The Stanfield Agency

About Allen Stanfield

Allen Stanfield started in the marketing and advertising business 30 years ago. He founded The Stanfield Agency in 2002 after working as an account manager and creative director in high tech marketing & advertising agencies in Los Angeles and Silicon Valley.

Bitcoin: What Do Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Elon Musk & Richard Branson Say about Bitcoin?

Author: Allen Stanfield

Bitcoin: An interesting set of discussions from 2016.

Which predictions are turning out to be right?

Interviewer:
Bitcoin: the need to move money from place to place, the cost of doing so, the overhead – as you put it – makes me think, believe it or not, about Bitcoin. Because some people have said, “Hey Bitcoin is the answer to those problems.” Are you a believer?

Bill Gates 0:10
Well, Bitcoin is exciting because it shows how cheap it can be. Bitcoin is is better than currency in that you don’t have to be physically in the same place. And, of course, for large transactions currency can can get pretty inconvenient. The customers were talking about aren’t trying to be anonymous, you know, they’re willing to be known. So it Bitcoin technology is key. And you could add to it, or you could build a similar technology, where there’s enough attribution, that people feel comfortable. This has nothing to do with terrorism or any type of money laundering.

Interviewer 1:04
So What does Buffett not like right now? That would be Bitcoin: He says that Bitcoin right now looks a little bit tulip like to him.

Warren Buffett 1:12
It’s not a currency. I mean, it does not meet the definition for currency. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not around in 10 or 20 years,

Interviewer 1:22
Why does it not meet the definition of a currency?

Warren Buffett 1:24
Because people say, “Well, I’ll sell you goods in bitcoins.” But they change the price of those every time the price changes in relation to Their pricing off the dollar. They can say, “Well, sell it to you in barrels of oil”. But if they change every time the price of oil changes, they change the number of barrels you have to have, your oil was not the currency.

Julian Assange 1:46
It breaks Orwell’s dictum. It breaks Orwell’s dictum. By providing proof of publishing at a certain time, and that is the intellectual underpinning of that whole system. And can be used for lots lots of other things. And so that’s the big expansion we’re about to see in Bitcoin, all derived from this basic premise that you can prove a particular statement, a particular consensus, a particular contract, happened at a particular time, globally. And it requires this subversion of every single jurisdiction, where people are running Bitcoin, to overturn that.

Interviewer
Am I right in understanding that you’re saying that the Bitcoin architecture has applications far beyond the economic role that Bitcoin can play? And if that architecture is very strengthening, to the life of information in the digital space, making it less vulnerable to the kind of mischief you talked about in Russia or elsewhere? So what you’re saying?

Julian Assange 2:48
Exactly, exactly. That underlying architecture can be used for publishers, for example. So that as an example, we’re starting to use Bitcoin, Wikileaks, stopping our cryptographic keys and stuff that we publish. So, we proved that we are probably stopped at a particular time by stuffing it in Bitcoin in the blockchain. And then if someone were to come and try and modify the material that we have published to take out that particular part that would be detectable.

Interviewer:
Do you think Bitcoin will be disrupted in that one? way we now into speculative comments it will it be something that will be with normal consumers will use and will disrupt the banking industry?

Elon Musk 3:40
Uh, my opinion Bitcoin is that I think Bitcoin is probably a good thing. But it’s, it’s essentially, it’s main I think the thing we’ll be able to probably get quoted in there but it’s, it’s I guess, primarily going to be a means of, of doing illegal transactions. But that’s not necessarily entirely bad. Something should be maybe shouldn’t be illegal. So uh but…

Interviewer 4:12
A the combination of silk road and Bitcoin will save us

Elon Musk
Well, it will be useful for legal and illegal transactions otherwise would have no value as a use of for legal transactions. You have to have a legal to illegal bridge. I don’t own any Bitcoin.

Interviewer 4:30
In fact, one can pay for a tour on Virgin Galactic up to the moon with Bitcoin, I think the Winklevoss twins has said that they would do exactly that. This is a currency a currency that’s really going to work eventually?

