GMB website too. Use all the tools, all the features that Google gives you guys. That’s why we’re crushing it right now. We’re doing everything that Google is giving to us, where 95% of other businesses don’t even have a clue that it exists. That’s why we’re crushing it right now. That’s what Local GMB Pro is all about.

Just get in there and use all of the tools that Google gives within Google My Business and Google will promote your location, your asset, above everybody else because you’re using all the tools that nobody else is using. Does that make sense? Yes, Brian, use the GMB website if you can. Marco, do you want to comment on that?

Marco: No, you answered it perfectly. That’s all I use.

Bradley: Okay. I’m not even building WordPress websites anymore guys. I swear to God. The only time I’m going to build a WordPress website is if a client demands it. For lead gen assets, nope, don’t need them anymore. Why the hell would I want to go out and pay for a domain, setup hosting and deal with all the stupid WordPress shit that we have to deal with all the time, when I can setup lead gen assets all day long with a GMB single page website and I never have to do a damn thing to it, think about. So, again, if a client demands a website, which most clients will, then, that’s fine, I’ll work on their WordPress websites for them.

But, for my own stuff now, nope. No more WordPress sites, I’m done. At least for now, that may change.

Marco: For those of you who have worked out the page rank math that business.site is around a 5, 6 PR. That doesn’t mean that your sub domain is going to get a 5, 6. But, I mean, you’re attached not only to a Google property, but it’s like a 5, 6 PR. So, the quality score will be a … Not the quality score, but the ranking score will be just a touch lower than that, but it’s a really good indicator that it’s fucking powerful and you need to be there.

What Are Possible Reasons Why A Site Ranks Lower Than The Others Despite Having Better DR, UR And More Quality Backlinks Than Its Competitor?

Bradley: All right, so … Thank you, Marco. The next question, [Asheesh 00:43:01], I guess. I’m sorry if I mispronounced your name. That’s a metric question, Asheesh and I know it’s the first time you’ve posted a question for us, so I’m not going to slam you too hard, I promise. But, something we don’t care about here at Semantic Mastery is metrics. I could care less what [Moss 00:43:18] metrics say about a domain or a webpage. I could care less what Majestic SEO says or what an AH Ref says because we stopped tracking metrics over two years ago and I haven’t had any problems whatsoever.

I don’t give a shit what the metrics are from my competitors compared to the metrics that I work on or my client’s assets because we can still get results regardless of what those metrics say, period. We’ve proven that over and over again. So, again, I’m not picking on you. This is probably the first time you’ve asked a question here. This is really not the forum of Semantic Mastery is not the place to ask questions about metrics and why your higher metric property isn’t outranking somebody with lower metrics. Probably because they’re doing stuff that really speaks directly or feeds Googles … Feeds Google exactly what it wants and that’s independent, separate and apart from metrics.

Metrics are proprietary. So, Moss has its own algorithm that it tries to determine the strength of domains, pages, and things like that based upon what it things Google wants. And AH Ref has its own and Majestic has its own and everybody has their own metrics and they’re all proprietary. None of them work for Google. So, what I’m saying is because Google doesn’t give us page rank metrics anymore, which was the most accurate, then why bother with third-party metrics. I know some people out here live and die by third-party metrics. That’s fine.

If it’s working for you, that’s great. But, in your case Asheesh, you’re saying that your metrics are higher but it’s not ranking. So, apparently, it’s not just a metric thing that determines whether you rank or not, right? You’re saying that you have living proof right now that it’s not just a metric thing, which is why we don’t care about third-party metrics anymore. I don’t even track them, I don’t care. Does that make sense? Now, I know Marco has a strong opinion about this too.

Marco: Yeah, absolutely, because everything we do is meant to trigger the good parts, let’s call it, of the Google algorithm, freshness and proximity. Just everything that Google is looking for. They’re looking, as I said, for the ranking score, they’re looking … It’s not just pay join, pay join is part and I’ve been saying this for a couple of years. Pay join is part of the ranking score algorithm and that’s what we’re building up. As long as we’re working towards that, we can care less what Moss is doing or Majestic or anything else. It’s a guide, but theirs is a guess.

If you think of a whole bunch of people together and they got the math that Google gives you, because they don’t give you everything, and they made an educated guess, right? Some went for domain authority, some went for trust. Well, neither one has everything that Google has. The only one that has that Google has is Google and they’re not giving up the ghost. So, all we can do is … The Semantic Mastery, which is we test, we see what moves the needle and then we do some more of it.

We do some more of it to the point where we try to hammer it and try to break it and try to get Google to push back, so that we know when we come to you guys, we can tell you these are the boundaries as far as what you can do.

Hernan: Yeah, with the thresholders.

Marco: Yeah, absolutely. We need to know. We need to know what doesn’t work, so that we can give people what does work, right? That’s just obvious, that’s what everybody should be doing and if they’re not, then, Asheesh, avoid them. Go somewhere else.

Bradley: That’s it. Thank you, Marco. [inaudible 00:47:04], by the way, I don’t know if you saw that I commented on your question on the Syndication Academy update. Man, I really apologize, I missed your question. Yours was the first question, so I don’t know how I missed it. But, he was asking on that about can you get an RSS feed from Facebook. Yes, you can from Zapier, you can get an RSS feed from Zapier. So, yes you can.

In fact, I posted on that page the event page from earlier that I would try to squeeze that in from the update webinar we’re going to do next month in January, which is part two of this Syndication Academy Update Webinar that I held today. So, I’ll try to get to that.

Is There A Benefit Of Using Hashtag When Posting To GMB?

So, his question today or for here is there a benefit using a hashtag when posting to GMB? I have no idea. Marco, do you know? I still haven’t been using them, so I don’t know. Does it even take hashtags?

Marco: Yeah, you can use hashtags, I don’t know if they go … Actually, you can do jump links in posts. I just gave me something that I shouldn’t be giving away, but run with it.

Bradley: Yeah. I don’t know. Well, jump links are different from hashtags though. Again, I don’t know if hashtags if they hyperlink with a posted post, I don’t know or not, I haven’t tested that. I have no idea.

Marco: I don’t know if they would work. I don’t know if there’s a benefit. Everything that we’re doing does not include hashtags.

Bradley: Hashtags, yeah.

Marco: Maybe that’s something we should test, we should put that on our list of things to [crosstalk 00:48:31].

Bradley: I’m going ping Rob, test hashtags for GMB post.

Marco: Yeah. Tell him to contact Irene and then Irene will contact me.

Bradley: Whatever, he knows what I meant. Okay, yeah. That’s a good one, thanks for pointing that out, I haven’t even thought about that, we can test on that too. Yeah, the jump link thing, we will be talking about that in local Lease Pro or Local GMB Pro. Probably Local GMB Pro and then Mastermind guys in probably sometime next month, because I got part two of Syndication Academy Webinars very specifically about Q&A posts and Q&A schema, questions and answers schema. So, there’s something that we can apply with what Marco just leaked to that. We’ll talk about that once part two of Syndication Academy Update Webinar is complete. Okay. But, there’s something very powerful we can do with that.

What Are The Main Needle Movers For Boosting A GMB’s Ranking?

Edward says, “Hey, guys. Thanks for doing this.” I’ll plus one that. He says, “For a competitive search term, which are the main needle-movers for boosting GMBs ranking> Only a small team here.” Right now activity, Edward. Obviously, make sure it’s fully optimized, it’s well optimized. It’s got good content and then posting activity is probably the number one factor in my opinion for getting results. Getting traction with a GMB asset. So, guys use the data in the GMB assets to tell you what Google wants. The data in the GMB insights will tell you the best days to post.

Maybe you need to increase posting frequency on those days, right? It will also tell you the keywords that are … Or, the search queries that are bringing the most traffic to your site. For whatever reason, when you target those keywords in GMB posts, they tend to bring in more traffic. Also, by the way, you’ll probably notice, Edward, a lot of the keywords that are bringing traffic are near me keywords, near me queries, right? Or, variations nearby, close to me, in my area. Those types of queries. Target those, guys. You’re triggering the mobile algorithm that way. Google loves that shit.

So, go in there and collect … Start building a database in near me terms and all the variations thereof. Then, start targeting those in near me type posts. Again, we have post templates that are called near me post templates inside Local Lease Pro, as well as local GMB pro. Not going to give them to you here, but you can create your own too by the way. You don’t need my templates, you can sit down and just think about how to create your own near me templates. Post regularly and consistently and often, right? That’s the number one key.

Then, as far as getting ranked in the free pack, which isn’t really necessary to get results from GMB. It doesn’t even have to be in the three pack, guys, because you’re talking … Especially what I just mentioned with the mobile stuff, you don’t even need to be in three pack and you can still generate leads from GMB assets, we’ve proven that. If you want to be in the three pack because, let’s face it guys, that’s still something that we as us like to see, right? Local PR pro, I’m not shitting you.

Probably the quickest way I’ve ever seen, other than the other Local Lease Pro method, which is just researching locations and finding easy opportunities, other than that, the quickest way I’ve been able to get into the three pack is through press releases in the Local PR method, which is PR stacking and all of that. Again, that’s why Local Lease Pro guys is hands down … That is our number one front end product right now. It will be, as long as this opportunity exists, right? Local GMB Pro is the advanced training for GMB assets.

It’s for those assets that don’t push into the three pack and generate results right away. It’s for the more competitive areas. That’s what Local GMB Pro is, it’s about how to get the absolute power out of a GMB asset, whether it’s in a three pack of not, it makes no difference. Local PR pro, is the course that teaches you how to push that into a three pack in very, very quickly, whether it has a website or not. That’s why there’s three courses, guys. I’m telling you, they work hand-in-hand. Then, lastly to follow it all up, is RYS Academy and drive stacks, which is like … that’s super advanced stuff that just pushes a shit ton of power into whatever you want through Google properties, right?

So, it’s like those three courses are … They compound. They just build upon each other and then RYS is for … That’s just the icing on the cake and that’s for if you have … If you just want to push massive authority. Marco, you want to chat about that at all?

Marco: No, I think you nailed it on the head. They go hand in hand. Local PR Pro, Local GMB Pro, Local Lease Pro, each one acts differently. Then, when you want to … If you want it to stick, you throw drive stacks at it and then it’s like … Like I said, it’s never … I haven’t seen it this easy to make money in so long, that it’s not even funny. It’s just so easy. The main needle mover, as you said, it’s just activity, but it has to be the right kind of activity on that niche. Let me tell you right now, that each niche reacts differently, depending on the kind of posts that you do. I’ll give that away. I’m not going to give everything away, but I’ll tell you that.

How Much SEO Do You Do For GMB Sites?

Bradley: Jeff says, “How much SEO do you do for GMB sites? Also, how much can you throw at a GMB site without incurring the wrath of G?” Okay, as SEO, I just put well-optimized content on it, guys. The beautiful thing about a GMB website is you don’t … You cannot modify SEO elements of the page. You don’t put in header tags and you don’t … You just literally past content in. You can bold stuff and you can create links from within the content. You can’t add header tags. There’s nothing that you can modify on the elements of the page, it’s just text only, right? It’s all you can do.

All you need to do is have a well written piece of content for the GMB website and that’s it. That’s as far as you can go for on page, other than photos, which are incredibly important and GMB posts, which act as inner pages, if you have a GMB website. If you’re just doing GMB posts and you don’t have a GMB website, then you don’t … They don’t act as inner pages, they’re just posts. But, if you have a GMB website, then they’ll start as posts and then it’ll turn into an inner page of the website as well. So, you can silo those. I can’t get into how, but we’ll talk about that a little bit on Monday for the Local Lease Pro method.

Our auto-poster, the GMB auto-poster, that we have will also automate a siloing post, which is really, really cool. Okay, so you can do that. But, as far as the off page stuff, I don’t know because I haven’t done any massive spamming to the GMB websites yet because as I was just talking about in the previous question, the only exterior link building I have done thus far has been from press releases and drive stacks. I have not even thrown any spam link campaigns. We have a [inaudible 00:55:47], right? We have a link building manager who’s fabulous, he’s amazing at what he does.

I haven’t even started testing, sending link campaigns to a GMB asset yet, maybe Marco has, but all I’ve done is drive stacks and press releases. I just now starting to play with syndication networks and syndicating GMB posts because our auto-posts create an RSS feed from GMB posts. So, I’m starting to test with that a little bit too. I have almost … I said this with RYS stacks, but I’ve also tested just link building with Google sites, using a software from Peter Drew. I haven’t done enough testing there to determine whether that’s something I want to add in my standard operating procedure or not.

Yeah, again, since it’s a Google property, Marco can probably comment on this a little bit more, but I haven’t tested the limit on that. But, since it’s a Google property, will likely withstand anything you throw at it. What do you say, Marco?

Marco: I say that I haven’t needed to do anything, except what’s in the training so far. It’s so simple, you just go, you get an asset. You optimize it the way that it’s taught, you throw it up, it ranked or it doesn’t rank. If it doesn’t rank, you can still … The activity will create calls. The way that it’s setup will create calls, it’ll create activity. That activity, Google starts feeding on it because it starts seeing it. Activity is one of the major factors right now. I keep saying it, are activity, relevance, trust, and authority. Those are the things that will trump anything. I don’t care what it is, I don’t care what negative aspects there are. If you have activity, relevance, trust, and authority setup in whatever it is that you’re doing, it’s going to trump everything and Google is going to reward you over and over and over again.

What’s Stopping Someone From Creating Thousands Of Websites And GMBs and Renting Them Out?

Bradley: Yep, there you go. Kasey says, “What’s stopping someone from creating thousands of websites in GMBs and running them out?” Just time and any other major complications. Yeah, time, that’s it. Time and funding and having a team to be able to accomplish that. What do you think we’re in the process of doing right now? We’re building those teams so that we can do that kind of volume. That’s exactly what we’re doing, Kasey. That’s why I said, the opportunity while … Strike while the irons hot. Right now is the time to do it and that’s why I’ve been pushing for two months now, as far as I have been to try and build a … This in a scalable way. We’re training VAs. I’ve created … I spent weeks developing training videos and process stocks to be able to train virtual assistants how to do this entire process from start to finish.

The pofu live attendees are getting these updates from me in real time. They’re kind of helping me with this, right? They’re all using our scaling processes to build their businesses. So, we got all these people that are doing this right now and we’re teaching some of this in the Mastermind as it becomes refined and repeatable because it’s still kind of in its rough stage right now. The Mastermind as it becomes proven, I share this in the Mastermind as well.

That’s exactly why, I don’t know how long this opportunity is going to last. While it’s here, we’re going to try and secure as many as possible, right? So, Kasey, the only limitation that I know of right now is your bandwidth, and your funding, if you’re going to be hiring it out, right?

Marco: Definitely budget, unless he has his own method of securing GMB assets. 1,000 or 2,000 of them, if you get through us, we’re talking about quite a bit of money.

Bradley: Yeah. Yeah. All right, Wayne, last question and then we’re going to wrap it up. We’re right on time too, so that’s perfect. Wayne says, “Realized today that if a prospect in HVAC or plumbing can’t get into local service ads, then there’s a hell of an opportunity to do what you learned from Semantic Mastery to help prospect.” Yeah, that’s true. Thank you, Wayne. So, yeah, if you can’t … For example, guys, I know that in our Mastermind, somebody was talking about trying to get one of their clients into the local services ads section, which is what you’re seeing here, right? Apparently, it was funny. I think it was Muhammad.

So, anyways, one of our members in the Mastermind said, that there was real awkward conversation with the business owner, when they were trying to explain to them why they should be in local Google service ads. The business owner said that they couldn’t be because they couldn’t pass a background check. That’s funny because that’s going to happen, especially if you’re dealing with contractors. Trust me, there’s a lot of contractors out there that can’t pass background checks because of something in their past. I’m totally cool with working with those types of contractors, guys. People make mistakes and they can change.

But, if you can’t pass a background check because of something … You’ve got a skeleton in your closet, you can’t get into this section. So, what Wayne is saying is true. That doesn’t mean that they’re dead in the water, right. DITW, that means that they have … You just have to do other things, like Google Ads or like what we teach with maps, which is Local Lease Pro and Local PR Pro, right? Excuse me, Local GMB Pro. So, there you go. Thank you, Wayne, that’s a good point. All right, no other questions, right on time. Hot damn, that doesn’t happen very often. Whoo. Cool, and even Adam’s still here. Wow.

Adam: About to head out. Time to hit it before the sun goes down, go for a run. But, I want to remind everybody to show up for the webinar on Monday. If you’ve got any questions about this stuff, I know we talked about Local Lease Pro for a bit today, a lot of questions about it. Whether or not you’re a member, show up, go register, come hang out. This is a great way to close out 2018 and really start kicking ass in 2019.

Bradley: There you go. Also, we have a Mastermind seminar tomorrow, for those of you in the Mastermind. So, post your questions through the forum, the Google forum, guys, because we’ve got a lot to go through tomorrow. So, thanks everybody for hanging out. Thanks, Marco and Adam.

Marco: Bye everybody.

Bradley: See you.

  Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 214 posted first on your-t1-blog-url from Blogger https://ift.tt/2GmKLQb via IFTTT

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Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 214

Click on the video above to watch Episode 214 of the Semantic Mastery Hump Day Hangouts.

Full timestamps with topics and times can be found at the link above.

The latest upcoming free SEO Q&A Hump Day Hangout can be found at http://semanticmastery.com/humpday.

  Announcement

Adam: All right, welcome everybody to Hump Day Hangouts, episode 214. This time it actually is 214. I’m able to use my numbers this week, which is great. I almost wore my little Christmas hat, but I decided I gotta hold off for like another week.

We got a lot of good stuff. We got some news we want to share with you guys, and then jump into questions. But first, let’s say hi. We got Hernan and Bradley with us. So, let’s start on the left with Hernan. It looks like I can see half of his face. How’s it going man?

Hernan: Cool.

Adam: Oh, there we go.

Hernan: How about now? Is that better? I’m doing great, actually, I’m doing really well. So, yeah, we’re having a lot of good stuff coming out for ‘17 last year for the Mastermind. We have a bunch of good stuff for this month. I’m really, really excited for what’s coming.

Bradley: I’m going to get a seizure from your fricking Christmas tree in the background.

Hernan: [inaudible 00:00:49].

Adam: No, come on we want to see …

Bradley: Stop doing that.

Adam: Oh my God. Stop doing that right along. Bradley, what are you doing, are you still alive?

Bradley: I’m convulsing, that’s what I’m doing. No, I’m good man. I just finished the Syndication Academy Update Webinar, the first one in several months. Anyways, it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped because I’m having some slight issues with one of the things I wanted to share. Because of that, I’m going to schedule another one for next month. So, just be on the lookout for that guys.

Adam: Thanks.

Bradley: Marco made it.

Adam: Yeah. Hey, Marco, are you there?

Marco: No, I’m not.

Adam: Well, we’re just saying hello to everybody. If you’ve got a sec, if you want to say, “Hi, how you doing?”

Marco: Of course, man, what’s up? I’m excited man. End of the year, so it’s always good. Family time, just getting together. My wife’s a chef, so I’m lucky and I’m really looking forward to 2019. We have so much coming down the pipeline, it’s not even funny. It’s ridiculous. The kind of money that’s to be made right now. Dude, we’re back into 2003, 2004, 2005 when I started out.

It’s ridiculous the way you can just go out there and with almost nothing, make a bucket full of money.

Adam: Definitely. Now’s the time. Well, we’ll be speaking of that in a little bit more in just a minute. There’s some really good opportunities, but I want to say too, if you’re new to [inaudible 00:02:24], of course, thank you for watching. If you’re checking out the replay on YouTube down the road, come join us live for these. You can always come to the most up to date or the recent or upcoming one. That’s semanticmastery.com/hdquestions.

Again, if you’re new to Semantic Mastery, you’re wondering where to start, start with the battle plan, all right. That’s going to get you repeatable results. Covers a ton of different areas, different stuff you need. Then, once you’ve got that, we even encourage our Mastermind members, everyone to get the battle plan. Once you’re ready, take yourself a few notches, if you want to either start or grow your own local digital marketing agency, come join the Mastermind.

I can talk about Masterminds just in general, all day about how much good they do for you. We love ours, we’re very proud of it. We’ve got a bunch of kickass members and we’ve got a lot of really good stuff coming here very soon. We’re putting it to action right now. The [pofu 00:03:16] pass and we’re going to have a little bit of a special to do with that. We’re going to explain much more about that. Let you guys see a little bit behind the curtains here, more closer to Christmas, I guess, is the way to say that.

But, in the very near future, Bradley’s going to be doing a webinar on Monday, right?

Bradley: Yes, Monday’s the Local Lease Pro Update Webinar to share some additional things that I’ve discovered for that … Myself and my team have discovered over the last … Since we’ve launched the course, essentially. Several things that we’re going to talk about is location research is much more granular now than before, so I’m going to be sharing that process on that webinar. I can show you guys how to use … How to run that software that we use in that course to find easy opportunities for GMB assets.

It’s on a much more granular level and I’ll explain all of that during the webinar, which will be on Monday. I’m also going to be talking about some things to avoid, to prevent getting locations terminated for spam. There’s certain things that we’ve learned through all the very heavy custing that we’ve been doing the last couple of months. So, I want to talk about that.

So, you guys that aren’t part of Local Lease Pro, you’ll get information, like behind the scenes in some of the information, but it’s not going to be the whole picture, right? So, we’re going to make it public, everybody can come join because I want you guys to … This is our primary push right now in Semantic Mastery, we’ve really shifted directions entirely to building out legion assets right now because there’s so much opportunity, more so than I’ve ever seen, since I’ve started in digital marketing and local marketing, which was in 2010 and I mean that.

Marco was just saying, “This is like 2003, 4, of 5, or whatever.” Well, I wasn’t in digital marketing back in, so I don’t know what it was like. But, since 2010 when I got started, I’ve never seen this much opportunity. So, that’s why we’re pushing it so hard and that’s why I wanted to make this update webinar Monday public because I want you guys to see how excited and enthusiastic we are about this and also why.

When you see what I talk about, with the location research alone, if that doesn’t get you excited, then you’re in the wrong damn business is all I’m saying. So, again, we’re going to have that public on Monday. Adam screwed up and put 48 hours in the email that it’s going to be public, I didn’t want it to be public for that long, so fuck you Adam.

Adam: Merry Christmas.

Bradley: Yeah. Merry Christmas you prick. Yeah, I was really only going to keep it public for 24 hours, but since the emails went out, it’ll be public for 48 hours and then it’s getting lockdown and then it’s going to be in the members area only, along with the rest of the training. So, I highly recommend that you guys come check it out.

If you haven’t joined Local Lease Pro, we’re going to also offer a shit ton of bonuses and stuff like that. If you do want to join on Monday, but it’ll be kind of a limited time thing. So, make sure you attend and absorb as much information as you can.

Adam: Yeah. I want to encourage people too who aren’t in, obviously for the members be there … We’re going to have some good stuff. For non-members, we are doing Q&A, so if you want, come and learn, see what’s going on a little bit behind the scenes, like Bradley said, you can see really what’s going on here, how big the opportunity is.” But then we’ll also be answering questions.

We realized if you don’t have the whole picture, there’s something missing. You’re not sure how this would work for you, this, that, or the other thing, be there. Ask questions, get them answered, and then like Bradley said, we’ve got a hell of a Christmas deal for you and happy to make that available, but yeah, that replays going to be only available for a limited time and then if you’re not there live, obviously, you can’t get questions answered as in depth as if you’re there. Sign up, be there.

Bradley: Yep. So, what else we got?

Adam: One last quick one, just want to tell people the special offer is going away for MGYB, we’ve got a killer deal on the deep keyboard research. All right, this is one of the new additions to MGYB, it’s a kickass keyboard research done for your service and it’s 40% off and that’s going away later today. So, I’m going to pop the link up there, check it out.

If you’ve got any projects coming up, you’ve got clients coming on board. You’ve got websites, thinking about building apps, need content ideas, this is the place to do it and 40% is a hell of a chunk of change. Highly suggest you make use of this today before it goes away.

Bradley: Okay.

Adam: I think that’s it, are we ready to go?

Would It Hinder The Ranking Of A GMB Page If The Images Uploaded In 2016 Will Be Removed And Reupload Them For Geotagging?

Bradley: Yes, let me finish sending Rob a message real quick. All right, sorry. Let me grab the screen, we’ll get right into questions. All right, here we go. Not a whole lot of questions yet, guys. You better get to asking some questions or we’re going to shut this down quick. Anyways, Dan’s up first, he says, “I had uploaded several images to a GMB for a customer back in 2016, will it hinder the rankings to take images … To take all of the images off of the GMB page, geotag them and then re-upload them? Perhaps I should just do a few at a time?”

Yeah, I don’t think it would be a problem. I would do a few at a time if I were to do it, Dan. I mean, again, maybe Marco has some additional information than I do. I don’t see why that would be a problem. If they’re just GMB images, you’re not taking post down and all that kind of stuff, then I don’t see why it would be a problem.

I wouldn’t want to take post down though, delete posts and then repost them again, I’d just leave the old posts up, if that makes sense. If it’s just images, taking it from the GMB photo section, like removing them, geo tagging them and then reuploading, I can’t see that as being an issue. But, I would still do it a handful at a time, dripped out of several days or whatever. What do you think, Marco?

Marco: Yeah, my question is why would you want to do that. Why not add new images.

Bradley: New images. Yeah, that’s a good point. That’s a very good point.

Marco: We teach how and I think Dan has Local GMB Pro. We teach you how to go in and get images anywhere you want and then you go and add all the information that you want and then you have new data. This is the whole point. You guys, I don’t know how much I can get into this, but you’re missing the whole point of what Local GMB Pros all about and what we’re doing with Local Lease Pro and Local PR Pro.

We’re trying to feed the fucking bot data and if you take stuff down and bring it back up, Google knows that the image existed already without the geo tagging. Why not give Google new images with new information, so not only is it looking at the front, it’s also looking at the back. I don’t understand the point, unless you can’t get images. If you can’t get images from your client, fire the client, or use the method that we teach in Local GMB Pro.

Always, for me, I always feed the bot more data. More data. It’s always about more data, fill in the variables, and get lots of love.

Bradley: Yeah, I like that. That’s just true. If you get more images … Dan, you should know, I think you’re part of Local GMB Pro, but … I think RYS members also had access to that webinar, on how to get additional images. There’s stuff like … Even if YouTube, you can just grab images from YouTube, I’ve done that a bunch. That’s what my VAs are currently doing right now because they’re a bit faster at it. Yeah, there’s a ton of ways to get additional images. I agree with Marco, his was definitely a better answer than mine. So, Marco’s the winner.

How Many GMBs Per Manager Account Is Acceptable?

Dan’s up again and he says, “How many GMBs per manager account is acceptable?” Well, it depends, Dan. It depends what you’re … What are the … What type of GMB assets are they? Are they real bonafide genuine businesses? If they’re genuine businesses, there’s no problem adding a manger and managing the genuine businesses from a manager account, right? They’re real businesses, there’s no problem with that at all.

Now, Marco and I have slightly differing opinions for lead gen assets, but personally for lead gen assets … Guys, let’s just be 100% clear here, let’s not sugarcoat this, when we’re doing lead gen GMB assets, they’re spammed, right? They’re spammed assets, that’s what they are. So, let’s be clear about that. So, when you’re doing lead gen stuff, then I don’t recommend using a manager account because that connects … That creates a footprint, right? You can connect to different locations.

So, what I’m doing currently now and I’ve tested … Because we’re scaling this lead gen asset building process so much right now, we’re testing all different types of configurations and I’ve got several out there right now where I’m doing location clusters, which is multiple locations where assets within a service area, like a radius. A 20 mile radius is typically what I’m doing right now.

So, I’ll secure many assets within that 20 mile radius. So, some of my location clusters are manged under a single manager account. In other words, each location is owned by a separate Google profile. So, it’s owned by a separate Google profile. But, it’s managed or there’s a manger account that connects those profiles, so a manager can access them. However, like I said, currently what I’ve kind of shifted to now, is doing everything under the owner account or at least logging it … Or, if I’m going to add a manager, only adding a manger long enough to make changes to the GMB asset and then removing that manger, so that the footprint doesn’t stay there.

In other words, for example, one of the things that we’re going to be doing is providing done for you GMB optimization services, so we can provide an MGYB, our store. It’s not available yet, but it’s coming very, very soon, guys. We’ve got VAs in training right now, to be able to provide you guys with full soup to nuts done for you GMB asset building. From verification, all the way through … Setup an optimization and scheduling GMB posts and scheduling them to republish to where you don’t have to do shit, except purchase it and then start making money from it once you monetize it, right.

So, one of the things that we’re going to have to do is whenever we create or somebody … Typically, you’re going to buy the asset from us, so we create it for you, but then the VAs that are going to optimizing it, will be … That asset will be … A manager will be added to that asset and then the VAs will optimize that profile, that GMB asset from the manager account. But, then as soon as we go to deliver it, we remove the manager account, right? That’s what the process is likely going to be and that way there’s the owner account and then you can add yourself as a manager if you’d like, but I would recommend using something like Browseo or Ghost Browser and always logging in and making changes to it from the primary owner account.

That way, it’s isolated to that one account. In other words, if you end up getting terminated from Google, for whatever reason … I’ve got a couple assets that have been terminated recently, that I don’t understand why they were terminated, but again, they’re spammed assets, so I’m not going to complain too much, I’m just going to move on and build another one, right? So, my point is if you end up catching some sort of penalty and it gets terminated, then it’s going to be isolated to one account and one account only. Okay? So, in the past, I’ve always said that it’s okay to add yourself as a manager to GMB assets and then manage … Make changes and things like that through the manager account.

But, that’s typically when for real businesses or maybe the occasional lead gen asset, I’ve never done it at scale, like we have been over the last few weeks. I’m really concerned because these are black hatted Google, GMB assets. I’m really worried about potential footprints. So, I’m trying to do as much as possible to reduce footprints. That means not using manager accounts when … If possible. If you’re using a good browser [inaudible 00:15:17] like Browseo or Ghost Browser, you should be able to accomplish that.

Now, Marco, I know you have a slightly different take on it, do you want to share yours?

Marco: Yeah, we have managers doing it all. The owner never, ever goes back in. That’s how we do it. It’s as if an agency were doing the work for that Google my business listing, which I think [crosstalk 00:15:40].

Bradley: So, you have different manager accounts, is what you’re saying?

Marco: Absolutely, yeah. Because we have a whole bunch of VAs.

Bradley: Gotcha.

Marco: Right? So, they all get spread out. We don’t have one BA that does … For example, what you always talk about, tree service, right? It’s not about a bunch of clustered tree service, GMBs that, that VA is doing. They’re out everywhere. They have a bunch of different niches that they handle. The team lead will spread them out. She’ll give, “Okay, you get three. You get three of these. You get three of these. You get three of these.” Then, she’ll come back and she’ll start adding them again until we get to a certain point and then we don’t add to those who will open a new account and that account we’ll manage the next set. They all won’t be in one niche. I think that’s just perfectly legitimate.

In fact, I haven’t seen any problems with any of the stuff that we’re doing getting suspended.

Bradley: Yeah, I haven’t had anything suspended through a manager account. So, again, I’ve had in the past, I’ve had a manager account suspended and it didn’t affect any of the GMB assets that it was managing because the asset was owned by a different Google profile. So, as far as I know, that’s still the case, but I don’t want to create a known footprint between assets. So, what Marco just said, Dan, just to clarify, is that he’s … Remember they’re making changes. His team is making changes to GMB assets through manager accounts, not through the owner accounts.

But, there’s not a footprint between the manager accounts and the assets because he’s randomly selecting different Gmail accounts to be added as managers and they manage more than just one vertical industry. Now, again, Marco’s got a team. Dan, I’m not sure if you have a team or not. So, that might not be the most efficient way for you, if you don’t have a team. If you have a team, then maybe it is. Also, it depends on again, like Marco said, if you’re dealing with multiple industries, that makes it easier to do that because each manager account can be managing multiple types of GMB assets. In other words, different types of industries, which would make sense because that acts very much like an agency that would be managing different client’s businesses, right?

So, what Marco’s saying is absolutely valid, I completely understand his method. Me, personally, in my business, I am targeting one industry. So, we’re targeting … For my business as tree service industry for contact media, it’s remodeling and general contractors. So, because of that, we’re targeting one industry, I don’t have that … Even if we had multiple manager accounts, every manager account will only be managing similar types of properties. So, that doesn’t work for my setup. Again, you’re going to have to customize the setup based upon what your specific business is currently and select which is best.

For me, for my business, because I’m targeting one industry, the best, so far … At least what I think to be the best method is doing everything through the primary owner account or if I’m going to add a manager, it’s only temporary, long enough for the manger to make whatever changes are going to the GMB and then that manager get removed, so that it’s not a long term manager connection, if that makes sense. Okay, so again, really take what Marcos said and take what I said, and determine which is the better fit for your business and then apply that method, okay. It’s a great question, by the way, Dan.

Marco: I’m also about to put it to the test because I’m about to close on a really deal, where we’re talking about thousands of GMBs and it’s in one vertical, one niche. I’m going to see which of the two methods works best for longevity.

Bradley: Yeah.

Marco: [crosstalk 00:19:42].

Bradley: That’s what we’re trying to do here. We’re trying to develop processes to scale all of this, which is really what local, excuse me, what [inaudible 00:19:51] is all about. So, we’re really trying to develop all of these processes and done for you services because we’re building out our own. Guys, we’re not just creating these services to sell them to you guys. We’re creating these services for our internal use. Since we’re going through all the trouble of creating all of these processes and training virtual assistants to do all this stuff, because we’re building our own businesses this way, we practice exactly what we preach guys.

Since we’re going through all this trouble anyways, it just makes sense to also … Because we’re going to have all the processes in place for training, for all of this, to be able to provide that to you guys, right? Because of that, we’re doing all of this testing right now. Remember, a lot of this is new at this level, at this level of volume that we’re doing. So, we’re trying to figure it out as we go and as soon as we get good information, we share it in the appropriate places. Like Local Lease Pro, Local GMB Pro, and then the Mastermind. Those are the three places where this stuff is getting shared, right?

Thoughts On Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s Testimony That Google Is Not Manually Intervening On Search Results

So, if you want to stay on top of it without having to do the testing yourself, then just come join us and … The Masterminds probably your best bet because that’s where the conversations are held on a daily basis. All right, Wayne’s up. He says, “Observation …” Yeah, this was funny. “Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai …” Or, Pikai, I can’t … Whatever. “Testified in front of the house judiciary committee and literally said, “Last year we served over three trillion searches, just as a fact, every single day, 15% of the searches Google seized, we have never seen them before.” That’s crazy.

So, this is working at scale. We don’t manually intervene any search results. Another SEO said, “Anyone else see the word manually in there? Duh, I would’ve preferred him to say, ‘We don’t intervene.’ Thought you slipped that one by, huh, Sundar? Maybe to that box of rocks they call Congress but not to us, SEOs.” That’s funny. I thought that was really interesting. So, thanks for sharing, Wayne.

Are There Any Laws Or Issues One Should Worry About When Running Ads To A Vacation Giveaway Offer That Is Free?

Frankie’s up, what’s up, Frankie? He’s coming to ask a lot of questions. He said, “Hey, guys. Happy holidays. I’ve got a new client who owns a travel vacation club in the travel niche.” Marco, this seems like might be up your alley. “In my city who’s giving me $1,000 with ad spend with Google Ads because they want results ASAP. Then, for each lead I bring in, they will be getting …” You will be getting paid, Frankie will be getting paid, “$200 to $250 regardless if they join the travel club or not.” There you go, that’s great Frankie.

So, they’re giving you the $1,000 for ad spend and they’re going to pay you with the leads that you generate with their money? Phew, that’s a really cool engagement, man. How’d you get that? How’d you manage that one? That’s great. I like that. “Since he is paying for the ad spend and I still get a nice chunk per lead, I agreed to do his deal at the potential … I agreed to do his deal as a potential … Here it’s huge for me.” Yes, I agree. Typically, in this industry, in order to generate the leads, the main way all the current marketing companies have done is to … They do a free giveaway offer for a vacation trip to Orlando or a free cruise in exchange for their contact info and having them attend a short sales presentation where they have the option to buy or not buy. But, they still get their promised free gift.

“My question is there any laws or issues I should worry about dealing with when running ads to a vacation giveaway offer that is free? Also, I know if you have used Answerconnect in the past. I know you have used Answerconnect in the past, so I wanted to ask in the service of Answerconnect make conversation outbound calls to the new leads and ask questions to qualify them, just as they would if they were inbound calls, thanks.”

Okay, so first thing, is there any potential issues with that? I don’t know. You’d have to contact Google. If you’re talking about setting up Google Ads, then I would just call Google Ads, formerly AdWords. Call Google Ads support and ask them that. They’ll tell. Guys, listen. I’ve always found Google Ads … The support line, to call them, always really helpful. I’m not kidding. Anytime I have a question that I’m unsure of, I just call Google Ads because I’m spending money with them, why not call them and just ask them so I don’t have to spend a bunch of money researching stuff.

Of course, I do a Google search first and if I can’t find a direct answer to my question within a few minutes, then I will call. They’re usually really responsive and they’re happy to help because you’re a paying advertiser. I found that to be the case, maybe other people have had different experiences, but I have always found it rather helpful. So, I would call in and ask. Do some Google research first if you can, Frankie.

It’s very funny, but there was a training course, I can’t remember the name of it, it was by Morrison, Anthony Morrison. He’s got a brother too. They do a bunch of stuff, but he’s got a training course, it’s rather old. A couple years old now. It was very much like what you’re talking about, but it was done on Facebook and that was giving away a free vacation, which cost him like $600 or $800. He could buy a three night or a two night, three day trip package at an Orlando resort or something like that, right? It would cost him like $800, $600 to $800 or something like that.

Then, he would do it on his Facebook page for that area, he would do a post and he would use Facebook ads on the page to promote this free giveaway for this free vacation giveaway, right? For two nights and three days at whatever this resort was. He did it in multiple locations and he would get thousands of people to opt-in for that free giveaway. On the thank you page, after the opt-in, there would just be AdSense. Straight up Google AdSense ads. Because so many thousands of people would click through and opt-in to be put on the list for the vacation giveaway and then land on the thank you page with the AdSense ads, which by the way you can put affiliate offers there and things too.

Then, he would end up making more money on just the AdSense clicks, then it cost to pay for the vacation, the giveaway, right? For the tickets of the giveaway. So, he ended up making money just on that giveaway alone and then he built a list of thousands of people that now he can email market to, right? Also, retarget or remarket through remarketing, right? So, it was huge because he was building a list with a free giveaway and making money on it. He as a training course about it, it’s all done on Facebook, but you could apply that same principle to a Google Ads campaign or apply Google Ads to that same type of campaign is what I’m saying.

Again, if it’s legal … Well, if it’s not a violation of Google Ads terms and service, but you can find that out either through some research or just calling Google and asking them. It’s a brilliant strategy. Brilliant strategy.

Marco: [crosstalk 00:26:35]. I just posted the URL for their policy regarding contests and giveaways.

Bradley: A no go?

Marco: No, yeah. He has to look through it. As long as the state where he is doing it doesn’t prohibit it, as long as it’s not prohibited in the U.S. or whatever, he can totally do it. [crosstalk 00:26:54]. Read through the URL, make sure that you understand it. Again, call Google. Frankie act real stupid. Look, “I want to spend some money with you, I’m not sure how? Can I do this?” If you act really stupid, they’re really going to help. I mean, seriously. They’re going to go out of their way to get you to spend your money with them.

Then, you go, after you’re done with them and take … Everything that they said, with a grain of salt. Because all you’re looking for is the clarification that yes, you can do it and what the conditions are. What the limitations are, that’s all you’re looking to get out of them. They’re going to try to talk you in to getting some of their reps to help you or whatever. You can always do it yourself. But, the whole point behind this is getting all those little nuggets out of the person that you’re talking to. The way that you do that is by acting really dumb.

Bradley: This is it. This is it. I was trying to think, I was sitting here the whole time you’re talking, I’m trying to think a name of that Facebook page, where that … Let’s see, was it this one or this one? It was Destin Florida and it was Anthony Morison’s course, I can’t remember. I think it’s this one. Yeah, this one here. Destinflorida.com.

