Here’s how not to waste $500 on AdWords
Looking at the choices above, you can probably guess what my pick was.
So as we headed into November with Cadee, the topic of discussion at 500 Startups was product distribution. This was an important issue for my startup Cadee since the team wants to head into demo day and investor talks with a lot of traction on our site. And what better to get traction than good ol’ advertising. I figured this would be right up my alley, having worked at ad agencies in the past.
Well apparently not. Because unlike past experience where clients were footing $500K media buys, we were looking at a significantly smaller budget. And by that I mean lopping off at least 3 zeros.
“Well what the fuck are we gonna buy with under $500?” I said, “Some shitty Google AdWords?”
Bingo.
Now before I really carve this AdWord roast open, let me first say that Google AdWords do have some usefulness for startups. They’re great as a quick way to draw in steady traffic so you can test assumptions, and get some analytics data to iterate on. And I don’t doubt that once you have bigger budgets and a team who can monitor keyword performance, you’ll be able to turn them into a profitable business. But after hearing an inspired talk about advertising from Ilya Lichtenstein from Mixrank, it became pretty clear that AdWords are not for startups like Cadee.
I’ll give you 3 reasons why.
1) The deck is not stacked in your favour.
Google is synonymous with search. This leads TONS of businesses into thinking that any type of SEM must be done through Google to get a decent amount of traffic. So already we are dealing with a hyper-competitive marketplace. At the same time you are bidding against companies who A) have done their homework and have optimized the shit out of their campaigns over time and B) have built up a quality score that you haven’t. That means they’re getting much cheaper clicks than you are. Want to compete against all this? Open your wallet. Wide.
2) Do you REALLY believe in long tail keywords? (You see where this is going…)
A lot of people put stock in bidding on long, convoluted strings of words that are super cheap to bid on because competition for them is so low.
Let me rephrase that.
A lot of people put stock in bidding on long, convoluted strings of words that other businesses have figured out through their own testing are a waste of money because 5 people in the world are actually searching for them.
3)There are cheaper alternatives
This ties back to point one. Since there is so much competition, you are bidding within a very expensive ad marketplace. For larger businesses, this is likely a necessary evil — however, if you’re a small startup there are many other sources to get respectable volumes of traffic from. With an alternative like adCenter for example (yes I know, it’s microsoft, calm down and stop frothing at the mouth) you can advertise in a much less competitive market. Plus they are far less strict on ad content and quality score ratings. Or even smarter, try going straight to publishers themselves and cut out the middleman entirely.
Have I oversimplified the issue? Yup. Do people make good money off of using AdWords for a living? They sure do. But I think the real point to take away from this post is that despite their humble appearance and miniscule minimum spend amounts, they aren’t an efficient solution for a lean startup to ramp up on distribution.
So was $500 spent on AdWords a total waste? Not really. We got invaluable user data and metrics from that traffic which we’ve used to refine the design and UX of our site. They were quick and easy to set up and fit perfectly into our analytics, so it’s not hard to see their appeal. But use them for that purpose and move on.
Of course I could be totally wrong. Do you have an AdWords Strategy that made you millions? PLEASE post below, I would love to know.
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Introducing Cadee, and other life changes.
There are a lot of changes going on right in my life know, and while to most who know me well enough the following isn’t really anything breaking, I figured my poor neglected blog deserved a little lovin’. First, some backstory.
Over 2 years ago, I was approached by my now-business-partner Sean Rucker to work on a project that he thought had some real potential. I had done a couple freelance projects with Sean that had gone well, so figured let’s hear about it.
“Do you play golf?” was the first question.
“Never” was my answer.
Not the most promising opening. However as I continued to listen, there was something interesting about this idea Sean was proposing, that allowed golfers to use an online tool to track their scores and discover new courses, without relying on banner advertising type revenue to monetize. My ears definitely perked up when he described the amount of information design that would be needed for the statistics section. SOLD! And with that I was onboard.
The past couple years have been pretty steady when it came to working on what we named ‘Cadee‘, a bastardized spelling of ‘Caddie’ which often happens when .coms aren’t available. I did designs, sent them over to Sean, made revisions etc. It was pretty slow going, mainly because of the development effort needed to get this beast off the ground, but at long last, this past summer of 2011 saw a functioning version of Cadee launched.
At the same time Sean had been looking around for some external investment to move this thing into high gear, which though cool, was not a priority in my mind. As noted a couple blog posts ago, my free time was pretty minimal as a result of the Ad-world vortex that I seemed to be slipping deeper and deeper into. And then around the end of this past September, I got a pretty interesting call from Sean.