Richard Branson 4:46
I think it is working. And there will be other currencies like it that may may be even better. But In the meantime, there’s a big industry around Bitcoin. You know, people have made fortunes out of Bitcoin, something for the lost money out of Bitcoin know.

Interviewer 5:05
It’s volatile. You know, it is quite volatile.

Richard Branson
But You know, when informative volatility people can make money out of volatility,

Interviewer
Why is it important for you to give it sort of that stamp of approval, that endorsement by saying to the Winklevoss twins, yes, you can pay for the ride with Bitcoin?

Richard Branson 5:20
Because I’m not foolish. I mean, if people have got lots of bitcoins and they want to get this space, I much rather than spend that money on our spaceship and whether I keep the bitcoins of another They spend that money on on Virgin Galactic spaceship and normally, you know, Elon will be sending people to space one day on Elon’s spaceship so we’ll grab that money while it’s there!

My Small Business Clients Do Best With Clicky Analytics

Author: Allen Stanfield

Not everyone wants to completely geek out on all the intricacies of Google Analytics. I mean, I do. I LOVE Google Analytics. But I’m me. That’s why I always use Click Analytics with my clients.

My clients are different. They want to get their website traffic information in easy to read bite-sized chunks – small enough to see the big picture but without all the detail that I need as their marketing guy. After all, that’s what they pay me for – to be the Marketing Guy.

Clicky Analytics Website Traffic Reports in Easy to Read – Bite-Sized Chunks

Clicky Analytics Dashboard

And the thing about Clicky is that if you need more than just the bite-sized chunks, it has the power to drill down and get everything else you need. I rarely find myself needing to dive into Google Analytics to answer most questions my clients have.

Each of those blue lines you see in the above graphic are links that you can click on and drill down for more detail.

That’s why I use Clicky for my clients. They all uniformly love it and so do I.

So, like everything else with digital marketing these days, you can bypass the marketing guys like me and get it yourself. So go ahead. Download Clicky Web Analytics today and start using it!

4 Reasons You Need an Agency to Manage Your Google Adwords Campaign

Author: Allen Stanfield

Google Adwords ManagementSometimes, as a small business owner, it makes more sense for you to run your own Google Adwords and other Pay Per Click advertising campaigns for your own small business.

There are, however, other times when hiring an agency for Google Adwords management can get you much better results.

Some agencies come in and try to tell you what to do, even after you have had a lot of success running things on your own. They commonly try to get you to spend lots more money as that’s “the only way to get the results you really want.”

But that’s not always true.

Very few agencies can replace the intricate business knowledge of those, like you, who work in that company every day. But they often have an outside perspective that greatly enhances what the small business owner has been doing for so long. So bringing in someone from the outside can have a turbo-charge effect on an existing Google Adwords campaign.

Here are some of the ways that an agency can skyrocket your success by taking over your Google Adwords management.

1. A Wider View of Google AdWords & Bing Ads Fundamentals and Advanced Techniques

If the agency has experience in your existing industry, they have a wealth of market knowledge which you probably never had, since you worked alone on your own company.

They are familiar with common conversion rates, effective offers that get conversions, and sometimes can be intimately familiar with the struggles and strategies of your competitors. Although they would never give away any secrets, their wider, and deeper perspective of the marketplace can be invaluable to you.

This keeps you from having to figure things out on a trial and error basis and can give you the execution you need to know that your adwords campaign is performing normally, or if huge changes are needed right away.

2. Someone to Bounce Ideas off Of

Sometimes, when you’ve run your own company’s campaign for a long time, you can get into ruts and end up at what seems like a dead-end to you, with no new ideas to try.

An Agency can bring new ideas and also different ways of thinking. This can invigorate a stale campaign, and create a breakthrough to new levels of success.

