88% of buyers start on Google, but if your firm isn’t showing up, you don’t exist.⚠️
Referrals won’t scale. SEO alone won’t save you. And “trying out” paid ads without a strategy? That’s just burning cash.
In this episode of CFO Chronicles, we’re joined by Jeremy Estey of Amber Sky Marketing, a Google Ads strategist helping firms across North America get seen, clicked, and hired. We unpack the hard truths firms need to hear in 2025, including:
- Why Google Ads now outperform SEO by default
- How to spend just $500 and actually get real insights
- The search terms your next CFO client is already typing
- Why vague, generalist messaging is killing your ROI
- What AI-powered search means for your visibility (and what to do now)
If you’ve ever said, “We tried ads and they didn’t work,” this episode will show you exactly why, and how to fix it.
Listen now or get left behind.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to another episode of CFO
Chronicles.
We have an amazing guestjoining us today from Amber Sky
Marketing, jeremy Esty.
Jeremy and I get into all ofthe strategy around local search
when it comes to Google foraccounting firms, national
search, how to use Google Ads,ppc, what to target, how to
think about the key phrases youwanna use to get in front of
(00:22):
your ideal client, and where tostart when it comes to a
marketing budget.
As always, hope you enjoy theepisode and let us know your
thoughts.
Tell me a little bit about kindof where you guys are coming in
and how you help your clientswith Google ads, Because it's my
understanding that the PPCpay-per-click is a big piece of
your strategy to get yourclients the results they're
(00:43):
looking for.
Or am I getting that wrong?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yeah, wrong, yeah, no , we definitely have a ppc
component, google ads component.
We're also doing search engineoptimization.
I can definitely speak to bothum where google's headed right
now.
Um, obviously they're putting alot of weight on on their
search ads and just their ads ingeneral, because that's where
the bulk of their revenue iscoming from, so they're
(01:06):
obviously making those apriority.
The good thing about google ads, and kind of why I really like
them, is because they are superintent based right, as opposed
to you know facebook ads, whichare still great for you know
specific purposes, more of likea branding play.
(01:28):
Whereas you know, if you're onfacebook, you're not necessarily
looking for services.
You're just on there seeingwhat's going on.
You're scrolling and if youcome across you know an ad that
might be relevant to you and it,you know, entices you to click,
you'll click and you'll getmore information.
Whereas you know google, knowGoogle ads, for example, um, if
I am an accounting firm, let'sjust say or I guess maybe let's,
(01:51):
let's use it from you know, anaccounting firm client.
If I'm looking for anaccounting firm, um, I'm going
to Google, cause, I mean, that'swhere most people are starting
their searches and, for the mostpart people who are, you know,
doing searches on Google.
They have a pretty high intentto buy, or at least they're in,
you know, that part of thebuying stage where they're
(02:13):
actively trying to get moreinformation.
So you know they're going totype in, you know essentially
what they're looking to do, doand if it's super like high
intent that they want to, youknow they want to build a new
accounting relationship.
They're going to type in bestaccountant near me, or you know
(02:34):
who can help me with my cashflow issues as a small business
owner, right?
So you know, using those typesof keywords, that's really where
you know PPC in this case,which stands for pay-per-click
Google search ads, really,really make sense, because the
moment you essentially pay forGoogle ads, you're getting, you
(02:58):
know, one of the top space,whereas if you look at it from a
search engine optimizationstandpoint, you know Google has,
you know, started to push theorganic rankings down, and so
you know it's not as front andcenter as it used to be.
Whereas you know Google ads oh,ok, this accounting firm is
(03:21):
coming up, they're right infront of me and I really don't
have to do any scrolling.
So that's why they are supereffective, you know, for driving
new business, driving newconversations and essentially
how they work, is.
It's similar to search engineoptimization, where you're
analyzing keywords, trying tounderstand what keywords are
going to make the most sensebased on your specific client,
(03:43):
and you know the challengesthey're trying to solve, and I
think that's another piece thatwe can talk about later.
But being able to position yourfirm, understand who your
clients are, what problems areyou solving and then building
out your marketing strategybased on that, and then that's
where you can get really, reallyrefined with with your google
(04:06):
ads and and just who you'retrying to target I love what
you're saying about the intentlevel.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
It's so true.
A lot of people at the eventwere asking me you know, oh, hey
, I'm.
Or telling me, hey, I, I I'mlisted here on angie's list or
I'm doing that.
Okay, great, how?
How often are you going toangie's list to look for a
service like you're not doingthat, you're going to google.
So hang out where yourpotential clients are going to
be, where they're surging.
Um, when it comes to firmsgetting started, or maybe people
(04:37):
have relied on referrals theirentire life and that's been all
well and great.
They've, they've plucked allthe low-hanging fruit.
What is that?
What do you tell a new firmwho's maybe getting into paid
ads?
What can they expect?
What's a recommended budget?
How quick do they spend thatbudget?
Paid ads can be scary for a lotof firms, right?
(04:59):
Maybe they've been burned inthe past, maybe they've just
never done paid ads.
What's your recommendation to afirm who's either thinking
about paid ads or okay, I'mready to do something, but how
much do I spend?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah, and I think it all starts with kind of what I
was talking about just a littleearlier there in regards to who
are your clients, who are youtrying to attract?
What problems do they have thatyou're trying to solve?
Because I think a lot ofgeneralist type firms or just
you know businesses in generalwho just don't really understand
(05:31):
or at least don't have theirideal client nailed down yet, go
into like a marketing strategylike Facebook ads or Google ads,
for example, which is like verygeneric type of messaging or
looking at very generic keywordsgeneric type of messaging or
(05:51):
looking at very generic keywordsand so I would say the first
thing to do is you know reallylike who are you targeting?