Hernan: Yeah, Destin Florida. I don’t remember the name of the course either.

Bradley: Me neither.

Hernan: Yeah.

Bradley: But, this is it right here. Look, they’re still doing it. See, look, he’s still doing this, man. I don’t know why’d you ever quit. He’s crushing it with this guys. You can see, he’s still doing it. The course is still at least two years old. So, destinflorida.com, you can see the type of promotions he sets up. Live three day giveaway. Again, the training course is really good. We don’t have an affiliate link for it, I’d give it to you. But, honestly, it’s a good course. I actually set it up for my keto VIP project, which is the ketogenic diet thing that I was doing for a while, but I don’t do much of affiliate marketing, you guys. I just straight do local stuff. I certainly don’t like Facebook.

I know you can make a lot of money from Facebook, but I’m just not a fan of Facebook. So, I spent a lot of time setting up a similar giveaway with ketogenic diet stuff and I wasn’t nearly as successful with it and it’s probably just because I only attempted it once and then quit because I just don’t like Facebook. Like I said, this is a really good strategy, I think it’s something you should checkout for sure. It was a great question. As far as Answerconnect, it’s been several years since I’ve had Answerconnect do any outbound calls for me.

I used to do that with lead gen service providers, when I used to offer equity share or revenue, like when I would have a service provider where I would get a percentage of a closed job or of a closed sale. What I would do and I’ve mentioned this before, maybe I don’t have the hangouts, but I’ve done this with three different tree service contractors. Only one of them ended up being honest with me and not lying about jobs that closed and they said they didn’t get them.

One of the ways I found out that I had contractors lying to me and not giving me credit or paying me for jobs, for leads that came through my sites, was I had Answerconnect to … Answerconnect’s been my call center, like my call answering service since 2012, so I’ve been using them for many years. At the time, I would have Answerconnect go … I would provide the leads that came to a particular GMB location and I would provide the phone leads to Answerconnect and have them do an outbound customer survey, right?

That’s what it was disguised as a customer survey and they would call the leads that came through and say, “Hey, this is blah, blah, blah, tree service. We’re calling with a customer satisfaction survey. We understand that you didn’t use our services and we were just calling in order to improve our service, we’d like to ask you a couple questions as to what led you to make the decision to hire somebody else.” Something like that. It was worded something like that.

I provided them with a script. It was two to three questions. What would happen is the call, the person who would answer the phone, the lead that they were calling, right, would say, “Well, we made a decision to go … We just decided not to get the tree work done.” Or, “We went another company because of this …” Sometimes the answer would be, “Wait a minute, we did hire you guys to do the tree service. Go back and check your records.” Or, something like that. They would say, “No, we did hire you.” Then, I would call the contractor and say, “Okay, what about this lead here? Did you close this job?” When they would lie to me, I would show them proof, “Wait a minute, I had it confirmed that you did do the job, therefore, you’re fired. I’m going to send these leads somewhere else.”

That happened to me … I tried that with six different contractors and only one of them turned out to be honest. I don’t offer that anymore, unless I’ve developed a really good working relationship with somebody. But, at the time, Answerconnect was the service that did it. Now, I don’t know if they still do it, the easiest way to find out, Frankie, is just contact Answerconnect, right? Go to Answerconnect and go to contact us tab and ask them a question. You can call them. They’re an answering service, so call them, ask them, “Do you guys do outbound calls?” If they will, great. If not, just do a search on Google, right? Outbound calling, telemarketers, something like that and find a service and have them do the outbound calls. Okay? It’s that simple.

Answerconnect used to do that, but I don’t know if they still do because it’s been many years since I’ve done that. Okay? That’s a great … Man, that’s really sweet about this guy with giving you a $1,000 and … So, you’re going to spend his ad money and for every lead that you generate with his ad money, you’re going to get paid? That’s great, man. You should try to repeat that over and over again. So, congratulations.

How Do You Determine The Profit Margin Of A Potential Local Lead Gen Client?

Ken says, “Last week Bradley said …” That’s the webinar for Local Lease Pro Update on Monday, I’m sure Adam already dropped the link, so there you go, Ken. Will, what’s up Will he said, “Bradley, on LLP, you mentioned that …” Which is Local Lease Pro, guys. “You mentioned that one of the criteria for selecting a niche is to ensure that the service provider had good margins to afford your leads.” Which means good profits. “Question, how do you go about determining what profit margins that the client would have, as you explained with the carpet cleaning client you used as an example to drive your point?” Again, Will, ask, right.

For example, if you’re … If you’re looking for … Well, first of all, think about … You’ve got to think about the type of businesses … The carpet cleaning, they’re very, very small margins for the most part. So, it’s hard to justify marketing cost, especially lead generation cost for carpet cleaning companies. Like tree services, it’s almost all labor, right? It’s very rarely is there ever any material cost, other than fuel, right? Then, paying for labor for the workers and stuff like that. There’s very rarely any material cost. Remodeling leads, think about a kitchen remodel, right?

A kitchen remodel on the low end, an average kitchen remodel is about $30,000. Typically, most general contractors and remodeling contractors have about a 20% markup, right? So, if it’s a $30,000 job and again about the average is a 20% margin, markup, margin, right? Then, they’re looking at about a $6,000 profit margin, $24,000 would go out to materials and two subcontractors for labor, right? That’s about a $6,000 profit margin per lead there, so it’s easy or it’s much more easy to justify charging $100,000 a lead, when there’s $6,000 profit potential for that lead. Does that make sense?

So, again, think about it logically, Will, that’s first and foremost. Just think about the type of business that you may want to generate leads for. Think about what they charge for their product or service and think about what their cost may be. Try to guesstimate. You can try to do some simple Google searches, guys, and start looking for that kind of data. You will likely find it with a little bit of digging, just by Googling. As a last resort or if you’re not …

I personally, don’t like talking to people on the phone, for the most part, unless it’s something I purposely scheduled, unless I want to … You know what I mean? So, I don’t like to call people just out of the blue and ask questions. That is a way that you can do it. For example, you can call whatever business type in your local area that you’re considering doing lead gen services for and just ask them. Say, “Look, I’m a local marketing guy. I’m in the same area. I’m not calling you to sell you anything. I’m literally calling you to ask you some questions about your type of business because I’m considering getting into marketing for this type of business. I’d just like to know a little bit more about your industry. Would you be willing to answer a couple of questions.”

Send somebody a gift card for $20 or something like that to Starbucks or to a local restaurant and then call them after you know that it’s been delivered, right? Then, say, “Hey, I’m the guy that sent you the $20 gift card. Would you mind answering a couple questions about your business because I’m looking to get into marketing for that. I’m not trying to pitch you on anything, that’s why I sent you a $20 Starbucks gift card. Would you mind taking a few minutes?”

Butter them up first by giving them something. I’ve done that in the past, guys, and it works. So, again, it’s just a conversation starter and is it worth $20 to actually find out what the margins are for a particular business that you may be interested in generating leads for? Also, couldn’t they be the first person to buy leads from you, after you had that conversation and built some rapport with them? Think about it. So, there you go, Will. Like I said, a lot of the times, just think about it logically first. Do some research on Google. You’ll likely find the information you’re looking for, some sort of statistic sheets or something.

Lastly, you can always just send somebody a small gift. Or, you could just do a straight cold call, but if you want to butter them up first … Remember the law of reciprocity, when you give somebody something for nothing and you’re not trying to pitch them … You guys know, probably from prospecting and trying to sell marketing services, we’ve always talked about how we should lead with something free first and then you try to sell them something. What if you give them something free first and you don’t try to sell them anything. You just want to ask them a question.

You’ll probably close that sale because you’re not selling anything, you know what I mean? I would try that.

Marco: What I’ve also done, is I just have people call as a customer, just a typical customer to get a quote, just so that I have-

Bradley: That won’t reveal what the profit margin is for that.

Marco: No, no. It won’t reveal the profit margin, but it gives you an idea. If you have a quote and you know the general markup, which is 20% to 30% across the board, sometimes 10. It’s generally 20 to 30, then you know more or less where you are.

Should You Limit Your Service Area Within The Zip Code Where The GMB Is Secured?

Bradley: That’s true. So, Ted’s up. He says, “Local Lease Pro method question. I’m in a large city with a dozens zip codes … With a dozen zip codes within that city name. If I secure a GMB in one of those zip codes with the population of 10K, should I limit my service here to target just that zip code where the GMB is secure?”

Well, that’s up to you, it depends on really how you spaced out your assets. You don’t want there to be gaps or spaces between us, that’s if possible. So, that’s really determined … Again, this is more of a question that should be answered on Monday, not necessarily today, Ted, because we’re having the whole Local Lease Pro Update Webinar then. But, yeah, I would say it depends on how you have your other assets within that same service area radius spread out, right? Let’s say you have a 20 mile service area radius and you’ve got only four assets and they’re equally spaced out across those 24 or that 20 mile radius, then I would have the service area setup for each of those locations to where they all overlap in the middle slightly but that way the whole 20 mile service area is covered, by service area of each location, right?

So, each location will cover 25% in that particular example. So, that’s how I do it. If you’re doing a whole bunch of locations within a particular service area, then yeah, you can go hyper local, which is really what we’re teaching with Local Lease Pro anyways, is going hyper local and keeping your service area or radius very, very tight, or small. Something I typically have been doing is going about a 5 mile radius, guys. That’s only a 10 mile service area, right? 5 mile radius from the location itself, that’s typically what I’m doing. But, again, it depends on how many assets you have and how big your service area is and how you want to spread them out then.

We’ll talk more about that on Monday. Okay, there you go, Adam, thank you. Thank you. There you, Brian, it was just posted below you. “What time is the webinar on Monday?” It’s 4:00 PM, I believe Eastern, right? Hello?

Adam: Correct.

Bradley: Yeah. All right, Monday, September 17th, I believe, yeah, 4:00 PM>

Adam: I’ll put it on the page, it should’ve been on there.

Does A GMB Page Needs A GMB Site?

Bradley: Yeah. Okay, cool, thank you. Cool, we’re almost done. We can wrap it up either early or on time. GMB, Brian, okay. Says, “GMB, need to have GMB site in addition to the page, need to have a GMB site in addition to the page. I thought the GMB page was a site until I saw a link to a GMB site.” I think you’re talking about the maps page. No, a GMB website, Brian, is a web … Google gives you a free website now. It’s whatever sub domain you choose, .business.site, that’s a GMB website.

Okay, it’s just a one page site, but every time you create a GMB post, it gets … If you have a GMB website published, then it will also be converted into an internal page on the site. So, that’s a GMB website. Yes, if you’re doing GMB stuff, I say, setup the GMB website too. Use all the tools, all the features that Google gives you guys. That’s why we’re crushing it right now. We’re doing everything that Google is giving to us, where 95% of other businesses don’t even have a clue that it exists. That’s why we’re crushing it right now. That’s what Local GMB Pro is all about.

Just get in there and use all of the tools that Google gives within Google My Business and Google will promote your location, your asset, above everybody else because you’re using all the tools that nobody else is using. Does that make sense? Yes, Brian, use the GMB website if you can. Marco, do you want to comment on that?

Marco: No, you answered it perfectly. That’s all I use.

Bradley: Okay. I’m not even building WordPress websites anymore guys. I swear to God. The only time I’m going to build a WordPress website is if a client demands it. For lead gen assets, nope, don’t need them anymore. Why the hell would I want to go out and pay for a domain, setup hosting and deal with all the stupid WordPress shit that we have to deal with all the time, when I can setup lead gen assets all day long with a GMB single page website and I never have to do a damn thing to it, think about. So, again, if a client demands a website, which most clients will, then, that’s fine, I’ll work on their WordPress websites for them.

But, for my own stuff now, nope. No more WordPress sites, I’m done. At least for now, that may change.

Marco: For those of you who have worked out the page rank math that business.site is around a 5, 6 PR. That doesn’t mean that your sub domain is going to get a 5, 6. But, I mean, you’re attached not only to a Google property, but it’s like a 5, 6 PR. So, the quality score will be a … Not the quality score, but the ranking score will be just a touch lower than that, but it’s a really good indicator that it’s fucking powerful and you need to be there.

What Are Possible Reasons Why A Site Ranks Lower Than The Others Despite Having Better DR, UR And More Quality Backlinks Than Its Competitor?

Bradley: All right, so … Thank you, Marco. The next question, [Asheesh 00:43:01], I guess. I’m sorry if I mispronounced your name. That’s a metric question, Asheesh and I know it’s the first time you’ve posted a question for us, so I’m not going to slam you too hard, I promise. But, something we don’t care about here at Semantic Mastery is metrics. I could care less what [Moss 00:43:18] metrics say about a domain or a webpage. I could care less what Majestic SEO says or what an AH Ref says because we stopped tracking metrics over two years ago and I haven’t had any problems whatsoever.

I don’t give a shit what the metrics are from my competitors compared to the metrics that I work on or my client’s assets because we can still get results regardless of what those metrics say, period. We’ve proven that over and over again. So, again, I’m not picking on you. This is probably the first time you’ve asked a question here. This is really not the forum of Semantic Mastery is not the place to ask questions about metrics and why your higher metric property isn’t outranking somebody with lower metrics. Probably because they’re doing stuff that really speaks directly or feeds Googles … Feeds Google exactly what it wants and that’s independent, separate and apart from metrics.

Metrics are proprietary. So, Moss has its own algorithm that it tries to determine the strength of domains, pages, and things like that based upon what it things Google wants. And AH Ref has its own and Majestic has its own and everybody has their own metrics and they’re all proprietary. None of them work for Google. So, what I’m saying is because Google doesn’t give us page rank metrics anymore, which was the most accurate, then why bother with third-party metrics. I know some people out here live and die by third-party metrics. That’s fine.

If it’s working for you, that’s great. But, in your case Asheesh, you’re saying that your metrics are higher but it’s not ranking. So, apparently, it’s not just a metric thing that determines whether you rank or not, right? You’re saying that you have living proof right now that it’s not just a metric thing, which is why we don’t care about third-party metrics anymore. I don’t even track them, I don’t care. Does that make sense? Now, I know Marco has a strong opinion about this too.

Marco: Yeah, absolutely, because everything we do is meant to trigger the good parts, let’s call it, of the Google algorithm, freshness and proximity. Just everything that Google is looking for. They’re looking, as I said, for the ranking score, they’re looking … It’s not just pay join, pay join is part and I’ve been saying this for a couple of years. Pay join is part of the ranking score algorithm and that’s what we’re building up. As long as we’re working towards that, we can care less what Moss is doing or Majestic or anything else. It’s a guide, but theirs is a guess.

If you think of a whole bunch of people together and they got the math that Google gives you, because they don’t give you everything, and they made an educated guess, right? Some went for domain authority, some went for trust. Well, neither one has everything that Google has. The only one that has that Google has is Google and they’re not giving up the ghost. So, all we can do is … The Semantic Mastery, which is we test, we see what moves the needle and then we do some more of it.

We do some more of it to the point where we try to hammer it and try to break it and try to get Google to push back, so that we know when we come to you guys, we can tell you these are the boundaries as far as what you can do.

Hernan: Yeah, with the thresholders.

Marco: Yeah, absolutely. We need to know. We need to know what doesn’t work, so that we can give people what does work, right? That’s just obvious, that’s what everybody should be doing and if they’re not, then, Asheesh, avoid them. Go somewhere else.

Bradley: That’s it. Thank you, Marco. [inaudible 00:47:04], by the way, I don’t know if you saw that I commented on your question on the Syndication Academy update. Man, I really apologize, I missed your question. Yours was the first question, so I don’t know how I missed it. But, he was asking on that about can you get an RSS feed from Facebook. Yes, you can from Zapier, you can get an RSS feed from Zapier. So, yes you can.

In fact, I posted on that page the event page from earlier that I would try to squeeze that in from the update webinar we’re going to do next month in January, which is part two of this Syndication Academy Update Webinar that I held today. So, I’ll try to get to that.

Is There A Benefit Of Using Hashtag When Posting To GMB?

So, his question today or for here is there a benefit using a hashtag when posting to GMB? I have no idea. Marco, do you know? I still haven’t been using them, so I don’t know. Does it even take hashtags?

Marco: Yeah, you can use hashtags, I don’t know if they go … Actually, you can do jump links in posts. I just gave me something that I shouldn’t be giving away, but run with it.

Bradley: Yeah. I don’t know. Well, jump links are different from hashtags though. Again, I don’t know if hashtags if they hyperlink with a posted post, I don’t know or not, I haven’t tested that. I have no idea.

Marco: I don’t know if they would work. I don’t know if there’s a benefit. Everything that we’re doing does not include hashtags.

Bradley: Hashtags, yeah.

Marco: Maybe that’s something we should test, we should put that on our list of things to [crosstalk 00:48:31].

Bradley: I’m going ping Rob, test hashtags for GMB post.

Marco: Yeah. Tell him to contact Irene and then Irene will contact me.

Bradley: Whatever, he knows what I meant. Okay, yeah. That’s a good one, thanks for pointing that out, I haven’t even thought about that, we can test on that too. Yeah, the jump link thing, we will be talking about that in local Lease Pro or Local GMB Pro. Probably Local GMB Pro and then Mastermind guys in probably sometime next month, because I got part two of Syndication Academy Webinars very specifically about Q&A posts and Q&A schema, questions and answers schema. So, there’s something that we can apply with what Marco just leaked to that. We’ll talk about that once part two of Syndication Academy Update Webinar is complete. Okay. But, there’s something very powerful we can do with that.

What Are The Main Needle Movers For Boosting A GMB’s Ranking?

Edward says, “Hey, guys. Thanks for doing this.” I’ll plus one that. He says, “For a competitive search term, which are the main needle-movers for boosting GMBs ranking> Only a small team here.” Right now activity, Edward. Obviously, make sure it’s fully optimized, it’s well optimized. It’s got good content and then posting activity is probably the number one factor in my opinion for getting results. Getting traction with a GMB asset. So, guys use the data in the GMB assets to tell you what Google wants. The data in the GMB insights will tell you the best days to post.

Maybe you need to increase posting frequency on those days, right? It will also tell you the keywords that are … Or, the search queries that are bringing the most traffic to your site. For whatever reason, when you target those keywords in GMB posts, they tend to bring in more traffic. Also, by the way, you’ll probably notice, Edward, a lot of the keywords that are bringing traffic are near me keywords, near me queries, right? Or, variations nearby, close to me, in my area. Those types of queries. Target those, guys. You’re triggering the mobile algorithm that way. Google loves that shit.

So, go in there and collect … Start building a database in near me terms and all the variations thereof. Then, start targeting those in near me type posts. Again, we have post templates that are called near me post templates inside Local Lease Pro, as well as local GMB pro. Not going to give them to you here, but you can create your own too by the way. You don’t need my templates, you can sit down and just think about how to create your own near me templates. Post regularly and consistently and often, right? That’s the number one key.

Then, as far as getting ranked in the free pack, which isn’t really necessary to get results from GMB. It doesn’t even have to be in the three pack, guys, because you’re talking … Especially what I just mentioned with the mobile stuff, you don’t even need to be in three pack and you can still generate leads from GMB assets, we’ve proven that. If you want to be in the three pack because, let’s face it guys, that’s still something that we as us like to see, right? Local PR pro, I’m not shitting you.

Probably the quickest way I’ve ever seen, other than the other Local Lease Pro method, which is just researching locations and finding easy opportunities, other than that, the quickest way I’ve been able to get into the three pack is through press releases in the Local PR method, which is PR stacking and all of that. Again, that’s why Local Lease Pro guys is hands down … That is our number one front end product right now. It will be, as long as this opportunity exists, right? Local GMB Pro is the advanced training for GMB assets.

It’s for those assets that don’t push into the three pack and generate results right away. It’s for the more competitive areas. That’s what Local GMB Pro is, it’s about how to get the absolute power out of a GMB asset, whether it’s in a three pack of not, it makes no difference. Local PR pro, is the course that teaches you how to push that into a three pack in very, very quickly, whether it has a website or not. That’s why there’s three courses, guys. I’m telling you, they work hand-in-hand. Then, lastly to follow it all up, is RYS Academy and drive stacks, which is like … that’s super advanced stuff that just pushes a shit ton of power into whatever you want through Google properties, right?

So, it’s like those three courses are … They compound. They just build upon each other and then RYS is for … That’s just the icing on the cake and that’s for if you have … If you just want to push massive authority. Marco, you want to chat about that at all?

Marco: No, I think you nailed it on the head. They go hand in hand. Local PR Pro, Local GMB Pro, Local Lease Pro, each one acts differently. Then, when you want to … If you want it to stick, you throw drive stacks at it and then it’s like … Like I said, it’s never … I haven’t seen it this easy to make money in so long, that it’s not even funny. It’s just so easy. The main needle mover, as you said, it’s just activity, but it has to be the right kind of activity on that niche. Let me tell you right now, that each niche reacts differently, depending on the kind of posts that you do. I’ll give that away. I’m not going to give everything away, but I’ll tell you that.

How Much SEO Do You Do For GMB Sites?

Bradley: Jeff says, “How much SEO do you do for GMB sites? Also, how much can you throw at a GMB site without incurring the wrath of G?” Okay, as SEO, I just put well-optimized content on it, guys. The beautiful thing about a GMB website is you don’t … You cannot modify SEO elements of the page. You don’t put in header tags and you don’t … You just literally past content in. You can bold stuff and you can create links from within the content. You can’t add header tags. There’s nothing that you can modify on the elements of the page, it’s just text only, right? It’s all you can do.

All you need to do is have a well written piece of content for the GMB website and that’s it. That’s as far as you can go for on page, other than photos, which are incredibly important and GMB posts, which act as inner pages, if you have a GMB website. If you’re just doing GMB posts and you don’t have a GMB website, then you don’t … They don’t act as inner pages, they’re just posts. But, if you have a GMB website, then they’ll start as posts and then it’ll turn into an inner page of the website as well. So, you can silo those. I can’t get into how, but we’ll talk about that a little bit on Monday for the Local Lease Pro method.

Our auto-poster, the GMB auto-poster, that we have will also automate a siloing post, which is really, really cool. Okay, so you can do that. But, as far as the off page stuff, I don’t know because I haven’t done any massive spamming to the GMB websites yet because as I was just talking about in the previous question, the only exterior link building I have done thus far has been from press releases and drive stacks. I have not even thrown any spam link campaigns. We have a [inaudible 00:55:47], right? We have a link building manager who’s fabulous, he’s amazing at what he does.

I haven’t even started testing, sending link campaigns to a GMB asset yet, maybe Marco has, but all I’ve done is drive stacks and press releases. I just now starting to play with syndication networks and syndicating GMB posts because our auto-posts create an RSS feed from GMB posts. So, I’m starting to test with that a little bit too. I have almost … I said this with RYS stacks, but I’ve also tested just link building with Google sites, using a software from Peter Drew. I haven’t done enough testing there to determine whether that’s something I want to add in my standard operating procedure or not.

Yeah, again, since it’s a Google property, Marco can probably comment on this a little bit more, but I haven’t tested the limit on that. But, since it’s a Google property, will likely withstand anything you throw at it. What do you say, Marco?

Marco: I say that I haven’t needed to do anything, except what’s in the training so far. It’s so simple, you just go, you get an asset. You optimize it the way that it’s taught, you throw it up, it ranked or it doesn’t rank. If it doesn’t rank, you can still … The activity will create calls. The way that it’s setup will create calls, it’ll create activity. That activity, Google starts feeding on it because it starts seeing it. Activity is one of the major factors right now. I keep saying it, are activity, relevance, trust, and authority. Those are the things that will trump anything. I don’t care what it is, I don’t care what negative aspects there are. If you have activity, relevance, trust, and authority setup in whatever it is that you’re doing, it’s going to trump everything and Google is going to reward you over and over and over again.

What’s Stopping Someone From Creating Thousands Of Websites And GMBs and Renting Them Out?

Bradley: Yep, there you go. Kasey says, “What’s stopping someone from creating thousands of websites in GMBs and running them out?” Just time and any other major complications. Yeah, time, that’s it. Time and funding and having a team to be able to accomplish that. What do you think we’re in the process of doing right now? We’re building those teams so that we can do that kind of volume. That’s exactly what we’re doing, Kasey. That’s why I said, the opportunity while … Strike while the irons hot. Right now is the time to do it and that’s why I’ve been pushing for two months now, as far as I have been to try and build a … This in a scalable way. We’re training VAs. I’ve created … I spent weeks developing training videos and process stocks to be able to train virtual assistants how to do this entire process from start to finish.

The pofu live attendees are getting these updates from me in real time. They’re kind of helping me with this, right? They’re all using our scaling processes to build their businesses. So, we got all these people that are doing this right now and we’re teaching some of this in the Mastermind as it becomes refined and repeatable because it’s still kind of in its rough stage right now. The Mastermind as it becomes proven, I share this in the Mastermind as well.

That’s exactly why, I don’t know how long this opportunity is going to last. While it’s here, we’re going to try and secure as many as possible, right? So, Kasey, the only limitation that I know of right now is your bandwidth, and your funding, if you’re going to be hiring it out, right?

Marco: Definitely budget, unless he has his own method of securing GMB assets. 1,000 or 2,000 of them, if you get through us, we’re talking about quite a bit of money.

Bradley: Yeah. Yeah. All right, Wayne, last question and then we’re going to wrap it up. We’re right on time too, so that’s perfect. Wayne says, “Realized today that if a prospect in HVAC or plumbing can’t get into local service ads, then there’s a hell of an opportunity to do what you learned from Semantic Mastery to help prospect.” Yeah, that’s true. Thank you, Wayne. So, yeah, if you can’t … For example, guys, I know that in our Mastermind, somebody was talking about trying to get one of their clients into the local services ads section, which is what you’re seeing here, right? Apparently, it was funny. I think it was Muhammad.

So, anyways, one of our members in the Mastermind said, that there was real awkward conversation with the business owner, when they were trying to explain to them why they should be in local Google service ads. The business owner said that they couldn’t be because they couldn’t pass a background check. That’s funny because that’s going to happen, especially if you’re dealing with contractors. Trust me, there’s a lot of contractors out there that can’t pass background checks because of something in their past. I’m totally cool with working with those types of contractors, guys. People make mistakes and they can change.

But, if you can’t pass a background check because of something … You’ve got a skeleton in your closet, you can’t get into this section. So, what Wayne is saying is true. That doesn’t mean that they’re dead in the water, right. DITW, that means that they have … You just have to do other things, like Google Ads or like what we teach with maps, which is Local Lease Pro and Local PR Pro, right? Excuse me, Local GMB Pro. So, there you go. Thank you, Wayne, that’s a good point. All right, no other questions, right on time. Hot damn, that doesn’t happen very often. Whoo. Cool, and even Adam’s still here. Wow.

Adam: About to head out. Time to hit it before the sun goes down, go for a run. But, I want to remind everybody to show up for the webinar on Monday. If you’ve got any questions about this stuff, I know we talked about Local Lease Pro for a bit today, a lot of questions about it. Whether or not you’re a member, show up, go register, come hang out. This is a great way to close out 2018 and really start kicking ass in 2019.

Bradley: There you go. Also, we have a Mastermind seminar tomorrow, for those of you in the Mastermind. So, post your questions through the forum, the Google forum, guys, because we’ve got a lot to go through tomorrow. So, thanks everybody for hanging out. Thanks, Marco and Adam.

Marco: Bye everybody.

Bradley: See you.

  Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 214 syndicated from https://medium.com/@SpanishFly

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Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 214

Click on the video above to watch Episode 214 of the Semantic Mastery Hump Day Hangouts.

Full timestamps with topics and times can be found at the link above.

The latest upcoming free SEO Q&A Hump Day Hangout can be found at http://semanticmastery.com/humpday.

 Announcement

Adam: All right, welcome everybody to Hump Day Hangouts, episode 214. This time it actually is 214. I’m able to use my numbers this week, which is great. I almost wore my little Christmas hat, but I decided I gotta hold off for like another week.

We got a lot of good stuff. We got some news we want to share with you guys, and then jump into questions. But first, let’s say hi. We got Hernan and Bradley with us. So, let’s start on the left with Hernan. It looks like I can see half of his face. How’s it going man?

Hernan: Cool.

Adam: Oh, there we go.

Hernan: How about now? Is that better? I’m doing great, actually, I’m doing really well. So, yeah, we’re having a lot of good stuff coming out for ‘17 last year for the Mastermind. We have a bunch of good stuff for this month. I’m really, really excited for what’s coming.

Bradley: I’m going to get a seizure from your fricking Christmas tree in the background.

Hernan: [inaudible 00:00:49].

Adam: No, come on we want to see …

Bradley: Stop doing that.

Adam: Oh my God. Stop doing that right along. Bradley, what are you doing, are you still alive?

Bradley: I’m convulsing, that’s what I’m doing. No, I’m good man. I just finished the Syndication Academy Update Webinar, the first one in several months. Anyways, it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped because I’m having some slight issues with one of the things I wanted to share. Because of that, I’m going to schedule another one for next month. So, just be on the lookout for that guys.

Adam: Thanks.

Bradley: Marco made it.

Adam: Yeah. Hey, Marco, are you there?

Marco: No, I’m not.

Adam: Well, we’re just saying hello to everybody. If you’ve got a sec, if you want to say, “Hi, how you doing?”

Marco: Of course, man, what’s up? I’m excited man. End of the year, so it’s always good. Family time, just getting together. My wife’s a chef, so I’m lucky and I’m really looking forward to 2019. We have so much coming down the pipeline, it’s not even funny. It’s ridiculous. The kind of money that’s to be made right now. Dude, we’re back into 2003, 2004, 2005 when I started out.

It’s ridiculous the way you can just go out there and with almost nothing, make a bucket full of money.

Adam: Definitely. Now’s the time. Well, we’ll be speaking of that in a little bit more in just a minute. There’s some really good opportunities, but I want to say too, if you’re new to [inaudible 00:02:24], of course, thank you for watching. If you’re checking out the replay on YouTube down the road, come join us live for these. You can always come to the most up to date or the recent or upcoming one. That’s semanticmastery.com/hdquestions.

Again, if you’re new to Semantic Mastery, you’re wondering where to start, start with the battle plan, all right. That’s going to get you repeatable results. Covers a ton of different areas, different stuff you need. Then, once you’ve got that, we even encourage our Mastermind members, everyone to get the battle plan. Once you’re ready, take yourself a few notches, if you want to either start or grow your own local digital marketing agency, come join the Mastermind.

I can talk about Masterminds just in general, all day about how much good they do for you. We love ours, we’re very proud of it. We’ve got a bunch of kickass members and we’ve got a lot of really good stuff coming here very soon. We’re putting it to action right now. The [pofu 00:03:16] pass and we’re going to have a little bit of a special to do with that. We’re going to explain much more about that. Let you guys see a little bit behind the curtains here, more closer to Christmas, I guess, is the way to say that.

But, in the very near future, Bradley’s going to be doing a webinar on Monday, right?

Bradley: Yes, Monday’s the Local Lease Pro Update Webinar to share some additional things that I’ve discovered for that … Myself and my team have discovered over the last … Since we’ve launched the course, essentially. Several things that we’re going to talk about is location research is much more granular now than before, so I’m going to be sharing that process on that webinar. I can show you guys how to use … How to run that software that we use in that course to find easy opportunities for GMB assets.

It’s on a much more granular level and I’ll explain all of that during the webinar, which will be on Monday. I’m also going to be talking about some things to avoid, to prevent getting locations terminated for spam. There’s certain things that we’ve learned through all the very heavy custing that we’ve been doing the last couple of months. So, I want to talk about that.

So, you guys that aren’t part of Local Lease Pro, you’ll get information, like behind the scenes in some of the information, but it’s not going to be the whole picture, right? So, we’re going to make it public, everybody can come join because I want you guys to … This is our primary push right now in Semantic Mastery, we’ve really shifted directions entirely to building out legion assets right now because there’s so much opportunity, more so than I’ve ever seen, since I’ve started in digital marketing and local marketing, which was in 2010 and I mean that.

Marco was just saying, “This is like 2003, 4, of 5, or whatever.” Well, I wasn’t in digital marketing back in, so I don’t know what it was like. But, since 2010 when I got started, I’ve never seen this much opportunity. So, that’s why we’re pushing it so hard and that’s why I wanted to make this update webinar Monday public because I want you guys to see how excited and enthusiastic we are about this and also why.

When you see what I talk about, with the location research alone, if that doesn’t get you excited, then you’re in the wrong damn business is all I’m saying. So, again, we’re going to have that public on Monday. Adam screwed up and put 48 hours in the email that it’s going to be public, I didn’t want it to be public for that long, so fuck you Adam.

Adam: Merry Christmas.

Bradley: Yeah. Merry Christmas you prick. Yeah, I was really only going to keep it public for 24 hours, but since the emails went out, it’ll be public for 48 hours and then it’s getting lockdown and then it’s going to be in the members area only, along with the rest of the training. So, I highly recommend that you guys come check it out.

If you haven’t joined Local Lease Pro, we’re going to also offer a shit ton of bonuses and stuff like that. If you do want to join on Monday, but it’ll be kind of a limited time thing. So, make sure you attend and absorb as much information as you can.

Adam: Yeah. I want to encourage people too who aren’t in, obviously for the members be there … We’re going to have some good stuff. For non-members, we are doing Q&A, so if you want, come and learn, see what’s going on a little bit behind the scenes, like Bradley said, you can see really what’s going on here, how big the opportunity is.” But then we’ll also be answering questions.

We realized if you don’t have the whole picture, there’s something missing. You’re not sure how this would work for you, this, that, or the other thing, be there. Ask questions, get them answered, and then like Bradley said, we’ve got a hell of a Christmas deal for you and happy to make that available, but yeah, that replays going to be only available for a limited time and then if you’re not there live, obviously, you can’t get questions answered as in depth as if you’re there. Sign up, be there.

Bradley: Yep. So, what else we got?

Adam: One last quick one, just want to tell people the special offer is going away for MGYB, we’ve got a killer deal on the deep keyboard research. All right, this is one of the new additions to MGYB, it’s a kickass keyboard research done for your service and it’s 40% off and that’s going away later today. So, I’m going to pop the link up there, check it out.

If you’ve got any projects coming up, you’ve got clients coming on board. You’ve got websites, thinking about building apps, need content ideas, this is the place to do it and 40% is a hell of a chunk of change. Highly suggest you make use of this today before it goes away.

Bradley: Okay.

Adam: I think that’s it, are we ready to go?

Would It Hinder The Ranking Of A GMB Page If The Images Uploaded In 2016 Will Be Removed And Reupload Them For Geotagging?

Bradley: Yes, let me finish sending Rob a message real quick. All right, sorry. Let me grab the screen, we’ll get right into questions. All right, here we go. Not a whole lot of questions yet, guys. You better get to asking some questions or we’re going to shut this down quick. Anyways, Dan’s up first, he says, “I had uploaded several images to a GMB for a customer back in 2016, will it hinder the rankings to take images … To take all of the images off of the GMB page, geotag them and then re-upload them? Perhaps I should just do a few at a time?”

Yeah, I don’t think it would be a problem. I would do a few at a time if I were to do it, Dan. I mean, again, maybe Marco has some additional information than I do. I don’t see why that would be a problem. If they’re just GMB images, you’re not taking post down and all that kind of stuff, then I don’t see why it would be a problem.

I wouldn’t want to take post down though, delete posts and then repost them again, I’d just leave the old posts up, if that makes sense. If it’s just images, taking it from the GMB photo section, like removing them, geo tagging them and then reuploading, I can’t see that as being an issue. But, I would still do it a handful at a time, dripped out of several days or whatever. What do you think, Marco?

Marco: Yeah, my question is why would you want to do that. Why not add new images.

Bradley: New images. Yeah, that’s a good point. That’s a very good point.

Marco: We teach how and I think Dan has Local GMB Pro. We teach you how to go in and get images anywhere you want and then you go and add all the information that you want and then you have new data. This is the whole point. You guys, I don’t know how much I can get into this, but you’re missing the whole point of what Local GMB Pros all about and what we’re doing with Local Lease Pro and Local PR Pro.

We’re trying to feed the fucking bot data and if you take stuff down and bring it back up, Google knows that the image existed already without the geo tagging. Why not give Google new images with new information, so not only is it looking at the front, it’s also looking at the back. I don’t understand the point, unless you can’t get images. If you can’t get images from your client, fire the client, or use the method that we teach in Local GMB Pro.

Always, for me, I always feed the bot more data. More data. It’s always about more data, fill in the variables, and get lots of love.

Bradley: Yeah, I like that. That’s just true. If you get more images … Dan, you should know, I think you’re part of Local GMB Pro, but … I think RYS members also had access to that webinar, on how to get additional images. There’s stuff like … Even if YouTube, you can just grab images from YouTube, I’ve done that a bunch. That’s what my VAs are currently doing right now because they’re a bit faster at it. Yeah, there’s a ton of ways to get additional images. I agree with Marco, his was definitely a better answer than mine. So, Marco’s the winner.

How Many GMBs Per Manager Account Is Acceptable?

Dan’s up again and he says, “How many GMBs per manager account is acceptable?” Well, it depends, Dan. It depends what you’re … What are the … What type of GMB assets are they? Are they real bonafide genuine businesses? If they’re genuine businesses, there’s no problem adding a manger and managing the genuine businesses from a manager account, right? They’re real businesses, there’s no problem with that at all.

Now, Marco and I have slightly differing opinions for lead gen assets, but personally for lead gen assets … Guys, let’s just be 100% clear here, let’s not sugarcoat this, when we’re doing lead gen GMB assets, they’re spammed, right? They’re spammed assets, that’s what they are. So, let’s be clear about that. So, when you’re doing lead gen stuff, then I don’t recommend using a manager account because that connects … That creates a footprint, right? You can connect to different locations.

So, what I’m doing currently now and I’ve tested … Because we’re scaling this lead gen asset building process so much right now, we’re testing all different types of configurations and I’ve got several out there right now where I’m doing location clusters, which is multiple locations where assets within a service area, like a radius. A 20 mile radius is typically what I’m doing right now.

So, I’ll secure many assets within that 20 mile radius. So, some of my location clusters are manged under a single manager account. In other words, each location is owned by a separate Google profile. So, it’s owned by a separate Google profile. But, it’s managed or there’s a manger account that connects those profiles, so a manager can access them. However, like I said, currently what I’ve kind of shifted to now, is doing everything under the owner account or at least logging it … Or, if I’m going to add a manager, only adding a manger long enough to make changes to the GMB asset and then removing that manger, so that the footprint doesn’t stay there.

In other words, for example, one of the things that we’re going to be doing is providing done for you GMB optimization services, so we can provide an MGYB, our store. It’s not available yet, but it’s coming very, very soon, guys. We’ve got VAs in training right now, to be able to provide you guys with full soup to nuts done for you GMB asset building. From verification, all the way through … Setup an optimization and scheduling GMB posts and scheduling them to republish to where you don’t have to do shit, except purchase it and then start making money from it once you monetize it, right.

So, one of the things that we’re going to have to do is whenever we create or somebody … Typically, you’re going to buy the asset from us, so we create it for you, but then the VAs that are going to optimizing it, will be … That asset will be … A manager will be added to that asset and then the VAs will optimize that profile, that GMB asset from the manager account. But, then as soon as we go to deliver it, we remove the manager account, right? That’s what the process is likely going to be and that way there’s the owner account and then you can add yourself as a manager if you’d like, but I would recommend using something like Browseo or Ghost Browser and always logging in and making changes to it from the primary owner account.

That way, it’s isolated to that one account. In other words, if you end up getting terminated from Google, for whatever reason … I’ve got a couple assets that have been terminated recently, that I don’t understand why they were terminated, but again, they’re spammed assets, so I’m not going to complain too much, I’m just going to move on and build another one, right? So, my point is if you end up catching some sort of penalty and it gets terminated, then it’s going to be isolated to one account and one account only. Okay? So, in the past, I’ve always said that it’s okay to add yourself as a manager to GMB assets and then manage … Make changes and things like that through the manager account.