3. Agencies Have Many Skills That You Need to Make Your Campaign Work

Often, a a Google Adwords campaign needs updated or improved landing pages, new website program coding or social media coordination, combined with other sophisticated SEO Techniques. Without these more advanced digital marketing skills, an adwords campaign can suffer.

You might be great at knowing your keywords, and what specific bid ranges to shoot for, but without advanced website techniques to move in coordination with your campaigns, you can sometimes fail to launch.

You can hire a bunch of freelancers to handle that, and this can work. But there’s nothing like having all the skills you need no matter what, while still dealing with one person – your agency’s rep.

4. Everything Collapses When You’re Adwords Person Gets a Job Somewhere Else

Outsourcing this expertise to agencies can be a stable solution here, and can even save you money in salary you’d have to pay for someone full time.

You can avoid all kinds of problems, and score all kinds of benefits by outsourcing your adwords campaign management to an agency.

Not all situations fit. But most do.

We can perform a no-obligation, free evaluation of your existing Google Adwords campaign. Give us a call to set up a time.

Call (309) 830-0408

What Does Moving to “the Cloud” Offer Your Small Business?

Author: Allen Stanfield

An article in today’s USA Today discusses the distinct advantages for small businesses to mitigate their risks of falling behind in technical flexibility by moving to the cloud.  Many good points are made in the article.

Points such as a greater ability to collaborate, greater mobility were well taken. But then the article even went so far as to say that the cloud offered greater security…

Wait WHAT??

The article did not explain how moving your most sensitive documents, calendars, contacts and internal communications off of your own computers and onto someone else’s servers increased your security.  It just said “Check out this alarming stat Ms. Boeger shared with me: 72% of all cyber threats now are aimed at small business.”

Yikes – that sounds scary doesn’t it??

It sure is, and it’s true. But I believe that moving to the cloud and placing your most sensitive digital property under someone else’s control will weaken your security, and not increase it. Corporate surveillance and the erosion of your private digital property rights increases the more you allow other companies to control your data.

So how can you get the technological flexibility you need while retaining your own digital property rights and control?

NextCloud – is an open source (and so peer-reviewed) “personal cloud” that you own and control for your own company. NextCloud resides on YOUR computers, and allows you to secure and retain control of your property while gaining all of the technical advantages of collaboration and mobility that cloud services offer.

NextCloud is free software. It requires some expertise to set it up and maintain it. And because it is open source, you can use that expertise to customize your installation to be exactly how your business needs it to be. Over the long run, your increases in capability and security and secure ownership of your digital property will be greater than anything Google Drive or Dropbox or Microsoft Cloud can ever give you. And you can do everything they can do.

Yourself.

Most small business owners I know see that as an advantage.

How to Quickly Install a Contact Form for Your WordPress Website

Author: Allen Stanfield

From the fantastic teachers over at WPBeginner a quick and easy explainer on one of the most important parts of your website! Any small business owner, especially one who works in the business-to-business space, needs to create and maintain a database of all existing and potential customers. And that database needs to be stored somewhere in the cloud so that you can access it when you are away from the office.

The easiest way to do that is to turn your website into a database input device, and get your customers and prospects themselves to fill it up. This is a great video on how to get started doing that!

Seminar Promotional Video for Dental Association

Author: Allen Stanfield

This is a seminar promotional video which The Stanfield Agency created for a fantastic group of professionals called the American Association for Oral Systemic Health. This promotional video is a great case study in how to promote your small business or your association’s upcoming event or seminar without spending too much time, and too much money.

In this case, each member of the board of the American Academy for Oral Systemic Health worked out the messaging that they wanted to deliver about their upcoming seminar in Orlando, FL. Then they each videoed their own message onto their own phones.

The Stanfield Agency collected all these different videos together from each board member and then created this seminar promotional video for them. It was very cost-effective in terms of time and money. And the resulting video helped drive attendance to one of their most successful seminars.

Your association or small business can get a completely custom, completely professional promotional video by following this pattern, saving time and money, while making ensuring your success.

