Tomorrow Facebook goes public.

At $38 per share, Facebook’s valuation is over $100 billion and is set to be the largest tech IPO in US history. Initially, many experts anticipate Facebook’s market cap to skyrocket, allowing for substantial short-term investor profits. However, many industry leaders warn that they see Facebook’s true market value to be around $24 to $27 per share, highlighting weaknesses such as: a large percentage of users never click on ads, Facebook lacks a public company culture, and Facebook is unable to effectively monetize a large majority of their mobile user base.

Many of the current warnings and weaknesses I read about Facebook make a lot of sense. As a marketer who has spent a lot of time creating and optimizing Facebook campaigns, there are so many things I wish Facebook would do differently so that I could better serve my clients. To be honest, it is not easy to hit it out of the park with Facebook ads, as it requires careful due diligence, creativity, and constant optimization. Recently, General Motors publically announced their plan to stop spending $10 million on Facebook advertising because in short, Facebook ads didn’t help them sell cars.

However, as Facebook goes public tomorrow, I can’t help but think back to Google going public in 2004. Google shares opened for $85 with a $23 billion market cap, and today Google shares are trading at $628 with a $205 billion market capitalization.

Whether Facebook’s share price rises or falls, it is simply amazing to think that just nine years ago, a kid in his dorm room coded a website that is now quickly approaching 1 billion unique users and is worth over $100 billion dollars.

As long as Facebook continues to innovate and prioritize their users’ experience over everything else, I don’t see Facebook slowing down anytime soon.

Do you think Facebook is a good investment?

Be sure to “share” this tonight because tomorrow your Facebook “shares” will cost you $38 each!

Best,

Cameron Ripley

Associate Consultant

-Matt Riley

In 2003, ESPN ignited the poker boom by airing televised footage of players like Erick winning millions on the green felt.  As poker hit the mainstream, my competitive drive took over.  I became fascinated with studying my opponents’ statistical tendencies, as I slowly and meticulously worked my way up and grew my bankroll, from $10 buy-ins to $10,000.

This past Friday, as I sat down with arguably one of the most successful poker players in history, my mind briefly wandered.  I began to think about all of the things I have learned from playing over two million hands of poker and how the lessons absorbed can be best applied to helping entrepreneurial leaders sharpen their skills as they go all-in on their own big ideas.

Top Five Poker Tips for the All-In Entrepreneur

5.) Understand Variance. Both poker and business come in waves.  Both are extremely cyclical.  Be sure to maintain focus and keep your head down when running hot, and more importantly, be sure to maintain a clear mind and keep your head up when running cold.

4.) Emotional Awareness. Some of the toughest poker players as well as some of the most successful business leaders have extremely high levels of emotional intelligence.  Being fully aware of your own emotions will make you good, being able to accurately read your opponent’s emotions will make you great.

3.) Play in the Zone. Sometimes it feels like the Fountain of Youth, but if you are able to find the space where you are bending and stretching your business but not breaking it, you will be able to maximize not only profits but also your own happiness.

2.) Know Your Opponent. The very best poker players and the most successful businesses all have weaknesses.  Never assume your opponent thinks like you.  Do not be reactive.  Anticipate your opponent’s next move.  Do everything you can to stay one level ahead.

1.) Position is Power.  If I could give only one tip to an aspiring poker player it would be “always be aware of your position.”  Never underestimate the power of position.  Often the lesser hand wins because they had position on their opponent and were able to execute more effectively.  Often the industry leader is not the first to enter but the company who positioned themselves best in the market.

Now, it is likely I will never win as much money on the poker felt as Erick Lindgren has, however, I was able to keep these five tips top of mind as I battled him last weekend.  By remembering and utilizing these five tips, I was able to win the majority of pots from Erick that night.

After several hours of hard fought play, Erick politely stood up and said, “Welp, that’s enough for me tonight, nice playing with you.”

Down goes the world champion.

Til’ next time.

♠ Cameron Ripley

Have you ever marveled at how presenters such as Guy Kawasaki and Larry Lessig are able to pitch business ideas so effectively in just a few minutes? What is it that makes their presentations so moving? How are they able to tell you about an idea in a way that makes you want to be a part of their team, buy their product or service, or even invest millions in the idea?

Two of eBoost Consulting’s very own Rockstars are attempting to answer these questions and more at San Diego State University today. Presenting to the Lavin VentureStart competitors,

Associates Matt Reilly and Allison Heinrich will be outlining how to best craft the message, enhance with visuals and present with impact.

While SDSU students will be learning about this art and science for the specific purpose of pitching to a panel of judges for the entrepreneurial-based competition, there are so many more instances in life where “pitching” is necessary. For example, if you are at a networking event and someone asks “What is it that you do?” you need to be able to sell them on your role, your company and the value you offer. Or, if you are in an elevator and suddenly find yourself next to a potential partner you need to be able to pitch them in a swift and concise manner.