The seed fund 500 Start Ups was willing to invest in Cadee, with the stipulation that we would come down to Mountain View California for 3 months to work on it full time in their accelerator program.
“Sounds cool” I said, “When would we do it?”
“The program starts in 2 weeks”
Well that ain’t gonna fucking happen, was the initial reaction.
I’d have to quit my job right then and there and start packing. And more importantly, who were these 500 Startups people anyways? Why are they giving us money? Why do we have to go down there? I have a pretty decent job, a cat and a mortgage, what’s going to happen to those?
Long story short, it DID happen. All the reasons why I made the decision could make up another entire post, but I’ll try sum it up briefly:
1)It was an opportunity to learn a shitload, meet fucking amazing people, and the potential (however slim) of making a living of doing something I really like.
2)All the other excuses I was finding of why not to do it could be answered with the following: “Stephen, stop being such a bitch and just do it”.
But here’s where some shout-outs are most definitely due. It took quite a few conversations with some former bosses (Geoff and Jon) and some really supportive folks I was currently working with at Ogilvy (Terri, Nimo and Seb) to help me realize points 1 + 2. Plus an awesomely understanding boss who gave nothing but support to the Sr. AD who just told him he’s leaving for California in 2 weeks.
Oh and to my parents for taking care of my cat, especially since they are not cat people at all.
And so that is how I find myself now, sitting on an air mattress, in a pretty spartan apartment bedroom in beautiful Mountain View California typing up this blog post. I’m hoping over the next while I can do some more consistent blogging about whats going on with Cadee and life in Silicon Valley, which on the downside means pretty much no fun infographics for the next bit. (Unless it’s golf oriented).
So whether this start up survives, or dies in burning flames, it’s going to be quite the adventure, and I’m already loving it. Just one more major hurdle I need to get over soon:
Playing my first round of golf. Ever.
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Infographic: Dinoshark
At long last, something new.
So let’s not beat around the bush. The movie Dinoshark was pretty lacklustre. Barely passable CG and not nearly enough camp, it was a bit of a chore to get through, despite the relatively high body count. (Mostly contributed to when it crashes a local waterpolo match). What I did enjoy however, was how Dinoshark was released into the wild by the simple act of an iceberg cracking apart. That set a Dinoshark egg free, which hatched, matured in 2 minutes, and went on to kill tons of people and wreck general havoc.
This got me thinking. Those icebergs up in the North Pole seem to be holding in a lot of scary shit. I mean, they were responsible for also keeping Mega Shark and Giant Octopus in check before being busted open. And that’s not to even touch on all of Godzilla’s friends and foes that seem to get trapped up there. Now THAT’S a real scary consequence of global warming and melting polar ice caps.
Taking that one idea, I felt it appropriate to do a more environmentally focussed poster, specifically on the problems facing our oceans. Something where I could use some real facts alongside my more fantastical ones. What struck me while researching some of these stats was how many of these issues have really taken a backseat to the overall ‘green’ and ‘anti-global warming’ movement that permeates our mass consciousness. Things like chemical run-off, shark finning, the depletion of coral reefs and fish stocks, are to be honest, much more immediate problems we should be talking about. The fact alone that fish populations have dropped 90% over the past 50 years should be scaring the SHIT out of everyone. So while as usual, this infographic is meant for some good humour, I hope people can take a little bit of learning away from it.
And so with that rant over, check it out below, and click to get the full sized version for all the fun details. As for the style, I was in a dark, kinda minimalist-messy-photocopied mood this time. Something that looks like you’d get a bunch of toner on your hands if you touched it.
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Infographic: Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus
It’s been a long time coming. Seriously. I started this infographic about 2 months ago, but then work got in the the way and well…refer to my previous post for thoughts on that. This week, I kicked my butt into gear and finally got it done. Now Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus definitely does not surpass its predecessor Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus because well, in my opinion, Crocosaurus was pretty lame. While Mega Shark was out there chowing down on an entire navy fleet, Crocosaurus was mostly just stressing about her eggs. Thus I wanted to put most of the focus for this on Mega Shark.
A key moment during the film is when Mega Shark eats a nuclear sub, which gives way to one of the better quotes in the movie: “The shark just went nuclear”. For a while I planned for this to be the climax event of the graphic, but after some research, I discovered that when it comes to pure destructive force, it is actually the volcanic eruption at the end that trumps any sort of nuclear threat.
Now I must admit, the ending in my poster differs a little from that in the movie. Whereas the movie finishes with the two mortal enemies floating down to the depths, encrusted in cooled magma, I have Crocosaurus lose and Mega Shark decidedly win. I find that most of the “creature versus creature” movies cop out at the end, usually with the beasts killing each other or disappearing. But anyone who actually watched the movie knows Mega Shark would have completely spanked the shit out of Crocosaurus all the way from Panama to Hawaii.