When you understand that,understand what their problems
are, how are they like searchingonline and you know, tap into
that messaging and tap into, youknow, that language that
they're using.
Right, because when you canhighlight a specific problem
(06:14):
that they're having, that yousolve, that is going to amplify.
You know your ads Right,because you're speaking directly
to a problem that they'reprobably like typing in Google
to solve Right as opposed tohaving a generic message.
Typing in Google to solve rightas opposed to having a generic
message.
You know everyone sorry,shouldn't say everyone, but
there's a lot of firms out therewho are just generalists and
they just have a general messagewhich really doesn't really
(06:37):
speak to anybody.
They're just offering the sameservices as you know the firm
down the street.
So I would say that's the firstpiece to it is just really dial
in who you're trying to target.
Dial is just really dial in whoyou're trying to target, dial
in what problems are you solving, and then let that lead your
strategy.
And then, in regards to gettingstarted, I mean, I'm obviously
(06:58):
going to come from the approachof getting a professional to
start it and to let aprofessional or an agency look
after those Google ads.
However, if you do want to doit yourself, I do recommend it
as well.
It's definitely a good skill tohave, it's good knowledge to
have as well.
And just you know, in regards todifferent types of marketing,
that you can do.
But if you're starting out,essentially it's you know you
(07:20):
don't want to spend a whole lot.
You want to, like you know, puta little bit on the table, just
see how things work, test outdifferent messages on the table,
just see how things work, testout different messages and then
kind of see what clicks and thenif you've found a message or
you know um, have found maybesome keywords that are
converting, then look at scalingup, um, you know, as to I would
(07:44):
say, like a good number tostart out with $500.
Okay, just just to kind of giveyou, like you know, a base.
You know that'll give you alittle bit of traffic, hopefully
if your messaging is, you know,resonating with them.
That being said, google ads, youknow it is starting to get a
(08:05):
little bit more expensivebecause there's just a lot more
bidding going on and it'sessentially just, you know, the
demand of it that they're able,you know, to increase those.
But it all really depends tooon, like, where are you trying
to target.
So, you know, start with, likeyou know, I guess, a number that
that's comfortable to you, butalso that isn't like a whole lot
(08:27):
where you know, if the firstcampaign that you start doesn't
really generate anything, you'renot like stressing out because
you wasted all that money and soif you are just starting out,
obviously it's just like any newskill, you know, you just have
to get your feet wet and I don'twant to say dabble in it but,
like you know, just really testwhat works, how actually works,
how the platform's going toperform for you and how to
(08:49):
structure those ads for results.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yeah, cool.
I mean, what I'm hearing aswell is something that's
probably really important to addon there to what you just
shared.
$500 in New York City or inManhattan for testing is going
to be wildly different from $500, say, in the Midwest, somewhere
in a more you know, not aspopulated area.
(09:16):
The other thing that I'vealways kind of encouraged
clients to think about is whoare they trying to bring on and
for what service, and be willingto spend, basically break even
on acquiring a new client.
I think there's too many firmswho they try to get into
marketing or they try to runsome marketing on their own.
I'm sure you've seen this whereit's like, hey, I got $500 and
(09:41):
I want that $10,000 a month CFOclient.
That's great, it's awesome tohave wishes, but that's not the
way the world works.
So at least that's how we'vealways run our ads, knowing,
okay, we're going to bring on aclient for 3k a month.
Well, we have to be ready toput our money where our mouth is
and spend three grand at leastin the first month to acquire
that client, and then we canalways refine and make it
(10:03):
extremely more profitable.
So a lot of good points inthere, and the other piece I'll
add on and if you have some someto add to it is the piece about
hiring an expert.
I think that's oftentimes alittle bit overlooked when it
comes to marketing.
It's a really good skill tohave as a business owner, you
said.
But if you put yourself in theshoes of the business owner
(10:24):
coming to you for, say, taxplanning advice, well, what are
you going to tell that person?
Hey, you can go out and do iton your own.
You might get okay results, butI can almost guarantee you it's
going to be way better if youjust work with me as the
professional.
So that's always kind of anarrative.
I try to lean in with clientsas well.
Marketing is great.
It's great to know how to saveon your own taxes, but
(10:48):
oftentimes you get asignificantly higher ROI by
choosing to work with aprofessional.
I'm not sure if you haveanything else to add to that,
but a lot of points that yousaid just kind of they were
stirring up those ideas for me.
I just wanted to add.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Yeah, yeah, no, totally.
I think you bring up a goodpoint and, yes, you're
absolutely right.
Sure, you can play around withGoogle ads, you can learn how to
do SEO yourself, and Irecommend it just to you know,
give yourself context and justan understanding of how it works
.
But, at the end of the day,like you know these agencies and
you know these pros, they'vebeen doing it for years upon
(11:24):
years, right, and so they knowit works, they know how to
structure stuff properly, and soyou know they're going to be
able to get you faster resultsthan you.
Just you know testing and goingthrough trial and error.
And it's no different than if Icame to my accountant and be
(11:44):
like and was like, I don'tunderstand.
You know these financials.
Um, this is what I want to do.
Can you help me understand thisand help me put a plan into
place so that I'm able to, youknow, solve this financial
challenge or whatever?
That is right.
They're the experts.
They studied all that stuff.
As a business owner, you know mytop priorities.
(12:06):
I don't know yours are, butit's essentially what are the
levers that are going to drivemore revenue to the business?