What are some other instances wherein pitching is the most effective tool?
Be sure to contact either Matt (matt.reilly@eboostconsulting.com) or Allison (Allison@eboostconsulting.com) for more information on pitchology and how you can learn to communicate your ideas in impactful and moving ways.

The World Wide Web is the most viral epidemic. Tools and technologies are growing faster than Pinocchio’s nose. Marketers are on the hunt for increased conversions while users desire enhanced engagement.

So how do we plant two trees with one seed?

By serving up some of the 7 sizzling digital marketing trends of 2012!

Can you handle it?

1. Did somebody say Pintrest? User generated curation, such as Pinterest, Pulse, Flipboard, and Foodspotting have spread faster than butter on toast. If you’re on the prowl for increased brand relevancy it all comes down to three factors: high visitor engagement levels, the Facebook connection, and monetization.
2. Location, Location, Location Location based marketing such as Foursquare is like receiving snail mail from a childhood-best-friend—it helps users feel special. Geo-targeting not only builds relevancy, it drives conversions. Here are three tips to get you started. Buy local domain names, geo-target on Facebook, and offer some localized deals.
3. Are you ready for your close-up? According to eMarketer, video marketing will hit the $3 billion mark in 2012! Why? Video is a rich medium that cultivates emotional connection, and drives conversions.
4. Gamification This incentivized style of online marketing commands results. Dangling a carrot in front of users encourages feedback, engagement, and drives conversions. Gamification is a hot idea for start-ups wanting to generate user-growth.
5. Make it Mobile According to CNET there are more than 5 billion mobile phone subscriptions. Apparently the smart phone is really smart and getting smarter every day. So why not make your website more user-friendly?
6. Social Media Marketing Everyone is doing it. From Jack in the Box to Oprah, companies are leveraging the SMM platform to generate accessibility, brand awareness, and user-gratification. Guess what? We     it!
7. Info….what? Infographics are visual representations or symbols that present complex information quickly. Want in on this eye candy? Check out Visual.ly—a tool that allows you to create infographics in seconds!

Head spinning? That’s okay. Here’s how you make sense of it – only pick one or two of the ideas above. You should choose ideas that really mesh well with your business model and its goals. There’s no point in trying to make a breakout plan for all of the ideas listed above, since it’s rare that each will work for your business type. Also, it’s rare that your business will have the time and resources to take each idea to its fullest potential. Remember, it’s about quality,  not quantity of strategies and tactics.

Need help breaking out into the digital marketing space? That’s just what eBoost Consulting is here to help you do. Give us a call at (619) 618-2545 to set up a meeting.

-Jessica Tishue

Both engineering and business students will form teams that represent their companies. The center will incubate ideas and provide mentoring, prototype assistance and coaching on the business plan process from start to finish.

At eBoost, we have the benefit of risk-taking encouraged throughout our culture to foster confidence in our team’s creative exploration of entrepreneurial ideas. Micha Mikailian, eBoost’s CEO, often says, “‎there’s no penalty for failing. We’d rather have you try something great and fail than do something timid that doesn’t really change anything.” Greatness can be inspired in us all; you just have to be persistent in accomplishing your dreams no matter what happens on your journey to success.

-Allison Heinrich

A perfect example of the Stealth Play? The Dollar Shave Club, a startup that launched two weeks ago with a rock-solid business concept. Here’s how it works – for just $1 per month, customers receive one month’s worth of razors delivered to their doorstep. It’s simple, and it was all developed while Schick® and Gillette® were busy competing over which company could create a razor with more blades and more flair.

The Dollar Shave Club is able to disrupt the razor marketplace by meeting a need that most people have – the need to shave – and doing so with a simple, yet effective strategy that makes their concept viable. Another brilliant part of the concept? The product already exists. You see, Dollar Shave Club isn’t reinventing the wheel, but rather just how much people should have to pay to ride the wheel.

Oh, and we can’t neglect to mention the hilarious viral video released by Dollar Shave Club, as it garnered over 2 million page views in just four days on YouTube.

-Jennifer Johnstone

In the first week of December, Micha and I got the incredible opportunity to head out to Maui, Hawaii to join a tribe of big thinkers and conscious growth leaders at a 4-day experience called AwesomenessFest.  More on AwesomenessFest in a subsequent post (really, nothing short of awesome).  Among the hundreds of new friends we made out there was a fantastic entrepreneur Dane Maxwell, founder of Zannee, a technology for real estate brokers to recruit and retain agents.  We were inspired by each other’s stories and Dane, in one of his generous gestures, introduced us to Andrew Warner of Mixergy, a podcast and home for the world’s most ambitious upstarts.  An email introduction was made and a topic was born: How eBoost Recruits and Develops Rockstar Talent.