So that’s pretty much it. The finished piece ended up being a documentation of Mega Shark’s path of destruction as he made his way from the Atlantic to Hawaii. Recently I’ve been loving more classic typefaces like Bodoni which is featured here, because it just looks so damn nice when set in simple black on white. It was also a fun challenge to work in just black or white with absolutely no colour, and I think the result is quite elegant.
As per usual, make sure to click on the image to see the larger version so you can properly read the details. Enjoy!
–Edited 17/5/11 to correct incorrect year on observations–
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So what the f*ck (A year in review)
Epic fail.
That’s what first comes to mind when I look at the state of my year so far with regards to managing this blog and more importantly, making awesomely ridiculous infographics. Sadder still is that I’m not even coming out of hiding to post one (though I’m attempting to supplement it with a design quickie I did in the last couple hours). In any case, it should go without saying that the core culprit to blame for my lack of attention has been TIME. And as you can see from the following, this is what’s taking it all up:
Riveting. I know.
What’s brought this all to mind is my soon approaching one year anniversary at my new job (so I guess not so new anymore?). And while it’s clichéd as hell to say, it really is hard to believe that a year has already passed. It’s not even so much that the time seems to have flown by, but that looking back on everything I really had no idea what I was jumping into.
Now first let me make a confession. I never thought of my job change as my entry into advertising. At the time I didn’t know or give a crap about all the big agencies, nor did I have any real knowledge of the “standard agency structure” and how things worked on this side of the fence. And most of all, I couldn’t anticipate the impact it was going to have on my time and social life.
So a year ago I made a pact with myself that I would give it a year, and then give myself a honest evaluation of where I stand. I’ll start of with the good!
1. The People
Within our creative group, I get to work with some real talent. From seasoned Creative Directors to fresh-out-of-school interns, there is no want for good creative thinking. And even more surprising for a big agency, there are no egos or divas.
2. Growth
It has certainly been a year of learning. Being thrown into client meeting after client meeting where I am expected to lead the conversation was overwhelming at first, but has ultimately resulted in myself becoming a much better presenter. Taking a lead on project strategy and execution has challenged both my thinking, and boosted my confidence with which I need to support my work.
3. Clients & Projects
AMEX, Dove, WINNERS, Post, Government, Ragu, Robin Hood…While the work is often fast and furious, the variety and budgets these companies provide is pretty awesome. And while there will always be some less than interesting banner ads to create, there is usually at least one exciting project to be worked on at the time.
Now for the challenges:
1. TIME
It’s not just the fact that I have so little of it, but that it doesn’t allow me to do work as well as I want to. And if there is one thing I hate, it is putting out sloppy shit. It also leaves me feeling a little out of touch. There’s much less time to for me to catch up on Engadget or Gizmodo, or browse inspirational links my friends send when my 9 hour workday is rammed solid. And needless to say, working late nights and weekends does not facilitate the creation of things like Megashark vs Crocosaurus infographics.
2. The ‘Digital Agency’
Many of the large agencies (not just my own) seem to be struggling at getting their digital groups to work cohesively with everyone else . While some people may skirt around the issue, let me say what everyone else says behind closed doors: There are some people who have no fucking clue how interactive works. By trying to mash this group of people with the more savvy ones rarely results in the dream ’360 degree structure’ that agencies love to tout. If you are going to own digital, EVERYONE at the table needs to know how it works.
3. Agency Structure & Staffing
While this is definitely up for debate, all I will say is that the first time I showed up to a briefing with just my fellow copywriter to be faced by 3 members of an account team and 1 project manager, I was all…like this.
Hmm…so there’s my review, not really sure what to do with all that. All I will say, is life seems much simpler if you’re a Megashark!
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Happy New Year!
In case you’re wondering, it’s the year of the Rabbit. (At least in Japan, China has to wait another month).
More exciting for me however, is that this blog and site have made it past the one year mark, and I’m still actually updating both! Yeah, I didn’t make my goal of pulling off an awesome infographic each month, but I managed about 6, plus a couple ‘quickie’ exercises—all in all not too bad. Hopefully I can match if not beat that this year.
Last year had an exciting start with my Megashark infographic. What started off as a silly poster about a giant shark, blew up faster and larger than I could have imagined, making the front page of sites like digg and reddit. I got lots of great attention, feedback, criticism, and new connections, so it goes to show how even the smallest of things can make a huge splash in this medium.
