Carbon Copy Consulting became what it is today because I was in the same place as most of the companies we work for today; trying to understand and figure out how to market a business online using Google Adwords. My burning question was the same as everyone else’s: Should I hire an advertising agency to manage my pay-per-click campaigns or do it myself and save money?
Deciding to manage my own pay-per-click advertising, though it almost cost me my business, is the reason Carbon Copy Consulting is what it is today.
How it All Began
It was January of 2008 when I decided I wanted out of the car business. My wife and I had just had a baby and though I was making good money, I never had opportunities to spend quality time with my family.
My dilemma; was I going to spend my life working on my job or my family? If you know anything about the car business, you understand how time consuming and stressful it can be. I could keep the money by working for hours on end, never seeing my wife and child or sacrifice the money and be the father and husband I needed to be. Though it terrified me, I made the decision to peruse something that hopefully made money but more importantly gave me the freedom I needed to spend time with my family.
Committing myself to the task, I started my own online business. Luckily, I was able to find a distributor who provided an educational product that could be sold online for a 50% commission. Next I invested $2000 plus an additional $150 a month with a world renowned online marketing company to train me in online marketing. I felt this was a good investment since I had no clue of how to do what I wanted to do!
Six months later I had learned a TON but had not sold the first product. I was frustrated to say the least. Through my new found marketing teachers, whom seemed like geniuses to me, I got turned on to Pay-Per-Click advertising. After conducting further market research, which I learned to do from my professional training, I set up my first Google Adwords advertising campaigns.
Let the Advertising Begin
After only spending a couple hundred bucks with Adwords I made my first sale! That sale meant One Thousand Dollars profit for me. I was excited to say the least! So excited in fact that I decided to put all of my marketing knowledge to the test and spend that $1000 on more Adwords advertising. So I did, along with $4700 more dollars before I made my next sale.
Thank goodness I still had my high paying job and that I was making a few sales from online marketing alone. I simply could not figure pay-per-click out and I was running out of business capitol quick. I knew this would work to sell my products all day every day while I was doing other things, but it was so complex. I just couldn’t seem to get it running well enough to turn a profit.
It Was Time for a Professional Help
My next step was to invest in professional Adwords training. It wasn’t easy finding someone with the knowledge I was looking for, but finally, I came across a guru in Kansas who knew her stuff. Cost was three grand upfront plus a monthly training fee but it was working in real Adwords campaigns. I bit the bullet and hired her.
I was shocked to find out that 80% of my problem was how my account was set up. It took me 20 minutes to set up my account and nearly 9 months to figure out it was set up wrong for my business but profitable for Google. See, they don’t care if you make any money, they’re selling you advertising space, that’s it! That being said, they do more than most advertising methods to ensure you get results.
I ceased advertising my products with Adwords and went back to the very time consuming “free” marketing methods I had learned while I spent countless hours alone in my office learning Google Adwords. Three months into training I was gaining ground and again felt confident I could make this work.
Leap of Faith
Jan 1st 2009 I left my high stress job to market my business online full time. Only three days into becoming my own boss, ‘Bam’ – another sale equaling a $1000 profit – and then another!
I had this, or so I thought. It would take me another 3 months of training and several thousand more dollars of advertising money before I figured Google Adwords out and began to understand all the metrics that come into play when managing a pay-per-click advertising campaign properly. However, after over twenty-five thousand dollars spent, twelve months of professional training and countless trial and error I made it.
I was now a successful internet entrepreneur selling educational products online all over the United States, and a few other countries. Life was grand and I had plenty of free time to spend with my family.
Tragedy Strikes
As luck would have it, unforeseen circumstances changed everything. The company I was selling products for was a network marketing company and Google had made the decision to shut down all advertising affiliated with network marketing businesses. It made no difference that I was a legitimate sales business operating as an independent distributor under the entity of Carbon Copy Consulting.
I was floored when I found out in fact, that this was no rumor. I had been shut down. I was left high and dry with all the knowledge in the world about PPC but no business to market. I now had no idea what I was going to do!
Devine Intervention
A couple of days had gone by since I had gotten the news. I was literally staring at my computer sulking in my own self pity at this point. The phone rings and it’s a call from a very recognized internet marketer who just so happens to be a good friend of mine. After the formal hello’s and how you been’s, he asked me if I was still executing Google Adwords. I immediately said yes and his response was “I need your help with a client of mine.”
We set an appointment to talk with a large company selling homes across Tennessee. This business needed someone to advertise their locations in the Nashville, Cookeville, Knoxville and Chattanooga areas using search engine marketing or pay-per-click advertising. After some long discussion at additional meetings, I was hired to manage their Adwords Pay-Per-Click advertising.
They were thrilled with the results and referred another business my way. I increased revenue for this business by nearly 450%. Through word of mouth, online marketing and the high demand for knowledgeable Adwords managers, Carbon Copy Consulting has become one of the most trusted and proven resources for online advertising.
Who We are Today
Achieving Adwords qualified individual status in April of 2010 then Google Partner status in August of 2010 we have become one on Middle Tennessee’s only certified Google Companies. We manage thousands of dollars of Google Ad spend every month for business all over the US.
In November of 2010 I partnered with a website guru by the name of Andrew, owner of Andrew Trivette Design. He handles the website development and search engine optimization side of our business. Together we possess the skills and experience needed to build firm online foundations, execute effective marketing strategies and drive targeted customers through your business using pay-per-click advertising.
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