Andrew’s team (Jeremy and Andrea) gave us a first-class experience with media training and scheduling.  To be sure, the prospect of trying to codify the eBoost module of recruiting and developing talent in a one hour interview was a bit daunting to me.  After all, our talent is the key to us being able to scale high-growth entrepreneurial start-ups as well as do.  However, I think we did well here.

You be the judge: http://mixergy.com/chan-eboost-interview/ (link to interview. Video below)

Special thanks to everyone at eBoost who make our recruiting and talent development so special.  You guys are what it’s all about and I hope I did you proud here.

-johnny

P.S. - eBoost is hiring our next group of rockstars! Our new Associate hiring group is interviewing throughout January and will begin in February.  Do you have what it takes to be in the next eBoost Associate group?  If so, submit a custom cover letter and your resume to service[at]eboostconsulting[dot]com immediately.  Our first round interviews end in the next week!

Video of Mixergy Interview here:

Situation

TicketKick.com^®, a legal e-service company developed in 2010, had pioneered a cost-effective, simple way for drivers to contest their traffic tickets in California, but was struggling to get its message out to the masses. They were running a Google AdWords campaign in-house, but were missing out on a variety of other online marketing opportunities and overpaying for their ads.

Challenge

While the idea of fighting traffic tickets certainly wasn’t anything novel, TicketKick’s process was. The issue at hand was convincing potential website visitors that TicketKick offered a legitimate, credible service. The problem was two-fold; TicketKick had to convince people to visit their website, and once there, entice them to call. TicketKick’s employees were extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and engaging, which kept phone conversions high, but the team still needed to get more people calling in.

eBoost Solution

eBoost Consulting started by analyzing TicketKick’s current revenue generation, general strategy, and trajectory to ensure that any marketing initiatives would be aligned with the needs and wants of TicketKick. eBoost worked hand-in-hand with TicketKick to not only increase traffic, but more importantly, to increase their bottom line.

From August 2010 to April 2011, eBoost Consulting continuously optimized the campaigns using geographic targeting, advanced ad scheduling, complex bidding techniques, and proven match type strategy, for the Google, Yahoo! Search and MSN Bing platforms. eBoost worked extensively with TicketKick to increase quality score through organization of the account, relevancy of keywords, quality ad copy and landing page recommendations. eBoost further helped TicketKick gain online exposure by utilizing forms of paid online advertising other than Google search network , including Google content network, interest based audience advertising, click to call ad extensions, and a full display remarketing/retargeting campaign.

The Results

After analyzing TicketKick’s previous campaigns and making some important improvements, we saw paid website traffic from multiple sources increase by 247%. Moreover, by monitoring and constantly tweaking the campaign, cost-per-click was reduced from $1.65 to $1.16. Most importantly, TicketKick’s bottom line increased as overall sales doubled. TicketKick reinvested in its web storefront, and is now able to offer their services online at www.ticketkick.com/getstarted/

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Learn more about eBoost Consulting’s PPC approach here.

Millions were left powerless after yesterday afternoon’s unexpected blackouts, which plagued much of the south-west United States. With the catastrophe occurring so close to 9/11, many speculate that international terrorism is brewing and that the United States should again increase the national security level. However, with so many postulating global terrorism- the root of the issue has flown under the radar.

SDeBC inside sources confirm that this event was not a national attack, but rather one misguided SDG&E SEO’s attempt at SERP monopolization. San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E), the infamous SOCAL based energy provider has been repeatedly noted for its unethical attempts to control industry rankings, as they now tack on another feeble pass at SERP domination.

“It really makes sense” says cybercrime Chief Lieutenant Johnny Chan. “One quick flip of the grid equates to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of links and social signals from the highest PR and domain authoritative sites and experts in the world.” Within seconds of the event, SDG&E became the most searched, tweeted and shared term in the world, and we can expect that the aftershock searches will continue for at least another month.”

“The ‘gridlock’ was not meant to be ubiquitous, nor last so long,” said the now incarcerated, rogue SEO, John Maclby.

This same sad story was heard after Beyond Petroleum’s (BP) devastating linkbait attempt turned ecological tragedy in the Southern Gulf a few years ago.

“These guys are techies- they don’t think this stuff through,” said Lieutenant Chan. “You can’t just cut power to a million homes and expect to flip it back on without any repercussions.”

But as they say, bad press is still press; and in the eyes of search engines, relevancy is rarely affected by sentiment. And, SDGE is laughing this one all the way to the bank with 850 new inbound links, a 5000% increase in Twitter followers, and thousands of shares, likes, tweets and + (or minus)1′s .

While it may be a PR disaster now, we should all be thinking…”Who is the real winner from all of this?” Was this the work of a tortured SEO or will we start seeing these pathetic linkbait tactics more often as the “high ups” place more pressure on SERP rankings results?

- By Matt Reilly