On the flip-side, pretty much all of my other poster pieces that came afterward got nowhere near as much traction, although with some in my opinion being better in terms of story and technical design execution. It’s a fickle thing, that crazy internet, and it goes to show that things like timing and sheer luck can be key (or pretty much essential) when it comes to getting that all-too-elusive viral result.
But does that really matter to me? Not really! My original intent was always just to use this as my design playground. A place where I could have some fun, and get away from the restrictions and limitations that come along with most client work in the advertising world. And you can bet that’s what I’m gonna continue on doing.
So here’s to hoping 2011 is full of more C-grade creature feature movies, with awesome and ridiculous information just waiting to be visualized. And of course, thanks to everyone for coming on such a wild ride with me. Cheers!
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Info-Poster: Sharktopus
So you’ll note I haven’t called this an infographic, because well…it isn’t really, it’s more of an educational style ‘what not to do’ poster. But in any case, this has been long overdue, and I finally got a chance this week to finish it off.
A couple posts ago I put up a quickie design exercise about the movie Sharktopus, a title which really should require no explanation. A shark/octopus hybrid that was initially designed as a weapon (don’t question it, just go with it) goes out of control and starts on a totally expected killing spree. The movie itself was pretty good, with all the right amounts of gore, camp and bikini girls, but I’m not sure if it quite lived up to my expectations. Not sure exactly what my expectations were going into the movie, but it didn’t have the same magic that other creature feature movies seem to have.
But was it good enough to warrant some design fun? Hells yes! While there wasn’t anything that popped out at me about him defying crazy physics or managing extraordinary physical feats, what struck me was the number of different ways he killed people. Nobody was safe, which is what started an idea for activities to avoid while a Sharktopus is in the area.
As per usual, click on the image for a larger version. While this will be my last design post of the year, hopefully I’ll get to doing a year end wrap up before 2010 is out. Enjoy!
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Happy Holidays
It’s been a while since any sort of update, and while I’ll hopefully have one last infographic done before the year is out, I do have a fun little holiday card to share. This all actually started at my company’s United Way auction, where my services were put up for sale to design the bidder’s holiday card. Lucky for me it was Ashley from account services, who already having seen some of my previous infographic work wanted to something similarly fun and quirky. After a brainstorm session, we came up with some ideas around how having an Abominable Snowman around for the holidays would be amazing.
Thus I went off and did my thing to come up with the following. It’s a little on the cutesy, almost kids-storybook side of things, which felt more appropriate for something that would be mass mailed to all sorts of people. As per usual click the image to get the full large version, also so you can download your own paper cutout snowman at the end.
With all that said, hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday season!
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Quickie: Sharktopus Poster
It goes without saying I’m pretty excited about the upcoming feature Sharktopus. While I’m sure I’ll need to do some information visualization after it comes out, I thought it would be good to get another design quickie out my system and make a movie poster for it. Recently I’ve been checking out old japanese movie posters, and wanted to do something along those lines, just keeping everything minimalist. I think it sets a nice tone for how epic Sharktopus is going to be!
From start to finish took just over an hour, so not too much spit and polish on it. However at least it’s not too overworked, so there are benefits in trying to keep to a time limit.
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Infographic: Mega Piranha
So yes, it’s been a while.
But rather than listening to me serve up excuses, let’s get down to what really matters, that namely being: Mega Piranha. Yet another gem from the guys over at The Asylum, this was essentially the sister movie to Mega Shark vs Giant octopus, starring Debbie Gibson’s arch rival, Tiffany. The concept itself was pretty interesting. Scientists in South America genetically engineered piranha that would rapidly grow, thus providing food for impoverished nations. Now why these scientists decided to go with piranha, and not something more traditional like salmon or tuna isn’t quite clear, but as a graphic designer who am I to argue with geneticists?
Predictably, the piranha get a little out of control because as with most genetically engineered animals, there were a couple side effects. Like the fact that they become hyper aggressive, are immune to bullets and nuclear missiles, and double in size every 36 hours. It’s really that last part that puts these guys over the edge, because now we’re in the realm of exponential growth. Which means it only takes 9 days for one to go from your average sized fish to the biggest freakin’ animal in the history of EVER. Which is great if you need thousands of tons of fish to feed people with, but not so great if they escape into the ocean and head up to Florida to lay the smack down.
So of course there needed to be an infographic. While I focused mainly on the crazy growth rate, there were several other key points that needed to be illustrated. This scene in particular needed to be documented, and I almost feel like there should be a separate infographic dedicated solely on how to bicycle kick a piranha. But for now we’ll make do with this one. I may have went a little overly tropical with the colours this time, but hey it’s summer! And as usual click on the image to see the bigger version for all the details.
And all jokes aside, the movie is definitely worth a watch. At least check out the trailer