But, that’s typically when for real businesses or maybe the occasional lead gen asset, I’ve never done it at scale, like we have been over the last few weeks. I’m really concerned because these are black hatted Google, GMB assets. I’m really worried about potential footprints. So, I’m trying to do as much as possible to reduce footprints. That means not using manager accounts when … If possible. If you’re using a good browser [inaudible 00:15:17] like Browseo or Ghost Browser, you should be able to accomplish that.

Now, Marco, I know you have a slightly different take on it, do you want to share yours?

Marco: Yeah, we have managers doing it all. The owner never, ever goes back in. That’s how we do it. It’s as if an agency were doing the work for that Google my business listing, which I think [crosstalk 00:15:40].

Bradley: So, you have different manager accounts, is what you’re saying?

Marco: Absolutely, yeah. Because we have a whole bunch of VAs.

Bradley: Gotcha.

Marco: Right? So, they all get spread out. We don’t have one BA that does … For example, what you always talk about, tree service, right? It’s not about a bunch of clustered tree service, GMBs that, that VA is doing. They’re out everywhere. They have a bunch of different niches that they handle. The team lead will spread them out. She’ll give, “Okay, you get three. You get three of these. You get three of these. You get three of these.” Then, she’ll come back and she’ll start adding them again until we get to a certain point and then we don’t add to those who will open a new account and that account we’ll manage the next set. They all won’t be in one niche. I think that’s just perfectly legitimate.

In fact, I haven’t seen any problems with any of the stuff that we’re doing getting suspended.

Bradley: Yeah, I haven’t had anything suspended through a manager account. So, again, I’ve had in the past, I’ve had a manager account suspended and it didn’t affect any of the GMB assets that it was managing because the asset was owned by a different Google profile. So, as far as I know, that’s still the case, but I don’t want to create a known footprint between assets. So, what Marco just said, Dan, just to clarify, is that he’s … Remember they’re making changes. His team is making changes to GMB assets through manager accounts, not through the owner accounts.

But, there’s not a footprint between the manager accounts and the assets because he’s randomly selecting different Gmail accounts to be added as managers and they manage more than just one vertical industry. Now, again, Marco’s got a team. Dan, I’m not sure if you have a team or not. So, that might not be the most efficient way for you, if you don’t have a team. If you have a team, then maybe it is. Also, it depends on again, like Marco said, if you’re dealing with multiple industries, that makes it easier to do that because each manager account can be managing multiple types of GMB assets. In other words, different types of industries, which would make sense because that acts very much like an agency that would be managing different client’s businesses, right?

So, what Marco’s saying is absolutely valid, I completely understand his method. Me, personally, in my business, I am targeting one industry. So, we’re targeting … For my business as tree service industry for contact media, it’s remodeling and general contractors. So, because of that, we’re targeting one industry, I don’t have that … Even if we had multiple manager accounts, every manager account will only be managing similar types of properties. So, that doesn’t work for my setup. Again, you’re going to have to customize the setup based upon what your specific business is currently and select which is best.

For me, for my business, because I’m targeting one industry, the best, so far … At least what I think to be the best method is doing everything through the primary owner account or if I’m going to add a manager, it’s only temporary, long enough for the manger to make whatever changes are going to the GMB and then that manager get removed, so that it’s not a long term manager connection, if that makes sense. Okay, so again, really take what Marcos said and take what I said, and determine which is the better fit for your business and then apply that method, okay. It’s a great question, by the way, Dan.

Marco: I’m also about to put it to the test because I’m about to close on a really deal, where we’re talking about thousands of GMBs and it’s in one vertical, one niche. I’m going to see which of the two methods works best for longevity.

Bradley: Yeah.

Marco: [crosstalk 00:19:42].

Bradley: That’s what we’re trying to do here. We’re trying to develop processes to scale all of this, which is really what local, excuse me, what [inaudible 00:19:51] is all about. So, we’re really trying to develop all of these processes and done for you services because we’re building out our own. Guys, we’re not just creating these services to sell them to you guys. We’re creating these services for our internal use. Since we’re going through all the trouble of creating all of these processes and training virtual assistants to do all this stuff, because we’re building our own businesses this way, we practice exactly what we preach guys.

Since we’re going through all this trouble anyways, it just makes sense to also … Because we’re going to have all the processes in place for training, for all of this, to be able to provide that to you guys, right? Because of that, we’re doing all of this testing right now. Remember, a lot of this is new at this level, at this level of volume that we’re doing. So, we’re trying to figure it out as we go and as soon as we get good information, we share it in the appropriate places. Like Local Lease Pro, Local GMB Pro, and then the Mastermind. Those are the three places where this stuff is getting shared, right?

Thoughts On Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s Testimony That Google Is Not Manually Intervening On Search Results

So, if you want to stay on top of it without having to do the testing yourself, then just come join us and … The Masterminds probably your best bet because that’s where the conversations are held on a daily basis. All right, Wayne’s up. He says, “Observation …” Yeah, this was funny. “Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai …” Or, Pikai, I can’t … Whatever. “Testified in front of the house judiciary committee and literally said, “Last year we served over three trillion searches, just as a fact, every single day, 15% of the searches Google seized, we have never seen them before.” That’s crazy.

So, this is working at scale. We don’t manually intervene any search results. Another SEO said, “Anyone else see the word manually in there? Duh, I would’ve preferred him to say, ‘We don’t intervene.’ Thought you slipped that one by, huh, Sundar? Maybe to that box of rocks they call Congress but not to us, SEOs.” That’s funny. I thought that was really interesting. So, thanks for sharing, Wayne.

Are There Any Laws Or Issues One Should Worry About When Running Ads To A Vacation Giveaway Offer That Is Free?

Frankie’s up, what’s up, Frankie? He’s coming to ask a lot of questions. He said, “Hey, guys. Happy holidays. I’ve got a new client who owns a travel vacation club in the travel niche.” Marco, this seems like might be up your alley. “In my city who’s giving me $1,000 with ad spend with Google Ads because they want results ASAP. Then, for each lead I bring in, they will be getting …” You will be getting paid, Frankie will be getting paid, “$200 to $250 regardless if they join the travel club or not.” There you go, that’s great Frankie.

So, they’re giving you the $1,000 for ad spend and they’re going to pay you with the leads that you generate with their money? Phew, that’s a really cool engagement, man. How’d you get that? How’d you manage that one? That’s great. I like that. “Since he is paying for the ad spend and I still get a nice chunk per lead, I agreed to do his deal at the potential … I agreed to do his deal as a potential … Here it’s huge for me.” Yes, I agree. Typically, in this industry, in order to generate the leads, the main way all the current marketing companies have done is to … They do a free giveaway offer for a vacation trip to Orlando or a free cruise in exchange for their contact info and having them attend a short sales presentation where they have the option to buy or not buy. But, they still get their promised free gift.

“My question is there any laws or issues I should worry about dealing with when running ads to a vacation giveaway offer that is free? Also, I know if you have used Answerconnect in the past. I know you have used Answerconnect in the past, so I wanted to ask in the service of Answerconnect make conversation outbound calls to the new leads and ask questions to qualify them, just as they would if they were inbound calls, thanks.”

Okay, so first thing, is there any potential issues with that? I don’t know. You’d have to contact Google. If you’re talking about setting up Google Ads, then I would just call Google Ads, formerly AdWords. Call Google Ads support and ask them that. They’ll tell. Guys, listen. I’ve always found Google Ads … The support line, to call them, always really helpful. I’m not kidding. Anytime I have a question that I’m unsure of, I just call Google Ads because I’m spending money with them, why not call them and just ask them so I don’t have to spend a bunch of money researching stuff.

Of course, I do a Google search first and if I can’t find a direct answer to my question within a few minutes, then I will call. They’re usually really responsive and they’re happy to help because you’re a paying advertiser. I found that to be the case, maybe other people have had different experiences, but I have always found it rather helpful. So, I would call in and ask. Do some Google research first if you can, Frankie.

It’s very funny, but there was a training course, I can’t remember the name of it, it was by Morrison, Anthony Morrison. He’s got a brother too. They do a bunch of stuff, but he’s got a training course, it’s rather old. A couple years old now. It was very much like what you’re talking about, but it was done on Facebook and that was giving away a free vacation, which cost him like $600 or $800. He could buy a three night or a two night, three day trip package at an Orlando resort or something like that, right? It would cost him like $800, $600 to $800 or something like that.

Then, he would do it on his Facebook page for that area, he would do a post and he would use Facebook ads on the page to promote this free giveaway for this free vacation giveaway, right? For two nights and three days at whatever this resort was. He did it in multiple locations and he would get thousands of people to opt-in for that free giveaway. On the thank you page, after the opt-in, there would just be AdSense. Straight up Google AdSense ads. Because so many thousands of people would click through and opt-in to be put on the list for the vacation giveaway and then land on the thank you page with the AdSense ads, which by the way you can put affiliate offers there and things too.

Then, he would end up making more money on just the AdSense clicks, then it cost to pay for the vacation, the giveaway, right? For the tickets of the giveaway. So, he ended up making money just on that giveaway alone and then he built a list of thousands of people that now he can email market to, right? Also, retarget or remarket through remarketing, right? So, it was huge because he was building a list with a free giveaway and making money on it. He as a training course about it, it’s all done on Facebook, but you could apply that same principle to a Google Ads campaign or apply Google Ads to that same type of campaign is what I’m saying.

Again, if it’s legal … Well, if it’s not a violation of Google Ads terms and service, but you can find that out either through some research or just calling Google and asking them. It’s a brilliant strategy. Brilliant strategy.

Marco: [crosstalk 00:26:35]. I just posted the URL for their policy regarding contests and giveaways.

Bradley: A no go?

Marco: No, yeah. He has to look through it. As long as the state where he is doing it doesn’t prohibit it, as long as it’s not prohibited in the U.S. or whatever, he can totally do it. [crosstalk 00:26:54]. Read through the URL, make sure that you understand it. Again, call Google. Frankie act real stupid. Look, “I want to spend some money with you, I’m not sure how? Can I do this?” If you act really stupid, they’re really going to help. I mean, seriously. They’re going to go out of their way to get you to spend your money with them.

Then, you go, after you’re done with them and take … Everything that they said, with a grain of salt. Because all you’re looking for is the clarification that yes, you can do it and what the conditions are. What the limitations are, that’s all you’re looking to get out of them. They’re going to try to talk you in to getting some of their reps to help you or whatever. You can always do it yourself. But, the whole point behind this is getting all those little nuggets out of the person that you’re talking to. The way that you do that is by acting really dumb.

Bradley: This is it. This is it. I was trying to think, I was sitting here the whole time you’re talking, I’m trying to think a name of that Facebook page, where that … Let’s see, was it this one or this one? It was Destin Florida and it was Anthony Morison’s course, I can’t remember. I think it’s this one. Yeah, this one here. Destinflorida.com.

Hernan: Yeah, Destin Florida. I don’t remember the name of the course either.

Bradley: Me neither.

Hernan: Yeah.

Bradley: But, this is it right here. Look, they’re still doing it. See, look, he’s still doing this, man. I don’t know why’d you ever quit. He’s crushing it with this guys. You can see, he’s still doing it. The course is still at least two years old. So, destinflorida.com, you can see the type of promotions he sets up. Live three day giveaway. Again, the training course is really good. We don’t have an affiliate link for it, I’d give it to you. But, honestly, it’s a good course. I actually set it up for my keto VIP project, which is the ketogenic diet thing that I was doing for a while, but I don’t do much of affiliate marketing, you guys. I just straight do local stuff. I certainly don’t like Facebook.

I know you can make a lot of money from Facebook, but I’m just not a fan of Facebook. So, I spent a lot of time setting up a similar giveaway with ketogenic diet stuff and I wasn’t nearly as successful with it and it’s probably just because I only attempted it once and then quit because I just don’t like Facebook. Like I said, this is a really good strategy, I think it’s something you should checkout for sure. It was a great question. As far as Answerconnect, it’s been several years since I’ve had Answerconnect do any outbound calls for me.

I used to do that with lead gen service providers, when I used to offer equity share or revenue, like when I would have a service provider where I would get a percentage of a closed job or of a closed sale. What I would do and I’ve mentioned this before, maybe I don’t have the hangouts, but I’ve done this with three different tree service contractors. Only one of them ended up being honest with me and not lying about jobs that closed and they said they didn’t get them.

One of the ways I found out that I had contractors lying to me and not giving me credit or paying me for jobs, for leads that came through my sites, was I had Answerconnect to … Answerconnect’s been my call center, like my call answering service since 2012, so I’ve been using them for many years. At the time, I would have Answerconnect go … I would provide the leads that came to a particular GMB location and I would provide the phone leads to Answerconnect and have them do an outbound customer survey, right?

That’s what it was disguised as a customer survey and they would call the leads that came through and say, “Hey, this is blah, blah, blah, tree service. We’re calling with a customer satisfaction survey. We understand that you didn’t use our services and we were just calling in order to improve our service, we’d like to ask you a couple questions as to what led you to make the decision to hire somebody else.” Something like that. It was worded something like that.

I provided them with a script. It was two to three questions. What would happen is the call, the person who would answer the phone, the lead that they were calling, right, would say, “Well, we made a decision to go … We just decided not to get the tree work done.” Or, “We went another company because of this …” Sometimes the answer would be, “Wait a minute, we did hire you guys to do the tree service. Go back and check your records.” Or, something like that. They would say, “No, we did hire you.” Then, I would call the contractor and say, “Okay, what about this lead here? Did you close this job?” When they would lie to me, I would show them proof, “Wait a minute, I had it confirmed that you did do the job, therefore, you’re fired. I’m going to send these leads somewhere else.”

That happened to me … I tried that with six different contractors and only one of them turned out to be honest. I don’t offer that anymore, unless I’ve developed a really good working relationship with somebody. But, at the time, Answerconnect was the service that did it. Now, I don’t know if they still do it, the easiest way to find out, Frankie, is just contact Answerconnect, right? Go to Answerconnect and go to contact us tab and ask them a question. You can call them. They’re an answering service, so call them, ask them, “Do you guys do outbound calls?” If they will, great. If not, just do a search on Google, right? Outbound calling, telemarketers, something like that and find a service and have them do the outbound calls. Okay? It’s that simple.

Answerconnect used to do that, but I don’t know if they still do because it’s been many years since I’ve done that. Okay? That’s a great … Man, that’s really sweet about this guy with giving you a $1,000 and … So, you’re going to spend his ad money and for every lead that you generate with his ad money, you’re going to get paid? That’s great, man. You should try to repeat that over and over again. So, congratulations.

How Do You Determine The Profit Margin Of A Potential Local Lead Gen Client?

Ken says, “Last week Bradley said …” That’s the webinar for Local Lease Pro Update on Monday, I’m sure Adam already dropped the link, so there you go, Ken. Will, what’s up Will he said, “Bradley, on LLP, you mentioned that …” Which is Local Lease Pro, guys. “You mentioned that one of the criteria for selecting a niche is to ensure that the service provider had good margins to afford your leads.” Which means good profits. “Question, how do you go about determining what profit margins that the client would have, as you explained with the carpet cleaning client you used as an example to drive your point?” Again, Will, ask, right.

For example, if you’re … If you’re looking for … Well, first of all, think about … You’ve got to think about the type of businesses … The carpet cleaning, they’re very, very small margins for the most part. So, it’s hard to justify marketing cost, especially lead generation cost for carpet cleaning companies. Like tree services, it’s almost all labor, right? It’s very rarely is there ever any material cost, other than fuel, right? Then, paying for labor for the workers and stuff like that. There’s very rarely any material cost. Remodeling leads, think about a kitchen remodel, right?

A kitchen remodel on the low end, an average kitchen remodel is about $30,000. Typically, most general contractors and remodeling contractors have about a 20% markup, right? So, if it’s a $30,000 job and again about the average is a 20% margin, markup, margin, right? Then, they’re looking at about a $6,000 profit margin, $24,000 would go out to materials and two subcontractors for labor, right? That’s about a $6,000 profit margin per lead there, so it’s easy or it’s much more easy to justify charging $100,000 a lead, when there’s $6,000 profit potential for that lead. Does that make sense?

So, again, think about it logically, Will, that’s first and foremost. Just think about the type of business that you may want to generate leads for. Think about what they charge for their product or service and think about what their cost may be. Try to guesstimate. You can try to do some simple Google searches, guys, and start looking for that kind of data. You will likely find it with a little bit of digging, just by Googling. As a last resort or if you’re not …

I personally, don’t like talking to people on the phone, for the most part, unless it’s something I purposely scheduled, unless I want to … You know what I mean? So, I don’t like to call people just out of the blue and ask questions. That is a way that you can do it. For example, you can call whatever business type in your local area that you’re considering doing lead gen services for and just ask them. Say, “Look, I’m a local marketing guy. I’m in the same area. I’m not calling you to sell you anything. I’m literally calling you to ask you some questions about your type of business because I’m considering getting into marketing for this type of business. I’d just like to know a little bit more about your industry. Would you be willing to answer a couple of questions.”

Send somebody a gift card for $20 or something like that to Starbucks or to a local restaurant and then call them after you know that it’s been delivered, right? Then, say, “Hey, I’m the guy that sent you the $20 gift card. Would you mind answering a couple questions about your business because I’m looking to get into marketing for that. I’m not trying to pitch you on anything, that’s why I sent you a $20 Starbucks gift card. Would you mind taking a few minutes?”

Butter them up first by giving them something. I’ve done that in the past, guys, and it works. So, again, it’s just a conversation starter and is it worth $20 to actually find out what the margins are for a particular business that you may be interested in generating leads for? Also, couldn’t they be the first person to buy leads from you, after you had that conversation and built some rapport with them? Think about it. So, there you go, Will. Like I said, a lot of the times, just think about it logically first. Do some research on Google. You’ll likely find the information you’re looking for, some sort of statistic sheets or something.

Lastly, you can always just send somebody a small gift. Or, you could just do a straight cold call, but if you want to butter them up first … Remember the law of reciprocity, when you give somebody something for nothing and you’re not trying to pitch them … You guys know, probably from prospecting and trying to sell marketing services, we’ve always talked about how we should lead with something free first and then you try to sell them something. What if you give them something free first and you don’t try to sell them anything. You just want to ask them a question.

You’ll probably close that sale because you’re not selling anything, you know what I mean? I would try that.

Marco: What I’ve also done, is I just have people call as a customer, just a typical customer to get a quote, just so that I have-

Bradley: That won’t reveal what the profit margin is for that.

Marco: No, no. It won’t reveal the profit margin, but it gives you an idea. If you have a quote and you know the general markup, which is 20% to 30% across the board, sometimes 10. It’s generally 20 to 30, then you know more or less where you are.

Should You Limit Your Service Area Within The Zip Code Where The GMB Is Secured?

Bradley: That’s true. So, Ted’s up. He says, “Local Lease Pro method question. I’m in a large city with a dozens zip codes … With a dozen zip codes within that city name. If I secure a GMB in one of those zip codes with the population of 10K, should I limit my service here to target just that zip code where the GMB is secure?”

Well, that’s up to you, it depends on really how you spaced out your assets. You don’t want there to be gaps or spaces between us, that’s if possible. So, that’s really determined … Again, this is more of a question that should be answered on Monday, not necessarily today, Ted, because we’re having the whole Local Lease Pro Update Webinar then. But, yeah, I would say it depends on how you have your other assets within that same service area radius spread out, right? Let’s say you have a 20 mile service area radius and you’ve got only four assets and they’re equally spaced out across those 24 or that 20 mile radius, then I would have the service area setup for each of those locations to where they all overlap in the middle slightly but that way the whole 20 mile service area is covered, by service area of each location, right?

So, each location will cover 25% in that particular example. So, that’s how I do it. If you’re doing a whole bunch of locations within a particular service area, then yeah, you can go hyper local, which is really what we’re teaching with Local Lease Pro anyways, is going hyper local and keeping your service area or radius very, very tight, or small. Something I typically have been doing is going about a 5 mile radius, guys. That’s only a 10 mile service area, right? 5 mile radius from the location itself, that’s typically what I’m doing. But, again, it depends on how many assets you have and how big your service area is and how you want to spread them out then.

We’ll talk more about that on Monday. Okay, there you go, Adam, thank you. Thank you. There you, Brian, it was just posted below you. “What time is the webinar on Monday?” It’s 4:00 PM, I believe Eastern, right? Hello?

Adam: Correct.

Bradley: Yeah. All right, Monday, September 17th, I believe, yeah, 4:00 PM>

Adam: I’ll put it on the page, it should’ve been on there.

Does A GMB Page Needs A GMB Site?

Bradley: Yeah. Okay, cool, thank you. Cool, we’re almost done. We can wrap it up either early or on time. GMB, Brian, okay. Says, “GMB, need to have GMB site in addition to the page, need to have a GMB site in addition to the page. I thought the GMB page was a site until I saw a link to a GMB site.” I think you’re talking about the maps page. No, a GMB website, Brian, is a web … Google gives you a free website now. It’s whatever sub domain you choose, .business.site, that’s a GMB website.

Okay, it’s just a one page site, but every time you create a GMB post, it gets … If you have a GMB website published, then it will also be converted into an internal page on the site. So, that’s a GMB website. Yes, if you’re doing GMB stuff, I say, setup the GMB website too. Use all the tools, all the features that Google gives you guys. That’s why we’re crushing it right now. We’re doing everything that Google is giving to us, where 95% of other businesses don’t even have a clue that it exists. That’s why we’re crushing it right now. That’s what Local GMB Pro is all about.

Just get in there and use all of the tools that Google gives within Google My Business and Google will promote your location, your asset, above everybody else because you’re using all the tools that nobody else is using. Does that make sense? Yes, Brian, use the GMB website if you can. Marco, do you want to comment on that?

Marco: No, you answered it perfectly. That’s all I use.

Bradley: Okay. I’m not even building WordPress websites anymore guys. I swear to God. The only time I’m going to build a WordPress website is if a client demands it. For lead gen assets, nope, don’t need them anymore. Why the hell would I want to go out and pay for a domain, setup hosting and deal with all the stupid WordPress shit that we have to deal with all the time, when I can setup lead gen assets all day long with a GMB single page website and I never have to do a damn thing to it, think about. So, again, if a client demands a website, which most clients will, then, that’s fine, I’ll work on their WordPress websites for them.

But, for my own stuff now, nope. No more WordPress sites, I’m done. At least for now, that may change.

Marco: For those of you who have worked out the page rank math that business.site is around a 5, 6 PR. That doesn’t mean that your sub domain is going to get a 5, 6. But, I mean, you’re attached not only to a Google property, but it’s like a 5, 6 PR. So, the quality score will be a … Not the quality score, but the ranking score will be just a touch lower than that, but it’s a really good indicator that it’s fucking powerful and you need to be there.

What Are Possible Reasons Why A Site Ranks Lower Than The Others Despite Having Better DR, UR And More Quality Backlinks Than Its Competitor?

Bradley: All right, so … Thank you, Marco. The next question, [Asheesh 00:43:01], I guess. I’m sorry if I mispronounced your name. That’s a metric question, Asheesh and I know it’s the first time you’ve posted a question for us, so I’m not going to slam you too hard, I promise. But, something we don’t care about here at Semantic Mastery is metrics. I could care less what [Moss 00:43:18] metrics say about a domain or a webpage. I could care less what Majestic SEO says or what an AH Ref says because we stopped tracking metrics over two years ago and I haven’t had any problems whatsoever.

I don’t give a shit what the metrics are from my competitors compared to the metrics that I work on or my client’s assets because we can still get results regardless of what those metrics say, period. We’ve proven that over and over again. So, again, I’m not picking on you. This is probably the first time you’ve asked a question here. This is really not the forum of Semantic Mastery is not the place to ask questions about metrics and why your higher metric property isn’t outranking somebody with lower metrics. Probably because they’re doing stuff that really speaks directly or feeds Googles … Feeds Google exactly what it wants and that’s independent, separate and apart from metrics.

Metrics are proprietary. So, Moss has its own algorithm that it tries to determine the strength of domains, pages, and things like that based upon what it things Google wants. And AH Ref has its own and Majestic has its own and everybody has their own metrics and they’re all proprietary. None of them work for Google. So, what I’m saying is because Google doesn’t give us page rank metrics anymore, which was the most accurate, then why bother with third-party metrics. I know some people out here live and die by third-party metrics. That’s fine.

If it’s working for you, that’s great. But, in your case Asheesh, you’re saying that your metrics are higher but it’s not ranking. So, apparently, it’s not just a metric thing that determines whether you rank or not, right? You’re saying that you have living proof right now that it’s not just a metric thing, which is why we don’t care about third-party metrics anymore. I don’t even track them, I don’t care. Does that make sense? Now, I know Marco has a strong opinion about this too.

Marco: Yeah, absolutely, because everything we do is meant to trigger the good parts, let’s call it, of the Google algorithm, freshness and proximity. Just everything that Google is looking for. They’re looking, as I said, for the ranking score, they’re looking … It’s not just pay join, pay join is part and I’ve been saying this for a couple of years. Pay join is part of the ranking score algorithm and that’s what we’re building up. As long as we’re working towards that, we can care less what Moss is doing or Majestic or anything else. It’s a guide, but theirs is a guess.

If you think of a whole bunch of people together and they got the math that Google gives you, because they don’t give you everything, and they made an educated guess, right? Some went for domain authority, some went for trust. Well, neither one has everything that Google has. The only one that has that Google has is Google and they’re not giving up the ghost. So, all we can do is … The Semantic Mastery, which is we test, we see what moves the needle and then we do some more of it.

We do some more of it to the point where we try to hammer it and try to break it and try to get Google to push back, so that we know when we come to you guys, we can tell you these are the boundaries as far as what you can do.

Hernan: Yeah, with the thresholders.

Marco: Yeah, absolutely. We need to know. We need to know what doesn’t work, so that we can give people what does work, right? That’s just obvious, that’s what everybody should be doing and if they’re not, then, Asheesh, avoid them. Go somewhere else.

Bradley: That’s it. Thank you, Marco. [inaudible 00:47:04], by the way, I don’t know if you saw that I commented on your question on the Syndication Academy update. Man, I really apologize, I missed your question. Yours was the first question, so I don’t know how I missed it. But, he was asking on that about can you get an RSS feed from Facebook. Yes, you can from Zapier, you can get an RSS feed from Zapier. So, yes you can.

In fact, I posted on that page the event page from earlier that I would try to squeeze that in from the update webinar we’re going to do next month in January, which is part two of this Syndication Academy Update Webinar that I held today. So, I’ll try to get to that.

Is There A Benefit Of Using Hashtag When Posting To GMB?

So, his question today or for here is there a benefit using a hashtag when posting to GMB? I have no idea. Marco, do you know? I still haven’t been using them, so I don’t know. Does it even take hashtags?

Marco: Yeah, you can use hashtags, I don’t know if they go … Actually, you can do jump links in posts. I just gave me something that I shouldn’t be giving away, but run with it.

Bradley: Yeah. I don’t know. Well, jump links are different from hashtags though. Again, I don’t know if hashtags if they hyperlink with a posted post, I don’t know or not, I haven’t tested that. I have no idea.

Marco: I don’t know if they would work. I don’t know if there’s a benefit. Everything that we’re doing does not include hashtags.

Bradley: Hashtags, yeah.

Marco: Maybe that’s something we should test, we should put that on our list of things to [crosstalk 00:48:31].

Bradley: I’m going ping Rob, test hashtags for GMB post.

Marco: Yeah. Tell him to contact Irene and then Irene will contact me.

Bradley: Whatever, he knows what I meant. Okay, yeah. That’s a good one, thanks for pointing that out, I haven’t even thought about that, we can test on that too. Yeah, the jump link thing, we will be talking about that in local Lease Pro or Local GMB Pro. Probably Local GMB Pro and then Mastermind guys in probably sometime next month, because I got part two of Syndication Academy Webinars very specifically about Q&A posts and Q&A schema, questions and answers schema. So, there’s something that we can apply with what Marco just leaked to that. We’ll talk about that once part two of Syndication Academy Update Webinar is complete. Okay. But, there’s something very powerful we can do with that.

What Are The Main Needle Movers For Boosting A GMB’s Ranking?

Edward says, “Hey, guys. Thanks for doing this.” I’ll plus one that. He says, “For a competitive search term, which are the main needle-movers for boosting GMBs ranking> Only a small team here.” Right now activity, Edward. Obviously, make sure it’s fully optimized, it’s well optimized. It’s got good content and then posting activity is probably the number one factor in my opinion for getting results. Getting traction with a GMB asset. So, guys use the data in the GMB assets to tell you what Google wants. The data in the GMB insights will tell you the best days to post.

Maybe you need to increase posting frequency on those days, right? It will also tell you the keywords that are … Or, the search queries that are bringing the most traffic to your site. For whatever reason, when you target those keywords in GMB posts, they tend to bring in more traffic. Also, by the way, you’ll probably notice, Edward, a lot of the keywords that are bringing traffic are near me keywords, near me queries, right? Or, variations nearby, close to me, in my area. Those types of queries. Target those, guys. You’re triggering the mobile algorithm that way. Google loves that shit.

So, go in there and collect … Start building a database in near me terms and all the variations thereof. Then, start targeting those in near me type posts. Again, we have post templates that are called near me post templates inside Local Lease Pro, as well as local GMB pro. Not going to give them to you here, but you can create your own too by the way. You don’t need my templates, you can sit down and just think about how to create your own near me templates. Post regularly and consistently and often, right? That’s the number one key.

Then, as far as getting ranked in the free pack, which isn’t really necessary to get results from GMB. It doesn’t even have to be in the three pack, guys, because you’re talking … Especially what I just mentioned with the mobile stuff, you don’t even need to be in three pack and you can still generate leads from GMB assets, we’ve proven that. If you want to be in the three pack because, let’s face it guys, that’s still something that we as us like to see, right? Local PR pro, I’m not shitting you.

Probably the quickest way I’ve ever seen, other than the other Local Lease Pro method, which is just researching locations and finding easy opportunities, other than that, the quickest way I’ve been able to get into the three pack is through press releases in the Local PR method, which is PR stacking and all of that. Again, that’s why Local Lease Pro guys is hands down … That is our number one front end product right now. It will be, as long as this opportunity exists, right? Local GMB Pro is the advanced training for GMB assets.

It’s for those assets that don’t push into the three pack and generate results right away. It’s for the more competitive areas. That’s what Local GMB Pro is, it’s about how to get the absolute power out of a GMB asset, whether it’s in a three pack of not, it makes no difference. Local PR pro, is the course that teaches you how to push that into a three pack in very, very quickly, whether it has a website or not. That’s why there’s three courses, guys. I’m telling you, they work hand-in-hand. Then, lastly to follow it all up, is RYS Academy and drive stacks, which is like … that’s super advanced stuff that just pushes a shit ton of power into whatever you want through Google properties, right?

So, it’s like those three courses are … They compound. They just build upon each other and then RYS is for … That’s just the icing on the cake and that’s for if you have … If you just want to push massive authority. Marco, you want to chat about that at all?

Marco: No, I think you nailed it on the head. They go hand in hand. Local PR Pro, Local GMB Pro, Local Lease Pro, each one acts differently. Then, when you want to … If you want it to stick, you throw drive stacks at it and then it’s like … Like I said, it’s never … I haven’t seen it this easy to make money in so long, that it’s not even funny. It’s just so easy. The main needle mover, as you said, it’s just activity, but it has to be the right kind of activity on that niche. Let me tell you right now, that each niche reacts differently, depending on the kind of posts that you do. I’ll give that away. I’m not going to give everything away, but I’ll tell you that.

How Much SEO Do You Do For GMB Sites?

Bradley: Jeff says, “How much SEO do you do for GMB sites? Also, how much can you throw at a GMB site without incurring the wrath of G?” Okay, as SEO, I just put well-optimized content on it, guys. The beautiful thing about a GMB website is you don’t … You cannot modify SEO elements of the page. You don’t put in header tags and you don’t … You just literally past content in. You can bold stuff and you can create links from within the content. You can’t add header tags. There’s nothing that you can modify on the elements of the page, it’s just text only, right? It’s all you can do.

All you need to do is have a well written piece of content for the GMB website and that’s it. That’s as far as you can go for on page, other than photos, which are incredibly important and GMB posts, which act as inner pages, if you have a GMB website. If you’re just doing GMB posts and you don’t have a GMB website, then you don’t … They don’t act as inner pages, they’re just posts. But, if you have a GMB website, then they’ll start as posts and then it’ll turn into an inner page of the website as well. So, you can silo those. I can’t get into how, but we’ll talk about that a little bit on Monday for the Local Lease Pro method.

Our auto-poster, the GMB auto-poster, that we have will also automate a siloing post, which is really, really cool. Okay, so you can do that. But, as far as the off page stuff, I don’t know because I haven’t done any massive spamming to the GMB websites yet because as I was just talking about in the previous question, the only exterior link building I have done thus far has been from press releases and drive stacks. I have not even thrown any spam link campaigns. We have a [inaudible 00:55:47], right? We have a link building manager who’s fabulous, he’s amazing at what he does.

I haven’t even started testing, sending link campaigns to a GMB asset yet, maybe Marco has, but all I’ve done is drive stacks and press releases. I just now starting to play with syndication networks and syndicating GMB posts because our auto-posts create an RSS feed from GMB posts. So, I’m starting to test with that a little bit too. I have almost … I said this with RYS stacks, but I’ve also tested just link building with Google sites, using a software from Peter Drew. I haven’t done enough testing there to determine whether that’s something I want to add in my standard operating procedure or not.

Yeah, again, since it’s a Google property, Marco can probably comment on this a little bit more, but I haven’t tested the limit on that. But, since it’s a Google property, will likely withstand anything you throw at it. What do you say, Marco?

Marco: I say that I haven’t needed to do anything, except what’s in the training so far. It’s so simple, you just go, you get an asset. You optimize it the way that it’s taught, you throw it up, it ranked or it doesn’t rank. If it doesn’t rank, you can still … The activity will create calls. The way that it’s setup will create calls, it’ll create activity. That activity, Google starts feeding on it because it starts seeing it. Activity is one of the major factors right now. I keep saying it, are activity, relevance, trust, and authority. Those are the things that will trump anything. I don’t care what it is, I don’t care what negative aspects there are. If you have activity, relevance, trust, and authority setup in whatever it is that you’re doing, it’s going to trump everything and Google is going to reward you over and over and over again.

What’s Stopping Someone From Creating Thousands Of Websites And GMBs and Renting Them Out?

Bradley: Yep, there you go. Kasey says, “What’s stopping someone from creating thousands of websites in GMBs and running them out?” Just time and any other major complications. Yeah, time, that’s it. Time and funding and having a team to be able to accomplish that. What do you think we’re in the process of doing right now? We’re building those teams so that we can do that kind of volume. That’s exactly what we’re doing, Kasey. That’s why I said, the opportunity while … Strike while the irons hot. Right now is the time to do it and that’s why I’ve been pushing for two months now, as far as I have been to try and build a … This in a scalable way. We’re training VAs. I’ve created … I spent weeks developing training videos and process stocks to be able to train virtual assistants how to do this entire process from start to finish.

The pofu live attendees are getting these updates from me in real time. They’re kind of helping me with this, right? They’re all using our scaling processes to build their businesses. So, we got all these people that are doing this right now and we’re teaching some of this in the Mastermind as it becomes refined and repeatable because it’s still kind of in its rough stage right now. The Mastermind as it becomes proven, I share this in the Mastermind as well.

That’s exactly why, I don’t know how long this opportunity is going to last. While it’s here, we’re going to try and secure as many as possible, right? So, Kasey, the only limitation that I know of right now is your bandwidth, and your funding, if you’re going to be hiring it out, right?

Marco: Definitely budget, unless he has his own method of securing GMB assets. 1,000 or 2,000 of them, if you get through us, we’re talking about quite a bit of money.

Bradley: Yeah. Yeah. All right, Wayne, last question and then we’re going to wrap it up. We’re right on time too, so that’s perfect. Wayne says, “Realized today that if a prospect in HVAC or plumbing can’t get into local service ads, then there’s a hell of an opportunity to do what you learned from Semantic Mastery to help prospect.” Yeah, that’s true. Thank you, Wayne. So, yeah, if you can’t … For example, guys, I know that in our Mastermind, somebody was talking about trying to get one of their clients into the local services ads section, which is what you’re seeing here, right? Apparently, it was funny. I think it was Muhammad.

So, anyways, one of our members in the Mastermind said, that there was real awkward conversation with the business owner, when they were trying to explain to them why they should be in local Google service ads. The business owner said that they couldn’t be because they couldn’t pass a background check. That’s funny because that’s going to happen, especially if you’re dealing with contractors. Trust me, there’s a lot of contractors out there that can’t pass background checks because of something in their past. I’m totally cool with working with those types of contractors, guys. People make mistakes and they can change.

But, if you can’t pass a background check because of something … You’ve got a skeleton in your closet, you can’t get into this section. So, what Wayne is saying is true. That doesn’t mean that they’re dead in the water, right. DITW, that means that they have … You just have to do other things, like Google Ads or like what we teach with maps, which is Local Lease Pro and Local PR Pro, right? Excuse me, Local GMB Pro. So, there you go. Thank you, Wayne, that’s a good point. All right, no other questions, right on time. Hot damn, that doesn’t happen very often. Whoo. Cool, and even Adam’s still here. Wow.

Adam: About to head out. Time to hit it before the sun goes down, go for a run. But, I want to remind everybody to show up for the webinar on Monday. If you’ve got any questions about this stuff, I know we talked about Local Lease Pro for a bit today, a lot of questions about it. Whether or not you’re a member, show up, go register, come hang out. This is a great way to close out 2018 and really start kicking ass in 2019.

Bradley: There you go. Also, we have a Mastermind seminar tomorrow, for those of you in the Mastermind. So, post your questions through the forum, the Google forum, guys, because we’ve got a lot to go through tomorrow. So, thanks everybody for hanging out. Thanks, Marco and Adam.

Marco: Bye everybody.

Bradley: See you.

  Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 214 posted first on your-t1-blog-url

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Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 214

Click on the video above to watch Episode 214 of the Semantic Mastery Hump Day Hangouts.

Full timestamps with topics and times can be found at the link above.

The latest upcoming free SEO Q&A Hump Day Hangout can be found at http://semanticmastery.com/humpday.

  Announcement

Adam: All right, welcome everybody to Hump Day Hangouts, episode 214. This time it actually is 214. I’m able to use my numbers this week, which is great. I almost wore my little Christmas hat, but I decided I gotta hold off for like another week.

We got a lot of good stuff. We got some news we want to share with you guys, and then jump into questions. But first, let’s say hi. We got Hernan and Bradley with us. So, let’s start on the left with Hernan. It looks like I can see half of his face. How’s it going man?

Hernan: Cool.

Adam: Oh, there we go.

Hernan: How about now? Is that better? I’m doing great, actually, I’m doing really well. So, yeah, we’re having a lot of good stuff coming out for ‘17 last year for the Mastermind. We have a bunch of good stuff for this month. I’m really, really excited for what’s coming.

Bradley: I’m going to get a seizure from your fricking Christmas tree in the background.

Hernan: [inaudible 00:00:49].

Adam: No, come on we want to see …

Bradley: Stop doing that.

Adam: Oh my God. Stop doing that right along. Bradley, what are you doing, are you still alive?

Bradley: I’m convulsing, that’s what I’m doing. No, I’m good man. I just finished the Syndication Academy Update Webinar, the first one in several months. Anyways, it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped because I’m having some slight issues with one of the things I wanted to share. Because of that, I’m going to schedule another one for next month. So, just be on the lookout for that guys.

Adam: Thanks.

Bradley: Marco made it.

Adam: Yeah. Hey, Marco, are you there?

Marco: No, I’m not.

Adam: Well, we’re just saying hello to everybody. If you’ve got a sec, if you want to say, “Hi, how you doing?”

Marco: Of course, man, what’s up? I’m excited man. End of the year, so it’s always good. Family time, just getting together. My wife’s a chef, so I’m lucky and I’m really looking forward to 2019. We have so much coming down the pipeline, it’s not even funny. It’s ridiculous. The kind of money that’s to be made right now. Dude, we’re back into 2003, 2004, 2005 when I started out.

