Celebrity marketers and why color-block's the new black.

I'm just back from a huge marketing conference in San Diego. 4K marketers from around the world, 5 giant conference rooms running presentations around the clock. They even scheduled sessions over lunch!

Here's what you should know...

There are celebrity marketers. Yep, I know. Sounds weird, but it’s a real thing. These are people who make gobs of money with their computer and the Internet.

I heard from famous podcasters like Pat Flynn who spent 2 hours on stage sharing how he grew his podcast to millions in listeners and sales.

What do I remember most about his talk?

Pat doesn’t have ANY employees. He hires an agency of 12 and he’s their main client (maybe their only client) -- "It costs more, but saves me a lot of headaches in the long run.”

Imagine...

He’s a ‘Solopreneur’ with a 12 person agency behind him. Love it.

I met Kim Garst, my first Marketing idol after leaving Microsoft — who graciously spent one-on-one time answering my questions about video and online coaching.

Kim's story? She used to be SO SLOW at video. She would sit alone and spend hours perfecting what she wanted to say. (Guilty!) Guess how she got better? Doing everything LIVE. It not only forced her to let go of her quest for perfection, but she’s a much better speaker all around.

My takeaway? Don’t think, just talk (and film).

My other celebrity run-in was my new favorite online coach, Grace Lever…

As I was putting my marketing materials together for my video course, “The Imperfect Website”, I would constantly think, “What would Grace do?” Because, the best way to grow is to find someone a few steps ahead and study their ways.

Why is Grace so successful? She’s a brilliant online marketer hands down. Female entrepreneurs… watch and learn!

Grace was gracious enough to chat with me for about 30 minutes, sharing priceless advice on my marketing funnel. She concurred that my Facebook Ads are working so I can leave those alone. It’s my webinar that needs work.

No joke, I saw one celebrity with a bodyguard and entourage.

We all laughed.

People talked about him… “I HATE HIM”, “Have you seen his YouTube video with the mansion and Lamborghini? He’s ridiculous.”, “I heard he’s a total fraud."

But guess what, not only did I learn his name, but I spent 15 minutes on his YouTube videos, his website, and I’m now telling all of you about Tai Lopez. #ReluctantRespect.

Ok, enough about the celebs… how did I spend my time?

Day 1. I soaked up all the sessions I could, but decided to skip one that was pretty meh. That’s when I ran into Kim. Those 5 minutes with someone making a solid living in my new field, online coaching, was incredibly valuable.

That evening, I chatted with a sun drenched Millennial with a French accent named Tom.

[Btw, there were a ton of millennials there, and if you wear a bun on top of your head you'll get called one too.]

What's Tom's story? He flew to San Diego after a one-month stay in Costa Rica, and before that? Some other exotic beachy place… Tom travels the world making money online. He’s not tied to a desk.

On more than one occasion, Tom has had only $50 in his bank account — he ran some Facebook Ads, did a couple webinars and boom, he got $12K from one and $25K from the other. A couple hours, that much money? He’s cracked some sort of passive revenue code.

Tom also said my webinar is the problem.

[If you’re keeping track, by the end of day 1, I’d been diagnosed with a crappy webinar.]

So day 2 comes around and I decided to work on my webinar instead of attend the morning sessions.

Why? I paid good money to be there. I can work anywhere at any time… but I know myself.

If I didn’t start implementing, I'd be thinking about all the things I wanted to do and only half show up to the sessions.

Also, it takes me no time at all to test new ideas with the way I’ve set everything up.

One of my tests was a new webinar invite email… “You Found Me… Now Let’s Meet” was the title...

Guess how that did?

7% of the people that received it, unsubscribed from my newsletter!

[Mental note… don’t send that email again and sign up for Lewis House's webinar training stat!]

Even though it failed, it doesn’t sting. It’s just a test. It’s just data, and as I love to say, “Data always wins!”

The cool part about working much of the day in my room is that I’m an introvert so I had tons of energy for networking in the evening — and I met more entrepreneurs who filled my brain with success nuggets.

Day 3, I was back to the sessions.

At some point I won a Grand Prize Drawing for a one-year free subscription of TruConversion and a one-hour consult with a super sharp, entertaining, Conversion Rate Optimizer, Justin Trudeau.

Guess how I won?

How could you NOT pick it! (I love my brand colors.)

I can't take credit for the colors, my designer is the hero there, but guess why I used color block (2 colors in the background)?

Data.

My color block ads are cutting my Facebook Ad prices almost in HALF! Color-block's the new black.

In case you're wondering, I tested many other images and messages before arriving at the rusty chain costing $0.39 per click...

So when color block happened it blew me away!

OK, so what’s my main takeaway?

There are sooooooo many people approaching their lives differently. Not tied to their corporate jobs. Not tied to someone else’s dream.

They’re living their own dreams AND they’re making good money.

Sure there are folks making millions and there always will be in any field, but there are also tons making enough to lead a comfortable life without a "job."

It was food for my soul and I’m so much more committed to my own dream than ever.

I'm so thankful for this weekend and for all the people that inspired me. And cheers to Digital Marketer for putting on such a great event.

- Jess

My Mission? To help entrepreneurs stop wasting money on faulty websites. Learn more: /onthegridnow.com