If you are a member of an association and have an seminar coming up, or if you run a small business and you have an event to promote, this is great way to do it.

The Stanfield Agency can provide quick turn-around at a very low cost. We handle all kinds of video and graphics issues for you, select the music that will produce the greatest impact, and put it all together into a completely custom video that gets your message out and drives leads to get you new business.

For more videos by the Stanfield Agency, visit our YouTube Channel.

Monthly SEO Cheat Sheet for Small Business

Author: Allen Stanfield

Monthly SEO Cheat Sheet for Your Small BusinessBecause of the ever-changing nature of the Internet, and the shifts and strategies that your competitors are constantly employing, achieving and maintaining improved Search Engine results is a never-ending task. By spending just a few hours per week on this SEO Cheat Sheet, you can be rockin’ The Google in just a few short months.

Of course, “rockin The Google” is a technical term meaning “achieving and maintaining higher search engine results for your small business website.”

You need someone in your business to concentrate on making sure:

  • Your website is properly configured
  • Who monitors the traffic you are receiving
  • Who optimizes your web pages with words that your prospects would type into a search engine to find you, and
  • Who reaches out to other websites that compliment yours to share content with

You can assign each week of the month to concentrate on each of the steps below, and then repeat each the next month.

SEO Cheat Sheet – Each Week Per Month

Week 1: Diagnostics and Maintenance of Search Engine Connections
– Using Google Search Console, clean up all 404 errors, code dysfunctions and disconnected situations.
– Make sure that all pages that should be blocked by robots are blocked, etc
– Handle temporary redirects and permanent redirects.

Week 2: Metrics and Measurement
– Receiving Traffic
– Keywords sending traffic

Week 3: Analysis of Keyword and Contract Opportunities
– Look through Search Console and Adwords accounts and analyze which keywords are performing well for you.
– Find new, related keywords and work out ways to use those

Week 4: Social and PR Link building
– Who do I need to engage?
– Where should I engage?
– What can I do to stand out or get noticed?
– What existing initiatives need SEO help?

Each of these steps are laid out very well by the CEO of Moz.com. Watch his Moz.com Whiteboard Friday talk.

Small Business Marketing Cheat Sheet for Dummies

Author: Allen Stanfield

I don’t necessarily want to be associated with Dummies, really.

But this is a really good cheat sheet for marketing your small business.

And of course, the people who write these “For Dummies” series are usually some of the smartest people in their industry.

So I don’t feel too bad – and you shouldn’t either.

Go here and read this – it’s really good:

Small Business Marketing Cheat Sheet

How Hackers Hack WordPress Sites

Author: Allen Stanfield

hack wordpress sites

If you want to hack WordPress sites, a recent article from WordFence, the premier WordPress security software manufacturer, gives you the top ways hackers have done it.

If you own and maintain a WordPress website, knowing about the most common ways that other sites have been hacked can arm you with loads of information on the areas you need to lock down on your own WordPress site, and greatly reduce your chances of getting hacked.

We’ve handled hacks here at the Stanfield Agency, and it is never pretty. You think that you have it covered, but you can be a valuable target for determined hackers if they are looking for a way to increase their search engine rankings by breaking in and littering your site with spam backlinks to their website.

Does Google Increase the Incentive to Hack WordPress Sites?

I believe that recent changes in Google’s search engine algorithms make small but somewhat authoritative sites even more desirable to hack. If you are selling fake boner medication on a website in the 3rd World, then getting a bunch of backlinks from real healthcare websites is the way for you to go. So hackers want to hack your WordPress site even more since Google made authoritative backlinks such a key factor in their search engine results.

And that’s just a reason to hack you that makes some kind of sense, among a thousand reasons that don’t.

I suggest that all small business owners read and understand this blogpost by Wordfence, and look into having someone install and configure their security product, or someone else’s. Even if you have not been hacked before, you should consider yourself lucky. Realize that you are increasingly becoming a target now – if you are at all successful.

Lock down your WordPress website in every way possible.

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