It’s ridiculous the way you can just go out there and with almost nothing, make a bucket full of money.

Adam: Definitely. Now’s the time. Well, we’ll be speaking of that in a little bit more in just a minute. There’s some really good opportunities, but I want to say too, if you’re new to [inaudible 00:02:24], of course, thank you for watching. If you’re checking out the replay on YouTube down the road, come join us live for these. You can always come to the most up to date or the recent or upcoming one. That’s semanticmastery.com/hdquestions.

Again, if you’re new to Semantic Mastery, you’re wondering where to start, start with the battle plan, all right. That’s going to get you repeatable results. Covers a ton of different areas, different stuff you need. Then, once you’ve got that, we even encourage our Mastermind members, everyone to get the battle plan. Once you’re ready, take yourself a few notches, if you want to either start or grow your own local digital marketing agency, come join the Mastermind.

I can talk about Masterminds just in general, all day about how much good they do for you. We love ours, we’re very proud of it. We’ve got a bunch of kickass members and we’ve got a lot of really good stuff coming here very soon. We’re putting it to action right now. The [pofu 00:03:16] pass and we’re going to have a little bit of a special to do with that. We’re going to explain much more about that. Let you guys see a little bit behind the curtains here, more closer to Christmas, I guess, is the way to say that.

But, in the very near future, Bradley’s going to be doing a webinar on Monday, right?

Bradley: Yes, Monday’s the Local Lease Pro Update Webinar to share some additional things that I’ve discovered for that … Myself and my team have discovered over the last … Since we’ve launched the course, essentially. Several things that we’re going to talk about is location research is much more granular now than before, so I’m going to be sharing that process on that webinar. I can show you guys how to use … How to run that software that we use in that course to find easy opportunities for GMB assets.

It’s on a much more granular level and I’ll explain all of that during the webinar, which will be on Monday. I’m also going to be talking about some things to avoid, to prevent getting locations terminated for spam. There’s certain things that we’ve learned through all the very heavy custing that we’ve been doing the last couple of months. So, I want to talk about that.

So, you guys that aren’t part of Local Lease Pro, you’ll get information, like behind the scenes in some of the information, but it’s not going to be the whole picture, right? So, we’re going to make it public, everybody can come join because I want you guys to … This is our primary push right now in Semantic Mastery, we’ve really shifted directions entirely to building out legion assets right now because there’s so much opportunity, more so than I’ve ever seen, since I’ve started in digital marketing and local marketing, which was in 2010 and I mean that.

Marco was just saying, “This is like 2003, 4, of 5, or whatever.” Well, I wasn’t in digital marketing back in, so I don’t know what it was like. But, since 2010 when I got started, I’ve never seen this much opportunity. So, that’s why we’re pushing it so hard and that’s why I wanted to make this update webinar Monday public because I want you guys to see how excited and enthusiastic we are about this and also why.

When you see what I talk about, with the location research alone, if that doesn’t get you excited, then you’re in the wrong damn business is all I’m saying. So, again, we’re going to have that public on Monday. Adam screwed up and put 48 hours in the email that it’s going to be public, I didn’t want it to be public for that long, so fuck you Adam.

Adam: Merry Christmas.

Bradley: Yeah. Merry Christmas you prick. Yeah, I was really only going to keep it public for 24 hours, but since the emails went out, it’ll be public for 48 hours and then it’s getting lockdown and then it’s going to be in the members area only, along with the rest of the training. So, I highly recommend that you guys come check it out.

If you haven’t joined Local Lease Pro, we’re going to also offer a shit ton of bonuses and stuff like that. If you do want to join on Monday, but it’ll be kind of a limited time thing. So, make sure you attend and absorb as much information as you can.

Adam: Yeah. I want to encourage people too who aren’t in, obviously for the members be there … We’re going to have some good stuff. For non-members, we are doing Q&A, so if you want, come and learn, see what’s going on a little bit behind the scenes, like Bradley said, you can see really what’s going on here, how big the opportunity is.” But then we’ll also be answering questions.

We realized if you don’t have the whole picture, there’s something missing. You’re not sure how this would work for you, this, that, or the other thing, be there. Ask questions, get them answered, and then like Bradley said, we’ve got a hell of a Christmas deal for you and happy to make that available, but yeah, that replays going to be only available for a limited time and then if you’re not there live, obviously, you can’t get questions answered as in depth as if you’re there. Sign up, be there.

Bradley: Yep. So, what else we got?

Adam: One last quick one, just want to tell people the special offer is going away for MGYB, we’ve got a killer deal on the deep keyboard research. All right, this is one of the new additions to MGYB, it’s a kickass keyboard research done for your service and it’s 40% off and that’s going away later today. So, I’m going to pop the link up there, check it out.

If you’ve got any projects coming up, you’ve got clients coming on board. You’ve got websites, thinking about building apps, need content ideas, this is the place to do it and 40% is a hell of a chunk of change. Highly suggest you make use of this today before it goes away.

Bradley: Okay.

Adam: I think that’s it, are we ready to go?

Would It Hinder The Ranking Of A GMB Page If The Images Uploaded In 2016 Will Be Removed And Reupload Them For Geotagging?

Bradley: Yes, let me finish sending Rob a message real quick. All right, sorry. Let me grab the screen, we’ll get right into questions. All right, here we go. Not a whole lot of questions yet, guys. You better get to asking some questions or we’re going to shut this down quick. Anyways, Dan’s up first, he says, “I had uploaded several images to a GMB for a customer back in 2016, will it hinder the rankings to take images … To take all of the images off of the GMB page, geotag them and then re-upload them? Perhaps I should just do a few at a time?”

Yeah, I don’t think it would be a problem. I would do a few at a time if I were to do it, Dan. I mean, again, maybe Marco has some additional information than I do. I don’t see why that would be a problem. If they’re just GMB images, you’re not taking post down and all that kind of stuff, then I don’t see why it would be a problem.

I wouldn’t want to take post down though, delete posts and then repost them again, I’d just leave the old posts up, if that makes sense. If it’s just images, taking it from the GMB photo section, like removing them, geo tagging them and then reuploading, I can’t see that as being an issue. But, I would still do it a handful at a time, dripped out of several days or whatever. What do you think, Marco?

Marco: Yeah, my question is why would you want to do that. Why not add new images.

Bradley: New images. Yeah, that’s a good point. That’s a very good point.

Marco: We teach how and I think Dan has Local GMB Pro. We teach you how to go in and get images anywhere you want and then you go and add all the information that you want and then you have new data. This is the whole point. You guys, I don’t know how much I can get into this, but you’re missing the whole point of what Local GMB Pros all about and what we’re doing with Local Lease Pro and Local PR Pro.

We’re trying to feed the fucking bot data and if you take stuff down and bring it back up, Google knows that the image existed already without the geo tagging. Why not give Google new images with new information, so not only is it looking at the front, it’s also looking at the back. I don’t understand the point, unless you can’t get images. If you can’t get images from your client, fire the client, or use the method that we teach in Local GMB Pro.

Always, for me, I always feed the bot more data. More data. It’s always about more data, fill in the variables, and get lots of love.

Bradley: Yeah, I like that. That’s just true. If you get more images … Dan, you should know, I think you’re part of Local GMB Pro, but … I think RYS members also had access to that webinar, on how to get additional images. There’s stuff like … Even if YouTube, you can just grab images from YouTube, I’ve done that a bunch. That’s what my VAs are currently doing right now because they’re a bit faster at it. Yeah, there’s a ton of ways to get additional images. I agree with Marco, his was definitely a better answer than mine. So, Marco’s the winner.

How Many GMBs Per Manager Account Is Acceptable?

Dan’s up again and he says, “How many GMBs per manager account is acceptable?” Well, it depends, Dan. It depends what you’re … What are the … What type of GMB assets are they? Are they real bonafide genuine businesses? If they’re genuine businesses, there’s no problem adding a manger and managing the genuine businesses from a manager account, right? They’re real businesses, there’s no problem with that at all.

Now, Marco and I have slightly differing opinions for lead gen assets, but personally for lead gen assets … Guys, let’s just be 100% clear here, let’s not sugarcoat this, when we’re doing lead gen GMB assets, they’re spammed, right? They’re spammed assets, that’s what they are. So, let’s be clear about that. So, when you’re doing lead gen stuff, then I don’t recommend using a manager account because that connects … That creates a footprint, right? You can connect to different locations.

So, what I’m doing currently now and I’ve tested … Because we’re scaling this lead gen asset building process so much right now, we’re testing all different types of configurations and I’ve got several out there right now where I’m doing location clusters, which is multiple locations where assets within a service area, like a radius. A 20 mile radius is typically what I’m doing right now.

So, I’ll secure many assets within that 20 mile radius. So, some of my location clusters are manged under a single manager account. In other words, each location is owned by a separate Google profile. So, it’s owned by a separate Google profile. But, it’s managed or there’s a manger account that connects those profiles, so a manager can access them. However, like I said, currently what I’ve kind of shifted to now, is doing everything under the owner account or at least logging it … Or, if I’m going to add a manager, only adding a manger long enough to make changes to the GMB asset and then removing that manger, so that the footprint doesn’t stay there.

In other words, for example, one of the things that we’re going to be doing is providing done for you GMB optimization services, so we can provide an MGYB, our store. It’s not available yet, but it’s coming very, very soon, guys. We’ve got VAs in training right now, to be able to provide you guys with full soup to nuts done for you GMB asset building. From verification, all the way through … Setup an optimization and scheduling GMB posts and scheduling them to republish to where you don’t have to do shit, except purchase it and then start making money from it once you monetize it, right.

So, one of the things that we’re going to have to do is whenever we create or somebody … Typically, you’re going to buy the asset from us, so we create it for you, but then the VAs that are going to optimizing it, will be … That asset will be … A manager will be added to that asset and then the VAs will optimize that profile, that GMB asset from the manager account. But, then as soon as we go to deliver it, we remove the manager account, right? That’s what the process is likely going to be and that way there’s the owner account and then you can add yourself as a manager if you’d like, but I would recommend using something like Browseo or Ghost Browser and always logging in and making changes to it from the primary owner account.

That way, it’s isolated to that one account. In other words, if you end up getting terminated from Google, for whatever reason … I’ve got a couple assets that have been terminated recently, that I don’t understand why they were terminated, but again, they’re spammed assets, so I’m not going to complain too much, I’m just going to move on and build another one, right? So, my point is if you end up catching some sort of penalty and it gets terminated, then it’s going to be isolated to one account and one account only. Okay? So, in the past, I’ve always said that it’s okay to add yourself as a manager to GMB assets and then manage … Make changes and things like that through the manager account.

But, that’s typically when for real businesses or maybe the occasional lead gen asset, I��ve never done it at scale, like we have been over the last few weeks. I’m really concerned because these are black hatted Google, GMB assets. I’m really worried about potential footprints. So, I’m trying to do as much as possible to reduce footprints. That means not using manager accounts when … If possible. If you’re using a good browser [inaudible 00:15:17] like Browseo or Ghost Browser, you should be able to accomplish that.

Now, Marco, I know you have a slightly different take on it, do you want to share yours?

Marco: Yeah, we have managers doing it all. The owner never, ever goes back in. That’s how we do it. It’s as if an agency were doing the work for that Google my business listing, which I think [crosstalk 00:15:40].

Bradley: So, you have different manager accounts, is what you’re saying?

Marco: Absolutely, yeah. Because we have a whole bunch of VAs.

Bradley: Gotcha.

Marco: Right? So, they all get spread out. We don’t have one BA that does … For example, what you always talk about, tree service, right? It’s not about a bunch of clustered tree service, GMBs that, that VA is doing. They’re out everywhere. They have a bunch of different niches that they handle. The team lead will spread them out. She’ll give, “Okay, you get three. You get three of these. You get three of these. You get three of these.” Then, she’ll come back and she’ll start adding them again until we get to a certain point and then we don’t add to those who will open a new account and that account we’ll manage the next set. They all won’t be in one niche. I think that’s just perfectly legitimate.

In fact, I haven’t seen any problems with any of the stuff that we’re doing getting suspended.

Bradley: Yeah, I haven’t had anything suspended through a manager account. So, again, I’ve had in the past, I’ve had a manager account suspended and it didn’t affect any of the GMB assets that it was managing because the asset was owned by a different Google profile. So, as far as I know, that’s still the case, but I don’t want to create a known footprint between assets. So, what Marco just said, Dan, just to clarify, is that he’s … Remember they’re making changes. His team is making changes to GMB assets through manager accounts, not through the owner accounts.

But, there’s not a footprint between the manager accounts and the assets because he’s randomly selecting different Gmail accounts to be added as managers and they manage more than just one vertical industry. Now, again, Marco’s got a team. Dan, I’m not sure if you have a team or not. So, that might not be the most efficient way for you, if you don’t have a team. If you have a team, then maybe it is. Also, it depends on again, like Marco said, if you’re dealing with multiple industries, that makes it easier to do that because each manager account can be managing multiple types of GMB assets. In other words, different types of industries, which would make sense because that acts very much like an agency that would be managing different client’s businesses, right?

So, what Marco’s saying is absolutely valid, I completely understand his method. Me, personally, in my business, I am targeting one industry. So, we’re targeting … For my business as tree service industry for contact media, it’s remodeling and general contractors. So, because of that, we’re targeting one industry, I don’t have that … Even if we had multiple manager accounts, every manager account will only be managing similar types of properties. So, that doesn’t work for my setup. Again, you’re going to have to customize the setup based upon what your specific business is currently and select which is best.

For me, for my business, because I’m targeting one industry, the best, so far … At least what I think to be the best method is doing everything through the primary owner account or if I’m going to add a manager, it’s only temporary, long enough for the manger to make whatever changes are going to the GMB and then that manager get removed, so that it’s not a long term manager connection, if that makes sense. Okay, so again, really take what Marcos said and take what I said, and determine which is the better fit for your business and then apply that method, okay. It’s a great question, by the way, Dan.

Marco: I’m also about to put it to the test because I’m about to close on a really deal, where we’re talking about thousands of GMBs and it’s in one vertical, one niche. I’m going to see which of the two methods works best for longevity.

Bradley: Yeah.

Marco: [crosstalk 00:19:42].

Bradley: That’s what we’re trying to do here. We’re trying to develop processes to scale all of this, which is really what local, excuse me, what [inaudible 00:19:51] is all about. So, we’re really trying to develop all of these processes and done for you services because we’re building out our own. Guys, we’re not just creating these services to sell them to you guys. We’re creating these services for our internal use. Since we’re going through all the trouble of creating all of these processes and training virtual assistants to do all this stuff, because we’re building our own businesses this way, we practice exactly what we preach guys.

Since we’re going through all this trouble anyways, it just makes sense to also … Because we’re going to have all the processes in place for training, for all of this, to be able to provide that to you guys, right? Because of that, we’re doing all of this testing right now. Remember, a lot of this is new at this level, at this level of volume that we’re doing. So, we’re trying to figure it out as we go and as soon as we get good information, we share it in the appropriate places. Like Local Lease Pro, Local GMB Pro, and then the Mastermind. Those are the three places where this stuff is getting shared, right?

Thoughts On Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s Testimony That Google Is Not Manually Intervening On Search Results

So, if you want to stay on top of it without having to do the testing yourself, then just come join us and … The Masterminds probably your best bet because that’s where the conversations are held on a daily basis. All right, Wayne’s up. He says, “Observation …” Yeah, this was funny. “Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai …” Or, Pikai, I can’t … Whatever. “Testified in front of the house judiciary committee and literally said, “Last year we served over three trillion searches, just as a fact, every single day, 15% of the searches Google seized, we have never seen them before.” That’s crazy.

So, this is working at scale. We don’t manually intervene any search results. Another SEO said, “Anyone else see the word manually in there? Duh, I would’ve preferred him to say, ‘We don’t intervene.’ Thought you slipped that one by, huh, Sundar? Maybe to that box of rocks they call Congress but not to us, SEOs.” That’s funny. I thought that was really interesting. So, thanks for sharing, Wayne.

Are There Any Laws Or Issues One Should Worry About When Running Ads To A Vacation Giveaway Offer That Is Free?

Frankie’s up, what’s up, Frankie? He’s coming to ask a lot of questions. He said, “Hey, guys. Happy holidays. I’ve got a new client who owns a travel vacation club in the travel niche.” Marco, this seems like might be up your alley. “In my city who’s giving me $1,000 with ad spend with Google Ads because they want results ASAP. Then, for each lead I bring in, they will be getting …” You will be getting paid, Frankie will be getting paid, “$200 to $250 regardless if they join the travel club or not.” There you go, that’s great Frankie.

So, they’re giving you the $1,000 for ad spend and they’re going to pay you with the leads that you generate with their money? Phew, that’s a really cool engagement, man. How’d you get that? How’d you manage that one? That’s great. I like that. “Since he is paying for the ad spend and I still get a nice chunk per lead, I agreed to do his deal at the potential … I agreed to do his deal as a potential … Here it’s huge for me.” Yes, I agree. Typically, in this industry, in order to generate the leads, the main way all the current marketing companies have done is to … They do a free giveaway offer for a vacation trip to Orlando or a free cruise in exchange for their contact info and having them attend a short sales presentation where they have the option to buy or not buy. But, they still get their promised free gift.

“My question is there any laws or issues I should worry about dealing with when running ads to a vacation giveaway offer that is free? Also, I know if you have used Answerconnect in the past. I know you have used Answerconnect in the past, so I wanted to ask in the service of Answerconnect make conversation outbound calls to the new leads and ask questions to qualify them, just as they would if they were inbound calls, thanks.”

Okay, so first thing, is there any potential issues with that? I don’t know. You’d have to contact Google. If you’re talking about setting up Google Ads, then I would just call Google Ads, formerly AdWords. Call Google Ads support and ask them that. They’ll tell. Guys, listen. I’ve always found Google Ads … The support line, to call them, always really helpful. I’m not kidding. Anytime I have a question that I’m unsure of, I just call Google Ads because I’m spending money with them, why not call them and just ask them so I don’t have to spend a bunch of money researching stuff.

Of course, I do a Google search first and if I can’t find a direct answer to my question within a few minutes, then I will call. They’re usually really responsive and they’re happy to help because you’re a paying advertiser. I found that to be the case, maybe other people have had different experiences, but I have always found it rather helpful. So, I would call in and ask. Do some Google research first if you can, Frankie.

It’s very funny, but there was a training course, I can’t remember the name of it, it was by Morrison, Anthony Morrison. He’s got a brother too. They do a bunch of stuff, but he’s got a training course, it’s rather old. A couple years old now. It was very much like what you’re talking about, but it was done on Facebook and that was giving away a free vacation, which cost him like $600 or $800. He could buy a three night or a two night, three day trip package at an Orlando resort or something like that, right? It would cost him like $800, $600 to $800 or something like that.

Then, he would do it on his Facebook page for that area, he would do a post and he would use Facebook ads on the page to promote this free giveaway for this free vacation giveaway, right? For two nights and three days at whatever this resort was. He did it in multiple locations and he would get thousands of people to opt-in for that free giveaway. On the thank you page, after the opt-in, there would just be AdSense. Straight up Google AdSense ads. Because so many thousands of people would click through and opt-in to be put on the list for the vacation giveaway and then land on the thank you page with the AdSense ads, which by the way you can put affiliate offers there and things too.

Then, he would end up making more money on just the AdSense clicks, then it cost to pay for the vacation, the giveaway, right? For the tickets of the giveaway. So, he ended up making money just on that giveaway alone and then he built a list of thousands of people that now he can email market to, right? Also, retarget or remarket through remarketing, right? So, it was huge because he was building a list with a free giveaway and making money on it. He as a training course about it, it’s all done on Facebook, but you could apply that same principle to a Google Ads campaign or apply Google Ads to that same type of campaign is what I’m saying.

Again, if it’s legal … Well, if it’s not a violation of Google Ads terms and service, but you can find that out either through some research or just calling Google and asking them. It’s a brilliant strategy. Brilliant strategy.

Marco: [crosstalk 00:26:35]. I just posted the URL for their policy regarding contests and giveaways.

Bradley: A no go?

Marco: No, yeah. He has to look through it. As long as the state where he is doing it doesn’t prohibit it, as long as it’s not prohibited in the U.S. or whatever, he can totally do it. [crosstalk 00:26:54]. Read through the URL, make sure that you understand it. Again, call Google. Frankie act real stupid. Look, “I want to spend some money with you, I’m not sure how? Can I do this?” If you act really stupid, they’re really going to help. I mean, seriously. They’re going to go out of their way to get you to spend your money with them.

Then, you go, after you’re done with them and take … Everything that they said, with a grain of salt. Because all you’re looking for is the clarification that yes, you can do it and what the conditions are. What the limitations are, that’s all you’re looking to get out of them. They’re going to try to talk you in to getting some of their reps to help you or whatever. You can always do it yourself. But, the whole point behind this is getting all those little nuggets out of the person that you’re talking to. The way that you do that is by acting really dumb.

Bradley: This is it. This is it. I was trying to think, I was sitting here the whole time you’re talking, I’m trying to think a name of that Facebook page, where that … Let’s see, was it this one or this one? It was Destin Florida and it was Anthony Morison’s course, I can’t remember. I think it’s this one. Yeah, this one here. Destinflorida.com.

Hernan: Yeah, Destin Florida. I don’t remember the name of the course either.

Bradley: Me neither.

Hernan: Yeah.

Bradley: But, this is it right here. Look, they’re still doing it. See, look, he’s still doing this, man. I don’t know why’d you ever quit. He’s crushing it with this guys. You can see, he’s still doing it. The course is still at least two years old. So, destinflorida.com, you can see the type of promotions he sets up. Live three day giveaway. Again, the training course is really good. We don’t have an affiliate link for it, I’d give it to you. But, honestly, it’s a good course. I actually set it up for my keto VIP project, which is the ketogenic diet thing that I was doing for a while, but I don’t do much of affiliate marketing, you guys. I just straight do local stuff. I certainly don’t like Facebook.

I know you can make a lot of money from Facebook, but I’m just not a fan of Facebook. So, I spent a lot of time setting up a similar giveaway with ketogenic diet stuff and I wasn’t nearly as successful with it and it’s probably just because I only attempted it once and then quit because I just don’t like Facebook. Like I said, this is a really good strategy, I think it’s something you should checkout for sure. It was a great question. As far as Answerconnect, it’s been several years since I’ve had Answerconnect do any outbound calls for me.

I used to do that with lead gen service providers, when I used to offer equity share or revenue, like when I would have a service provider where I would get a percentage of a closed job or of a closed sale. What I would do and I’ve mentioned this before, maybe I don’t have the hangouts, but I’ve done this with three different tree service contractors. Only one of them ended up being honest with me and not lying about jobs that closed and they said they didn’t get them.

One of the ways I found out that I had contractors lying to me and not giving me credit or paying me for jobs, for leads that came through my sites, was I had Answerconnect to … Answerconnect’s been my call center, like my call answering service since 2012, so I’ve been using them for many years. At the time, I would have Answerconnect go … I would provide the leads that came to a particular GMB location and I would provide the phone leads to Answerconnect and have them do an outbound customer survey, right?

That’s what it was disguised as a customer survey and they would call the leads that came through and say, “Hey, this is blah, blah, blah, tree service. We’re calling with a customer satisfaction survey. We understand that you didn’t use our services and we were just calling in order to improve our service, we’d like to ask you a couple questions as to what led you to make the decision to hire somebody else.” Something like that. It was worded something like that.

I provided them with a script. It was two to three questions. What would happen is the call, the person who would answer the phone, the lead that they were calling, right, would say, “Well, we made a decision to go … We just decided not to get the tree work done.” Or, “We went another company because of this …” Sometimes the answer would be, “Wait a minute, we did hire you guys to do the tree service. Go back and check your records.” Or, something like that. They would say, “No, we did hire you.” Then, I would call the contractor and say, “Okay, what about this lead here? Did you close this job?” When they would lie to me, I would show them proof, “Wait a minute, I had it confirmed that you did do the job, therefore, you’re fired. I’m going to send these leads somewhere else.”

That happened to me … I tried that with six different contractors and only one of them turned out to be honest. I don’t offer that anymore, unless I’ve developed a really good working relationship with somebody. But, at the time, Answerconnect was the service that did it. Now, I don’t know if they still do it, the easiest way to find out, Frankie, is just contact Answerconnect, right? Go to Answerconnect and go to contact us tab and ask them a question. You can call them. They’re an answering service, so call them, ask them, “Do you guys do outbound calls?” If they will, great. If not, just do a search on Google, right? Outbound calling, telemarketers, something like that and find a service and have them do the outbound calls. Okay? It’s that simple.

Answerconnect used to do that, but I don’t know if they still do because it’s been many years since I’ve done that. Okay? That’s a great … Man, that’s really sweet about this guy with giving you a $1,000 and … So, you’re going to spend his ad money and for every lead that you generate with his ad money, you’re going to get paid? That’s great, man. You should try to repeat that over and over again. So, congratulations.

How Do You Determine The Profit Margin Of A Potential Local Lead Gen Client?

Ken says, “Last week Bradley said …” That’s the webinar for Local Lease Pro Update on Monday, I’m sure Adam already dropped the link, so there you go, Ken. Will, what’s up Will he said, “Bradley, on LLP, you mentioned that …” Which is Local Lease Pro, guys. “You mentioned that one of the criteria for selecting a niche is to ensure that the service provider had good margins to afford your leads.” Which means good profits. “Question, how do you go about determining what profit margins that the client would have, as you explained with the carpet cleaning client you used as an example to drive your point?” Again, Will, ask, right.

For example, if you’re … If you’re looking for … Well, first of all, think about … You’ve got to think about the type of businesses … The carpet cleaning, they’re very, very small margins for the most part. So, it’s hard to justify marketing cost, especially lead generation cost for carpet cleaning companies. Like tree services, it’s almost all labor, right? It’s very rarely is there ever any material cost, other than fuel, right? Then, paying for labor for the workers and stuff like that. There’s very rarely any material cost. Remodeling leads, think about a kitchen remodel, right?

A kitchen remodel on the low end, an average kitchen remodel is about $30,000. Typically, most general contractors and remodeling contractors have about a 20% markup, right? So, if it’s a $30,000 job and again about the average is a 20% margin, markup, margin, right? Then, they’re looking at about a $6,000 profit margin, $24,000 would go out to materials and two subcontractors for labor, right? That’s about a $6,000 profit margin per lead there, so it’s easy or it’s much more easy to justify charging $100,000 a lead, when there’s $6,000 profit potential for that lead. Does that make sense?

So, again, think about it logically, Will, that’s first and foremost. Just think about the type of business that you may want to generate leads for. Think about what they charge for their product or service and think about what their cost may be. Try to guesstimate. You can try to do some simple Google searches, guys, and start looking for that kind of data. You will likely find it with a little bit of digging, just by Googling. As a last resort or if you’re not …

I personally, don’t like talking to people on the phone, for the most part, unless it’s something I purposely scheduled, unless I want to … You know what I mean? So, I don’t like to call people just out of the blue and ask questions. That is a way that you can do it. For example, you can call whatever business type in your local area that you’re considering doing lead gen services for and just ask them. Say, “Look, I’m a local marketing guy. I’m in the same area. I’m not calling you to sell you anything. I’m literally calling you to ask you some questions about your type of business because I’m considering getting into marketing for this type of business. I’d just like to know a little bit more about your industry. Would you be willing to answer a couple of questions.”

Send somebody a gift card for $20 or something like that to Starbucks or to a local restaurant and then call them after you know that it’s been delivered, right? Then, say, “Hey, I’m the guy that sent you the $20 gift card. Would you mind answering a couple questions about your business because I’m looking to get into marketing for that. I’m not trying to pitch you on anything, that’s why I sent you a $20 Starbucks gift card. Would you mind taking a few minutes?”

Butter them up first by giving them something. I’ve done that in the past, guys, and it works. So, again, it’s just a conversation starter and is it worth $20 to actually find out what the margins are for a particular business that you may be interested in generating leads for? Also, couldn’t they be the first person to buy leads from you, after you had that conversation and built some rapport with them? Think about it. So, there you go, Will. Like I said, a lot of the times, just think about it logically first. Do some research on Google. You’ll likely find the information you’re looking for, some sort of statistic sheets or something.

Lastly, you can always just send somebody a small gift. Or, you could just do a straight cold call, but if you want to butter them up first … Remember the law of reciprocity, when you give somebody something for nothing and you’re not trying to pitch them … You guys know, probably from prospecting and trying to sell marketing services, we’ve always talked about how we should lead with something free first and then you try to sell them something. What if you give them something free first and you don’t try to sell them anything. You just want to ask them a question.

You’ll probably close that sale because you’re not selling anything, you know what I mean? I would try that.

Marco: What I’ve also done, is I just have people call as a customer, just a typical customer to get a quote, just so that I have-

Bradley: That won’t reveal what the profit margin is for that.

Marco: No, no. It won’t reveal the profit margin, but it gives you an idea. If you have a quote and you know the general markup, which is 20% to 30% across the board, sometimes 10. It’s generally 20 to 30, then you know more or less where you are.

Should You Limit Your Service Area Within The Zip Code Where The GMB Is Secured?

Bradley: That’s true. So, Ted’s up. He says, “Local Lease Pro method question. I’m in a large city with a dozens zip codes … With a dozen zip codes within that city name. If I secure a GMB in one of those zip codes with the population of 10K, should I limit my service here to target just that zip code where the GMB is secure?”

Well, that’s up to you, it depends on really how you spaced out your assets. You don’t want there to be gaps or spaces between us, that’s if possible. So, that’s really determined … Again, this is more of a question that should be answered on Monday, not necessarily today, Ted, because we’re having the whole Local Lease Pro Update Webinar then. But, yeah, I would say it depends on how you have your other assets within that same service area radius spread out, right? Let’s say you have a 20 mile service area radius and you’ve got only four assets and they’re equally spaced out across those 24 or that 20 mile radius, then I would have the service area setup for each of those locations to where they all overlap in the middle slightly but that way the whole 20 mile service area is covered, by service area of each location, right?

So, each location will cover 25% in that particular example. So, that’s how I do it. If you’re doing a whole bunch of locations within a particular service area, then yeah, you can go hyper local, which is really what we’re teaching with Local Lease Pro anyways, is going hyper local and keeping your service area or radius very, very tight, or small. Something I typically have been doing is going about a 5 mile radius, guys. That’s only a 10 mile service area, right? 5 mile radius from the location itself, that’s typically what I’m doing. But, again, it depends on how many assets you have and how big your service area is and how you want to spread them out then.

We’ll talk more about that on Monday. Okay, there you go, Adam, thank you. Thank you. There you, Brian, it was just posted below you. “What time is the webinar on Monday?” It’s 4:00 PM, I believe Eastern, right? Hello?

Adam: Correct.

Bradley: Yeah. All right, Monday, September 17th, I believe, yeah, 4:00 PM>

Adam: I’ll put it on the page, it should’ve been on there.

Does A GMB Page Needs A GMB Site?

Bradley: Yeah. Okay, cool, thank you. Cool, we’re almost done. We can wrap it up either early or on time. GMB, Brian, okay. Says, “GMB, need to have GMB site in addition to the page, need to have a GMB site in addition to the page. I thought the GMB page was a site until I saw a link to a GMB site.” I think you’re talking about the maps page. No, a GMB website, Brian, is a web … Google gives you a free website now. It’s whatever sub domain you choose, .business.site, that’s a GMB website.

Okay, it’s just a one page site, but every time you create a GMB post, it gets … If you have a GMB website published, then it will also be converted into an internal page on the site. So, that’s a GMB website. Yes, if you’re doing GMB stuff, I say, setup the GMB website too. Use all the tools, all the features that Google gives you guys. That’s why we’re crushing it right now. We’re doing everything that Google is giving to us, where 95% of other businesses don’t even have a clue that it exists. That’s why we’re crushing it right now. That’s what Local GMB Pro is all about.

Just get in there and use all of the tools that Google gives within Google My Business and Google will promote your location, your asset, above everybody else because you’re using all the tools that nobody else is using. Does that make sense? Yes, Brian, use the GMB website if you can. Marco, do you want to comment on that?

Marco: No, you answered it perfectly. That’s all I use.

Bradley: Okay. I’m not even building WordPress websites anymore guys. I swear to God. The only time I’m going to build a WordPress website is if a client demands it. For lead gen assets, nope, don’t need them anymore. Why the hell would I want to go out and pay for a domain, setup hosting and deal with all the stupid WordPress shit that we have to deal with all the time, when I can setup lead gen assets all day long with a GMB single page website and I never have to do a damn thing to it, think about. So, again, if a client demands a website, which most clients will, then, that’s fine, I’ll work on their WordPress websites for them.

But, for my own stuff now, nope. No more WordPress sites, I’m done. At least for now, that may change.

Marco: For those of you who have worked out the page rank math that business.site is around a 5, 6 PR. That doesn’t mean that your sub domain is going to get a 5, 6. But, I mean, you’re attached not only to a Google property, but it’s like a 5, 6 PR. So, the quality score will be a … Not the quality score, but the ranking score will be just a touch lower than that, but it’s a really good indicator that it’s fucking powerful and you need to be there.

What Are Possible Reasons Why A Site Ranks Lower Than The Others Despite Having Better DR, UR And More Quality Backlinks Than Its Competitor?

Bradley: All right, so … Thank you, Marco. The next question, [Asheesh 00:43:01], I guess. I’m sorry if I mispronounced your name. That’s a metric question, Asheesh and I know it’s the first time you’ve posted a question for us, so I’m not going to slam you too hard, I promise. But, something we don’t care about here at Semantic Mastery is metrics. I could care less what [Moss 00:43:18] metrics say about a domain or a webpage. I could care less what Majestic SEO says or what an AH Ref says because we stopped tracking metrics over two years ago and I haven’t had any problems whatsoever.

I don’t give a shit what the metrics are from my competitors compared to the metrics that I work on or my client’s assets because we can still get results regardless of what those metrics say, period. We’ve proven that over and over again. So, again, I’m not picking on you. This is probably the first time you’ve asked a question here. This is really not the forum of Semantic Mastery is not the place to ask questions about metrics and why your higher metric property isn’t outranking somebody with lower metrics. Probably because they’re doing stuff that really speaks directly or feeds Googles … Feeds Google exactly what it wants and that’s independent, separate and apart from metrics.

Metrics are proprietary. So, Moss has its own algorithm that it tries to determine the strength of domains, pages, and things like that based upon what it things Google wants. And AH Ref has its own and Majestic has its own and everybody has their own metrics and they’re all proprietary. None of them work for Google. So, what I’m saying is because Google doesn’t give us page rank metrics anymore, which was the most accurate, then why bother with third-party metrics. I know some people out here live and die by third-party metrics. That’s fine.

If it’s working for you, that’s great. But, in your case Asheesh, you’re saying that your metrics are higher but it’s not ranking. So, apparently, it’s not just a metric thing that determines whether you rank or not, right? You’re saying that you have living proof right now that it’s not just a metric thing, which is why we don’t care about third-party metrics anymore. I don’t even track them, I don’t care. Does that make sense? Now, I know Marco has a strong opinion about this too.

Marco: Yeah, absolutely, because everything we do is meant to trigger the good parts, let’s call it, of the Google algorithm, freshness and proximity. Just everything that Google is looking for. They’re looking, as I said, for the ranking score, they’re looking … It’s not just pay join, pay join is part and I’ve been saying this for a couple of years. Pay join is part of the ranking score algorithm and that’s what we’re building up. As long as we’re working towards that, we can care less what Moss is doing or Majestic or anything else. It’s a guide, but theirs is a guess.

If you think of a whole bunch of people together and they got the math that Google gives you, because they don’t give you everything, and they made an educated guess, right? Some went for domain authority, some went for trust. Well, neither one has everything that Google has. The only one that has that Google has is Google and they’re not giving up the ghost. So, all we can do is … The Semantic Mastery, which is we test, we see what moves the needle and then we do some more of it.

We do some more of it to the point where we try to hammer it and try to break it and try to get Google to push back, so that we know when we come to you guys, we can tell you these are the boundaries as far as what you can do.

Hernan: Yeah, with the thresholders.

Marco: Yeah, absolutely. We need to know. We need to know what doesn’t work, so that we can give people what does work, right? That’s just obvious, that’s what everybody should be doing and if they’re not, then, Asheesh, avoid them. Go somewhere else.

Bradley: That’s it. Thank you, Marco. [inaudible 00:47:04], by the way, I don’t know if you saw that I commented on your question on the Syndication Academy update. Man, I really apologize, I missed your question. Yours was the first question, so I don’t know how I missed it. But, he was asking on that about can you get an RSS feed from Facebook. Yes, you can from Zapier, you can get an RSS feed from Zapier. So, yes you can.

In fact, I posted on that page the event page from earlier that I would try to squeeze that in from the update webinar we’re going to do next month in January, which is part two of this Syndication Academy Update Webinar that I held today. So, I’ll try to get to that.

Is There A Benefit Of Using Hashtag When Posting To GMB?

So, his question today or for here is there a benefit using a hashtag when posting to GMB? I have no idea. Marco, do you know? I still haven’t been using them, so I don’t know. Does it even take hashtags?

Marco: Yeah, you can use hashtags, I don’t know if they go … Actually, you can do jump links in posts. I just gave me something that I shouldn’t be giving away, but run with it.

Bradley: Yeah. I don’t know. Well, jump links are different from hashtags though. Again, I don’t know if hashtags if they hyperlink with a posted post, I don’t know or not, I haven’t tested that. I have no idea.

Marco: I don’t know if they would work. I don’t know if there’s a benefit. Everything that we’re doing does not include hashtags.

Bradley: Hashtags, yeah.

Marco: Maybe that’s something we should test, we should put that on our list of things to [crosstalk 00:48:31].

Bradley: I’m going ping Rob, test hashtags for GMB post.

Marco: Yeah. Tell him to contact Irene and then Irene will contact me.

Bradley: Whatever, he knows what I meant. Okay, yeah. That’s a good one, thanks for pointing that out, I haven’t even thought about that, we can test on that too. Yeah, the jump link thing, we will be talking about that in local Lease Pro or Local GMB Pro. Probably Local GMB Pro and then Mastermind guys in probably sometime next month, because I got part two of Syndication Academy Webinars very specifically about Q&A posts and Q&A schema, questions and answers schema. So, there’s something that we can apply with what Marco just leaked to that. We’ll talk about that once part two of Syndication Academy Update Webinar is complete. Okay. But, there’s something very powerful we can do with that.

What Are The Main Needle Movers For Boosting A GMB’s Ranking?

Edward says, “Hey, guys. Thanks for doing this.” I’ll plus one that. He says, “For a competitive search term, which are the main needle-movers for boosting GMBs ranking> Only a small team here.” Right now activity, Edward. Obviously, make sure it’s fully optimized, it’s well optimized. It’s got good content and then posting activity is probably the number one factor in my opinion for getting results. Getting traction with a GMB asset. So, guys use the data in the GMB assets to tell you what Google wants. The data in the GMB insights will tell you the best days to post.

Maybe you need to increase posting frequency on those days, right? It will also tell you the keywords that are … Or, the search queries that are bringing the most traffic to your site. For whatever reason, when you target those keywords in GMB posts, they tend to bring in more traffic. Also, by the way, you’ll probably notice, Edward, a lot of the keywords that are bringing traffic are near me keywords, near me queries, right? Or, variations nearby, close to me, in my area. Those types of queries. Target those, guys. You’re triggering the mobile algorithm that way. Google loves that shit.

So, go in there and collect … Start building a database in near me terms and all the variations thereof. Then, start targeting those in near me type posts. Again, we have post templates that are called near me post templates inside Local Lease Pro, as well as local GMB pro. Not going to give them to you here, but you can create your own too by the way. You don’t need my templates, you can sit down and just think about how to create your own near me templates. Post regularly and consistently and often, right? That’s the number one key.