So those are, you know, the toppriorities for myself and so
any you know the time spentoutside of that is essentially
you know not where I want to beRight, and so you know it's
essentially, you know, payingfor somebody's time so that you
(12:28):
can free yourself up, manageyour business, manage your
clients, create the best clientexperience as possible.
So that's just my take on goingdown the expert route and
really hiring somebody who isable to speed that up.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Yeah, you're going to pay with time or you're going
to pay with money, and I thinkit's just asking yourself,
probably at the current positionin what do you have more of?
Do you have more time to try tolearn it yourself, or do you
have more money to just have anexpert come in and and get you
the result probably 10 X faster?
So some really good stuff there, jeremy.
What?
What's your thoughts on kind ofthe direction where AI is going
(13:08):
, or even with Google, like theyjust had the release the other
day of the new video AI withGoogle?
How are you looking at this asfar as strategy goes for your
clients?
How are you thinking abouteither using that for clients?
How are you consulting them onhow to use it?
Do you have some thoughts onthat?
Because when I'm seeing thesevideos now, it's insane what AI
(13:32):
is producing.
It's quite scary actually.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
So obviously there's really good ways to use it and,
from a marketing perspective,I'd love to hear your thoughts
on, either for the client orjust in general, your thoughts
on how you can use it to growyour business totally, and I
think that's, uh, you know, themillion dollar question right
now, because technology and withai coming to the forefront, and
(13:57):
just a lot of disruption goingon within the marketing space
actually not even just themarketing space, but, like in
all industries, people are kindof running around like where's's
everything going?
I don't know it's.
You know, technology's evolvingso fast I don't know how to
keep up with it all.
But if we look at Googlespecifically and we look at
let's just look at Google searchas it pertains to search engine
(14:20):
optimization, obviously searchengine optimization is changing
because of AI.
Obviously search engineoptimization is changing because
of AI and then, with AIoverviews and other stuff that
Google is implementing, theorganic search rankings are
getting pushed down.
That said, if you look at itfrom a local SEO standpoint,
(14:50):
local SEO is still very, veryrelevant, in fact it's.
You know, if you're a localbusiness and you don't have a
business profile, a Googlebusiness profile set up, and you
know you're not looking at oreven considering doing local
search engine optimization, Ithink you are leaving yourself
behind the eight ball, becausethere's so much opportunity that
still lies in Google search.
That being said, if you look atit from a more macro level.
(15:11):
You know, doing SEO nationallythere's, you know, obviously
it's a little harder and you'regoing to have huge corporations,
you know, with the resources tooutspend you to get those
number one leads.
That said, I'm not saying itdoesn't work, but you really
have to get strategic in howyou're looking at your keywords
(15:32):
and which keywords you aretargeting.
But, that said, ai isdefinitely changing the way that
we do marketing.
I talk about Google Watch justbecause they obviously are the
big players in the search space.
I was reading the latestfigures.
Watch is because they obviouslyare the big players in the
search space.
I think the I was reading thelatest figures they've actually
dropped just a little bit, butvery slightly.
(15:53):
I think they've dropped theirmarket share by like three
percent.
So there's somewhere like 85 87percent of of the entire search
market right.
It's still massive, huge there'sgoing to be some changes, I
think, coming down, becausegoogle had, essentially, is
going through this antitrust umstuff right now with the us
government, and so no one'sreally too sure what's going to
(16:15):
happen.
There's been talks about googlehaving to maybe piece some of
its business off, um, and justchanging the way they do things.
That said, you know, I thinkthis is going to present some
opportunities for other searchengines like bing, yahoo.
If you look at it from likemore of a privacy focused search
engine like duck, duck, go orbrave, for example, I think
(16:38):
there's going to beopportunities there, because a
lot of people haven't trulytapped in to those um, uh, those
search engines as much.
And then also, too, if you lookat it from generative AI search
like Perplexity, even ChatGPTor any of the LLMs that are out
there.
(16:58):
That's where a lot of peopleare flocking to as well for
information.
So it's not just about gettingyourself visible on Google, but
it's how can you get yourselfvisible across the whole like
online space, really right, andso you know that's with video,
that's with social.
(17:18):
Obviously you know havingreally high quality content as a
part of that.
So when somebody searches,whether it's on Google or Bing
or even Perplexity, because youhave your stuff really optimized
for that.
You can be found on more placesthan just Google alone.
So I think that's where thingsare going.
(17:40):
But, like I said, ai is reallydisrupting a lot of things and
it's really accelerating wherethings are headed.
And I think you know, when youthink, okay, ai is here right
now, you start putting a planinto place based on where AI is
at.
Then, literally like a fewmonths later, ai is, you know,
evolved even more, so now yougot to adjust your strategy.
So I think there's a lot oflike tweaking and tinkering and
(18:03):
kind of going back and forthright now trying to figure out
what that all looks like.
So a lot of testing andrefining.
But at the end of the day, Ireally think you know, going
back to just like thefundamentals of marketing and
positioning yourself is reallywhat's going to, you know, have
the biggest impact.
So, like you know, focusing ona very specific client, figuring
(18:26):
out how you can solve thoseproblems, and then just putting
your messaging out into theworld on how you solve those
problems, and I think that partwill never change and that
part's always going to berelevant.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Okay, two questions for you here before we wrap up.
One you mentioned a coupletimes testing out different
keywords, different key phrases,thinking about what is my, what
is my end client typing in, topotentially find me kind of like
reverse engineering it.
What, what strategies do youhave for someone who wanted to
(19:00):
go do that on their own as astarting point, like how, how do
they know what people might besearching?
I know there's a coupledifferent resources out there.
I want to hear your answer.
But for someone to get started,they're like okay, jeremy said
I got to use some keywords andtest it out, but like what?
What keywords should people beusing?
What should they think about?
Where could they potentiallyfind some of the answers?
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Yeah, and so I think that's a good question.
I mean, obviously you can go,you know, use AI like chat, gpt,
and just get like a broadunderstanding of kind of right,
(19:49):
you can still use that for yourlocal search.
But refine it into like, howwould your clients, you know,
based on their business and likewhat they're trying to do, how
would they use search and putyourself into your client's
shoes if you were looking foryour services?
How would you type that intogoogle, right?
Um, like, if let's just usecash flow management, for
example, like instead of like,oh, um, who's the best for cash
(20:13):
flow management?
Um, you know, sure thatprobably gonna work, that you
can probably rank for that.
But if you refine it to like,you know, I'm a small business
with cash flow issues, who can Iget to help me solve this?
So, thinking about it, howwould you talk to somebody and
(20:33):
using that phrasing?
And now with AI search, I don'tknow about you, but if I'm on
perplexity or even just chat,gpt, for example, and I'm trying
to ask a question, I'm asking aquestion like I'm just talking
to my best friend and I'm notlike being general or like find
me information on this, but it'sjust like if I was in this
(20:55):
situation, how would I you know,how could I solve this problem
based on my resources and what Ihave?
So really start to focus onmore of a conversational
approach to it.
Using keywords and like morelong tail keywords is really
kind of where you're probablygoing to get the most bang for
(21:18):
your buck, so to speak.
I hope I answered that.
I felt like it was a little bitkind of scattered there.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
No, I think it's good .
Sorry, go ahead.
I didn't mean to cut you offthere.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Yeah, no, I was just going to say just focus on like
more conversational type of youknow phrases people would use.
And there's also like a numberof different tools that you can
use, like like to help you withyour keyword research.
You know, there's like SEM rush, there's Uber Suggest, there's
(21:48):
also Ahrefs.
I mean, if you Google SEO toolsor keyword research tools,
you'll get pages upon pages ofthem.
But essentially what those helpyou do is like, if you put in a
very specific keyword, it'lltell you one how difficult it
would be to rank for thatkeyword, how many you know
what's the search volume forthat.
But then it also provides youother like keywords that are
(22:12):
relevant to that that you knowmay not have a lot of
competition, that you can startranking for and getting more
results based on that.
So I would definitely recommend, you know, looking at using an
SEO tool or even like a keywordresearch tool.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Nice, yeah, I think that was that's really good,
because then I mean you jump in,even kind of blending.
You're saying jump in a chat,gbt, hey, what are the best SEO
tools to help me find what I'mlooking for?
You kind of reverse engineer itor think all right, even if I
was looking for a plumber orwhatever it is, what am I typing
in?
Then just replace the nichewith yours I mean, that could
(22:51):
totally potentially also work.
So great, great stuff there.
Last question for you, jeremyum, I've been asking this to a
lot of guests as of late.
What's the best piece of adviceyou've ever received?
Speaker 2 (23:03):
best piece of advice I've ever received.
You're putting me on the spothere.
I've received a lot of take yourtime you know good pieces of
advice, but, um, one that comesto mind.
I'm gonna have to think aboutthis.
Hopefully you can edit out thetime gap here for me to think
but, um, the best piece ofadvice I've ever received.
(23:24):
Maybe it's coming from likebeing a business owner in
general, but it's like businessis the battle of attrition.
Right, because a lot of peoplehave these great ideas.
They start implementing it.
They think because they have abusiness, you know business is
going to automatically flow tothem.
(23:46):
Then they realize that you knowbuilding a business takes time.
You need to be patient, andthat you know if you're not
making, you know, millions ofdollars within the first six
months of starting your business.
You know a lot of people quitwhere.
It's just like understandingthat it's a battle of attrition
and the longer you stay at it,just like anything you know, the
(24:07):
more people will drop off.
That clears the way for lesscompetition.
I think you know it just goesback just to anything in general
.
You know if you want somethingbad enough, you'll be motivated
within and you know you justhave to stay the course.
I think that's the biggestthing.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
I love it.
Just keep pushing, just keepgoing.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Yeah, no matter how hard things get, just keep
pushing, Because you know it isreally hard.
You know, being a businessowner, I'm sure you can relate
as all the other business ownersout there.
But there's days where you justfeel like you're putting in so
much effort, Nothing's happeningand you get deflated and you
know, then all of a sudden youget a really big win and you're
kind of back at like, yeah, thisis amazing, this is awesome
(24:47):
again, and then you have alittle lull.
So it's like a whole bunch ofebbs and flows.
Stay the course, just staypositive, just commit to what
you're doing and you know thingsusually work out as they should
.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Ladies and gentlemen, jeremy Esty from Amber Sky
Marketing, thank you so much,jeremy, honestly, for coming on
sharing your time.
It was an absolute pleasuremeeting you in utah.
I hope we get to see each otheragain an event real soon or
something that's going on,because I know we're on the
other sides of the country rightnow.
Um, how can people get in touchwith you if they want to
(25:17):
continue the conversation?
What's the best way to reachout to you?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
yeah, you can find me on linkedin.
I'm super active on linkedin,um.
I'm posting every day, if nottwice a day sometimes.
You can also just send me anemail.
Hello at amberskymarketingcom.