Then, as far as getting ranked in the free pack, which isn’t really necessary to get results from GMB. It doesn’t even have to be in the three pack, guys, because you’re talking … Especially what I just mentioned with the mobile stuff, you don’t even need to be in three pack and you can still generate leads from GMB assets, we’ve proven that. If you want to be in the three pack because, let’s face it guys, that’s still something that we as us like to see, right? Local PR pro, I’m not shitting you.

Probably the quickest way I’ve ever seen, other than the other Local Lease Pro method, which is just researching locations and finding easy opportunities, other than that, the quickest way I’ve been able to get into the three pack is through press releases in the Local PR method, which is PR stacking and all of that. Again, that’s why Local Lease Pro guys is hands down … That is our number one front end product right now. It will be, as long as this opportunity exists, right? Local GMB Pro is the advanced training for GMB assets.

It’s for those assets that don’t push into the three pack and generate results right away. It’s for the more competitive areas. That’s what Local GMB Pro is, it’s about how to get the absolute power out of a GMB asset, whether it’s in a three pack of not, it makes no difference. Local PR pro, is the course that teaches you how to push that into a three pack in very, very quickly, whether it has a website or not. That’s why there’s three courses, guys. I’m telling you, they work hand-in-hand. Then, lastly to follow it all up, is RYS Academy and drive stacks, which is like … that’s super advanced stuff that just pushes a shit ton of power into whatever you want through Google properties, right?

So, it’s like those three courses are … They compound. They just build upon each other and then RYS is for … That’s just the icing on the cake and that’s for if you have … If you just want to push massive authority. Marco, you want to chat about that at all?

Marco: No, I think you nailed it on the head. They go hand in hand. Local PR Pro, Local GMB Pro, Local Lease Pro, each one acts differently. Then, when you want to … If you want it to stick, you throw drive stacks at it and then it’s like … Like I said, it’s never … I haven’t seen it this easy to make money in so long, that it’s not even funny. It’s just so easy. The main needle mover, as you said, it’s just activity, but it has to be the right kind of activity on that niche. Let me tell you right now, that each niche reacts differently, depending on the kind of posts that you do. I’ll give that away. I’m not going to give everything away, but I’ll tell you that.

How Much SEO Do You Do For GMB Sites?

Bradley: Jeff says, “How much SEO do you do for GMB sites? Also, how much can you throw at a GMB site without incurring the wrath of G?” Okay, as SEO, I just put well-optimized content on it, guys. The beautiful thing about a GMB website is you don’t … You cannot modify SEO elements of the page. You don’t put in header tags and you don’t … You just literally past content in. You can bold stuff and you can create links from within the content. You can’t add header tags. There’s nothing that you can modify on the elements of the page, it’s just text only, right? It’s all you can do.

All you need to do is have a well written piece of content for the GMB website and that’s it. That’s as far as you can go for on page, other than photos, which are incredibly important and GMB posts, which act as inner pages, if you have a GMB website. If you’re just doing GMB posts and you don’t have a GMB website, then you don’t … They don’t act as inner pages, they’re just posts. But, if you have a GMB website, then they’ll start as posts and then it’ll turn into an inner page of the website as well. So, you can silo those. I can’t get into how, but we’ll talk about that a little bit on Monday for the Local Lease Pro method.

Our auto-poster, the GMB auto-poster, that we have will also automate a siloing post, which is really, really cool. Okay, so you can do that. But, as far as the off page stuff, I don’t know because I haven’t done any massive spamming to the GMB websites yet because as I was just talking about in the previous question, the only exterior link building I have done thus far has been from press releases and drive stacks. I have not even thrown any spam link campaigns. We have a [inaudible 00:55:47], right? We have a link building manager who’s fabulous, he’s amazing at what he does.

I haven’t even started testing, sending link campaigns to a GMB asset yet, maybe Marco has, but all I’ve done is drive stacks and press releases. I just now starting to play with syndication networks and syndicating GMB posts because our auto-posts create an RSS feed from GMB posts. So, I’m starting to test with that a little bit too. I have almost … I said this with RYS stacks, but I’ve also tested just link building with Google sites, using a software from Peter Drew. I haven’t done enough testing there to determine whether that’s something I want to add in my standard operating procedure or not.

Yeah, again, since it’s a Google property, Marco can probably comment on this a little bit more, but I haven’t tested the limit on that. But, since it’s a Google property, will likely withstand anything you throw at it. What do you say, Marco?

Marco: I say that I haven’t needed to do anything, except what’s in the training so far. It’s so simple, you just go, you get an asset. You optimize it the way that it’s taught, you throw it up, it ranked or it doesn’t rank. If it doesn’t rank, you can still … The activity will create calls. The way that it’s setup will create calls, it’ll create activity. That activity, Google starts feeding on it because it starts seeing it. Activity is one of the major factors right now. I keep saying it, are activity, relevance, trust, and authority. Those are the things that will trump anything. I don’t care what it is, I don’t care what negative aspects there are. If you have activity, relevance, trust, and authority setup in whatever it is that you’re doing, it’s going to trump everything and Google is going to reward you over and over and over again.

What’s Stopping Someone From Creating Thousands Of Websites And GMBs and Renting Them Out?

Bradley: Yep, there you go. Kasey says, “What’s stopping someone from creating thousands of websites in GMBs and running them out?” Just time and any other major complications. Yeah, time, that’s it. Time and funding and having a team to be able to accomplish that. What do you think we’re in the process of doing right now? We’re building those teams so that we can do that kind of volume. That’s exactly what we’re doing, Kasey. That’s why I said, the opportunity while … Strike while the irons hot. Right now is the time to do it and that’s why I’ve been pushing for two months now, as far as I have been to try and build a … This in a scalable way. We’re training VAs. I’ve created … I spent weeks developing training videos and process stocks to be able to train virtual assistants how to do this entire process from start to finish.

The pofu live attendees are getting these updates from me in real time. They’re kind of helping me with this, right? They’re all using our scaling processes to build their businesses. So, we got all these people that are doing this right now and we’re teaching some of this in the Mastermind as it becomes refined and repeatable because it’s still kind of in its rough stage right now. The Mastermind as it becomes proven, I share this in the Mastermind as well.

That’s exactly why, I don’t know how long this opportunity is going to last. While it’s here, we’re going to try and secure as many as possible, right? So, Kasey, the only limitation that I know of right now is your bandwidth, and your funding, if you’re going to be hiring it out, right?

Marco: Definitely budget, unless he has his own method of securing GMB assets. 1,000 or 2,000 of them, if you get through us, we’re talking about quite a bit of money.

Bradley: Yeah. Yeah. All right, Wayne, last question and then we’re going to wrap it up. We’re right on time too, so that’s perfect. Wayne says, “Realized today that if a prospect in HVAC or plumbing can’t get into local service ads, then there’s a hell of an opportunity to do what you learned from Semantic Mastery to help prospect.” Yeah, that’s true. Thank you, Wayne. So, yeah, if you can’t … For example, guys, I know that in our Mastermind, somebody was talking about trying to get one of their clients into the local services ads section, which is what you’re seeing here, right? Apparently, it was funny. I think it was Muhammad.

So, anyways, one of our members in the Mastermind said, that there was real awkward conversation with the business owner, when they were trying to explain to them why they should be in local Google service ads. The business owner said that they couldn’t be because they couldn’t pass a background check. That’s funny because that’s going to happen, especially if you’re dealing with contractors. Trust me, there’s a lot of contractors out there that can’t pass background checks because of something in their past. I’m totally cool with working with those types of contractors, guys. People make mistakes and they can change.

But, if you can’t pass a background check because of something … You’ve got a skeleton in your closet, you can’t get into this section. So, what Wayne is saying is true. That doesn’t mean that they’re dead in the water, right. DITW, that means that they have … You just have to do other things, like Google Ads or like what we teach with maps, which is Local Lease Pro and Local PR Pro, right? Excuse me, Local GMB Pro. So, there you go. Thank you, Wayne, that’s a good point. All right, no other questions, right on time. Hot damn, that doesn’t happen very often. Whoo. Cool, and even Adam’s still here. Wow.

Adam: About to head out. Time to hit it before the sun goes down, go for a run. But, I want to remind everybody to show up for the webinar on Monday. If you’ve got any questions about this stuff, I know we talked about Local Lease Pro for a bit today, a lot of questions about it. Whether or not you’re a member, show up, go register, come hang out. This is a great way to close out 2018 and really start kicking ass in 2019.

Bradley: There you go. Also, we have a Mastermind seminar tomorrow, for those of you in the Mastermind. So, post your questions through the forum, the Google forum, guys, because we’ve got a lot to go through tomorrow. So, thanks everybody for hanging out. Thanks, Marco and Adam.

Marco: Bye everybody.

Bradley: See you.

  Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 214 this post was syndicated

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Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 214

Click on the video above to watch Episode 214 of the Semantic Mastery Hump Day Hangouts.

Full timestamps with topics and times can be found at the link above.

The latest upcoming free SEO Q&A Hump Day Hangout can be found at http://semanticmastery.com/humpday.

  Announcement

Adam: All right, welcome everybody to Hump Day Hangouts, episode 214. This time it actually is 214. I’m able to use my numbers this week, which is great. I almost wore my little Christmas hat, but I decided I gotta hold off for like another week.

We got a lot of good stuff. We got some news we want to share with you guys, and then jump into questions. But first, let’s say hi. We got Hernan and Bradley with us. So, let’s start on the left with Hernan. It looks like I can see half of his face. How’s it going man?

Hernan: Cool.

Adam: Oh, there we go.

Hernan: How about now? Is that better? I’m doing great, actually, I’m doing really well. So, yeah, we’re having a lot of good stuff coming out for ‘17 last year for the Mastermind. We have a bunch of good stuff for this month. I’m really, really excited for what’s coming.

Bradley: I’m going to get a seizure from your fricking Christmas tree in the background.

Hernan: [inaudible 00:00:49].

Adam: No, come on we want to see …

Bradley: Stop doing that.

Adam: Oh my God. Stop doing that right along. Bradley, what are you doing, are you still alive?

Bradley: I’m convulsing, that’s what I’m doing. No, I’m good man. I just finished the Syndication Academy Update Webinar, the first one in several months. Anyways, it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped because I’m having some slight issues with one of the things I wanted to share. Because of that, I’m going to schedule another one for next month. So, just be on the lookout for that guys.

Adam: Thanks.

Bradley: Marco made it.

Adam: Yeah. Hey, Marco, are you there?

Marco: No, I’m not.

Adam: Well, we’re just saying hello to everybody. If you’ve got a sec, if you want to say, “Hi, how you doing?”

Marco: Of course, man, what’s up? I’m excited man. End of the year, so it’s always good. Family time, just getting together. My wife’s a chef, so I’m lucky and I’m really looking forward to 2019. We have so much coming down the pipeline, it’s not even funny. It’s ridiculous. The kind of money that’s to be made right now. Dude, we’re back into 2003, 2004, 2005 when I started out.

It’s ridiculous the way you can just go out there and with almost nothing, make a bucket full of money.

Adam: Definitely. Now’s the time. Well, we’ll be speaking of that in a little bit more in just a minute. There’s some really good opportunities, but I want to say too, if you’re new to [inaudible 00:02:24], of course, thank you for watching. If you’re checking out the replay on YouTube down the road, come join us live for these. You can always come to the most up to date or the recent or upcoming one. That’s semanticmastery.com/hdquestions.

Again, if you’re new to Semantic Mastery, you’re wondering where to start, start with the battle plan, all right. That’s going to get you repeatable results. Covers a ton of different areas, different stuff you need. Then, once you’ve got that, we even encourage our Mastermind members, everyone to get the battle plan. Once you’re ready, take yourself a few notches, if you want to either start or grow your own local digital marketing agency, come join the Mastermind.

I can talk about Masterminds just in general, all day about how much good they do for you. We love ours, we’re very proud of it. We’ve got a bunch of kickass members and we’ve got a lot of really good stuff coming here very soon. We’re putting it to action right now. The [pofu 00:03:16] pass and we’re going to have a little bit of a special to do with that. We’re going to explain much more about that. Let you guys see a little bit behind the curtains here, more closer to Christmas, I guess, is the way to say that.

But, in the very near future, Bradley’s going to be doing a webinar on Monday, right?

Bradley: Yes, Monday’s the Local Lease Pro Update Webinar to share some additional things that I’ve discovered for that … Myself and my team have discovered over the last … Since we’ve launched the course, essentially. Several things that we’re going to talk about is location research is much more granular now than before, so I’m going to be sharing that process on that webinar. I can show you guys how to use … How to run that software that we use in that course to find easy opportunities for GMB assets.

It’s on a much more granular level and I’ll explain all of that during the webinar, which will be on Monday. I’m also going to be talking about some things to avoid, to prevent getting locations terminated for spam. There’s certain things that we’ve learned through all the very heavy custing that we’ve been doing the last couple of months. So, I want to talk about that.

So, you guys that aren’t part of Local Lease Pro, you’ll get information, like behind the scenes in some of the information, but it’s not going to be the whole picture, right? So, we’re going to make it public, everybody can come join because I want you guys to … This is our primary push right now in Semantic Mastery, we’ve really shifted directions entirely to building out legion assets right now because there’s so much opportunity, more so than I’ve ever seen, since I’ve started in digital marketing and local marketing, which was in 2010 and I mean that.

Marco was just saying, “This is like 2003, 4, of 5, or whatever.” Well, I wasn’t in digital marketing back in, so I don’t know what it was like. But, since 2010 when I got started, I’ve never seen this much opportunity. So, that’s why we’re pushing it so hard and that’s why I wanted to make this update webinar Monday public because I want you guys to see how excited and enthusiastic we are about this and also why.

When you see what I talk about, with the location research alone, if that doesn’t get you excited, then you’re in the wrong damn business is all I’m saying. So, again, we’re going to have that public on Monday. Adam screwed up and put 48 hours in the email that it’s going to be public, I didn’t want it to be public for that long, so fuck you Adam.

Adam: Merry Christmas.

Bradley: Yeah. Merry Christmas you prick. Yeah, I was really only going to keep it public for 24 hours, but since the emails went out, it’ll be public for 48 hours and then it’s getting lockdown and then it’s going to be in the members area only, along with the rest of the training. So, I highly recommend that you guys come check it out.

If you haven’t joined Local Lease Pro, we’re going to also offer a shit ton of bonuses and stuff like that. If you do want to join on Monday, but it’ll be kind of a limited time thing. So, make sure you attend and absorb as much information as you can.

Adam: Yeah. I want to encourage people too who aren’t in, obviously for the members be there … We’re going to have some good stuff. For non-members, we are doing Q&A, so if you want, come and learn, see what’s going on a little bit behind the scenes, like Bradley said, you can see really what’s going on here, how big the opportunity is.” But then we’ll also be answering questions.

We realized if you don’t have the whole picture, there’s something missing. You’re not sure how this would work for you, this, that, or the other thing, be there. Ask questions, get them answered, and then like Bradley said, we’ve got a hell of a Christmas deal for you and happy to make that available, but yeah, that replays going to be only available for a limited time and then if you’re not there live, obviously, you can’t get questions answered as in depth as if you’re there. Sign up, be there.

Bradley: Yep. So, what else we got?

Adam: One last quick one, just want to tell people the special offer is going away for MGYB, we’ve got a killer deal on the deep keyboard research. All right, this is one of the new additions to MGYB, it’s a kickass keyboard research done for your service and it’s 40% off and that’s going away later today. So, I’m going to pop the link up there, check it out.

If you’ve got any projects coming up, you’ve got clients coming on board. You’ve got websites, thinking about building apps, need content ideas, this is the place to do it and 40% is a hell of a chunk of change. Highly suggest you make use of this today before it goes away.

Bradley: Okay.

Adam: I think that’s it, are we ready to go?

Would It Hinder The Ranking Of A GMB Page If The Images Uploaded In 2016 Will Be Removed And Reupload Them For Geotagging?

Bradley: Yes, let me finish sending Rob a message real quick. All right, sorry. Let me grab the screen, we’ll get right into questions. All right, here we go. Not a whole lot of questions yet, guys. You better get to asking some questions or we’re going to shut this down quick. Anyways, Dan’s up first, he says, “I had uploaded several images to a GMB for a customer back in 2016, will it hinder the rankings to take images … To take all of the images off of the GMB page, geotag them and then re-upload them? Perhaps I should just do a few at a time?”

Yeah, I don’t think it would be a problem. I would do a few at a time if I were to do it, Dan. I mean, again, maybe Marco has some additional information than I do. I don’t see why that would be a problem. If they’re just GMB images, you’re not taking post down and all that kind of stuff, then I don’t see why it would be a problem.

I wouldn’t want to take post down though, delete posts and then repost them again, I’d just leave the old posts up, if that makes sense. If it’s just images, taking it from the GMB photo section, like removing them, geo tagging them and then reuploading, I can’t see that as being an issue. But, I would still do it a handful at a time, dripped out of several days or whatever. What do you think, Marco?

Marco: Yeah, my question is why would you want to do that. Why not add new images.

Bradley: New images. Yeah, that’s a good point. That’s a very good point.

Marco: We teach how and I think Dan has Local GMB Pro. We teach you how to go in and get images anywhere you want and then you go and add all the information that you want and then you have new data. This is the whole point. You guys, I don’t know how much I can get into this, but you’re missing the whole point of what Local GMB Pros all about and what we’re doing with Local Lease Pro and Local PR Pro.

We’re trying to feed the fucking bot data and if you take stuff down and bring it back up, Google knows that the image existed already without the geo tagging. Why not give Google new images with new information, so not only is it looking at the front, it’s also looking at the back. I don’t understand the point, unless you can’t get images. If you can’t get images from your client, fire the client, or use the method that we teach in Local GMB Pro.

Always, for me, I always feed the bot more data. More data. It’s always about more data, fill in the variables, and get lots of love.

Bradley: Yeah, I like that. That’s just true. If you get more images … Dan, you should know, I think you’re part of Local GMB Pro, but … I think RYS members also had access to that webinar, on how to get additional images. There’s stuff like … Even if YouTube, you can just grab images from YouTube, I’ve done that a bunch. That’s what my VAs are currently doing right now because they’re a bit faster at it. Yeah, there’s a ton of ways to get additional images. I agree with Marco, his was definitely a better answer than mine. So, Marco’s the winner.

How Many GMBs Per Manager Account Is Acceptable?

Dan’s up again and he says, “How many GMBs per manager account is acceptable?” Well, it depends, Dan. It depends what you’re … What are the … What type of GMB assets are they? Are they real bonafide genuine businesses? If they’re genuine businesses, there’s no problem adding a manger and managing the genuine businesses from a manager account, right? They’re real businesses, there’s no problem with that at all.

Now, Marco and I have slightly differing opinions for lead gen assets, but personally for lead gen assets … Guys, let’s just be 100% clear here, let’s not sugarcoat this, when we’re doing lead gen GMB assets, they’re spammed, right? They’re spammed assets, that’s what they are. So, let’s be clear about that. So, when you’re doing lead gen stuff, then I don’t recommend using a manager account because that connects … That creates a footprint, right? You can connect to different locations.

So, what I’m doing currently now and I’ve tested … Because we’re scaling this lead gen asset building process so much right now, we’re testing all different types of configurations and I’ve got several out there right now where I’m doing location clusters, which is multiple locations where assets within a service area, like a radius. A 20 mile radius is typically what I’m doing right now.

So, I’ll secure many assets within that 20 mile radius. So, some of my location clusters are manged under a single manager account. In other words, each location is owned by a separate Google profile. So, it’s owned by a separate Google profile. But, it’s managed or there’s a manger account that connects those profiles, so a manager can access them. However, like I said, currently what I’ve kind of shifted to now, is doing everything under the owner account or at least logging it … Or, if I’m going to add a manager, only adding a manger long enough to make changes to the GMB asset and then removing that manger, so that the footprint doesn’t stay there.

In other words, for example, one of the things that we’re going to be doing is providing done for you GMB optimization services, so we can provide an MGYB, our store. It’s not available yet, but it’s coming very, very soon, guys. We’ve got VAs in training right now, to be able to provide you guys with full soup to nuts done for you GMB asset building. From verification, all the way through … Setup an optimization and scheduling GMB posts and scheduling them to republish to where you don’t have to do shit, except purchase it and then start making money from it once you monetize it, right.

So, one of the things that we’re going to have to do is whenever we create or somebody … Typically, you’re going to buy the asset from us, so we create it for you, but then the VAs that are going to optimizing it, will be … That asset will be … A manager will be added to that asset and then the VAs will optimize that profile, that GMB asset from the manager account. But, then as soon as we go to deliver it, we remove the manager account, right? That’s what the process is likely going to be and that way there’s the owner account and then you can add yourself as a manager if you’d like, but I would recommend using something like Browseo or Ghost Browser and always logging in and making changes to it from the primary owner account.

That way, it’s isolated to that one account. In other words, if you end up getting terminated from Google, for whatever reason … I’ve got a couple assets that have been terminated recently, that I don’t understand why they were terminated, but again, they’re spammed assets, so I’m not going to complain too much, I’m just going to move on and build another one, right? So, my point is if you end up catching some sort of penalty and it gets terminated, then it’s going to be isolated to one account and one account only. Okay? So, in the past, I’ve always said that it’s okay to add yourself as a manager to GMB assets and then manage … Make changes and things like that through the manager account.

But, that’s typically when for real businesses or maybe the occasional lead gen asset, I’ve never done it at scale, like we have been over the last few weeks. I’m really concerned because these are black hatted Google, GMB assets. I’m really worried about potential footprints. So, I’m trying to do as much as possible to reduce footprints. That means not using manager accounts when … If possible. If you’re using a good browser [inaudible 00:15:17] like Browseo or Ghost Browser, you should be able to accomplish that.

Now, Marco, I know you have a slightly different take on it, do you want to share yours?

Marco: Yeah, we have managers doing it all. The owner never, ever goes back in. That’s how we do it. It’s as if an agency were doing the work for that Google my business listing, which I think [crosstalk 00:15:40].

Bradley: So, you have different manager accounts, is what you’re saying?

Marco: Absolutely, yeah. Because we have a whole bunch of VAs.

Bradley: Gotcha.

Marco: Right? So, they all get spread out. We don’t have one BA that does … For example, what you always talk about, tree service, right? It’s not about a bunch of clustered tree service, GMBs that, that VA is doing. They’re out everywhere. They have a bunch of different niches that they handle. The team lead will spread them out. She’ll give, “Okay, you get three. You get three of these. You get three of these. You get three of these.” Then, she’ll come back and she’ll start adding them again until we get to a certain point and then we don’t add to those who will open a new account and that account we’ll manage the next set. They all won’t be in one niche. I think that’s just perfectly legitimate.

In fact, I haven’t seen any problems with any of the stuff that we’re doing getting suspended.

Bradley: Yeah, I haven’t had anything suspended through a manager account. So, again, I’ve had in the past, I’ve had a manager account suspended and it didn’t affect any of the GMB assets that it was managing because the asset was owned by a different Google profile. So, as far as I know, that’s still the case, but I don’t want to create a known footprint between assets. So, what Marco just said, Dan, just to clarify, is that he’s … Remember they’re making changes. His team is making changes to GMB assets through manager accounts, not through the owner accounts.

But, there’s not a footprint between the manager accounts and the assets because he’s randomly selecting different Gmail accounts to be added as managers and they manage more than just one vertical industry. Now, again, Marco’s got a team. Dan, I’m not sure if you have a team or not. So, that might not be the most efficient way for you, if you don’t have a team. If you have a team, then maybe it is. Also, it depends on again, like Marco said, if you’re dealing with multiple industries, that makes it easier to do that because each manager account can be managing multiple types of GMB assets. In other words, different types of industries, which would make sense because that acts very much like an agency that would be managing different client’s businesses, right?

So, what Marco’s saying is absolutely valid, I completely understand his method. Me, personally, in my business, I am targeting one industry. So, we’re targeting … For my business as tree service industry for contact media, it’s remodeling and general contractors. So, because of that, we’re targeting one industry, I don’t have that … Even if we had multiple manager accounts, every manager account will only be managing similar types of properties. So, that doesn’t work for my setup. Again, you’re going to have to customize the setup based upon what your specific business is currently and select which is best.

For me, for my business, because I’m targeting one industry, the best, so far … At least what I think to be the best method is doing everything through the primary owner account or if I’m going to add a manager, it’s only temporary, long enough for the manger to make whatever changes are going to the GMB and then that manager get removed, so that it’s not a long term manager connection, if that makes sense. Okay, so again, really take what Marcos said and take what I said, and determine which is the better fit for your business and then apply that method, okay. It’s a great question, by the way, Dan.

Marco: I’m also about to put it to the test because I’m about to close on a really deal, where we’re talking about thousands of GMBs and it’s in one vertical, one niche. I’m going to see which of the two methods works best for longevity.

Bradley: Yeah.

Marco: [crosstalk 00:19:42].

Bradley: That’s what we’re trying to do here. We’re trying to develop processes to scale all of this, which is really what local, excuse me, what [inaudible 00:19:51] is all about. So, we’re really trying to develop all of these processes and done for you services because we’re building out our own. Guys, we’re not just creating these services to sell them to you guys. We’re creating these services for our internal use. Since we’re going through all the trouble of creating all of these processes and training virtual assistants to do all this stuff, because we’re building our own businesses this way, we practice exactly what we preach guys.

Since we’re going through all this trouble anyways, it just makes sense to also … Because we’re going to have all the processes in place for training, for all of this, to be able to provide that to you guys, right? Because of that, we’re doing all of this testing right now. Remember, a lot of this is new at this level, at this level of volume that we’re doing. So, we’re trying to figure it out as we go and as soon as we get good information, we share it in the appropriate places. Like Local Lease Pro, Local GMB Pro, and then the Mastermind. Those are the three places where this stuff is getting shared, right?

Thoughts On Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s Testimony That Google Is Not Manually Intervening On Search Results

So, if you want to stay on top of it without having to do the testing yourself, then just come join us and … The Masterminds probably your best bet because that’s where the conversations are held on a daily basis. All right, Wayne’s up. He says, “Observation …” Yeah, this was funny. “Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai …” Or, Pikai, I can’t … Whatever. “Testified in front of the house judiciary committee and literally said, “Last year we served over three trillion searches, just as a fact, every single day, 15% of the searches Google seized, we have never seen them before.” That’s crazy.

So, this is working at scale. We don’t manually intervene any search results. Another SEO said, “Anyone else see the word manually in there? Duh, I would’ve preferred him to say, ‘We don’t intervene.’ Thought you slipped that one by, huh, Sundar? Maybe to that box of rocks they call Congress but not to us, SEOs.” That’s funny. I thought that was really interesting. So, thanks for sharing, Wayne.

Are There Any Laws Or Issues One Should Worry About When Running Ads To A Vacation Giveaway Offer That Is Free?

Frankie’s up, what’s up, Frankie? He’s coming to ask a lot of questions. He said, “Hey, guys. Happy holidays. I’ve got a new client who owns a travel vacation club in the travel niche.” Marco, this seems like might be up your alley. “In my city who’s giving me $1,000 with ad spend with Google Ads because they want results ASAP. Then, for each lead I bring in, they will be getting …” You will be getting paid, Frankie will be getting paid, “$200 to $250 regardless if they join the travel club or not.” There you go, that’s great Frankie.

So, they’re giving you the $1,000 for ad spend and they’re going to pay you with the leads that you generate with their money? Phew, that’s a really cool engagement, man. How’d you get that? How’d you manage that one? That’s great. I like that. “Since he is paying for the ad spend and I still get a nice chunk per lead, I agreed to do his deal at the potential … I agreed to do his deal as a potential … Here it’s huge for me.” Yes, I agree. Typically, in this industry, in order to generate the leads, the main way all the current marketing companies have done is to … They do a free giveaway offer for a vacation trip to Orlando or a free cruise in exchange for their contact info and having them attend a short sales presentation where they have the option to buy or not buy. But, they still get their promised free gift.

“My question is there any laws or issues I should worry about dealing with when running ads to a vacation giveaway offer that is free? Also, I know if you have used Answerconnect in the past. I know you have used Answerconnect in the past, so I wanted to ask in the service of Answerconnect make conversation outbound calls to the new leads and ask questions to qualify them, just as they would if they were inbound calls, thanks.”

Okay, so first thing, is there any potential issues with that? I don’t know. You’d have to contact Google. If you’re talking about setting up Google Ads, then I would just call Google Ads, formerly AdWords. Call Google Ads support and ask them that. They’ll tell. Guys, listen. I’ve always found Google Ads … The support line, to call them, always really helpful. I’m not kidding. Anytime I have a question that I’m unsure of, I just call Google Ads because I’m spending money with them, why not call them and just ask them so I don’t have to spend a bunch of money researching stuff.

Of course, I do a Google search first and if I can’t find a direct answer to my question within a few minutes, then I will call. They’re usually really responsive and they’re happy to help because you’re a paying advertiser. I found that to be the case, maybe other people have had different experiences, but I have always found it rather helpful. So, I would call in and ask. Do some Google research first if you can, Frankie.

It’s very funny, but there was a training course, I can’t remember the name of it, it was by Morrison, Anthony Morrison. He’s got a brother too. They do a bunch of stuff, but he’s got a training course, it’s rather old. A couple years old now. It was very much like what you’re talking about, but it was done on Facebook and that was giving away a free vacation, which cost him like $600 or $800. He could buy a three night or a two night, three day trip package at an Orlando resort or something like that, right? It would cost him like $800, $600 to $800 or something like that.

Then, he would do it on his Facebook page for that area, he would do a post and he would use Facebook ads on the page to promote this free giveaway for this free vacation giveaway, right? For two nights and three days at whatever this resort was. He did it in multiple locations and he would get thousands of people to opt-in for that free giveaway. On the thank you page, after the opt-in, there would just be AdSense. Straight up Google AdSense ads. Because so many thousands of people would click through and opt-in to be put on the list for the vacation giveaway and then land on the thank you page with the AdSense ads, which by the way you can put affiliate offers there and things too.

Then, he would end up making more money on just the AdSense clicks, then it cost to pay for the vacation, the giveaway, right? For the tickets of the giveaway. So, he ended up making money just on that giveaway alone and then he built a list of thousands of people that now he can email market to, right? Also, retarget or remarket through remarketing, right? So, it was huge because he was building a list with a free giveaway and making money on it. He as a training course about it, it’s all done on Facebook, but you could apply that same principle to a Google Ads campaign or apply Google Ads to that same type of campaign is what I’m saying.

Again, if it’s legal … Well, if it’s not a violation of Google Ads terms and service, but you can find that out either through some research or just calling Google and asking them. It’s a brilliant strategy. Brilliant strategy.

Marco: [crosstalk 00:26:35]. I just posted the URL for their policy regarding contests and giveaways.

Bradley: A no go?

Marco: No, yeah. He has to look through it. As long as the state where he is doing it doesn’t prohibit it, as long as it’s not prohibited in the U.S. or whatever, he can totally do it. [crosstalk 00:26:54]. Read through the URL, make sure that you understand it. Again, call Google. Frankie act real stupid. Look, “I want to spend some money with you, I’m not sure how? Can I do this?” If you act really stupid, they’re really going to help. I mean, seriously. They’re going to go out of their way to get you to spend your money with them.

Then, you go, after you’re done with them and take … Everything that they said, with a grain of salt. Because all you’re looking for is the clarification that yes, you can do it and what the conditions are. What the limitations are, that’s all you’re looking to get out of them. They’re going to try to talk you in to getting some of their reps to help you or whatever. You can always do it yourself. But, the whole point behind this is getting all those little nuggets out of the person that you’re talking to. The way that you do that is by acting really dumb.

Bradley: This is it. This is it. I was trying to think, I was sitting here the whole time you’re talking, I’m trying to think a name of that Facebook page, where that … Let’s see, was it this one or this one? It was Destin Florida and it was Anthony Morison’s course, I can’t remember. I think it’s this one. Yeah, this one here. Destinflorida.com.

Hernan: Yeah, Destin Florida. I don’t remember the name of the course either.

Bradley: Me neither.

Hernan: Yeah.

Bradley: But, this is it right here. Look, they’re still doing it. See, look, he’s still doing this, man. I don’t know why’d you ever quit. He’s crushing it with this guys. You can see, he’s still doing it. The course is still at least two years old. So, destinflorida.com, you can see the type of promotions he sets up. Live three day giveaway. Again, the training course is really good. We don’t have an affiliate link for it, I’d give it to you. But, honestly, it’s a good course. I actually set it up for my keto VIP project, which is the ketogenic diet thing that I was doing for a while, but I don’t do much of affiliate marketing, you guys. I just straight do local stuff. I certainly don’t like Facebook.

I know you can make a lot of money from Facebook, but I’m just not a fan of Facebook. So, I spent a lot of time setting up a similar giveaway with ketogenic diet stuff and I wasn’t nearly as successful with it and it’s probably just because I only attempted it once and then quit because I just don’t like Facebook. Like I said, this is a really good strategy, I think it’s something you should checkout for sure. It was a great question. As far as Answerconnect, it’s been several years since I’ve had Answerconnect do any outbound calls for me.

I used to do that with lead gen service providers, when I used to offer equity share or revenue, like when I would have a service provider where I would get a percentage of a closed job or of a closed sale. What I would do and I’ve mentioned this before, maybe I don’t have the hangouts, but I’ve done this with three different tree service contractors. Only one of them ended up being honest with me and not lying about jobs that closed and they said they didn’t get them.

One of the ways I found out that I had contractors lying to me and not giving me credit or paying me for jobs, for leads that came through my sites, was I had Answerconnect to … Answerconnect’s been my call center, like my call answering service since 2012, so I’ve been using them for many years. At the time, I would have Answerconnect go … I would provide the leads that came to a particular GMB location and I would provide the phone leads to Answerconnect and have them do an outbound customer survey, right?

That’s what it was disguised as a customer survey and they would call the leads that came through and say, “Hey, this is blah, blah, blah, tree service. We’re calling with a customer satisfaction survey. We understand that you didn’t use our services and we were just calling in order to improve our service, we’d like to ask you a couple questions as to what led you to make the decision to hire somebody else.” Something like that. It was worded something like that.

I provided them with a script. It was two to three questions. What would happen is the call, the person who would answer the phone, the lead that they were calling, right, would say, “Well, we made a decision to go … We just decided not to get the tree work done.” Or, “We went another company because of this …” Sometimes the answer would be, “Wait a minute, we did hire you guys to do the tree service. Go back and check your records.” Or, something like that. They would say, “No, we did hire you.” Then, I would call the contractor and say, “Okay, what about this lead here? Did you close this job?” When they would lie to me, I would show them proof, “Wait a minute, I had it confirmed that you did do the job, therefore, you’re fired. I’m going to send these leads somewhere else.”

That happened to me … I tried that with six different contractors and only one of them turned out to be honest. I don’t offer that anymore, unless I’ve developed a really good working relationship with somebody. But, at the time, Answerconnect was the service that did it. Now, I don’t know if they still do it, the easiest way to find out, Frankie, is just contact Answerconnect, right? Go to Answerconnect and go to contact us tab and ask them a question. You can call them. They’re an answering service, so call them, ask them, “Do you guys do outbound calls?” If they will, great. If not, just do a search on Google, right? Outbound calling, telemarketers, something like that and find a service and have them do the outbound calls. Okay? It’s that simple.

Answerconnect used to do that, but I don’t know if they still do because it’s been many years since I’ve done that. Okay? That’s a great … Man, that’s really sweet about this guy with giving you a $1,000 and … So, you’re going to spend his ad money and for every lead that you generate with his ad money, you’re going to get paid? That’s great, man. You should try to repeat that over and over again. So, congratulations.

How Do You Determine The Profit Margin Of A Potential Local Lead Gen Client?

Ken says, “Last week Bradley said …” That’s the webinar for Local Lease Pro Update on Monday, I’m sure Adam already dropped the link, so there you go, Ken. Will, what’s up Will he said, “Bradley, on LLP, you mentioned that …” Which is Local Lease Pro, guys. “You mentioned that one of the criteria for selecting a niche is to ensure that the service provider had good margins to afford your leads.” Which means good profits. “Question, how do you go about determining what profit margins that the client would have, as you explained with the carpet cleaning client you used as an example to drive your point?” Again, Will, ask, right.

For example, if you’re … If you’re looking for … Well, first of all, think about … You’ve got to think about the type of businesses … The carpet cleaning, they’re very, very small margins for the most part. So, it’s hard to justify marketing cost, especially lead generation cost for carpet cleaning companies. Like tree services, it’s almost all labor, right? It’s very rarely is there ever any material cost, other than fuel, right? Then, paying for labor for the workers and stuff like that. There’s very rarely any material cost. Remodeling leads, think about a kitchen remodel, right?

A kitchen remodel on the low end, an average kitchen remodel is about $30,000. Typically, most general contractors and remodeling contractors have about a 20% markup, right? So, if it’s a $30,000 job and again about the average is a 20% margin, markup, margin, right? Then, they’re looking at about a $6,000 profit margin, $24,000 would go out to materials and two subcontractors for labor, right? That’s about a $6,000 profit margin per lead there, so it’s easy or it’s much more easy to justify charging $100,000 a lead, when there’s $6,000 profit potential for that lead. Does that make sense?

So, again, think about it logically, Will, that’s first and foremost. Just think about the type of business that you may want to generate leads for. Think about what they charge for their product or service and think about what their cost may be. Try to guesstimate. You can try to do some simple Google searches, guys, and start looking for that kind of data. You will likely find it with a little bit of digging, just by Googling. As a last resort or if you’re not …

I personally, don’t like talking to people on the phone, for the most part, unless it’s something I purposely scheduled, unless I want to … You know what I mean? So, I don’t like to call people just out of the blue and ask questions. That is a way that you can do it. For example, you can call whatever business type in your local area that you’re considering doing lead gen services for and just ask them. Say, “Look, I’m a local marketing guy. I’m in the same area. I’m not calling you to sell you anything. I’m literally calling you to ask you some questions about your type of business because I’m considering getting into marketing for this type of business. I’d just like to know a little bit more about your industry. Would you be willing to answer a couple of questions.”

Send somebody a gift card for $20 or something like that to Starbucks or to a local restaurant and then call them after you know that it’s been delivered, right? Then, say, “Hey, I’m the guy that sent you the $20 gift card. Would you mind answering a couple questions about your business because I’m looking to get into marketing for that. I’m not trying to pitch you on anything, that’s why I sent you a $20 Starbucks gift card. Would you mind taking a few minutes?”

Butter them up first by giving them something. I’ve done that in the past, guys, and it works. So, again, it’s just a conversation starter and is it worth $20 to actually find out what the margins are for a particular business that you may be interested in generating leads for? Also, couldn’t they be the first person to buy leads from you, after you had that conversation and built some rapport with them? Think about it. So, there you go, Will. Like I said, a lot of the times, just think about it logically first. Do some research on Google. You’ll likely find the information you’re looking for, some sort of statistic sheets or something.

Lastly, you can always just send somebody a small gift. Or, you could just do a straight cold call, but if you want to butter them up first … Remember the law of reciprocity, when you give somebody something for nothing and you’re not trying to pitch them … You guys know, probably from prospecting and trying to sell marketing services, we’ve always talked about how we should lead with something free first and then you try to sell them something. What if you give them something free first and you don’t try to sell them anything. You just want to ask them a question.

You’ll probably close that sale because you’re not selling anything, you know what I mean? I would try that.

Marco: What I’ve also done, is I just have people call as a customer, just a typical customer to get a quote, just so that I have-

Bradley: That won’t reveal what the profit margin is for that.

Marco: No, no. It won’t reveal the profit margin, but it gives you an idea. If you have a quote and you know the general markup, which is 20% to 30% across the board, sometimes 10. It’s generally 20 to 30, then you know more or less where you are.

Should You Limit Your Service Area Within The Zip Code Where The GMB Is Secured?

Bradley: That’s true. So, Ted’s up. He says, “Local Lease Pro method question. I’m in a large city with a dozens zip codes … With a dozen zip codes within that city name. If I secure a GMB in one of those zip codes with the population of 10K, should I limit my service here to target just that zip code where the GMB is secure?”