I'm checking my emails daily,so you can reach out to me that
way as well.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Cool, I'll make sure those get put in the show notes
for you, jeremy.
Again, thank you so much forcoming on.
Ton of value.
I highly recommend everyone getin touch with you.
You have so much to share.
When it comes to PPC and justthe strategy behind Google and
local search.
Um yeah, amazing conversation.
Thanks again.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Hey, thanks for having me on, james.
Looking forward to listening toyour future episodes.
Welcome back to another episode of CFO
Chronicles.
We have an amazing guestjoining us today from Amber Sky
Marketing, jeremy Esty.
Jeremy and I get into all ofthe strategy around local search
when it comes to Google foraccounting firms, national
search, how to use Google Ads,ppc, what to target, how to
think about the key phrases youwanna use to get in front of
(00:22):
your ideal client, and where tostart when it comes to a
marketing budget.
As always, hope you enjoy theepisode and let us know your
thoughts.
Tell me a little bit about kindof where you guys are coming in
and how you help your clientswith Google ads, Because it's my
understanding that the PPCpay-per-click is a big piece of
your strategy to get yourclients the results they're
(00:43):
looking for.
Or am I getting that wrong?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yeah, wrong, yeah, no , we definitely have a ppc
component, google ads component.
We're also doing search engineoptimization.
I can definitely speak to bothum where google's headed right
now.
Um, obviously they're putting alot of weight on on their
search ads and just their ads ingeneral, because that's where
the bulk of their revenue iscoming from, so they're
(01:06):
obviously making those apriority.
The good thing about google ads, and kind of why I really like
them, is because they are superintent based right, as opposed
to you know facebook ads, whichare still great for you know
specific purposes, more of likea branding play.
(01:28):
Whereas you know, if you're onfacebook, you're not necessarily
looking for services.
You're just on there seeingwhat's going on.
You're scrolling and if youcome across you know an ad that
might be relevant to you and it,you know, entices you to click,
you'll click and you'll getmore information.
Whereas you know google, knowGoogle ads, for example, um, if
I am an accounting firm, let'sjust say or I guess maybe let's,
(01:51):
let's use it from you know, anaccounting firm client.
If I'm looking for anaccounting firm, um, I'm going
to Google, cause, I mean, that'swhere most people are starting
their searches and, for the mostpart people who are, you know,
doing searches on Google.
They have a pretty high intentto buy, or at least they're in,
you know, that part of thebuying stage where they're
(02:13):
actively trying to get moreinformation.
So you know they're going totype in, you know essentially
what they're looking to do, doand if it's super like high
intent that they want to, youknow they want to build a new
accounting relationship.
They're going to type in bestaccountant near me, or you know
(02:34):
who can help me with my cashflow issues as a small business
owner, right?
So you know, using those typesof keywords, that's really where
you know PPC in this case,which stands for pay-per-click
Google search ads, really,really make sense, because the
moment you essentially pay forGoogle ads, you're getting, you
(02:58):
know, one of the top space,whereas if you look at it from a
search engine optimizationstandpoint, you know Google has,
you know, started to push theorganic rankings down, and so
you know it's not as front andcenter as it used to be.
Whereas you know Google ads oh,ok, this accounting firm is
(03:21):
coming up, they're right infront of me and I really don't
have to do any scrolling.
So that's why they are supereffective, you know, for driving
new business, driving newconversations and essentially
how they work, is.
It's similar to search engineoptimization, where you're
analyzing keywords, trying tounderstand what keywords are
going to make the most sensebased on your specific client,
(03:43):
and you know the challengesthey're trying to solve, and I
think that's another piece thatwe can talk about later.
But being able to position yourfirm, understand who your
clients are, what problems areyou solving and then building
out your marketing strategybased on that, and then that's
where you can get really, reallyrefined with with your google
(04:06):
ads and and just who you'retrying to target I love what
you're saying about the intentlevel.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
It's so true.
A lot of people at the eventwere asking me you know, oh, hey
, I'm.
Or telling me, hey, I, I I'mlisted here on angie's list or
I'm doing that.
Okay, great, how?
How often are you going toangie's list to look for a
service like you're not doingthat, you're going to google.
So hang out where yourpotential clients are going to
be, where they're surging.
Um, when it comes to firmsgetting started, or maybe people
(04:37):
have relied on referrals theirentire life and that's been all
well and great.
They've, they've plucked allthe low-hanging fruit.
What is that?
What do you tell a new firmwho's maybe getting into paid
ads?
What can they expect?
What's a recommended budget?
How quick do they spend thatbudget?
Paid ads can be scary for a lotof firms, right?
(04:59):
Maybe they've been burned inthe past, maybe they've just
never done paid ads.
What's your recommendation to afirm who's either thinking
about paid ads or okay, I'mready to do something, but how
much do I spend?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah, and I think it all starts with kind of what I
was talking about just a littleearlier there in regards to who
are your clients, who are youtrying to attract?
What problems do they have thatyou're trying to solve?
Because I think a lot ofgeneralist type firms or just
you know businesses in generalwho just don't really understand
(05:31):
or at least don't have theirideal client nailed down yet, go
into like a marketing strategylike Facebook ads or Google ads,
for example, which is like verygeneric type of messaging or
looking at very generic keywordsgeneric type of messaging or
(05:51):
looking at very generic keywordsand so I would say the first
thing to do is you know reallylike who are you targeting?
When you understand that,understand what their problems
are, how are they like searchingonline and you know, tap into
that messaging and tap into, youknow, that language that
they're using.
Right, because when you canhighlight a specific problem
(06:14):
that they're having, that yousolve, that is going to amplify.
You know your ads Right,because you're speaking directly
to a problem that they'reprobably like typing in Google
to solve Right as opposed tohaving a generic message.
Typing in Google to solve rightas opposed to having a generic
message.
You know everyone sorry,shouldn't say everyone, but
there's a lot of firms out therewho are just generalists and
they just have a general messagewhich really doesn't really
(06:37):
speak to anybody.
They're just offering the sameservices as you know the firm
down the street.
So I would say that's the firstpiece to it is just really dial
in who you're trying to target.
Dial is just really dial in whoyou're trying to target, dial
in what problems are you solving, and then let that lead your
strategy.
And then, in regards to gettingstarted, I mean, I'm obviously
(06:58):
going to come from the approachof getting a professional to
start it and to let aprofessional or an agency look
after those Google ads.
However, if you do want to doit yourself, I do recommend it
as well.
It's definitely a good skill tohave, it's good knowledge to
have as well.
And just you know, in regards todifferent types of marketing,
that you can do.
But if you're starting out,essentially it's you know you
(07:20):
don't want to spend a whole lot.
You want to, like you know, puta little bit on the table, just
see how things work, test outdifferent messages on the table,
just see how things work, testout different messages and then
kind of see what clicks and thenif you've found a message or
you know um, have found maybesome keywords that are
converting, then look at scalingup, um, you know, as to I would
(07:44):
say, like a good number tostart out with $500.
Okay, just just to kind of giveyou, like you know, a base.
You know that'll give you alittle bit of traffic, hopefully
if your messaging is, you know,resonating with them.
That being said, google ads, youknow it is starting to get a
(08:05):
little bit more expensivebecause there's just a lot more
bidding going on and it'sessentially just, you know, the
demand of it that they're able,you know, to increase those.
But it all really depends tooon, like, where are you trying
to target.
So, you know, start with, likeyou know, I guess, a number that
that's comfortable to you, butalso that isn't like a whole lot
(08:27):
where you know, if the firstcampaign that you start doesn't
really generate anything, you'renot like stressing out because
you wasted all that money and soif you are just starting out,
obviously it's just like any newskill, you know, you just have
to get your feet wet and I don'twant to say dabble in it but,
like you know, just really testwhat works, how actually works,
how the platform's going toperform for you and how to
(08:49):
structure those ads for results.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yeah, cool.
I mean, what I'm hearing aswell is something that's
probably really important to addon there to what you just
shared.
$500 in New York City or inManhattan for testing is going
to be wildly different from $500, say, in the Midwest, somewhere
in a more you know, not aspopulated area.
(09:16):
The other thing that I'vealways kind of encouraged
clients to think about is whoare they trying to bring on and
for what service, and be willingto spend, basically break even
on acquiring a new client.
I think there's too many firmswho they try to get into
marketing or they try to runsome marketing on their own.
I'm sure you've seen this whereit's like, hey, I got $500 and
(09:41):
I want that $10,000 a month CFOclient.
That's great, it's awesome tohave wishes, but that's not the
way the world works.
So at least that's how we'vealways run our ads, knowing,
okay, we're going to bring on aclient for 3k a month.
Well, we have to be ready toput our money where our mouth is
and spend three grand at leastin the first month to acquire
that client, and then we canalways refine and make it
(10:03):
extremely more profitable.
So a lot of good points inthere, and the other piece I'll
add on and if you have some someto add to it is the piece about
hiring an expert.
I think that's oftentimes alittle bit overlooked when it
comes to marketing.
It's a really good skill tohave as a business owner, you
said.
But if you put yourself in theshoes of the business owner
(10:24):
coming to you for, say, taxplanning advice, well, what are
you going to tell that person?
Hey, you can go out and do iton your own.
You might get okay results, butI can almost guarantee you it's
going to be way better if youjust work with me as the
professional.
So that's always kind of anarrative.
I try to lean in with clientsas well.
Marketing is great.
It's great to know how to saveon your own taxes, but
(10:48):
oftentimes you get asignificantly higher ROI by
choosing to work with aprofessional.
I'm not sure if you haveanything else to add to that,
but a lot of points that yousaid just kind of they were
stirring up those ideas for me.
I just wanted to add.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Yeah, yeah, no, totally.
I think you bring up a goodpoint and, yes, you're
absolutely right.
Sure, you can play around withGoogle ads, you can learn how to
do SEO yourself, and Irecommend it just to you know,
give yourself context and justan understanding of how it works
.
But, at the end of the day,like you know these agencies and
you know these pros, they'vebeen doing it for years upon
(11:24):
years, right, and so they knowit works, they know how to
structure stuff properly, and soyou know they're going to be
able to get you faster resultsthan you.
Just you know testing and goingthrough trial and error.
And it's no different than if Icame to my accountant and be
(11:44):
like and was like, I don'tunderstand.
You know these financials.
Um, this is what I want to do.
Can you help me understand thisand help me put a plan into
place so that I'm able to, youknow, solve this financial
challenge or whatever?
That is right.
They're the experts.
They studied all that stuff.
As a business owner, you know mytop priorities.
(12:06):
I don't know yours are, butit's essentially what are the
levers that are going to drivemore revenue to the business?
So those are, you know, the toppriorities for myself and so
any you know the time spentoutside of that is essentially
you know not where I want to beRight, and so you know it's
essentially, you know, payingfor somebody's time so that you
(12:28):
can free yourself up, manageyour business, manage your
clients, create the best clientexperience as possible.