Well, that’s up to you, it depends on really how you spaced out your assets. You don’t want there to be gaps or spaces between us, that’s if possible. So, that’s really determined … Again, this is more of a question that should be answered on Monday, not necessarily today, Ted, because we’re having the whole Local Lease Pro Update Webinar then. But, yeah, I would say it depends on how you have your other assets within that same service area radius spread out, right? Let’s say you have a 20 mile service area radius and you’ve got only four assets and they’re equally spaced out across those 24 or that 20 mile radius, then I would have the service area setup for each of those locations to where they all overlap in the middle slightly but that way the whole 20 mile service area is covered, by service area of each location, right?

So, each location will cover 25% in that particular example. So, that’s how I do it. If you’re doing a whole bunch of locations within a particular service area, then yeah, you can go hyper local, which is really what we’re teaching with Local Lease Pro anyways, is going hyper local and keeping your service area or radius very, very tight, or small. Something I typically have been doing is going about a 5 mile radius, guys. That’s only a 10 mile service area, right? 5 mile radius from the location itself, that’s typically what I’m doing. But, again, it depends on how many assets you have and how big your service area is and how you want to spread them out then.

We’ll talk more about that on Monday. Okay, there you go, Adam, thank you. Thank you. There you, Brian, it was just posted below you. “What time is the webinar on Monday?” It’s 4:00 PM, I believe Eastern, right? Hello?

Adam: Correct.

Bradley: Yeah. All right, Monday, September 17th, I believe, yeah, 4:00 PM>

Adam: I’ll put it on the page, it should’ve been on there.

Does A GMB Page Needs A GMB Site?

Bradley: Yeah. Okay, cool, thank you. Cool, we’re almost done. We can wrap it up either early or on time. GMB, Brian, okay. Says, “GMB, need to have GMB site in addition to the page, need to have a GMB site in addition to the page. I thought the GMB page was a site until I saw a link to a GMB site.” I think you’re talking about the maps page. No, a GMB website, Brian, is a web … Google gives you a free website now. It’s whatever sub domain you choose, .business.site, that’s a GMB website.

Okay, it’s just a one page site, but every time you create a GMB post, it gets … If you have a GMB website published, then it will also be converted into an internal page on the site. So, that’s a GMB website. Yes, if you’re doing GMB stuff, I say, setup the GMB website too. Use all the tools, all the features that Google gives you guys. That’s why we’re crushing it right now. We’re doing everything that Google is giving to us, where 95% of other businesses don’t even have a clue that it exists. That’s why we’re crushing it right now. That’s what Local GMB Pro is all about.

Just get in there and use all of the tools that Google gives within Google My Business and Google will promote your location, your asset, above everybody else because you’re using all the tools that nobody else is using. Does that make sense? Yes, Brian, use the GMB website if you can. Marco, do you want to comment on that?

Marco: No, you answered it perfectly. That’s all I use.

Bradley: Okay. I’m not even building WordPress websites anymore guys. I swear to God. The only time I’m going to build a WordPress website is if a client demands it. For lead gen assets, nope, don’t need them anymore. Why the hell would I want to go out and pay for a domain, setup hosting and deal with all the stupid WordPress shit that we have to deal with all the time, when I can setup lead gen assets all day long with a GMB single page website and I never have to do a damn thing to it, think about. So, again, if a client demands a website, which most clients will, then, that’s fine, I’ll work on their WordPress websites for them.

But, for my own stuff now, nope. No more WordPress sites, I’m done. At least for now, that may change.

Marco: For those of you who have worked out the page rank math that business.site is around a 5, 6 PR. That doesn’t mean that your sub domain is going to get a 5, 6. But, I mean, you’re attached not only to a Google property, but it’s like a 5, 6 PR. So, the quality score will be a … Not the quality score, but the ranking score will be just a touch lower than that, but it’s a really good indicator that it’s fucking powerful and you need to be there.

What Are Possible Reasons Why A Site Ranks Lower Than The Others Despite Having Better DR, UR And More Quality Backlinks Than Its Competitor?

Bradley: All right, so … Thank you, Marco. The next question, [Asheesh 00:43:01], I guess. I’m sorry if I mispronounced your name. That’s a metric question, Asheesh and I know it’s the first time you’ve posted a question for us, so I’m not going to slam you too hard, I promise. But, something we don’t care about here at Semantic Mastery is metrics. I could care less what [Moss 00:43:18] metrics say about a domain or a webpage. I could care less what Majestic SEO says or what an AH Ref says because we stopped tracking metrics over two years ago and I haven’t had any problems whatsoever.

I don’t give a shit what the metrics are from my competitors compared to the metrics that I work on or my client’s assets because we can still get results regardless of what those metrics say, period. We’ve proven that over and over again. So, again, I’m not picking on you. This is probably the first time you’ve asked a question here. This is really not the forum of Semantic Mastery is not the place to ask questions about metrics and why your higher metric property isn’t outranking somebody with lower metrics. Probably because they’re doing stuff that really speaks directly or feeds Googles … Feeds Google exactly what it wants and that’s independent, separate and apart from metrics.

Metrics are proprietary. So, Moss has its own algorithm that it tries to determine the strength of domains, pages, and things like that based upon what it things Google wants. And AH Ref has its own and Majestic has its own and everybody has their own metrics and they’re all proprietary. None of them work for Google. So, what I’m saying is because Google doesn’t give us page rank metrics anymore, which was the most accurate, then why bother with third-party metrics. I know some people out here live and die by third-party metrics. That’s fine.

If it’s working for you, that’s great. But, in your case Asheesh, you’re saying that your metrics are higher but it’s not ranking. So, apparently, it’s not just a metric thing that determines whether you rank or not, right? You’re saying that you have living proof right now that it’s not just a metric thing, which is why we don’t care about third-party metrics anymore. I don’t even track them, I don’t care. Does that make sense? Now, I know Marco has a strong opinion about this too.

Marco: Yeah, absolutely, because everything we do is meant to trigger the good parts, let’s call it, of the Google algorithm, freshness and proximity. Just everything that Google is looking for. They’re looking, as I said, for the ranking score, they’re looking … It’s not just pay join, pay join is part and I’ve been saying this for a couple of years. Pay join is part of the ranking score algorithm and that’s what we’re building up. As long as we’re working towards that, we can care less what Moss is doing or Majestic or anything else. It’s a guide, but theirs is a guess.

If you think of a whole bunch of people together and they got the math that Google gives you, because they don’t give you everything, and they made an educated guess, right? Some went for domain authority, some went for trust. Well, neither one has everything that Google has. The only one that has that Google has is Google and they’re not giving up the ghost. So, all we can do is … The Semantic Mastery, which is we test, we see what moves the needle and then we do some more of it.

We do some more of it to the point where we try to hammer it and try to break it and try to get Google to push back, so that we know when we come to you guys, we can tell you these are the boundaries as far as what you can do.

Hernan: Yeah, with the thresholders.

Marco: Yeah, absolutely. We need to know. We need to know what doesn’t work, so that we can give people what does work, right? That’s just obvious, that’s what everybody should be doing and if they’re not, then, Asheesh, avoid them. Go somewhere else.

Bradley: That’s it. Thank you, Marco. [inaudible 00:47:04], by the way, I don’t know if you saw that I commented on your question on the Syndication Academy update. Man, I really apologize, I missed your question. Yours was the first question, so I don’t know how I missed it. But, he was asking on that about can you get an RSS feed from Facebook. Yes, you can from Zapier, you can get an RSS feed from Zapier. So, yes you can.

In fact, I posted on that page the event page from earlier that I would try to squeeze that in from the update webinar we’re going to do next month in January, which is part two of this Syndication Academy Update Webinar that I held today. So, I’ll try to get to that.

Is There A Benefit Of Using Hashtag When Posting To GMB?

So, his question today or for here is there a benefit using a hashtag when posting to GMB? I have no idea. Marco, do you know? I still haven’t been using them, so I don’t know. Does it even take hashtags?

Marco: Yeah, you can use hashtags, I don’t know if they go … Actually, you can do jump links in posts. I just gave me something that I shouldn’t be giving away, but run with it.

Bradley: Yeah. I don’t know. Well, jump links are different from hashtags though. Again, I don’t know if hashtags if they hyperlink with a posted post, I don’t know or not, I haven’t tested that. I have no idea.

Marco: I don’t know if they would work. I don’t know if there’s a benefit. Everything that we’re doing does not include hashtags.

Bradley: Hashtags, yeah.

Marco: Maybe that’s something we should test, we should put that on our list of things to [crosstalk 00:48:31].

Bradley: I’m going ping Rob, test hashtags for GMB post.

Marco: Yeah. Tell him to contact Irene and then Irene will contact me.

Bradley: Whatever, he knows what I meant. Okay, yeah. That’s a good one, thanks for pointing that out, I haven’t even thought about that, we can test on that too. Yeah, the jump link thing, we will be talking about that in local Lease Pro or Local GMB Pro. Probably Local GMB Pro and then Mastermind guys in probably sometime next month, because I got part two of Syndication Academy Webinars very specifically about Q&A posts and Q&A schema, questions and answers schema. So, there’s something that we can apply with what Marco just leaked to that. We’ll talk about that once part two of Syndication Academy Update Webinar is complete. Okay. But, there’s something very powerful we can do with that.

What Are The Main Needle Movers For Boosting A GMB’s Ranking?

Edward says, “Hey, guys. Thanks for doing this.” I’ll plus one that. He says, “For a competitive search term, which are the main needle-movers for boosting GMBs ranking> Only a small team here.” Right now activity, Edward. Obviously, make sure it’s fully optimized, it’s well optimized. It’s got good content and then posting activity is probably the number one factor in my opinion for getting results. Getting traction with a GMB asset. So, guys use the data in the GMB assets to tell you what Google wants. The data in the GMB insights will tell you the best days to post.

Maybe you need to increase posting frequency on those days, right? It will also tell you the keywords that are … Or, the search queries that are bringing the most traffic to your site. For whatever reason, when you target those keywords in GMB posts, they tend to bring in more traffic. Also, by the way, you’ll probably notice, Edward, a lot of the keywords that are bringing traffic are near me keywords, near me queries, right? Or, variations nearby, close to me, in my area. Those types of queries. Target those, guys. You’re triggering the mobile algorithm that way. Google loves that shit.

So, go in there and collect … Start building a database in near me terms and all the variations thereof. Then, start targeting those in near me type posts. Again, we have post templates that are called near me post templates inside Local Lease Pro, as well as local GMB pro. Not going to give them to you here, but you can create your own too by the way. You don’t need my templates, you can sit down and just think about how to create your own near me templates. Post regularly and consistently and often, right? That’s the number one key.

Then, as far as getting ranked in the free pack, which isn’t really necessary to get results from GMB. It doesn’t even have to be in the three pack, guys, because you’re talking … Especially what I just mentioned with the mobile stuff, you don’t even need to be in three pack and you can still generate leads from GMB assets, we’ve proven that. If you want to be in the three pack because, let’s face it guys, that’s still something that we as us like to see, right? Local PR pro, I’m not shitting you.

Probably the quickest way I’ve ever seen, other than the other Local Lease Pro method, which is just researching locations and finding easy opportunities, other than that, the quickest way I’ve been able to get into the three pack is through press releases in the Local PR method, which is PR stacking and all of that. Again, that’s why Local Lease Pro guys is hands down … That is our number one front end product right now. It will be, as long as this opportunity exists, right? Local GMB Pro is the advanced training for GMB assets.

It’s for those assets that don’t push into the three pack and generate results right away. It’s for the more competitive areas. That’s what Local GMB Pro is, it’s about how to get the absolute power out of a GMB asset, whether it’s in a three pack of not, it makes no difference. Local PR pro, is the course that teaches you how to push that into a three pack in very, very quickly, whether it has a website or not. That’s why there’s three courses, guys. I’m telling you, they work hand-in-hand. Then, lastly to follow it all up, is RYS Academy and drive stacks, which is like … that’s super advanced stuff that just pushes a shit ton of power into whatever you want through Google properties, right?

So, it’s like those three courses are … They compound. They just build upon each other and then RYS is for … That’s just the icing on the cake and that’s for if you have … If you just want to push massive authority. Marco, you want to chat about that at all?

Marco: No, I think you nailed it on the head. They go hand in hand. Local PR Pro, Local GMB Pro, Local Lease Pro, each one acts differently. Then, when you want to … If you want it to stick, you throw drive stacks at it and then it’s like … Like I said, it’s never … I haven’t seen it this easy to make money in so long, that it’s not even funny. It’s just so easy. The main needle mover, as you said, it’s just activity, but it has to be the right kind of activity on that niche. Let me tell you right now, that each niche reacts differently, depending on the kind of posts that you do. I’ll give that away. I’m not going to give everything away, but I’ll tell you that.

How Much SEO Do You Do For GMB Sites?

Bradley: Jeff says, “How much SEO do you do for GMB sites? Also, how much can you throw at a GMB site without incurring the wrath of G?” Okay, as SEO, I just put well-optimized content on it, guys. The beautiful thing about a GMB website is you don’t … You cannot modify SEO elements of the page. You don’t put in header tags and you don’t … You just literally past content in. You can bold stuff and you can create links from within the content. You can’t add header tags. There’s nothing that you can modify on the elements of the page, it’s just text only, right? It’s all you can do.

All you need to do is have a well written piece of content for the GMB website and that’s it. That’s as far as you can go for on page, other than photos, which are incredibly important and GMB posts, which act as inner pages, if you have a GMB website. If you’re just doing GMB posts and you don’t have a GMB website, then you don’t … They don’t act as inner pages, they’re just posts. But, if you have a GMB website, then they’ll start as posts and then it’ll turn into an inner page of the website as well. So, you can silo those. I can’t get into how, but we’ll talk about that a little bit on Monday for the Local Lease Pro method.

Our auto-poster, the GMB auto-poster, that we have will also automate a siloing post, which is really, really cool. Okay, so you can do that. But, as far as the off page stuff, I don’t know because I haven’t done any massive spamming to the GMB websites yet because as I was just talking about in the previous question, the only exterior link building I have done thus far has been from press releases and drive stacks. I have not even thrown any spam link campaigns. We have a [inaudible 00:55:47], right? We have a link building manager who’s fabulous, he’s amazing at what he does.

I haven’t even started testing, sending link campaigns to a GMB asset yet, maybe Marco has, but all I’ve done is drive stacks and press releases. I just now starting to play with syndication networks and syndicating GMB posts because our auto-posts create an RSS feed from GMB posts. So, I’m starting to test with that a little bit too. I have almost … I said this with RYS stacks, but I’ve also tested just link building with Google sites, using a software from Peter Drew. I haven’t done enough testing there to determine whether that’s something I want to add in my standard operating procedure or not.

Yeah, again, since it’s a Google property, Marco can probably comment on this a little bit more, but I haven’t tested the limit on that. But, since it’s a Google property, will likely withstand anything you throw at it. What do you say, Marco?

Marco: I say that I haven’t needed to do anything, except what’s in the training so far. It’s so simple, you just go, you get an asset. You optimize it the way that it’s taught, you throw it up, it ranked or it doesn’t rank. If it doesn’t rank, you can still … The activity will create calls. The way that it’s setup will create calls, it’ll create activity. That activity, Google starts feeding on it because it starts seeing it. Activity is one of the major factors right now. I keep saying it, are activity, relevance, trust, and authority. Those are the things that will trump anything. I don’t care what it is, I don’t care what negative aspects there are. If you have activity, relevance, trust, and authority setup in whatever it is that you’re doing, it’s going to trump everything and Google is going to reward you over and over and over again.

What’s Stopping Someone From Creating Thousands Of Websites And GMBs and Renting Them Out?

Bradley: Yep, there you go. Kasey says, “What’s stopping someone from creating thousands of websites in GMBs and running them out?” Just time and any other major complications. Yeah, time, that’s it. Time and funding and having a team to be able to accomplish that. What do you think we’re in the process of doing right now? We’re building those teams so that we can do that kind of volume. That’s exactly what we’re doing, Kasey. That’s why I said, the opportunity while … Strike while the irons hot. Right now is the time to do it and that’s why I’ve been pushing for two months now, as far as I have been to try and build a … This in a scalable way. We’re training VAs. I’ve created … I spent weeks developing training videos and process stocks to be able to train virtual assistants how to do this entire process from start to finish.

The pofu live attendees are getting these updates from me in real time. They’re kind of helping me with this, right? They’re all using our scaling processes to build their businesses. So, we got all these people that are doing this right now and we’re teaching some of this in the Mastermind as it becomes refined and repeatable because it’s still kind of in its rough stage right now. The Mastermind as it becomes proven, I share this in the Mastermind as well.

That’s exactly why, I don’t know how long this opportunity is going to last. While it’s here, we’re going to try and secure as many as possible, right? So, Kasey, the only limitation that I know of right now is your bandwidth, and your funding, if you’re going to be hiring it out, right?

Marco: Definitely budget, unless he has his own method of securing GMB assets. 1,000 or 2,000 of them, if you get through us, we’re talking about quite a bit of money.

Bradley: Yeah. Yeah. All right, Wayne, last question and then we’re going to wrap it up. We’re right on time too, so that’s perfect. Wayne says, “Realized today that if a prospect in HVAC or plumbing can’t get into local service ads, then there’s a hell of an opportunity to do what you learned from Semantic Mastery to help prospect.” Yeah, that’s true. Thank you, Wayne. So, yeah, if you can’t … For example, guys, I know that in our Mastermind, somebody was talking about trying to get one of their clients into the local services ads section, which is what you’re seeing here, right? Apparently, it was funny. I think it was Muhammad.

So, anyways, one of our members in the Mastermind said, that there was real awkward conversation with the business owner, when they were trying to explain to them why they should be in local Google service ads. The business owner said that they couldn’t be because they couldn’t pass a background check. That’s funny because that’s going to happen, especially if you’re dealing with contractors. Trust me, there’s a lot of contractors out there that can’t pass background checks because of something in their past. I’m totally cool with working with those types of contractors, guys. People make mistakes and they can change.

But, if you can’t pass a background check because of something … You’ve got a skeleton in your closet, you can’t get into this section. So, what Wayne is saying is true. That doesn’t mean that they’re dead in the water, right. DITW, that means that they have … You just have to do other things, like Google Ads or like what we teach with maps, which is Local Lease Pro and Local PR Pro, right? Excuse me, Local GMB Pro. So, there you go. Thank you, Wayne, that’s a good point. All right, no other questions, right on time. Hot damn, that doesn’t happen very often. Whoo. Cool, and even Adam’s still here. Wow.

Adam: About to head out. Time to hit it before the sun goes down, go for a run. But, I want to remind everybody to show up for the webinar on Monday. If you’ve got any questions about this stuff, I know we talked about Local Lease Pro for a bit today, a lot of questions about it. Whether or not you’re a member, show up, go register, come hang out. This is a great way to close out 2018 and really start kicking ass in 2019.

Bradley: There you go. Also, we have a Mastermind seminar tomorrow, for those of you in the Mastermind. So, post your questions through the forum, the Google forum, guys, because we’ve got a lot to go through tomorrow. So, thanks everybody for hanging out. Thanks, Marco and Adam.

Marco: Bye everybody.

Bradley: See you.

  Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 214 published first on your-t1-blog-url

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Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 214

Click on the video above to watch Episode 214 of the Semantic Mastery Hump Day Hangouts.

Full timestamps with topics and times can be found at the link above.

The latest upcoming free SEO Q&A Hump Day Hangout can be found at http://semanticmastery.com/humpday.

  Announcement

Adam: All right, welcome everybody to Hump Day Hangouts, episode 214. This time it actually is 214. I’m able to use my numbers this week, which is great. I almost wore my little Christmas hat, but I decided I gotta hold off for like another week.

We got a lot of good stuff. We got some news we want to share with you guys, and then jump into questions. But first, let’s say hi. We got Hernan and Bradley with us. So, let’s start on the left with Hernan. It looks like I can see half of his face. How’s it going man?

Hernan: Cool.

Adam: Oh, there we go.

Hernan: How about now? Is that better? I’m doing great, actually, I’m doing really well. So, yeah, we’re having a lot of good stuff coming out for ‘17 last year for the Mastermind. We have a bunch of good stuff for this month. I’m really, really excited for what’s coming.

Bradley: I’m going to get a seizure from your fricking Christmas tree in the background.

Hernan: [inaudible 00:00:49].

Adam: No, come on we want to see …

Bradley: Stop doing that.

Adam: Oh my God. Stop doing that right along. Bradley, what are you doing, are you still alive?

Bradley: I’m convulsing, that’s what I’m doing. No, I’m good man. I just finished the Syndication Academy Update Webinar, the first one in several months. Anyways, it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped because I’m having some slight issues with one of the things I wanted to share. Because of that, I’m going to schedule another one for next month. So, just be on the lookout for that guys.

Adam: Thanks.

Bradley: Marco made it.

Adam: Yeah. Hey, Marco, are you there?

Marco: No, I’m not.

Adam: Well, we’re just saying hello to everybody. If you’ve got a sec, if you want to say, “Hi, how you doing?”

Marco: Of course, man, what’s up? I’m excited man. End of the year, so it’s always good. Family time, just getting together. My wife’s a chef, so I’m lucky and I’m really looking forward to 2019. We have so much coming down the pipeline, it’s not even funny. It’s ridiculous. The kind of money that’s to be made right now. Dude, we’re back into 2003, 2004, 2005 when I started out.

It’s ridiculous the way you can just go out there and with almost nothing, make a bucket full of money.

Adam: Definitely. Now’s the time. Well, we’ll be speaking of that in a little bit more in just a minute. There’s some really good opportunities, but I want to say too, if you’re new to [inaudible 00:02:24], of course, thank you for watching. If you’re checking out the replay on YouTube down the road, come join us live for these. You can always come to the most up to date or the recent or upcoming one. That’s semanticmastery.com/hdquestions.

Again, if you’re new to Semantic Mastery, you’re wondering where to start, start with the battle plan, all right. That’s going to get you repeatable results. Covers a ton of different areas, different stuff you need. Then, once you’ve got that, we even encourage our Mastermind members, everyone to get the battle plan. Once you’re ready, take yourself a few notches, if you want to either start or grow your own local digital marketing agency, come join the Mastermind.

I can talk about Masterminds just in general, all day about how much good they do for you. We love ours, we’re very proud of it. We’ve got a bunch of kickass members and we’ve got a lot of really good stuff coming here very soon. We’re putting it to action right now. The [pofu 00:03:16] pass and we’re going to have a little bit of a special to do with that. We’re going to explain much more about that. Let you guys see a little bit behind the curtains here, more closer to Christmas, I guess, is the way to say that.

But, in the very near future, Bradley’s going to be doing a webinar on Monday, right?

Bradley: Yes, Monday’s the Local Lease Pro Update Webinar to share some additional things that I’ve discovered for that … Myself and my team have discovered over the last … Since we’ve launched the course, essentially. Several things that we’re going to talk about is location research is much more granular now than before, so I’m going to be sharing that process on that webinar. I can show you guys how to use … How to run that software that we use in that course to find easy opportunities for GMB assets.

It’s on a much more granular level and I’ll explain all of that during the webinar, which will be on Monday. I’m also going to be talking about some things to avoid, to prevent getting locations terminated for spam. There’s certain things that we’ve learned through all the very heavy custing that we’ve been doing the last couple of months. So, I want to talk about that.

So, you guys that aren’t part of Local Lease Pro, you’ll get information, like behind the scenes in some of the information, but it’s not going to be the whole picture, right? So, we’re going to make it public, everybody can come join because I want you guys to … This is our primary push right now in Semantic Mastery, we’ve really shifted directions entirely to building out legion assets right now because there’s so much opportunity, more so than I’ve ever seen, since I’ve started in digital marketing and local marketing, which was in 2010 and I mean that.

Marco was just saying, “This is like 2003, 4, of 5, or whatever.” Well, I wasn’t in digital marketing back in, so I don’t know what it was like. But, since 2010 when I got started, I’ve never seen this much opportunity. So, that’s why we’re pushing it so hard and that’s why I wanted to make this update webinar Monday public because I want you guys to see how excited and enthusiastic we are about this and also why.

When you see what I talk about, with the location research alone, if that doesn’t get you excited, then you’re in the wrong damn business is all I’m saying. So, again, we’re going to have that public on Monday. Adam screwed up and put 48 hours in the email that it’s going to be public, I didn’t want it to be public for that long, so fuck you Adam.

Adam: Merry Christmas.

Bradley: Yeah. Merry Christmas you prick. Yeah, I was really only going to keep it public for 24 hours, but since the emails went out, it’ll be public for 48 hours and then it’s getting lockdown and then it’s going to be in the members area only, along with the rest of the training. So, I highly recommend that you guys come check it out.

If you haven’t joined Local Lease Pro, we’re going to also offer a shit ton of bonuses and stuff like that. If you do want to join on Monday, but it’ll be kind of a limited time thing. So, make sure you attend and absorb as much information as you can.

Adam: Yeah. I want to encourage people too who aren’t in, obviously for the members be there … We’re going to have some good stuff. For non-members, we are doing Q&A, so if you want, come and learn, see what’s going on a little bit behind the scenes, like Bradley said, you can see really what’s going on here, how big the opportunity is.” But then we’ll also be answering questions.

We realized if you don’t have the whole picture, there’s something missing. You’re not sure how this would work for you, this, that, or the other thing, be there. Ask questions, get them answered, and then like Bradley said, we’ve got a hell of a Christmas deal for you and happy to make that available, but yeah, that replays going to be only available for a limited time and then if you’re not there live, obviously, you can’t get questions answered as in depth as if you’re there. Sign up, be there.

Bradley: Yep. So, what else we got?

Adam: One last quick one, just want to tell people the special offer is going away for MGYB, we’ve got a killer deal on the deep keyboard research. All right, this is one of the new additions to MGYB, it’s a kickass keyboard research done for your service and it’s 40% off and that’s going away later today. So, I’m going to pop the link up there, check it out.

If you’ve got any projects coming up, you’ve got clients coming on board. You’ve got websites, thinking about building apps, need content ideas, this is the place to do it and 40% is a hell of a chunk of change. Highly suggest you make use of this today before it goes away.

Bradley: Okay.

Adam: I think that’s it, are we ready to go?

Would It Hinder The Ranking Of A GMB Page If The Images Uploaded In 2016 Will Be Removed And Reupload Them For Geotagging?

Bradley: Yes, let me finish sending Rob a message real quick. All right, sorry. Let me grab the screen, we’ll get right into questions. All right, here we go. Not a whole lot of questions yet, guys. You better get to asking some questions or we’re going to shut this down quick. Anyways, Dan’s up first, he says, “I had uploaded several images to a GMB for a customer back in 2016, will it hinder the rankings to take images … To take all of the images off of the GMB page, geotag them and then re-upload them? Perhaps I should just do a few at a time?”

Yeah, I don’t think it would be a problem. I would do a few at a time if I were to do it, Dan. I mean, again, maybe Marco has some additional information than I do. I don’t see why that would be a problem. If they’re just GMB images, you’re not taking post down and all that kind of stuff, then I don’t see why it would be a problem.

I wouldn’t want to take post down though, delete posts and then repost them again, I’d just leave the old posts up, if that makes sense. If it’s just images, taking it from the GMB photo section, like removing them, geo tagging them and then reuploading, I can’t see that as being an issue. But, I would still do it a handful at a time, dripped out of several days or whatever. What do you think, Marco?

Marco: Yeah, my question is why would you want to do that. Why not add new images.

Bradley: New images. Yeah, that’s a good point. That’s a very good point.

Marco: We teach how and I think Dan has Local GMB Pro. We teach you how to go in and get images anywhere you want and then you go and add all the information that you want and then you have new data. This is the whole point. You guys, I don’t know how much I can get into this, but you’re missing the whole point of what Local GMB Pros all about and what we’re doing with Local Lease Pro and Local PR Pro.

We’re trying to feed the fucking bot data and if you take stuff down and bring it back up, Google knows that the image existed already without the geo tagging. Why not give Google new images with new information, so not only is it looking at the front, it’s also looking at the back. I don’t understand the point, unless you can’t get images. If you can’t get images from your client, fire the client, or use the method that we teach in Local GMB Pro.

Always, for me, I always feed the bot more data. More data. It’s always about more data, fill in the variables, and get lots of love.

Bradley: Yeah, I like that. That’s just true. If you get more images … Dan, you should know, I think you’re part of Local GMB Pro, but … I think RYS members also had access to that webinar, on how to get additional images. There’s stuff like … Even if YouTube, you can just grab images from YouTube, I’ve done that a bunch. That’s what my VAs are currently doing right now because they’re a bit faster at it. Yeah, there’s a ton of ways to get additional images. I agree with Marco, his was definitely a better answer than mine. So, Marco’s the winner.

How Many GMBs Per Manager Account Is Acceptable?

Dan’s up again and he says, “How many GMBs per manager account is acceptable?” Well, it depends, Dan. It depends what you’re … What are the … What type of GMB assets are they? Are they real bonafide genuine businesses? If they’re genuine businesses, there’s no problem adding a manger and managing the genuine businesses from a manager account, right? They’re real businesses, there’s no problem with that at all.

Now, Marco and I have slightly differing opinions for lead gen assets, but personally for lead gen assets … Guys, let’s just be 100% clear here, let’s not sugarcoat this, when we’re doing lead gen GMB assets, they’re spammed, right? They’re spammed assets, that’s what they are. So, let’s be clear about that. So, when you’re doing lead gen stuff, then I don’t recommend using a manager account because that connects … That creates a footprint, right? You can connect to different locations.

So, what I’m doing currently now and I’ve tested … Because we’re scaling this lead gen asset building process so much right now, we’re testing all different types of configurations and I’ve got several out there right now where I’m doing location clusters, which is multiple locations where assets within a service area, like a radius. A 20 mile radius is typically what I’m doing right now.

So, I’ll secure many assets within that 20 mile radius. So, some of my location clusters are manged under a single manager account. In other words, each location is owned by a separate Google profile. So, it’s owned by a separate Google profile. But, it’s managed or there’s a manger account that connects those profiles, so a manager can access them. However, like I said, currently what I’ve kind of shifted to now, is doing everything under the owner account or at least logging it … Or, if I’m going to add a manager, only adding a manger long enough to make changes to the GMB asset and then removing that manger, so that the footprint doesn’t stay there.

In other words, for example, one of the things that we’re going to be doing is providing done for you GMB optimization services, so we can provide an MGYB, our store. It’s not available yet, but it’s coming very, very soon, guys. We’ve got VAs in training right now, to be able to provide you guys with full soup to nuts done for you GMB asset building. From verification, all the way through … Setup an optimization and scheduling GMB posts and scheduling them to republish to where you don’t have to do shit, except purchase it and then start making money from it once you monetize it, right.

So, one of the things that we’re going to have to do is whenever we create or somebody … Typically, you’re going to buy the asset from us, so we create it for you, but then the VAs that are going to optimizing it, will be … That asset will be … A manager will be added to that asset and then the VAs will optimize that profile, that GMB asset from the manager account. But, then as soon as we go to deliver it, we remove the manager account, right? That’s what the process is likely going to be and that way there’s the owner account and then you can add yourself as a manager if you’d like, but I would recommend using something like Browseo or Ghost Browser and always logging in and making changes to it from the primary owner account.

That way, it’s isolated to that one account. In other words, if you end up getting terminated from Google, for whatever reason … I’ve got a couple assets that have been terminated recently, that I don’t understand why they were terminated, but again, they’re spammed assets, so I’m not going to complain too much, I’m just going to move on and build another one, right? So, my point is if you end up catching some sort of penalty and it gets terminated, then it’s going to be isolated to one account and one account only. Okay? So, in the past, I’ve always said that it’s okay to add yourself as a manager to GMB assets and then manage … Make changes and things like that through the manager account.

But, that’s typically when for real businesses or maybe the occasional lead gen asset, I’ve never done it at scale, like we have been over the last few weeks. I’m really concerned because these are black hatted Google, GMB assets. I’m really worried about potential footprints. So, I’m trying to do as much as possible to reduce footprints. That means not using manager accounts when … If possible. If you’re using a good browser [inaudible 00:15:17] like Browseo or Ghost Browser, you should be able to accomplish that.

Now, Marco, I know you have a slightly different take on it, do you want to share yours?

Marco: Yeah, we have managers doing it all. The owner never, ever goes back in. That’s how we do it. It’s as if an agency were doing the work for that Google my business listing, which I think [crosstalk 00:15:40].

Bradley: So, you have different manager accounts, is what you’re saying?

Marco: Absolutely, yeah. Because we have a whole bunch of VAs.

Bradley: Gotcha.

Marco: Right? So, they all get spread out. We don’t have one BA that does … For example, what you always talk about, tree service, right? It’s not about a bunch of clustered tree service, GMBs that, that VA is doing. They’re out everywhere. They have a bunch of different niches that they handle. The team lead will spread them out. She’ll give, “Okay, you get three. You get three of these. You get three of these. You get three of these.” Then, she’ll come back and she’ll start adding them again until we get to a certain point and then we don’t add to those who will open a new account and that account we’ll manage the next set. They all won’t be in one niche. I think that’s just perfectly legitimate.

In fact, I haven’t seen any problems with any of the stuff that we’re doing getting suspended.

Bradley: Yeah, I haven’t had anything suspended through a manager account. So, again, I’ve had in the past, I’ve had a manager account suspended and it didn’t affect any of the GMB assets that it was managing because the asset was owned by a different Google profile. So, as far as I know, that’s still the case, but I don’t want to create a known footprint between assets. So, what Marco just said, Dan, just to clarify, is that he’s … Remember they’re making changes. His team is making changes to GMB assets through manager accounts, not through the owner accounts.

But, there’s not a footprint between the manager accounts and the assets because he’s randomly selecting different Gmail accounts to be added as managers and they manage more than just one vertical industry. Now, again, Marco’s got a team. Dan, I’m not sure if you have a team or not. So, that might not be the most efficient way for you, if you don’t have a team. If you have a team, then maybe it is. Also, it depends on again, like Marco said, if you’re dealing with multiple industries, that makes it easier to do that because each manager account can be managing multiple types of GMB assets. In other words, different types of industries, which would make sense because that acts very much like an agency that would be managing different client’s businesses, right?

So, what Marco’s saying is absolutely valid, I completely understand his method. Me, personally, in my business, I am targeting one industry. So, we’re targeting … For my business as tree service industry for contact media, it’s remodeling and general contractors. So, because of that, we’re targeting one industry, I don’t have that … Even if we had multiple manager accounts, every manager account will only be managing similar types of properties. So, that doesn’t work for my setup. Again, you’re going to have to customize the setup based upon what your specific business is currently and select which is best.

For me, for my business, because I’m targeting one industry, the best, so far … At least what I think to be the best method is doing everything through the primary owner account or if I’m going to add a manager, it’s only temporary, long enough for the manger to make whatever changes are going to the GMB and then that manager get removed, so that it’s not a long term manager connection, if that makes sense. Okay, so again, really take what Marcos said and take what I said, and determine which is the better fit for your business and then apply that method, okay. It’s a great question, by the way, Dan.

Marco: I’m also about to put it to the test because I’m about to close on a really deal, where we’re talking about thousands of GMBs and it’s in one vertical, one niche. I’m going to see which of the two methods works best for longevity.

Bradley: Yeah.

Marco: [crosstalk 00:19:42].

Bradley: That’s what we’re trying to do here. We’re trying to develop processes to scale all of this, which is really what local, excuse me, what [inaudible 00:19:51] is all about. So, we’re really trying to develop all of these processes and done for you services because we’re building out our own. Guys, we’re not just creating these services to sell them to you guys. We’re creating these services for our internal use. Since we’re going through all the trouble of creating all of these processes and training virtual assistants to do all this stuff, because we’re building our own businesses this way, we practice exactly what we preach guys.

Since we’re going through all this trouble anyways, it just makes sense to also … Because we’re going to have all the processes in place for training, for all of this, to be able to provide that to you guys, right? Because of that, we’re doing all of this testing right now. Remember, a lot of this is new at this level, at this level of volume that we’re doing. So, we’re trying to figure it out as we go and as soon as we get good information, we share it in the appropriate places. Like Local Lease Pro, Local GMB Pro, and then the Mastermind. Those are the three places where this stuff is getting shared, right?

Thoughts On Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s Testimony That Google Is Not Manually Intervening On Search Results

So, if you want to stay on top of it without having to do the testing yourself, then just come join us and … The Masterminds probably your best bet because that’s where the conversations are held on a daily basis. All right, Wayne’s up. He says, “Observation …” Yeah, this was funny. “Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai …” Or, Pikai, I can’t … Whatever. “Testified in front of the house judiciary committee and literally said, “Last year we served over three trillion searches, just as a fact, every single day, 15% of the searches Google seized, we have never seen them before.” That’s crazy.

So, this is working at scale. We don’t manually intervene any search results. Another SEO said, “Anyone else see the word manually in there? Duh, I would’ve preferred him to say, ‘We don’t intervene.’ Thought you slipped that one by, huh, Sundar? Maybe to that box of rocks they call Congress but not to us, SEOs.” That’s funny. I thought that was really interesting. So, thanks for sharing, Wayne.

Are There Any Laws Or Issues One Should Worry About When Running Ads To A Vacation Giveaway Offer That Is Free?

Frankie’s up, what’s up, Frankie? He’s coming to ask a lot of questions. He said, “Hey, guys. Happy holidays. I’ve got a new client who owns a travel vacation club in the travel niche.” Marco, this seems like might be up your alley. “In my city who’s giving me $1,000 with ad spend with Google Ads because they want results ASAP. Then, for each lead I bring in, they will be getting …” You will be getting paid, Frankie will be getting paid, “$200 to $250 regardless if they join the travel club or not.” There you go, that’s great Frankie.

So, they’re giving you the $1,000 for ad spend and they’re going to pay you with the leads that you generate with their money? Phew, that’s a really cool engagement, man. How’d you get that? How’d you manage that one? That’s great. I like that. “Since he is paying for the ad spend and I still get a nice chunk per lead, I agreed to do his deal at the potential … I agreed to do his deal as a potential … Here it’s huge for me.” Yes, I agree. Typically, in this industry, in order to generate the leads, the main way all the current marketing companies have done is to … They do a free giveaway offer for a vacation trip to Orlando or a free cruise in exchange for their contact info and having them attend a short sales presentation where they have the option to buy or not buy. But, they still get their promised free gift.

“My question is there any laws or issues I should worry about dealing with when running ads to a vacation giveaway offer that is free? Also, I know if you have used Answerconnect in the past. I know you have used Answerconnect in the past, so I wanted to ask in the service of Answerconnect make conversation outbound calls to the new leads and ask questions to qualify them, just as they would if they were inbound calls, thanks.”

Okay, so first thing, is there any potential issues with that? I don’t know. You’d have to contact Google. If you’re talking about setting up Google Ads, then I would just call Google Ads, formerly AdWords. Call Google Ads support and ask them that. They’ll tell. Guys, listen. I’ve always found Google Ads … The support line, to call them, always really helpful. I’m not kidding. Anytime I have a question that I’m unsure of, I just call Google Ads because I’m spending money with them, why not call them and just ask them so I don’t have to spend a bunch of money researching stuff.

Of course, I do a Google search first and if I can’t find a direct answer to my question within a few minutes, then I will call. They’re usually really responsive and they’re happy to help because you’re a paying advertiser. I found that to be the case, maybe other people have had different experiences, but I have always found it rather helpful. So, I would call in and ask. Do some Google research first if you can, Frankie.

It’s very funny, but there was a training course, I can’t remember the name of it, it was by Morrison, Anthony Morrison. He’s got a brother too. They do a bunch of stuff, but he’s got a training course, it’s rather old. A couple years old now. It was very much like what you’re talking about, but it was done on Facebook and that was giving away a free vacation, which cost him like $600 or $800. He could buy a three night or a two night, three day trip package at an Orlando resort or something like that, right? It would cost him like $800, $600 to $800 or something like that.

Then, he would do it on his Facebook page for that area, he would do a post and he would use Facebook ads on the page to promote this free giveaway for this free vacation giveaway, right? For two nights and three days at whatever this resort was. He did it in multiple locations and he would get thousands of people to opt-in for that free giveaway. On the thank you page, after the opt-in, there would just be AdSense. Straight up Google AdSense ads. Because so many thousands of people would click through and opt-in to be put on the list for the vacation giveaway and then land on the thank you page with the AdSense ads, which by the way you can put affiliate offers there and things too.