So that's just my take on goingdown the expert route and
really hiring somebody who isable to speed that up.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Yeah, you're going to pay with time or you're going
to pay with money, and I thinkit's just asking yourself,
probably at the current positionin what do you have more of?
Do you have more time to try tolearn it yourself, or do you
have more money to just have anexpert come in and and get you
the result probably 10 X faster?
So some really good stuff there, jeremy.
What?
What's your thoughts on kind ofthe direction where AI is going
(13:08):
, or even with Google, like theyjust had the release the other
day of the new video AI withGoogle?
How are you looking at this asfar as strategy goes for your
clients?
How are you thinking abouteither using that for clients?
How are you consulting them onhow to use it?
Do you have some thoughts onthat?
Because when I'm seeing thesevideos now, it's insane what AI
(13:32):
is producing.
It's quite scary actually.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
So obviously there's really good ways to use it and,
from a marketing perspective,I'd love to hear your thoughts
on, either for the client orjust in general, your thoughts
on how you can use it to growyour business totally, and I
think that's, uh, you know, themillion dollar question right
now, because technology and withai coming to the forefront, and
(13:57):
just a lot of disruption goingon within the marketing space
actually not even just themarketing space, but, like in
all industries, people are kindof running around like where's's
everything going?
I don't know it's.
You know, technology's evolvingso fast I don't know how to
keep up with it all.
But if we look at Googlespecifically and we look at
let's just look at Google searchas it pertains to search engine
(14:20):
optimization, obviously searchengine optimization is changing
because of AI.
Obviously search engineoptimization is changing because
of AI and then, with AIoverviews and other stuff that
Google is implementing, theorganic search rankings are
getting pushed down.
That said, if you look at itfrom a local SEO standpoint,
(14:50):
local SEO is still very, veryrelevant, in fact it's.
You know, if you're a localbusiness and you don't have a
business profile, a Googlebusiness profile set up, and you
know you're not looking at oreven considering doing local
search engine optimization, Ithink you are leaving yourself
behind the eight ball, becausethere's so much opportunity that
still lies in Google search.
That being said, if you look atit from a more macro level.
(15:11):
You know, doing SEO nationallythere's, you know, obviously
it's a little harder and you'regoing to have huge corporations,
you know, with the resources tooutspend you to get those
number one leads.
That said, I'm not saying itdoesn't work, but you really
have to get strategic in howyou're looking at your keywords
(15:32):
and which keywords you aretargeting.
But, that said, ai isdefinitely changing the way that
we do marketing.
I talk about Google Watch justbecause they obviously are the
big players in the search space.
I was reading the latestfigures.
Watch is because they obviouslyare the big players in the
search space.
I think the I was reading thelatest figures they've actually
dropped just a little bit, butvery slightly.
(15:53):
I think they've dropped theirmarket share by like three
percent.
So there's somewhere like 85 87percent of of the entire search
market right.
It's still massive, huge there'sgoing to be some changes, I
think, coming down, becausegoogle had, essentially, is
going through this antitrust umstuff right now with the us
government, and so no one'sreally too sure what's going to
(16:15):
happen.
There's been talks about googlehaving to maybe piece some of
its business off, um, and justchanging the way they do things.
That said, you know, I thinkthis is going to present some
opportunities for other searchengines like bing, yahoo.
If you look at it from likemore of a privacy focused search
engine like duck, duck, go orbrave, for example, I think
(16:38):
there's going to beopportunities there, because a
lot of people haven't trulytapped in to those um, uh, those
search engines as much.
And then also, too, if you lookat it from generative AI search
like Perplexity, even ChatGPTor any of the LLMs that are out
there.
(16:58):
That's where a lot of peopleare flocking to as well for
information.
So it's not just about gettingyourself visible on Google, but
it's how can you get yourselfvisible across the whole like
online space, really right, andso you know that's with video,
that's with social.
(17:18):
Obviously you know havingreally high quality content as a
part of that.
So when somebody searches,whether it's on Google or Bing
or even Perplexity, because youhave your stuff really optimized
for that.
You can be found on more placesthan just Google alone.
So I think that's where thingsare going.
(17:40):
But, like I said, ai is reallydisrupting a lot of things and
it's really accelerating wherethings are headed.
And I think you know, when youthink, okay, ai is here right
now, you start putting a planinto place based on where AI is
at.
Then, literally like a fewmonths later, ai is, you know,
evolved even more, so now yougot to adjust your strategy.
So I think there's a lot oflike tweaking and tinkering and
(18:03):
kind of going back and forthright now trying to figure out
what that all looks like.
So a lot of testing andrefining.
But at the end of the day, Ireally think you know, going
back to just like thefundamentals of marketing and
positioning yourself is reallywhat's going to, you know, have
the biggest impact.
So, like you know, focusing ona very specific client, figuring
(18:26):
out how you can solve thoseproblems, and then just putting
your messaging out into theworld on how you solve those
problems, and I think that partwill never change and that
part's always going to berelevant.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Okay, two questions for you here before we wrap up.
One you mentioned a coupletimes testing out different
keywords, different key phrases,thinking about what is my, what
is my end client typing in, topotentially find me kind of like
reverse engineering it.
What, what strategies do youhave for someone who wanted to
(19:00):
go do that on their own as astarting point, like how, how do
they know what people might besearching?
I know there's a coupledifferent resources out there.
I want to hear your answer.
But for someone to get started,they're like okay, jeremy said
I got to use some keywords andtest it out, but like what?
What keywords should people beusing?
What should they think about?
Where could they potentiallyfind some of the answers?
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Yeah, and so I think that's a good question.