Then, he would end up making more money on just the AdSense clicks, then it cost to pay for the vacation, the giveaway, right? For the tickets of the giveaway. So, he ended up making money just on that giveaway alone and then he built a list of thousands of people that now he can email market to, right? Also, retarget or remarket through remarketing, right? So, it was huge because he was building a list with a free giveaway and making money on it. He as a training course about it, it’s all done on Facebook, but you could apply that same principle to a Google Ads campaign or apply Google Ads to that same type of campaign is what I’m saying.

Again, if it’s legal … Well, if it’s not a violation of Google Ads terms and service, but you can find that out either through some research or just calling Google and asking them. It’s a brilliant strategy. Brilliant strategy.

Marco: [crosstalk 00:26:35]. I just posted the URL for their policy regarding contests and giveaways.

Bradley: A no go?

Marco: No, yeah. He has to look through it. As long as the state where he is doing it doesn’t prohibit it, as long as it’s not prohibited in the U.S. or whatever, he can totally do it. [crosstalk 00:26:54]. Read through the URL, make sure that you understand it. Again, call Google. Frankie act real stupid. Look, “I want to spend some money with you, I’m not sure how? Can I do this?” If you act really stupid, they’re really going to help. I mean, seriously. They’re going to go out of their way to get you to spend your money with them.

Then, you go, after you’re done with them and take … Everything that they said, with a grain of salt. Because all you’re looking for is the clarification that yes, you can do it and what the conditions are. What the limitations are, that’s all you’re looking to get out of them. They’re going to try to talk you in to getting some of their reps to help you or whatever. You can always do it yourself. But, the whole point behind this is getting all those little nuggets out of the person that you’re talking to. The way that you do that is by acting really dumb.

Bradley: This is it. This is it. I was trying to think, I was sitting here the whole time you’re talking, I’m trying to think a name of that Facebook page, where that … Let’s see, was it this one or this one? It was Destin Florida and it was Anthony Morison’s course, I can’t remember. I think it’s this one. Yeah, this one here. Destinflorida.com.

Hernan: Yeah, Destin Florida. I don’t remember the name of the course either.

Bradley: Me neither.

Hernan: Yeah.

Bradley: But, this is it right here. Look, they’re still doing it. See, look, he’s still doing this, man. I don’t know why’d you ever quit. He’s crushing it with this guys. You can see, he’s still doing it. The course is still at least two years old. So, destinflorida.com, you can see the type of promotions he sets up. Live three day giveaway. Again, the training course is really good. We don’t have an affiliate link for it, I’d give it to you. But, honestly, it’s a good course. I actually set it up for my keto VIP project, which is the ketogenic diet thing that I was doing for a while, but I don’t do much of affiliate marketing, you guys. I just straight do local stuff. I certainly don’t like Facebook.

I know you can make a lot of money from Facebook, but I’m just not a fan of Facebook. So, I spent a lot of time setting up a similar giveaway with ketogenic diet stuff and I wasn’t nearly as successful with it and it’s probably just because I only attempted it once and then quit because I just don’t like Facebook. Like I said, this is a really good strategy, I think it’s something you should checkout for sure. It was a great question. As far as Answerconnect, it’s been several years since I’ve had Answerconnect do any outbound calls for me.

I used to do that with lead gen service providers, when I used to offer equity share or revenue, like when I would have a service provider where I would get a percentage of a closed job or of a closed sale. What I would do and I’ve mentioned this before, maybe I don’t have the hangouts, but I’ve done this with three different tree service contractors. Only one of them ended up being honest with me and not lying about jobs that closed and they said they didn’t get them.

One of the ways I found out that I had contractors lying to me and not giving me credit or paying me for jobs, for leads that came through my sites, was I had Answerconnect to … Answerconnect’s been my call center, like my call answering service since 2012, so I’ve been using them for many years. At the time, I would have Answerconnect go … I would provide the leads that came to a particular GMB location and I would provide the phone leads to Answerconnect and have them do an outbound customer survey, right?

That’s what it was disguised as a customer survey and they would call the leads that came through and say, “Hey, this is blah, blah, blah, tree service. We’re calling with a customer satisfaction survey. We understand that you didn’t use our services and we were just calling in order to improve our service, we’d like to ask you a couple questions as to what led you to make the decision to hire somebody else.” Something like that. It was worded something like that.

I provided them with a script. It was two to three questions. What would happen is the call, the person who would answer the phone, the lead that they were calling, right, would say, “Well, we made a decision to go … We just decided not to get the tree work done.” Or, “We went another company because of this …” Sometimes the answer would be, “Wait a minute, we did hire you guys to do the tree service. Go back and check your records.” Or, something like that. They would say, “No, we did hire you.” Then, I would call the contractor and say, “Okay, what about this lead here? Did you close this job?” When they would lie to me, I would show them proof, “Wait a minute, I had it confirmed that you did do the job, therefore, you’re fired. I’m going to send these leads somewhere else.”

That happened to me … I tried that with six different contractors and only one of them turned out to be honest. I don’t offer that anymore, unless I’ve developed a really good working relationship with somebody. But, at the time, Answerconnect was the service that did it. Now, I don’t know if they still do it, the easiest way to find out, Frankie, is just contact Answerconnect, right? Go to Answerconnect and go to contact us tab and ask them a question. You can call them. They’re an answering service, so call them, ask them, “Do you guys do outbound calls?” If they will, great. If not, just do a search on Google, right? Outbound calling, telemarketers, something like that and find a service and have them do the outbound calls. Okay? It’s that simple.

Answerconnect used to do that, but I don’t know if they still do because it’s been many years since I’ve done that. Okay? That’s a great … Man, that’s really sweet about this guy with giving you a $1,000 and … So, you’re going to spend his ad money and for every lead that you generate with his ad money, you’re going to get paid? That’s great, man. You should try to repeat that over and over again. So, congratulations.

How Do You Determine The Profit Margin Of A Potential Local Lead Gen Client?

Ken says, “Last week Bradley said …” That’s the webinar for Local Lease Pro Update on Monday, I’m sure Adam already dropped the link, so there you go, Ken. Will, what’s up Will he said, “Bradley, on LLP, you mentioned that …” Which is Local Lease Pro, guys. “You mentioned that one of the criteria for selecting a niche is to ensure that the service provider had good margins to afford your leads.” Which means good profits. “Question, how do you go about determining what profit margins that the client would have, as you explained with the carpet cleaning client you used as an example to drive your point?” Again, Will, ask, right.

For example, if you’re … If you’re looking for … Well, first of all, think about … You’ve got to think about the type of businesses … The carpet cleaning, they’re very, very small margins for the most part. So, it’s hard to justify marketing cost, especially lead generation cost for carpet cleaning companies. Like tree services, it’s almost all labor, right? It’s very rarely is there ever any material cost, other than fuel, right? Then, paying for labor for the workers and stuff like that. There’s very rarely any material cost. Remodeling leads, think about a kitchen remodel, right?

A kitchen remodel on the low end, an average kitchen remodel is about $30,000. Typically, most general contractors and remodeling contractors have about a 20% markup, right? So, if it’s a $30,000 job and again about the average is a 20% margin, markup, margin, right? Then, they’re looking at about a $6,000 profit margin, $24,000 would go out to materials and two subcontractors for labor, right? That’s about a $6,000 profit margin per lead there, so it’s easy or it’s much more easy to justify charging $100,000 a lead, when there’s $6,000 profit potential for that lead. Does that make sense?

So, again, think about it logically, Will, that’s first and foremost. Just think about the type of business that you may want to generate leads for. Think about what they charge for their product or service and think about what their cost may be. Try to guesstimate. You can try to do some simple Google searches, guys, and start looking for that kind of data. You will likely find it with a little bit of digging, just by Googling. As a last resort or if you’re not …

I personally, don’t like talking to people on the phone, for the most part, unless it’s something I purposely scheduled, unless I want to … You know what I mean? So, I don’t like to call people just out of the blue and ask questions. That is a way that you can do it. For example, you can call whatever business type in your local area that you’re considering doing lead gen services for and just ask them. Say, “Look, I’m a local marketing guy. I’m in the same area. I’m not calling you to sell you anything. I’m literally calling you to ask you some questions about your type of business because I’m considering getting into marketing for this type of business. I’d just like to know a little bit more about your industry. Would you be willing to answer a couple of questions.”

Send somebody a gift card for $20 or something like that to Starbucks or to a local restaurant and then call them after you know that it’s been delivered, right? Then, say, “Hey, I’m the guy that sent you the $20 gift card. Would you mind answering a couple questions about your business because I’m looking to get into marketing for that. I’m not trying to pitch you on anything, that’s why I sent you a $20 Starbucks gift card. Would you mind taking a few minutes?”

Butter them up first by giving them something. I’ve done that in the past, guys, and it works. So, again, it’s just a conversation starter and is it worth $20 to actually find out what the margins are for a particular business that you may be interested in generating leads for? Also, couldn’t they be the first person to buy leads from you, after you had that conversation and built some rapport with them? Think about it. So, there you go, Will. Like I said, a lot of the times, just think about it logically first. Do some research on Google. You’ll likely find the information you’re looking for, some sort of statistic sheets or something.

Lastly, you can always just send somebody a small gift. Or, you could just do a straight cold call, but if you want to butter them up first … Remember the law of reciprocity, when you give somebody something for nothing and you’re not trying to pitch them … You guys know, probably from prospecting and trying to sell marketing services, we’ve always talked about how we should lead with something free first and then you try to sell them something. What if you give them something free first and you don’t try to sell them anything. You just want to ask them a question.

You’ll probably close that sale because you’re not selling anything, you know what I mean? I would try that.

Marco: What I’ve also done, is I just have people call as a customer, just a typical customer to get a quote, just so that I have-

Bradley: That won’t reveal what the profit margin is for that.

Marco: No, no. It won’t reveal the profit margin, but it gives you an idea. If you have a quote and you know the general markup, which is 20% to 30% across the board, sometimes 10. It’s generally 20 to 30, then you know more or less where you are.

Should You Limit Your Service Area Within The Zip Code Where The GMB Is Secured?

Bradley: That’s true. So, Ted’s up. He says, “Local Lease Pro method question. I’m in a large city with a dozens zip codes … With a dozen zip codes within that city name. If I secure a GMB in one of those zip codes with the population of 10K, should I limit my service here to target just that zip code where the GMB is secure?”

Well, that’s up to you, it depends on really how you spaced out your assets. You don’t want there to be gaps or spaces between us, that’s if possible. So, that’s really determined … Again, this is more of a question that should be answered on Monday, not necessarily today, Ted, because we’re having the whole Local Lease Pro Update Webinar then. But, yeah, I would say it depends on how you have your other assets within that same service area radius spread out, right? Let’s say you have a 20 mile service area radius and you’ve got only four assets and they’re equally spaced out across those 24 or that 20 mile radius, then I would have the service area setup for each of those locations to where they all overlap in the middle slightly but that way the whole 20 mile service area is covered, by service area of each location, right?

So, each location will cover 25% in that particular example. So, that’s how I do it. If you’re doing a whole bunch of locations within a particular service area, then yeah, you can go hyper local, which is really what we’re teaching with Local Lease Pro anyways, is going hyper local and keeping your service area or radius very, very tight, or small. Something I typically have been doing is going about a 5 mile radius, guys. That’s only a 10 mile service area, right? 5 mile radius from the location itself, that’s typically what I’m doing. But, again, it depends on how many assets you have and how big your service area is and how you want to spread them out then.

We’ll talk more about that on Monday. Okay, there you go, Adam, thank you. Thank you. There you, Brian, it was just posted below you. “What time is the webinar on Monday?” It’s 4:00 PM, I believe Eastern, right? Hello?

Adam: Correct.

Bradley: Yeah. All right, Monday, September 17th, I believe, yeah, 4:00 PM>

Adam: I’ll put it on the page, it should’ve been on there.

Does A GMB Page Needs A GMB Site?

Bradley: Yeah. Okay, cool, thank you. Cool, we’re almost done. We can wrap it up either early or on time. GMB, Brian, okay. Says, “GMB, need to have GMB site in addition to the page, need to have a GMB site in addition to the page. I thought the GMB page was a site until I saw a link to a GMB site.” I think you’re talking about the maps page. No, a GMB website, Brian, is a web … Google gives you a free website now. It’s whatever sub domain you choose, .business.site, that’s a GMB website.

Okay, it’s just a one page site, but every time you create a GMB post, it gets … If you have a GMB website published, then it will also be converted into an internal page on the site. So, that’s a GMB website. Yes, if you’re doing GMB stuff, I say, setup the GMB website too. Use all the tools, all the features that Google gives you guys. That’s why we’re crushing it right now. We’re doing everything that Google is giving to us, where 95% of other businesses don’t even have a clue that it exists. That’s why we’re crushing it right now. That’s what Local GMB Pro is all about.

Just get in there and use all of the tools that Google gives within Google My Business and Google will promote your location, your asset, above everybody else because you’re using all the tools that nobody else is using. Does that make sense? Yes, Brian, use the GMB website if you can. Marco, do you want to comment on that?

Marco: No, you answered it perfectly. That’s all I use.

Bradley: Okay. I’m not even building WordPress websites anymore guys. I swear to God. The only time I’m going to build a WordPress website is if a client demands it. For lead gen assets, nope, don’t need them anymore. Why the hell would I want to go out and pay for a domain, setup hosting and deal with all the stupid WordPress shit that we have to deal with all the time, when I can setup lead gen assets all day long with a GMB single page website and I never have to do a damn thing to it, think about. So, again, if a client demands a website, which most clients will, then, that’s fine, I’ll work on their WordPress websites for them.

But, for my own stuff now, nope. No more WordPress sites, I’m done. At least for now, that may change.

Marco: For those of you who have worked out the page rank math that business.site is around a 5, 6 PR. That doesn’t mean that your sub domain is going to get a 5, 6. But, I mean, you’re attached not only to a Google property, but it’s like a 5, 6 PR. So, the quality score will be a … Not the quality score, but the ranking score will be just a touch lower than that, but it’s a really good indicator that it’s fucking powerful and you need to be there.

What Are Possible Reasons Why A Site Ranks Lower Than The Others Despite Having Better DR, UR And More Quality Backlinks Than Its Competitor?

Bradley: All right, so … Thank you, Marco. The next question, [Asheesh 00:43:01], I guess. I’m sorry if I mispronounced your name. That’s a metric question, Asheesh and I know it’s the first time you’ve posted a question for us, so I’m not going to slam you too hard, I promise. But, something we don’t care about here at Semantic Mastery is metrics. I could care less what [Moss 00:43:18] metrics say about a domain or a webpage. I could care less what Majestic SEO says or what an AH Ref says because we stopped tracking metrics over two years ago and I haven’t had any problems whatsoever.

I don’t give a shit what the metrics are from my competitors compared to the metrics that I work on or my client’s assets because we can still get results regardless of what those metrics say, period. We’ve proven that over and over again. So, again, I’m not picking on you. This is probably the first time you’ve asked a question here. This is really not the forum of Semantic Mastery is not the place to ask questions about metrics and why your higher metric property isn’t outranking somebody with lower metrics. Probably because they’re doing stuff that really speaks directly or feeds Googles … Feeds Google exactly what it wants and that’s independent, separate and apart from metrics.

Metrics are proprietary. So, Moss has its own algorithm that it tries to determine the strength of domains, pages, and things like that based upon what it things Google wants. And AH Ref has its own and Majestic has its own and everybody has their own metrics and they’re all proprietary. None of them work for Google. So, what I’m saying is because Google doesn’t give us page rank metrics anymore, which was the most accurate, then why bother with third-party metrics. I know some people out here live and die by third-party metrics. That’s fine.

If it’s working for you, that’s great. But, in your case Asheesh, you’re saying that your metrics are higher but it’s not ranking. So, apparently, it’s not just a metric thing that determines whether you rank or not, right? You’re saying that you have living proof right now that it’s not just a metric thing, which is why we don’t care about third-party metrics anymore. I don’t even track them, I don’t care. Does that make sense? Now, I know Marco has a strong opinion about this too.

Marco: Yeah, absolutely, because everything we do is meant to trigger the good parts, let’s call it, of the Google algorithm, freshness and proximity. Just everything that Google is looking for. They’re looking, as I said, for the ranking score, they’re looking … It’s not just pay join, pay join is part and I’ve been saying this for a couple of years. Pay join is part of the ranking score algorithm and that’s what we’re building up. As long as we’re working towards that, we can care less what Moss is doing or Majestic or anything else. It’s a guide, but theirs is a guess.

If you think of a whole bunch of people together and they got the math that Google gives you, because they don’t give you everything, and they made an educated guess, right? Some went for domain authority, some went for trust. Well, neither one has everything that Google has. The only one that has that Google has is Google and they’re not giving up the ghost. So, all we can do is … The Semantic Mastery, which is we test, we see what moves the needle and then we do some more of it.

We do some more of it to the point where we try to hammer it and try to break it and try to get Google to push back, so that we know when we come to you guys, we can tell you these are the boundaries as far as what you can do.

Hernan: Yeah, with the thresholders.

Marco: Yeah, absolutely. We need to know. We need to know what doesn’t work, so that we can give people what does work, right? That’s just obvious, that’s what everybody should be doing and if they’re not, then, Asheesh, avoid them. Go somewhere else.

Bradley: That’s it. Thank you, Marco. [inaudible 00:47:04], by the way, I don’t know if you saw that I commented on your question on the Syndication Academy update. Man, I really apologize, I missed your question. Yours was the first question, so I don’t know how I missed it. But, he was asking on that about can you get an RSS feed from Facebook. Yes, you can from Zapier, you can get an RSS feed from Zapier. So, yes you can.

In fact, I posted on that page the event page from earlier that I would try to squeeze that in from the update webinar we’re going to do next month in January, which is part two of this Syndication Academy Update Webinar that I held today. So, I’ll try to get to that.

Is There A Benefit Of Using Hashtag When Posting To GMB?

So, his question today or for here is there a benefit using a hashtag when posting to GMB? I have no idea. Marco, do you know? I still haven’t been using them, so I don’t know. Does it even take hashtags?

Marco: Yeah, you can use hashtags, I don’t know if they go … Actually, you can do jump links in posts. I just gave me something that I shouldn’t be giving away, but run with it.

Bradley: Yeah. I don’t know. Well, jump links are different from hashtags though. Again, I don’t know if hashtags if they hyperlink with a posted post, I don’t know or not, I haven’t tested that. I have no idea.

Marco: I don’t know if they would work. I don’t know if there’s a benefit. Everything that we’re doing does not include hashtags.

Bradley: Hashtags, yeah.

Marco: Maybe that’s something we should test, we should put that on our list of things to [crosstalk 00:48:31].

Bradley: I’m going ping Rob, test hashtags for GMB post.

Marco: Yeah. Tell him to contact Irene and then Irene will contact me.

Bradley: Whatever, he knows what I meant. Okay, yeah. That’s a good one, thanks for pointing that out, I haven’t even thought about that, we can test on that too. Yeah, the jump link thing, we will be talking about that in local Lease Pro or Local GMB Pro. Probably Local GMB Pro and then Mastermind guys in probably sometime next month, because I got part two of Syndication Academy Webinars very specifically about Q&A posts and Q&A schema, questions and answers schema. So, there’s something that we can apply with what Marco just leaked to that. We’ll talk about that once part two of Syndication Academy Update Webinar is complete. Okay. But, there’s something very powerful we can do with that.

What Are The Main Needle Movers For Boosting A GMB’s Ranking?

Edward says, “Hey, guys. Thanks for doing this.” I’ll plus one that. He says, “For a competitive search term, which are the main needle-movers for boosting GMBs ranking> Only a small team here.” Right now activity, Edward. Obviously, make sure it’s fully optimized, it’s well optimized. It’s got good content and then posting activity is probably the number one factor in my opinion for getting results. Getting traction with a GMB asset. So, guys use the data in the GMB assets to tell you what Google wants. The data in the GMB insights will tell you the best days to post.

Maybe you need to increase posting frequency on those days, right? It will also tell you the keywords that are … Or, the search queries that are bringing the most traffic to your site. For whatever reason, when you target those keywords in GMB posts, they tend to bring in more traffic. Also, by the way, you’ll probably notice, Edward, a lot of the keywords that are bringing traffic are near me keywords, near me queries, right? Or, variations nearby, close to me, in my area. Those types of queries. Target those, guys. You’re triggering the mobile algorithm that way. Google loves that shit.

So, go in there and collect … Start building a database in near me terms and all the variations thereof. Then, start targeting those in near me type posts. Again, we have post templates that are called near me post templates inside Local Lease Pro, as well as local GMB pro. Not going to give them to you here, but you can create your own too by the way. You don’t need my templates, you can sit down and just think about how to create your own near me templates. Post regularly and consistently and often, right? That’s the number one key.

Then, as far as getting ranked in the free pack, which isn’t really necessary to get results from GMB. It doesn’t even have to be in the three pack, guys, because you’re talking … Especially what I just mentioned with the mobile stuff, you don’t even need to be in three pack and you can still generate leads from GMB assets, we’ve proven that. If you want to be in the three pack because, let’s face it guys, that’s still something that we as us like to see, right? Local PR pro, I’m not shitting you.

Probably the quickest way I’ve ever seen, other than the other Local Lease Pro method, which is just researching locations and finding easy opportunities, other than that, the quickest way I’ve been able to get into the three pack is through press releases in the Local PR method, which is PR stacking and all of that. Again, that’s why Local Lease Pro guys is hands down … That is our number one front end product right now. It will be, as long as this opportunity exists, right? Local GMB Pro is the advanced training for GMB assets.

It’s for those assets that don’t push into the three pack and generate results right away. It’s for the more competitive areas. That’s what Local GMB Pro is, it’s about how to get the absolute power out of a GMB asset, whether it’s in a three pack of not, it makes no difference. Local PR pro, is the course that teaches you how to push that into a three pack in very, very quickly, whether it has a website or not. That’s why there’s three courses, guys. I’m telling you, they work hand-in-hand. Then, lastly to follow it all up, is RYS Academy and drive stacks, which is like … that’s super advanced stuff that just pushes a shit ton of power into whatever you want through Google properties, right?

So, it’s like those three courses are … They compound. They just build upon each other and then RYS is for … That’s just the icing on the cake and that’s for if you have … If you just want to push massive authority. Marco, you want to chat about that at all?

Marco: No, I think you nailed it on the head. They go hand in hand. Local PR Pro, Local GMB Pro, Local Lease Pro, each one acts differently. Then, when you want to … If you want it to stick, you throw drive stacks at it and then it’s like … Like I said, it’s never … I haven’t seen it this easy to make money in so long, that it’s not even funny. It’s just so easy. The main needle mover, as you said, it’s just activity, but it has to be the right kind of activity on that niche. Let me tell you right now, that each niche reacts differently, depending on the kind of posts that you do. I’ll give that away. I’m not going to give everything away, but I’ll tell you that.

How Much SEO Do You Do For GMB Sites?

Bradley: Jeff says, “How much SEO do you do for GMB sites? Also, how much can you throw at a GMB site without incurring the wrath of G?” Okay, as SEO, I just put well-optimized content on it, guys. The beautiful thing about a GMB website is you don’t … You cannot modify SEO elements of the page. You don’t put in header tags and you don’t … You just literally past content in. You can bold stuff and you can create links from within the content. You can’t add header tags. There’s nothing that you can modify on the elements of the page, it’s just text only, right? It’s all you can do.

All you need to do is have a well written piece of content for the GMB website and that’s it. That’s as far as you can go for on page, other than photos, which are incredibly important and GMB posts, which act as inner pages, if you have a GMB website. If you’re just doing GMB posts and you don’t have a GMB website, then you don’t … They don’t act as inner pages, they’re just posts. But, if you have a GMB website, then they’ll start as posts and then it’ll turn into an inner page of the website as well. So, you can silo those. I can’t get into how, but we’ll talk about that a little bit on Monday for the Local Lease Pro method.

Our auto-poster, the GMB auto-poster, that we have will also automate a siloing post, which is really, really cool. Okay, so you can do that. But, as far as the off page stuff, I don’t know because I haven’t done any massive spamming to the GMB websites yet because as I was just talking about in the previous question, the only exterior link building I have done thus far has been from press releases and drive stacks. I have not even thrown any spam link campaigns. We have a [inaudible 00:55:47], right? We have a link building manager who’s fabulous, he’s amazing at what he does.

I haven’t even started testing, sending link campaigns to a GMB asset yet, maybe Marco has, but all I’ve done is drive stacks and press releases. I just now starting to play with syndication networks and syndicating GMB posts because our auto-posts create an RSS feed from GMB posts. So, I’m starting to test with that a little bit too. I have almost … I said this with RYS stacks, but I’ve also tested just link building with Google sites, using a software from Peter Drew. I haven’t done enough testing there to determine whether that’s something I want to add in my standard operating procedure or not.

Yeah, again, since it’s a Google property, Marco can probably comment on this a little bit more, but I haven’t tested the limit on that. But, since it’s a Google property, will likely withstand anything you throw at it. What do you say, Marco?

Marco: I say that I haven’t needed to do anything, except what’s in the training so far. It’s so simple, you just go, you get an asset. You optimize it the way that it’s taught, you throw it up, it ranked or it doesn’t rank. If it doesn’t rank, you can still … The activity will create calls. The way that it’s setup will create calls, it’ll create activity. That activity, Google starts feeding on it because it starts seeing it. Activity is one of the major factors right now. I keep saying it, are activity, relevance, trust, and authority. Those are the things that will trump anything. I don’t care what it is, I don’t care what negative aspects there are. If you have activity, relevance, trust, and authority setup in whatever it is that you’re doing, it’s going to trump everything and Google is going to reward you over and over and over again.

What’s Stopping Someone From Creating Thousands Of Websites And GMBs and Renting Them Out?

Bradley: Yep, there you go. Kasey says, “What’s stopping someone from creating thousands of websites in GMBs and running them out?” Just time and any other major complications. Yeah, time, that’s it. Time and funding and having a team to be able to accomplish that. What do you think we’re in the process of doing right now? We’re building those teams so that we can do that kind of volume. That’s exactly what we’re doing, Kasey. That’s why I said, the opportunity while … Strike while the irons hot. Right now is the time to do it and that’s why I’ve been pushing for two months now, as far as I have been to try and build a … This in a scalable way. We’re training VAs. I’ve created … I spent weeks developing training videos and process stocks to be able to train virtual assistants how to do this entire process from start to finish.

The pofu live attendees are getting these updates from me in real time. They’re kind of helping me with this, right? They’re all using our scaling processes to build their businesses. So, we got all these people that are doing this right now and we’re teaching some of this in the Mastermind as it becomes refined and repeatable because it’s still kind of in its rough stage right now. The Mastermind as it becomes proven, I share this in the Mastermind as well.

That’s exactly why, I don’t know how long this opportunity is going to last. While it’s here, we’re going to try and secure as many as possible, right? So, Kasey, the only limitation that I know of right now is your bandwidth, and your funding, if you’re going to be hiring it out, right?

Marco: Definitely budget, unless he has his own method of securing GMB assets. 1,000 or 2,000 of them, if you get through us, we’re talking about quite a bit of money.

Bradley: Yeah. Yeah. All right, Wayne, last question and then we’re going to wrap it up. We’re right on time too, so that’s perfect. Wayne says, “Realized today that if a prospect in HVAC or plumbing can’t get into local service ads, then there’s a hell of an opportunity to do what you learned from Semantic Mastery to help prospect.” Yeah, that’s true. Thank you, Wayne. So, yeah, if you can’t … For example, guys, I know that in our Mastermind, somebody was talking about trying to get one of their clients into the local services ads section, which is what you’re seeing here, right? Apparently, it was funny. I think it was Muhammad.

So, anyways, one of our members in the Mastermind said, that there was real awkward conversation with the business owner, when they were trying to explain to them why they should be in local Google service ads. The business owner said that they couldn’t be because they couldn’t pass a background check. That’s funny because that’s going to happen, especially if you’re dealing with contractors. Trust me, there’s a lot of contractors out there that can’t pass background checks because of something in their past. I’m totally cool with working with those types of contractors, guys. People make mistakes and they can change.

But, if you can’t pass a background check because of something … You’ve got a skeleton in your closet, you can’t get into this section. So, what Wayne is saying is true. That doesn’t mean that they’re dead in the water, right. DITW, that means that they have … You just have to do other things, like Google Ads or like what we teach with maps, which is Local Lease Pro and Local PR Pro, right? Excuse me, Local GMB Pro. So, there you go. Thank you, Wayne, that’s a good point. All right, no other questions, right on time. Hot damn, that doesn’t happen very often. Whoo. Cool, and even Adam’s still here. Wow.

Adam: About to head out. Time to hit it before the sun goes down, go for a run. But, I want to remind everybody to show up for the webinar on Monday. If you’ve got any questions about this stuff, I know we talked about Local Lease Pro for a bit today, a lot of questions about it. Whether or not you’re a member, show up, go register, come hang out. This is a great way to close out 2018 and really start kicking ass in 2019.

Bradley: There you go. Also, we have a Mastermind seminar tomorrow, for those of you in the Mastermind. So, post your questions through the forum, the Google forum, guys, because we’ve got a lot to go through tomorrow. So, thanks everybody for hanging out. Thanks, Marco and Adam.

Marco: Bye everybody.

Bradley: See you.

  Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 214 published first on your-t1-blog-url

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Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 214

Click on the video above to watch Episode 214 of the Semantic Mastery Hump Day Hangouts.

Full timestamps with topics and times can be found at the link above.

The latest upcoming free SEO Q&A Hump Day Hangout can be found at http://semanticmastery.com/humpday.

  Announcement

Adam: All right, welcome everybody to Hump Day Hangouts, episode 214. This time it actually is 214. I’m able to use my numbers this week, which is great. I almost wore my little Christmas hat, but I decided I gotta hold off for like another week.

We got a lot of good stuff. We got some news we want to share with you guys, and then jump into questions. But first, let’s say hi. We got Hernan and Bradley with us. So, let’s start on the left with Hernan. It looks like I can see half of his face. How’s it going man?

Hernan: Cool.

Adam: Oh, there we go.

Hernan: How about now? Is that better? I’m doing great, actually, I’m doing really well. So, yeah, we’re having a lot of good stuff coming out for ‘17 last year for the Mastermind. We have a bunch of good stuff for this month. I’m really, really excited for what’s coming.

Bradley: I’m going to get a seizure from your fricking Christmas tree in the background.

Hernan: [inaudible 00:00:49].

Adam: No, come on we want to see …

Bradley: Stop doing that.

Adam: Oh my God. Stop doing that right along. Bradley, what are you doing, are you still alive?

Bradley: I’m convulsing, that’s what I’m doing. No, I’m good man. I just finished the Syndication Academy Update Webinar, the first one in several months. Anyways, it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped because I’m having some slight issues with one of the things I wanted to share. Because of that, I’m going to schedule another one for next month. So, just be on the lookout for that guys.

Adam: Thanks.

Bradley: Marco made it.

Adam: Yeah. Hey, Marco, are you there?

Marco: No, I’m not.

Adam: Well, we’re just saying hello to everybody. If you’ve got a sec, if you want to say, “Hi, how you doing?”

Marco: Of course, man, what’s up? I’m excited man. End of the year, so it’s always good. Family time, just getting together. My wife’s a chef, so I’m lucky and I’m really looking forward to 2019. We have so much coming down the pipeline, it’s not even funny. It’s ridiculous. The kind of money that’s to be made right now. Dude, we’re back into 2003, 2004, 2005 when I started out.

It’s ridiculous the way you can just go out there and with almost nothing, make a bucket full of money.

Adam: Definitely. Now’s the time. Well, we’ll be speaking of that in a little bit more in just a minute. There’s some really good opportunities, but I want to say too, if you’re new to [inaudible 00:02:24], of course, thank you for watching. If you’re checking out the replay on YouTube down the road, come join us live for these. You can always come to the most up to date or the recent or upcoming one. That’s semanticmastery.com/hdquestions.

Again, if you’re new to Semantic Mastery, you’re wondering where to start, start with the battle plan, all right. That’s going to get you repeatable results. Covers a ton of different areas, different stuff you need. Then, once you’ve got that, we even encourage our Mastermind members, everyone to get the battle plan. Once you’re ready, take yourself a few notches, if you want to either start or grow your own local digital marketing agency, come join the Mastermind.

I can talk about Masterminds just in general, all day about how much good they do for you. We love ours, we’re very proud of it. We’ve got a bunch of kickass members and we’ve got a lot of really good stuff coming here very soon. We’re putting it to action right now. The [pofu 00:03:16] pass and we’re going to have a little bit of a special to do with that. We’re going to explain much more about that. Let you guys see a little bit behind the curtains here, more closer to Christmas, I guess, is the way to say that.

But, in the very near future, Bradley’s going to be doing a webinar on Monday, right?

Bradley: Yes, Monday’s the Local Lease Pro Update Webinar to share some additional things that I’ve discovered for that … Myself and my team have discovered over the last … Since we’ve launched the course, essentially. Several things that we’re going to talk about is location research is much more granular now than before, so I’m going to be sharing that process on that webinar. I can show you guys how to use … How to run that software that we use in that course to find easy opportunities for GMB assets.

It’s on a much more granular level and I’ll explain all of that during the webinar, which will be on Monday. I’m also going to be talking about some things to avoid, to prevent getting locations terminated for spam. There’s certain things that we’ve learned through all the very heavy custing that we’ve been doing the last couple of months. So, I want to talk about that.

So, you guys that aren’t part of Local Lease Pro, you’ll get information, like behind the scenes in some of the information, but it’s not going to be the whole picture, right? So, we’re going to make it public, everybody can come join because I want you guys to … This is our primary push right now in Semantic Mastery, we’ve really shifted directions entirely to building out legion assets right now because there’s so much opportunity, more so than I’ve ever seen, since I’ve started in digital marketing and local marketing, which was in 2010 and I mean that.

Marco was just saying, “This is like 2003, 4, of 5, or whatever.” Well, I wasn’t in digital marketing back in, so I don’t know what it was like. But, since 2010 when I got started, I’ve never seen this much opportunity. So, that’s why we’re pushing it so hard and that’s why I wanted to make this update webinar Monday public because I want you guys to see how excited and enthusiastic we are about this and also why.

When you see what I talk about, with the location research alone, if that doesn’t get you excited, then you’re in the wrong damn business is all I’m saying. So, again, we’re going to have that public on Monday. Adam screwed up and put 48 hours in the email that it’s going to be public, I didn’t want it to be public for that long, so fuck you Adam.

Adam: Merry Christmas.

Bradley: Yeah. Merry Christmas you prick. Yeah, I was really only going to keep it public for 24 hours, but since the emails went out, it’ll be public for 48 hours and then it’s getting lockdown and then it’s going to be in the members area only, along with the rest of the training. So, I highly recommend that you guys come check it out.

If you haven’t joined Local Lease Pro, we’re going to also offer a shit ton of bonuses and stuff like that. If you do want to join on Monday, but it’ll be kind of a limited time thing. So, make sure you attend and absorb as much information as you can.

Adam: Yeah. I want to encourage people too who aren’t in, obviously for the members be there … We’re going to have some good stuff. For non-members, we are doing Q&A, so if you want, come and learn, see what’s going on a little bit behind the scenes, like Bradley said, you can see really what’s going on here, how big the opportunity is.” But then we’ll also be answering questions.

We realized if you don’t have the whole picture, there’s something missing. You’re not sure how this would work for you, this, that, or the other thing, be there. Ask questions, get them answered, and then like Bradley said, we’ve got a hell of a Christmas deal for you and happy to make that available, but yeah, that replays going to be only available for a limited time and then if you���re not there live, obviously, you can’t get questions answered as in depth as if you’re there. Sign up, be there.

Bradley: Yep. So, what else we got?

Adam: One last quick one, just want to tell people the special offer is going away for MGYB, we’ve got a killer deal on the deep keyboard research. All right, this is one of the new additions to MGYB, it’s a kickass keyboard research done for your service and it’s 40% off and that’s going away later today. So, I’m going to pop the link up there, check it out.

If you’ve got any projects coming up, you’ve got clients coming on board. You’ve got websites, thinking about building apps, need content ideas, this is the place to do it and 40% is a hell of a chunk of change. Highly suggest you make use of this today before it goes away.

Bradley: Okay.

Adam: I think that’s it, are we ready to go?

Would It Hinder The Ranking Of A GMB Page If The Images Uploaded In 2016 Will Be Removed And Reupload Them For Geotagging?

Bradley: Yes, let me finish sending Rob a message real quick. All right, sorry. Let me grab the screen, we’ll get right into questions. All right, here we go. Not a whole lot of questions yet, guys. You better get to asking some questions or we’re going to shut this down quick. Anyways, Dan’s up first, he says, “I had uploaded several images to a GMB for a customer back in 2016, will it hinder the rankings to take images … To take all of the images off of the GMB page, geotag them and then re-upload them? Perhaps I should just do a few at a time?”

Yeah, I don’t think it would be a problem. I would do a few at a time if I were to do it, Dan. I mean, again, maybe Marco has some additional information than I do. I don’t see why that would be a problem. If they’re just GMB images, you’re not taking post down and all that kind of stuff, then I don’t see why it would be a problem.

I wouldn’t want to take post down though, delete posts and then repost them again, I’d just leave the old posts up, if that makes sense. If it’s just images, taking it from the GMB photo section, like removing them, geo tagging them and then reuploading, I can’t see that as being an issue. But, I would still do it a handful at a time, dripped out of several days or whatever. What do you think, Marco?

Marco: Yeah, my question is why would you want to do that. Why not add new images.

Bradley: New images. Yeah, that’s a good point. That’s a very good point.

Marco: We teach how and I think Dan has Local GMB Pro. We teach you how to go in and get images anywhere you want and then you go and add all the information that you want and then you have new data. This is the whole point. You guys, I don’t know how much I can get into this, but you’re missing the whole point of what Local GMB Pros all about and what we’re doing with Local Lease Pro and Local PR Pro.

We’re trying to feed the fucking bot data and if you take stuff down and bring it back up, Google knows that the image existed already without the geo tagging. Why not give Google new images with new information, so not only is it looking at the front, it’s also looking at the back. I don’t understand the point, unless you can’t get images. If you can’t get images from your client, fire the client, or use the method that we teach in Local GMB Pro.

Always, for me, I always feed the bot more data. More data. It’s always about more data, fill in the variables, and get lots of love.

Bradley: Yeah, I like that. That’s just true. If you get more images … Dan, you should know, I think you’re part of Local GMB Pro, but … I think RYS members also had access to that webinar, on how to get additional images. There’s stuff like … Even if YouTube, you can just grab images from YouTube, I’ve done that a bunch. That’s what my VAs are currently doing right now because they’re a bit faster at it. Yeah, there’s a ton of ways to get additional images. I agree with Marco, his was definitely a better answer than mine. So, Marco’s the winner.

How Many GMBs Per Manager Account Is Acceptable?

Dan’s up again and he says, “How many GMBs per manager account is acceptable?” Well, it depends, Dan. It depends what you’re … What are the … What type of GMB assets are they? Are they real bonafide genuine businesses? If they’re genuine businesses, there’s no problem adding a manger and managing the genuine businesses from a manager account, right? They’re real businesses, there’s no problem with that at all.

Now, Marco and I have slightly differing opinions for lead gen assets, but personally for lead gen assets … Guys, let’s just be 100% clear here, let’s not sugarcoat this, when we’re doing lead gen GMB assets, they’re spammed, right? They’re spammed assets, that’s what they are. So, let’s be clear about that. So, when you’re doing lead gen stuff, then I don’t recommend using a manager account because that connects … That creates a footprint, right? You can connect to different locations.

So, what I’m doing currently now and I’ve tested … Because we’re scaling this lead gen asset building process so much right now, we’re testing all different types of configurations and I’ve got several out there right now where I’m doing location clusters, which is multiple locations where assets within a service area, like a radius. A 20 mile radius is typically what I’m doing right now.