I mean, obviously you can go,you know, use AI like chat, gpt,
and just get like a broadunderstanding of kind of right,
(19:49):
you can still use that for yourlocal search.
But refine it into like, howwould your clients, you know,
based on their business and likewhat they're trying to do, how
would they use search and putyourself into your client's
shoes if you were looking foryour services?
How would you type that intogoogle, right?
Um, like, if let's just usecash flow management, for
example, like instead of like,oh, um, who's the best for cash
(20:13):
flow management?
Um, you know, sure thatprobably gonna work, that you
can probably rank for that.
But if you refine it to like,you know, I'm a small business
with cash flow issues, who can Iget to help me solve this?
So, thinking about it, howwould you talk to somebody and
(20:33):
using that phrasing?
And now with AI search, I don'tknow about you, but if I'm on
perplexity or even just chat,gpt, for example, and I'm trying
to ask a question, I'm asking aquestion like I'm just talking
to my best friend and I'm notlike being general or like find
me information on this, but it'sjust like if I was in this
(20:55):
situation, how would I you know,how could I solve this problem
based on my resources and what Ihave?
So really start to focus onmore of a conversational
approach to it.
Using keywords and like morelong tail keywords is really
kind of where you're probablygoing to get the most bang for
(21:18):
your buck, so to speak.
I hope I answered that.
I felt like it was a little bitkind of scattered there.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
No, I think it's good .
Sorry, go ahead.
I didn't mean to cut you offthere.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Yeah, no, I was just going to say just focus on like
more conversational type of youknow phrases people would use.
And there's also like a numberof different tools that you can
use, like like to help you withyour keyword research.
You know, there's like SEM rush, there's Uber Suggest, there's
(21:48):
also Ahrefs.
I mean, if you Google SEO toolsor keyword research tools,
you'll get pages upon pages ofthem.
But essentially what those helpyou do is like, if you put in a
very specific keyword, it'lltell you one how difficult it
would be to rank for thatkeyword, how many you know
what's the search volume forthat.
But then it also provides youother like keywords that are
(22:12):
relevant to that that you knowmay not have a lot of
competition, that you can startranking for and getting more
results based on that.
So I would definitely recommend, you know, looking at using an
SEO tool or even like a keywordresearch tool.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Nice, yeah, I think that was that's really good,
because then I mean you jump in,even kind of blending.
You're saying jump in a chat,gbt, hey, what are the best SEO
tools to help me find what I'mlooking for?
You kind of reverse engineer itor think all right, even if I
was looking for a plumber orwhatever it is, what am I typing
in?
Then just replace the nichewith yours I mean, that could
(22:51):
totally potentially also work.
So great, great stuff there.
Last question for you, jeremyum, I've been asking this to a
lot of guests as of late.
What's the best piece of adviceyou've ever received?
Speaker 2 (23:03):
best piece of advice I've ever received.
You're putting me on the spothere.
I've received a lot of take yourtime you know good pieces of
advice, but, um, one that comesto mind.
I'm gonna have to think aboutthis.
Hopefully you can edit out thetime gap here for me to think
but, um, the best piece ofadvice I've ever received.
(23:24):
Maybe it's coming from likebeing a business owner in
general, but it's like businessis the battle of attrition.
Right, because a lot of peoplehave these great ideas.
They start implementing it.
They think because they have abusiness, you know business is
going to automatically flow tothem.
(23:46):
Then they realize that you knowbuilding a business takes time.
You need to be patient, andthat you know if you're not
making, you know, millions ofdollars within the first six
months of starting your business.
You know a lot of people quitwhere.
It's just like understandingthat it's a battle of attrition
and the longer you stay at it,just like anything you know, the
(24:07):
more people will drop off.
That clears the way for lesscompetition.
I think you know it just goesback just to anything in general
.
You know if you want somethingbad enough, you'll be motivated
within and you know you justhave to stay the course.
I think that's the biggestthing.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
I love it.
Just keep pushing, just keepgoing.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Yeah, no matter how hard things get, just keep
pushing, Because you know it isreally hard.
You know, being a businessowner, I'm sure you can relate
as all the other business ownersout there.
But there's days where you justfeel like you're putting in so
much effort, Nothing's happeningand you get deflated and you
know, then all of a sudden youget a really big win and you're
kind of back at like, yeah, thisis amazing, this is awesome
(24:47):
again, and then you have alittle lull.
So it's like a whole bunch ofebbs and flows.
Stay the course, just staypositive, just commit to what
you're doing and you know thingsusually work out as they should
.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Ladies and gentlemen, jeremy Esty from Amber Sky
Marketing, thank you so much,jeremy, honestly, for coming on
sharing your time.
It was an absolute pleasuremeeting you in utah.
I hope we get to see each otheragain an event real soon or
something that's going on,because I know we're on the
other sides of the country rightnow.
Um, how can people get in touchwith you if they want to
(25:17):
continue the conversation?
What's the best way to reachout to you?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
yeah, you can find me on linkedin.
I'm super active on linkedin,um.
I'm posting every day, if nottwice a day sometimes.
You can also just send me anemail.
Hello at amberskymarketingcom.
I'm checking my emails daily,so you can reach out to me that
way as well.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Cool, I'll make sure those get put in the show notes
for you, jeremy.
Again, thank you so much forcoming on.
Ton of value.
I highly recommend everyone getin touch with you.
You have so much to share.
When it comes to PPC and justthe strategy behind Google and
local search.
Um yeah, amazing conversation.
Thanks again.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Hey, thanks for having me on, james.
Looking forward to listening toyour future episodes.
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