So, I’ll secure many assets within that 20 mile radius. So, some of my location clusters are manged under a single manager account. In other words, each location is owned by a separate Google profile. So, it’s owned by a separate Google profile. But, it’s managed or there’s a manger account that connects those profiles, so a manager can access them. However, like I said, currently what I’ve kind of shifted to now, is doing everything under the owner account or at least logging it … Or, if I’m going to add a manager, only adding a manger long enough to make changes to the GMB asset and then removing that manger, so that the footprint doesn’t stay there.

In other words, for example, one of the things that we’re going to be doing is providing done for you GMB optimization services, so we can provide an MGYB, our store. It’s not available yet, but it’s coming very, very soon, guys. We’ve got VAs in training right now, to be able to provide you guys with full soup to nuts done for you GMB asset building. From verification, all the way through … Setup an optimization and scheduling GMB posts and scheduling them to republish to where you don’t have to do shit, except purchase it and then start making money from it once you monetize it, right.

So, one of the things that we’re going to have to do is whenever we create or somebody … Typically, you’re going to buy the asset from us, so we create it for you, but then the VAs that are going to optimizing it, will be … That asset will be … A manager will be added to that asset and then the VAs will optimize that profile, that GMB asset from the manager account. But, then as soon as we go to deliver it, we remove the manager account, right? That’s what the process is likely going to be and that way there’s the owner account and then you can add yourself as a manager if you’d like, but I would recommend using something like Browseo or Ghost Browser and always logging in and making changes to it from the primary owner account.

That way, it’s isolated to that one account. In other words, if you end up getting terminated from Google, for whatever reason … I’ve got a couple assets that have been terminated recently, that I don’t understand why they were terminated, but again, they’re spammed assets, so I’m not going to complain too much, I’m just going to move on and build another one, right? So, my point is if you end up catching some sort of penalty and it gets terminated, then it’s going to be isolated to one account and one account only. Okay? So, in the past, I’ve always said that it’s okay to add yourself as a manager to GMB assets and then manage … Make changes and things like that through the manager account.

But, that’s typically when for real businesses or maybe the occasional lead gen asset, I’ve never done it at scale, like we have been over the last few weeks. I’m really concerned because these are black hatted Google, GMB assets. I’m really worried about potential footprints. So, I’m trying to do as much as possible to reduce footprints. That means not using manager accounts when … If possible. If you’re using a good browser [inaudible 00:15:17] like Browseo or Ghost Browser, you should be able to accomplish that.

Now, Marco, I know you have a slightly different take on it, do you want to share yours?

Marco: Yeah, we have managers doing it all. The owner never, ever goes back in. That’s how we do it. It’s as if an agency were doing the work for that Google my business listing, which I think [crosstalk 00:15:40].

Bradley: So, you have different manager accounts, is what you’re saying?

Marco: Absolutely, yeah. Because we have a whole bunch of VAs.

Bradley: Gotcha.

Marco: Right? So, they all get spread out. We don’t have one BA that does … For example, what you always talk about, tree service, right? It’s not about a bunch of clustered tree service, GMBs that, that VA is doing. They’re out everywhere. They have a bunch of different niches that they handle. The team lead will spread them out. She’ll give, “Okay, you get three. You get three of these. You get three of these. You get three of these.” Then, she’ll come back and she’ll start adding them again until we get to a certain point and then we don’t add to those who will open a new account and that account we’ll manage the next set. They all won’t be in one niche. I think that’s just perfectly legitimate.

In fact, I haven’t seen any problems with any of the stuff that we’re doing getting suspended.

Bradley: Yeah, I haven’t had anything suspended through a manager account. So, again, I’ve had in the past, I’ve had a manager account suspended and it didn’t affect any of the GMB assets that it was managing because the asset was owned by a different Google profile. So, as far as I know, that’s still the case, but I don’t want to create a known footprint between assets. So, what Marco just said, Dan, just to clarify, is that he’s … Remember they’re making changes. His team is making changes to GMB assets through manager accounts, not through the owner accounts.

But, there’s not a footprint between the manager accounts and the assets because he’s randomly selecting different Gmail accounts to be added as managers and they manage more than just one vertical industry. Now, again, Marco’s got a team. Dan, I’m not sure if you have a team or not. So, that might not be the most efficient way for you, if you don’t have a team. If you have a team, then maybe it is. Also, it depends on again, like Marco said, if you’re dealing with multiple industries, that makes it easier to do that because each manager account can be managing multiple types of GMB assets. In other words, different types of industries, which would make sense because that acts very much like an agency that would be managing different client’s businesses, right?

So, what Marco’s saying is absolutely valid, I completely understand his method. Me, personally, in my business, I am targeting one industry. So, we’re targeting … For my business as tree service industry for contact media, it’s remodeling and general contractors. So, because of that, we’re targeting one industry, I don’t have that … Even if we had multiple manager accounts, every manager account will only be managing similar types of properties. So, that doesn’t work for my setup. Again, you’re going to have to customize the setup based upon what your specific business is currently and select which is best.

For me, for my business, because I’m targeting one industry, the best, so far … At least what I think to be the best method is doing everything through the primary owner account or if I’m going to add a manager, it’s only temporary, long enough for the manger to make whatever changes are going to the GMB and then that manager get removed, so that it’s not a long term manager connection, if that makes sense. Okay, so again, really take what Marcos said and take what I said, and determine which is the better fit for your business and then apply that method, okay. It’s a great question, by the way, Dan.

Marco: I’m also about to put it to the test because I’m about to close on a really deal, where we’re talking about thousands of GMBs and it’s in one vertical, one niche. I’m going to see which of the two methods works best for longevity.

Bradley: Yeah.

Marco: [crosstalk 00:19:42].

Bradley: That’s what we’re trying to do here. We’re trying to develop processes to scale all of this, which is really what local, excuse me, what [inaudible 00:19:51] is all about. So, we’re really trying to develop all of these processes and done for you services because we’re building out our own. Guys, we’re not just creating these services to sell them to you guys. We’re creating these services for our internal use. Since we’re going through all the trouble of creating all of these processes and training virtual assistants to do all this stuff, because we’re building our own businesses this way, we practice exactly what we preach guys.

Since we’re going through all this trouble anyways, it just makes sense to also … Because we’re going to have all the processes in place for training, for all of this, to be able to provide that to you guys, right? Because of that, we’re doing all of this testing right now. Remember, a lot of this is new at this level, at this level of volume that we’re doing. So, we’re trying to figure it out as we go and as soon as we get good information, we share it in the appropriate places. Like Local Lease Pro, Local GMB Pro, and then the Mastermind. Those are the three places where this stuff is getting shared, right?

Thoughts On Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s Testimony That Google Is Not Manually Intervening On Search Results

So, if you want to stay on top of it without having to do the testing yourself, then just come join us and … The Masterminds probably your best bet because that’s where the conversations are held on a daily basis. All right, Wayne’s up. He says, “Observation …” Yeah, this was funny. “Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai …” Or, Pikai, I can’t … Whatever. “Testified in front of the house judiciary committee and literally said, “Last year we served over three trillion searches, just as a fact, every single day, 15% of the searches Google seized, we have never seen them before.” That’s crazy.

So, this is working at scale. We don’t manually intervene any search results. Another SEO said, “Anyone else see the word manually in there? Duh, I would’ve preferred him to say, ‘We don’t intervene.’ Thought you slipped that one by, huh, Sundar? Maybe to that box of rocks they call Congress but not to us, SEOs.” That’s funny. I thought that was really interesting. So, thanks for sharing, Wayne.

Are There Any Laws Or Issues One Should Worry About When Running Ads To A Vacation Giveaway Offer That Is Free?

Frankie’s up, what’s up, Frankie? He’s coming to ask a lot of questions. He said, “Hey, guys. Happy holidays. I’ve got a new client who owns a travel vacation club in the travel niche.” Marco, this seems like might be up your alley. “In my city who’s giving me $1,000 with ad spend with Google Ads because they want results ASAP. Then, for each lead I bring in, they will be getting …” You will be getting paid, Frankie will be getting paid, “$200 to $250 regardless if they join the travel club or not.” There you go, that’s great Frankie.

So, they’re giving you the $1,000 for ad spend and they’re going to pay you with the leads that you generate with their money? Phew, that’s a really cool engagement, man. How’d you get that? How’d you manage that one? That’s great. I like that. “Since he is paying for the ad spend and I still get a nice chunk per lead, I agreed to do his deal at the potential … I agreed to do his deal as a potential … Here it’s huge for me.” Yes, I agree. Typically, in this industry, in order to generate the leads, the main way all the current marketing companies have done is to … They do a free giveaway offer for a vacation trip to Orlando or a free cruise in exchange for their contact info and having them attend a short sales presentation where they have the option to buy or not buy. But, they still get their promised free gift.

“My question is there any laws or issues I should worry about dealing with when running ads to a vacation giveaway offer that is free? Also, I know if you have used Answerconnect in the past. I know you have used Answerconnect in the past, so I wanted to ask in the service of Answerconnect make conversation outbound calls to the new leads and ask questions to qualify them, just as they would if they were inbound calls, thanks.”

Okay, so first thing, is there any potential issues with that? I don’t know. You’d have to contact Google. If you’re talking about setting up Google Ads, then I would just call Google Ads, formerly AdWords. Call Google Ads support and ask them that. They’ll tell. Guys, listen. I’ve always found Google Ads … The support line, to call them, always really helpful. I’m not kidding. Anytime I have a question that I’m unsure of, I just call Google Ads because I’m spending money with them, why not call them and just ask them so I don’t have to spend a bunch of money researching stuff.

Of course, I do a Google search first and if I can’t find a direct answer to my question within a few minutes, then I will call. They’re usually really responsive and they’re happy to help because you’re a paying advertiser. I found that to be the case, maybe other people have had different experiences, but I have always found it rather helpful. So, I would call in and ask. Do some Google research first if you can, Frankie.

It’s very funny, but there was a training course, I can’t remember the name of it, it was by Morrison, Anthony Morrison. He’s got a brother too. They do a bunch of stuff, but he’s got a training course, it’s rather old. A couple years old now. It was very much like what you’re talking about, but it was done on Facebook and that was giving away a free vacation, which cost him like $600 or $800. He could buy a three night or a two night, three day trip package at an Orlando resort or something like that, right? It would cost him like $800, $600 to $800 or something like that.

Then, he would do it on his Facebook page for that area, he would do a post and he would use Facebook ads on the page to promote this free giveaway for this free vacation giveaway, right? For two nights and three days at whatever this resort was. He did it in multiple locations and he would get thousands of people to opt-in for that free giveaway. On the thank you page, after the opt-in, there would just be AdSense. Straight up Google AdSense ads. Because so many thousands of people would click through and opt-in to be put on the list for the vacation giveaway and then land on the thank you page with the AdSense ads, which by the way you can put affiliate offers there and things too.

Then, he would end up making more money on just the AdSense clicks, then it cost to pay for the vacation, the giveaway, right? For the tickets of the giveaway. So, he ended up making money just on that giveaway alone and then he built a list of thousands of people that now he can email market to, right? Also, retarget or remarket through remarketing, right? So, it was huge because he was building a list with a free giveaway and making money on it. He as a training course about it, it’s all done on Facebook, but you could apply that same principle to a Google Ads campaign or apply Google Ads to that same type of campaign is what I’m saying.

Again, if it’s legal … Well, if it’s not a violation of Google Ads terms and service, but you can find that out either through some research or just calling Google and asking them. It’s a brilliant strategy. Brilliant strategy.

Marco: [crosstalk 00:26:35]. I just posted the URL for their policy regarding contests and giveaways.

Bradley: A no go?

Marco: No, yeah. He has to look through it. As long as the state where he is doing it doesn’t prohibit it, as long as it’s not prohibited in the U.S. or whatever, he can totally do it. [crosstalk 00:26:54]. Read through the URL, make sure that you understand it. Again, call Google. Frankie act real stupid. Look, “I want to spend some money with you, I’m not sure how? Can I do this?” If you act really stupid, they’re really going to help. I mean, seriously. They’re going to go out of their way to get you to spend your money with them.

Then, you go, after you’re done with them and take … Everything that they said, with a grain of salt. Because all you’re looking for is the clarification that yes, you can do it and what the conditions are. What the limitations are, that’s all you’re looking to get out of them. They’re going to try to talk you in to getting some of their reps to help you or whatever. You can always do it yourself. But, the whole point behind this is getting all those little nuggets out of the person that you’re talking to. The way that you do that is by acting really dumb.

Bradley: This is it. This is it. I was trying to think, I was sitting here the whole time you’re talking, I’m trying to think a name of that Facebook page, where that … Let’s see, was it this one or this one? It was Destin Florida and it was Anthony Morison’s course, I can’t remember. I think it’s this one. Yeah, this one here. Destinflorida.com.

Hernan: Yeah, Destin Florida. I don’t remember the name of the course either.

Bradley: Me neither.

Hernan: Yeah.

Bradley: But, this is it right here. Look, they’re still doing it. See, look, he’s still doing this, man. I don’t know why’d you ever quit. He’s crushing it with this guys. You can see, he’s still doing it. The course is still at least two years old. So, destinflorida.com, you can see the type of promotions he sets up. Live three day giveaway. Again, the training course is really good. We don’t have an affiliate link for it, I’d give it to you. But, honestly, it’s a good course. I actually set it up for my keto VIP project, which is the ketogenic diet thing that I was doing for a while, but I don’t do much of affiliate marketing, you guys. I just straight do local stuff. I certainly don’t like Facebook.

I know you can make a lot of money from Facebook, but I’m just not a fan of Facebook. So, I spent a lot of time setting up a similar giveaway with ketogenic diet stuff and I wasn’t nearly as successful with it and it’s probably just because I only attempted it once and then quit because I just don’t like Facebook. Like I said, this is a really good strategy, I think it’s something you should checkout for sure. It was a great question. As far as Answerconnect, it’s been several years since I’ve had Answerconnect do any outbound calls for me.

I used to do that with lead gen service providers, when I used to offer equity share or revenue, like when I would have a service provider where I would get a percentage of a closed job or of a closed sale. What I would do and I’ve mentioned this before, maybe I don’t have the hangouts, but I’ve done this with three different tree service contractors. Only one of them ended up being honest with me and not lying about jobs that closed and they said they didn’t get them.

One of the ways I found out that I had contractors lying to me and not giving me credit or paying me for jobs, for leads that came through my sites, was I had Answerconnect to … Answerconnect’s been my call center, like my call answering service since 2012, so I’ve been using them for many years. At the time, I would have Answerconnect go … I would provide the leads that came to a particular GMB location and I would provide the phone leads to Answerconnect and have them do an outbound customer survey, right?

That’s what it was disguised as a customer survey and they would call the leads that came through and say, “Hey, this is blah, blah, blah, tree service. We’re calling with a customer satisfaction survey. We understand that you didn’t use our services and we were just calling in order to improve our service, we’d like to ask you a couple questions as to what led you to make the decision to hire somebody else.” Something like that. It was worded something like that.

I provided them with a script. It was two to three questions. What would happen is the call, the person who would answer the phone, the lead that they were calling, right, would say, “Well, we made a decision to go … We just decided not to get the tree work done.” Or, “We went another company because of this …” Sometimes the answer would be, “Wait a minute, we did hire you guys to do the tree service. Go back and check your records.” Or, something like that. They would say, “No, we did hire you.” Then, I would call the contractor and say, “Okay, what about this lead here? Did you close this job?” When they would lie to me, I would show them proof, “Wait a minute, I had it confirmed that you did do the job, therefore, you’re fired. I’m going to send these leads somewhere else.”

That happened to me … I tried that with six different contractors and only one of them turned out to be honest. I don’t offer that anymore, unless I’ve developed a really good working relationship with somebody. But, at the time, Answerconnect was the service that did it. Now, I don’t know if they still do it, the easiest way to find out, Frankie, is just contact Answerconnect, right? Go to Answerconnect and go to contact us tab and ask them a question. You can call them. They’re an answering service, so call them, ask them, “Do you guys do outbound calls?” If they will, great. If not, just do a search on Google, right? Outbound calling, telemarketers, something like that and find a service and have them do the outbound calls. Okay? It’s that simple.

Answerconnect used to do that, but I don’t know if they still do because it’s been many years since I’ve done that. Okay? That’s a great … Man, that’s really sweet about this guy with giving you a $1,000 and … So, you’re going to spend his ad money and for every lead that you generate with his ad money, you’re going to get paid? That’s great, man. You should try to repeat that over and over again. So, congratulations.

How Do You Determine The Profit Margin Of A Potential Local Lead Gen Client?

Ken says, “Last week Bradley said …” That’s the webinar for Local Lease Pro Update on Monday, I’m sure Adam already dropped the link, so there you go, Ken. Will, what’s up Will he said, “Bradley, on LLP, you mentioned that …” Which is Local Lease Pro, guys. “You mentioned that one of the criteria for selecting a niche is to ensure that the service provider had good margins to afford your leads.” Which means good profits. “Question, how do you go about determining what profit margins that the client would have, as you explained with the carpet cleaning client you used as an example to drive your point?” Again, Will, ask, right.

For example, if you’re … If you’re looking for … Well, first of all, think about … You’ve got to think about the type of businesses … The carpet cleaning, they’re very, very small margins for the most part. So, it’s hard to justify marketing cost, especially lead generation cost for carpet cleaning companies. Like tree services, it’s almost all labor, right? It’s very rarely is there ever any material cost, other than fuel, right? Then, paying for labor for the workers and stuff like that. There’s very rarely any material cost. Remodeling leads, think about a kitchen remodel, right?

A kitchen remodel on the low end, an average kitchen remodel is about $30,000. Typically, most general contractors and remodeling contractors have about a 20% markup, right? So, if it’s a $30,000 job and again about the average is a 20% margin, markup, margin, right? Then, they’re looking at about a $6,000 profit margin, $24,000 would go out to materials and two subcontractors for labor, right? That’s about a $6,000 profit margin per lead there, so it’s easy or it’s much more easy to justify charging $100,000 a lead, when there’s $6,000 profit potential for that lead. Does that make sense?

So, again, think about it logically, Will, that’s first and foremost. Just think about the type of business that you may want to generate leads for. Think about what they charge for their product or service and think about what their cost may be. Try to guesstimate. You can try to do some simple Google searches, guys, and start looking for that kind of data. You will likely find it with a little bit of digging, just by Googling. As a last resort or if you’re not …

I personally, don’t like talking to people on the phone, for the most part, unless it’s something I purposely scheduled, unless I want to … You know what I mean? So, I don’t like to call people just out of the blue and ask questions. That is a way that you can do it. For example, you can call whatever business type in your local area that you’re considering doing lead gen services for and just ask them. Say, “Look, I’m a local marketing guy. I’m in the same area. I’m not calling you to sell you anything. I’m literally calling you to ask you some questions about your type of business because I’m considering getting into marketing for this type of business. I’d just like to know a little bit more about your industry. Would you be willing to answer a couple of questions.”

Send somebody a gift card for $20 or something like that to Starbucks or to a local restaurant and then call them after you know that it’s been delivered, right? Then, say, “Hey, I’m the guy that sent you the $20 gift card. Would you mind answering a couple questions about your business because I’m looking to get into marketing for that. I’m not trying to pitch you on anything, that’s why I sent you a $20 Starbucks gift card. Would you mind taking a few minutes?”

Butter them up first by giving them something. I’ve done that in the past, guys, and it works. So, again, it’s just a conversation starter and is it worth $20 to actually find out what the margins are for a particular business that you may be interested in generating leads for? Also, couldn’t they be the first person to buy leads from you, after you had that conversation and built some rapport with them? Think about it. So, there you go, Will. Like I said, a lot of the times, just think about it logically first. Do some research on Google. You’ll likely find the information you’re looking for, some sort of statistic sheets or something.

Lastly, you can always just send somebody a small gift. Or, you could just do a straight cold call, but if you want to butter them up first … Remember the law of reciprocity, when you give somebody something for nothing and you’re not trying to pitch them … You guys know, probably from prospecting and trying to sell marketing services, we’ve always talked about how we should lead with something free first and then you try to sell them something. What if you give them something free first and you don’t try to sell them anything. You just want to ask them a question.

You’ll probably close that sale because you’re not selling anything, you know what I mean? I would try that.

Marco: What I’ve also done, is I just have people call as a customer, just a typical customer to get a quote, just so that I have-

Bradley: That won’t reveal what the profit margin is for that.

Marco: No, no. It won’t reveal the profit margin, but it gives you an idea. If you have a quote and you know the general markup, which is 20% to 30% across the board, sometimes 10. It’s generally 20 to 30, then you know more or less where you are.

Should You Limit Your Service Area Within The Zip Code Where The GMB Is Secured?

Bradley: That’s true. So, Ted’s up. He says, “Local Lease Pro method question. I’m in a large city with a dozens zip codes … With a dozen zip codes within that city name. If I secure a GMB in one of those zip codes with the population of 10K, should I limit my service here to target just that zip code where the GMB is secure?”

Well, that’s up to you, it depends on really how you spaced out your assets. You don’t want there to be gaps or spaces between us, that’s if possible. So, that’s really determined … Again, this is more of a question that should be answered on Monday, not necessarily today, Ted, because we’re having the whole Local Lease Pro Update Webinar then. But, yeah, I would say it depends on how you have your other assets within that same service area radius spread out, right? Let’s say you have a 20 mile service area radius and you’ve got only four assets and they’re equally spaced out across those 24 or that 20 mile radius, then I would have the service area setup for each of those locations to where they all overlap in the middle slightly but that way the whole 20 mile service area is covered, by service area of each location, right?

So, each location will cover 25% in that particular example. So, that’s how I do it. If you’re doing a whole bunch of locations within a particular service area, then yeah, you can go hyper local, which is really what we’re teaching with Local Lease Pro anyways, is going hyper local and keeping your service area or radius very, very tight, or small. Something I typically have been doing is going about a 5 mile radius, guys. That’s only a 10 mile service area, right? 5 mile radius from the location itself, that’s typically what I’m doing. But, again, it depends on how many assets you have and how big your service area is and how you want to spread them out then.

We’ll talk more about that on Monday. Okay, there you go, Adam, thank you. Thank you. There you, Brian, it was just posted below you. “What time is the webinar on Monday?” It’s 4:00 PM, I believe Eastern, right? Hello?

Adam: Correct.

Bradley: Yeah. All right, Monday, September 17th, I believe, yeah, 4:00 PM>

Adam: I’ll put it on the page, it should’ve been on there.

Does A GMB Page Needs A GMB Site?

Bradley: Yeah. Okay, cool, thank you. Cool, we’re almost done. We can wrap it up either early or on time. GMB, Brian, okay. Says, “GMB, need to have GMB site in addition to the page, need to have a GMB site in addition to the page. I thought the GMB page was a site until I saw a link to a GMB site.” I think you’re talking about the maps page. No, a GMB website, Brian, is a web … Google gives you a free website now. It’s whatever sub domain you choose, .business.site, that’s a GMB website.

Okay, it’s just a one page site, but every time you create a GMB post, it gets … If you have a GMB website published, then it will also be converted into an internal page on the site. So, that’s a GMB website. Yes, if you’re doing GMB stuff, I say, setup the GMB website too. Use all the tools, all the features that Google gives you guys. That’s why we’re crushing it right now. We’re doing everything that Google is giving to us, where 95% of other businesses don’t even have a clue that it exists. That’s why we’re crushing it right now. That’s what Local GMB Pro is all about.

Just get in there and use all of the tools that Google gives within Google My Business and Google will promote your location, your asset, above everybody else because you’re using all the tools that nobody else is using. Does that make sense? Yes, Brian, use the GMB website if you can. Marco, do you want to comment on that?

Marco: No, you answered it perfectly. That’s all I use.

Bradley: Okay. I’m not even building WordPress websites anymore guys. I swear to God. The only time I’m going to build a WordPress website is if a client demands it. For lead gen assets, nope, don’t need them anymore. Why the hell would I want to go out and pay for a domain, setup hosting and deal with all the stupid WordPress shit that we have to deal with all the time, when I can setup lead gen assets all day long with a GMB single page website and I never have to do a damn thing to it, think about. So, again, if a client demands a website, which most clients will, then, that’s fine, I’ll work on their WordPress websites for them.

But, for my own stuff now, nope. No more WordPress sites, I’m done. At least for now, that may change.

Marco: For those of you who have worked out the page rank math that business.site is around a 5, 6 PR. That doesn’t mean that your sub domain is going to get a 5, 6. But, I mean, you’re attached not only to a Google property, but it’s like a 5, 6 PR. So, the quality score will be a … Not the quality score, but the ranking score will be just a touch lower than that, but it’s a really good indicator that it’s fucking powerful and you need to be there.

What Are Possible Reasons Why A Site Ranks Lower Than The Others Despite Having Better DR, UR And More Quality Backlinks Than Its Competitor?

Bradley: All right, so … Thank you, Marco. The next question, [Asheesh 00:43:01], I guess. I’m sorry if I mispronounced your name. That’s a metric question, Asheesh and I know it’s the first time you’ve posted a question for us, so I’m not going to slam you too hard, I promise. But, something we don’t care about here at Semantic Mastery is metrics. I could care less what [Moss 00:43:18] metrics say about a domain or a webpage. I could care less what Majestic SEO says or what an AH Ref says because we stopped tracking metrics over two years ago and I haven’t had any problems whatsoever.

I don’t give a shit what the metrics are from my competitors compared to the metrics that I work on or my client’s assets because we can still get results regardless of what those metrics say, period. We’ve proven that over and over again. So, again, I’m not picking on you. This is probably the first time you’ve asked a question here. This is really not the forum of Semantic Mastery is not the place to ask questions about metrics and why your higher metric property isn’t outranking somebody with lower metrics. Probably because they’re doing stuff that really speaks directly or feeds Googles … Feeds Google exactly what it wants and that’s independent, separate and apart from metrics.

Metrics are proprietary. So, Moss has its own algorithm that it tries to determine the strength of domains, pages, and things like that based upon what it things Google wants. And AH Ref has its own and Majestic has its own and everybody has their own metrics and they’re all proprietary. None of them work for Google. So, what I’m saying is because Google doesn’t give us page rank metrics anymore, which was the most accurate, then why bother with third-party metrics. I know some people out here live and die by third-party metrics. That’s fine.

If it’s working for you, that’s great. But, in your case Asheesh, you’re saying that your metrics are higher but it’s not ranking. So, apparently, it’s not just a metric thing that determines whether you rank or not, right? You’re saying that you have living proof right now that it’s not just a metric thing, which is why we don’t care about third-party metrics anymore. I don’t even track them, I don’t care. Does that make sense? Now, I know Marco has a strong opinion about this too.

Marco: Yeah, absolutely, because everything we do is meant to trigger the good parts, let’s call it, of the Google algorithm, freshness and proximity. Just everything that Google is looking for. They’re looking, as I said, for the ranking score, they’re looking … It’s not just pay join, pay join is part and I’ve been saying this for a couple of years. Pay join is part of the ranking score algorithm and that’s what we’re building up. As long as we’re working towards that, we can care less what Moss is doing or Majestic or anything else. It’s a guide, but theirs is a guess.

If you think of a whole bunch of people together and they got the math that Google gives you, because they don’t give you everything, and they made an educated guess, right? Some went for domain authority, some went for trust. Well, neither one has everything that Google has. The only one that has that Google has is Google and they’re not giving up the ghost. So, all we can do is … The Semantic Mastery, which is we test, we see what moves the needle and then we do some more of it.

We do some more of it to the point where we try to hammer it and try to break it and try to get Google to push back, so that we know when we come to you guys, we can tell you these are the boundaries as far as what you can do.

Hernan: Yeah, with the thresholders.

Marco: Yeah, absolutely. We need to know. We need to know what doesn’t work, so that we can give people what does work, right? That’s just obvious, that’s what everybody should be doing and if they’re not, then, Asheesh, avoid them. Go somewhere else.

Bradley: That’s it. Thank you, Marco. [inaudible 00:47:04], by the way, I don’t know if you saw that I commented on your question on the Syndication Academy update. Man, I really apologize, I missed your question. Yours was the first question, so I don’t know how I missed it. But, he was asking on that about can you get an RSS feed from Facebook. Yes, you can from Zapier, you can get an RSS feed from Zapier. So, yes you can.

In fact, I posted on that page the event page from earlier that I would try to squeeze that in from the update webinar we’re going to do next month in January, which is part two of this Syndication Academy Update Webinar that I held today. So, I’ll try to get to that.

Is There A Benefit Of Using Hashtag When Posting To GMB?

So, his question today or for here is there a benefit using a hashtag when posting to GMB? I have no idea. Marco, do you know? I still haven’t been using them, so I don’t know. Does it even take hashtags?

Marco: Yeah, you can use hashtags, I don’t know if they go … Actually, you can do jump links in posts. I just gave me something that I shouldn’t be giving away, but run with it.

Bradley: Yeah. I don’t know. Well, jump links are different from hashtags though. Again, I don’t know if hashtags if they hyperlink with a posted post, I don’t know or not, I haven’t tested that. I have no idea.

Marco: I don’t know if they would work. I don’t know if there’s a benefit. Everything that we’re doing does not include hashtags.

Bradley: Hashtags, yeah.

Marco: Maybe that’s something we should test, we should put that on our list of things to [crosstalk 00:48:31].

Bradley: I’m going ping Rob, test hashtags for GMB post.

Marco: Yeah. Tell him to contact Irene and then Irene will contact me.

Bradley: Whatever, he knows what I meant. Okay, yeah. That’s a good one, thanks for pointing that out, I haven’t even thought about that, we can test on that too. Yeah, the jump link thing, we will be talking about that in local Lease Pro or Local GMB Pro. Probably Local GMB Pro and then Mastermind guys in probably sometime next month, because I got part two of Syndication Academy Webinars very specifically about Q&A posts and Q&A schema, questions and answers schema. So, there’s something that we can apply with what Marco just leaked to that. We’ll talk about that once part two of Syndication Academy Update Webinar is complete. Okay. But, there’s something very powerful we can do with that.

What Are The Main Needle Movers For Boosting A GMB’s Ranking?

Edward says, “Hey, guys. Thanks for doing this.” I’ll plus one that. He says, “For a competitive search term, which are the main needle-movers for boosting GMBs ranking> Only a small team here.” Right now activity, Edward. Obviously, make sure it’s fully optimized, it’s well optimized. It’s got good content and then posting activity is probably the number one factor in my opinion for getting results. Getting traction with a GMB asset. So, guys use the data in the GMB assets to tell you what Google wants. The data in the GMB insights will tell you the best days to post.

Maybe you need to increase posting frequency on those days, right? It will also tell you the keywords that are … Or, the search queries that are bringing the most traffic to your site. For whatever reason, when you target those keywords in GMB posts, they tend to bring in more traffic. Also, by the way, you’ll probably notice, Edward, a lot of the keywords that are bringing traffic are near me keywords, near me queries, right? Or, variations nearby, close to me, in my area. Those types of queries. Target those, guys. You’re triggering the mobile algorithm that way. Google loves that shit.

So, go in there and collect … Start building a database in near me terms and all the variations thereof. Then, start targeting those in near me type posts. Again, we have post templates that are called near me post templates inside Local Lease Pro, as well as local GMB pro. Not going to give them to you here, but you can create your own too by the way. You don’t need my templates, you can sit down and just think about how to create your own near me templates. Post regularly and consistently and often, right? That’s the number one key.

Then, as far as getting ranked in the free pack, which isn’t really necessary to get results from GMB. It doesn’t even have to be in the three pack, guys, because you’re talking … Especially what I just mentioned with the mobile stuff, you don’t even need to be in three pack and you can still generate leads from GMB assets, we’ve proven that. If you want to be in the three pack because, let’s face it guys, that’s still something that we as us like to see, right? Local PR pro, I’m not shitting you.

Probably the quickest way I’ve ever seen, other than the other Local Lease Pro method, which is just researching locations and finding easy opportunities, other than that, the quickest way I’ve been able to get into the three pack is through press releases in the Local PR method, which is PR stacking and all of that. Again, that’s why Local Lease Pro guys is hands down … That is our number one front end product right now. It will be, as long as this opportunity exists, right? Local GMB Pro is the advanced training for GMB assets.

It’s for those assets that don’t push into the three pack and generate results right away. It’s for the more competitive areas. That’s what Local GMB Pro is, it’s about how to get the absolute power out of a GMB asset, whether it’s in a three pack of not, it makes no difference. Local PR pro, is the course that teaches you how to push that into a three pack in very, very quickly, whether it has a website or not. That’s why there’s three courses, guys. I’m telling you, they work hand-in-hand. Then, lastly to follow it all up, is RYS Academy and drive stacks, which is like … that’s super advanced stuff that just pushes a shit ton of power into whatever you want through Google properties, right?

So, it’s like those three courses are … They compound. They just build upon each other and then RYS is for … That’s just the icing on the cake and that’s for if you have … If you just want to push massive authority. Marco, you want to chat about that at all?

Marco: No, I think you nailed it on the head. They go hand in hand. Local PR Pro, Local GMB Pro, Local Lease Pro, each one acts differently. Then, when you want to … If you want it to stick, you throw drive stacks at it and then it’s like … Like I said, it’s never … I haven’t seen it this easy to make money in so long, that it’s not even funny. It’s just so easy. The main needle mover, as you said, it’s just activity, but it has to be the right kind of activity on that niche. Let me tell you right now, that each niche reacts differently, depending on the kind of posts that you do. I’ll give that away. I’m not going to give everything away, but I’ll tell you that.

How Much SEO Do You Do For GMB Sites?

Bradley: Jeff says, “How much SEO do you do for GMB sites? Also, how much can you throw at a GMB site without incurring the wrath of G?” Okay, as SEO, I just put well-optimized content on it, guys. The beautiful thing about a GMB website is you don’t … You cannot modify SEO elements of the page. You don’t put in header tags and you don’t … You just literally past content in. You can bold stuff and you can create links from within the content. You can’t add header tags. There’s nothing that you can modify on the elements of the page, it’s just text only, right? It’s all you can do.

All you need to do is have a well written piece of content for the GMB website and that’s it. That’s as far as you can go for on page, other than photos, which are incredibly important and GMB posts, which act as inner pages, if you have a GMB website. If you’re just doing GMB posts and you don’t have a GMB website, then you don’t … They don’t act as inner pages, they’re just posts. But, if you have a GMB website, then they’ll start as posts and then it’ll turn into an inner page of the website as well. So, you can silo those. I can’t get into how, but we’ll talk about that a little bit on Monday for the Local Lease Pro method.

Our auto-poster, the GMB auto-poster, that we have will also automate a siloing post, which is really, really cool. Okay, so you can do that. But, as far as the off page stuff, I don’t know because I haven’t done any massive spamming to the GMB websites yet because as I was just talking about in the previous question, the only exterior link building I have done thus far has been from press releases and drive stacks. I have not even thrown any spam link campaigns. We have a [inaudible 00:55:47], right? We have a link building manager who’s fabulous, he’s amazing at what he does.

I haven’t even started testing, sending link campaigns to a GMB asset yet, maybe Marco has, but all I’ve done is drive stacks and press releases. I just now starting to play with syndication networks and syndicating GMB posts because our auto-posts create an RSS feed from GMB posts. So, I’m starting to test with that a little bit too. I have almost … I said this with RYS stacks, but I’ve also tested just link building with Google sites, using a software from Peter Drew. I haven’t done enough testing there to determine whether that’s something I want to add in my standard operating procedure or not.

Yeah, again, since it’s a Google property, Marco can probably comment on this a little bit more, but I haven’t tested the limit on that. But, since it’s a Google property, will likely withstand anything you throw at it. What do you say, Marco?

Marco: I say that I haven’t needed to do anything, except what’s in the training so far. It’s so simple, you just go, you get an asset. You optimize it the way that it’s taught, you throw it up, it ranked or it doesn’t rank. If it doesn’t rank, you can still … The activity will create calls. The way that it’s setup will create calls, it’ll create activity. That activity, Google starts feeding on it because it starts seeing it. Activity is one of the major factors right now. I keep saying it, are activity, relevance, trust, and authority. Those are the things that will trump anything. I don’t care what it is, I don’t care what negative aspects there are. If you have activity, relevance, trust, and authority setup in whatever it is that you’re doing, it’s going to trump everything and Google is going to reward you over and over and over again.

What’s Stopping Someone From Creating Thousands Of Websites And GMBs and Renting Them Out?

Bradley: Yep, there you go. Kasey says, “What’s stopping someone from creating thousands of websites in GMBs and running them out?” Just time and any other major complications. Yeah, time, that’s it. Time and funding and having a team to be able to accomplish that. What do you think we’re in the process of doing right now? We’re building those teams so that we can do that kind of volume. That’s exactly what we’re doing, Kasey. That’s why I said, the opportunity while … Strike while the irons hot. Right now is the time to do it and that’s why I’ve been pushing for two months now, as far as I have been to try and build a … This in a scalable way. We’re training VAs. I’ve created … I spent weeks developing training videos and process stocks to be able to train virtual assistants how to do this entire process from start to finish.

The pofu live attendees are getting these updates from me in real time. They’re kind of helping me with this, right? They’re all using our scaling processes to build their businesses. So, we got all these people that are doing this right now and we’re teaching some of this in the Mastermind as it becomes refined and repeatable because it’s still kind of in its rough stage right now. The Mastermind as it becomes proven, I share this in the Mastermind as well.

That’s exactly why, I don’t know how long this opportunity is going to last. While it’s here, we’re going to try and secure as many as possible, right? So, Kasey, the only limitation that I know of right now is your bandwidth, and your funding, if you’re going to be hiring it out, right?

Marco: Definitely budget, unless he has his own method of securing GMB assets. 1,000 or 2,000 of them, if you get through us, we’re talking about quite a bit of money.

Bradley: Yeah. Yeah. All right, Wayne, last question and then we’re going to wrap it up. We’re right on time too, so that’s perfect. Wayne says, “Realized today that if a prospect in HVAC or plumbing can’t get into local service ads, then there’s a hell of an opportunity to do what you learned from Semantic Mastery to help prospect.” Yeah, that’s true. Thank you, Wayne. So, yeah, if you can’t … For example, guys, I know that in our Mastermind, somebody was talking about trying to get one of their clients into the local services ads section, which is what you’re seeing here, right? Apparently, it was funny. I think it was Muhammad.

So, anyways, one of our members in the Mastermind said, that there was real awkward conversation with the business owner, when they were trying to explain to them why they should be in local Google service ads. The business owner said that they couldn’t be because they couldn’t pass a background check. That’s funny because that’s going to happen, especially if you’re dealing with contractors. Trust me, there’s a lot of contractors out there that can’t pass background checks because of something in their past. I’m totally cool with working with those types of contractors, guys. People make mistakes and they can change.

But, if you can’t pass a background check because of something … You’ve got a skeleton in your closet, you can’t get into this section. So, what Wayne is saying is true. That doesn’t mean that they’re dead in the water, right. DITW, that means that they have … You just have to do other things, like Google Ads or like what we teach with maps, which is Local Lease Pro and Local PR Pro, right? Excuse me, Local GMB Pro. So, there you go. Thank you, Wayne, that’s a good point. All right, no other questions, right on time. Hot damn, that doesn’t happen very often. Whoo. Cool, and even Adam’s still here. Wow.

Adam: About to head out. Time to hit it before the sun goes down, go for a run. But, I want to remind everybody to show up for the webinar on Monday. If you’ve got any questions about this stuff, I know we talked about Local Lease Pro for a bit today, a lot of questions about it. Whether or not you’re a member, show up, go register, come hang out. This is a great way to close out 2018 and really start kicking ass in 2019.

Bradley: There you go. Also, we have a Mastermind seminar tomorrow, for those of you in the Mastermind. So, post your questions through the forum, the Google forum, guys, because we’ve got a lot to go through tomorrow. So, thanks everybody for hanging out. Thanks, Marco and Adam.

Marco: Bye everybody.

Bradley: See you.

  Weekly Digital Marketing Q&A – Hump Day Hangouts – Episode 214 published first on https://dilatepage.tumblr.com/