In 2023, I made being a podcast guest a priority. I was on more than a dozen shows, but most of those appearances were early on. I want to continue this in 2024.

What could we talk about?

I can, of course, talk about Meta ads and the continued evolution of changes. So much has changed during the past few years, and I don’t expect that to slow down in 2024. My focus has been on advanced Facebook ads education for more than a decade, so I’ve seen a lot.

I also enjoy talking about my entrepreneurial journey. It’s a unique path that is fun to talk about. I was first exposed to Facebook while I was with the NBA in 2007, and I got laid off from two other jobs before going on my own in 2011.

My journey also includes a dedication to short-form video. Once my business hit a decline beginning in 2020, I reached a point in 2022 when something needed to change. Short-form video was that “something,” and I published at least one video every day in 2023.

Overall, I prefer to go on shows with people I know or who know my story. In general, I find that it makes for a much more natural conversation if we have some sort of connection already.

It’s also good if we align on a basic outlook on business. If you know me, you should know what I mean by that. I’m an accidental marketer who takes a soft sales approach, so I’m not into any of the hustle culture or scammy marketing stuff.

None of this means we need to be best friends or anything, but I want this to be an appearance you can be proud of.

If you’re interested, give me a shout. Drop me a message.

The post Who Needs a Podcast Guest? appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

What are you doing in February?

I’m excited to share that I’m returning to the speaking stage for the first time in four years. I’ll be speaking at Social Media Marketing World in San Diego (affiliate link), which is February 18 to 20.

The last time I spoke was at that same conference, and I had spoken there seven years in a row. It was one of my favorite times of the year.

Lots of stuff happened since 2020 (which is an understatement), but surely one of the reasons I haven’t spoken since was that my profile fell off. I hadn’t been nearly as visible from 2020 to 2022.

That was largely due to my inability to evolve, which was also negatively impacting my business.

Being able to get on that stage again is validation that all of my hard work during the past year is paying off. I’ve seen over and over again how my short-form videos, in particular, are leading to new opportunities.

It’s exciting for me. Public speaking is something that doesn’t come naturally to me, by any stretch of the imagination. It originally terrified me. But I do miss it.

I miss the rush of that moment, and meeting so many people I’ve connected with virtually over the years. I’ve lacked opportunities to make real-world connections with people since that last conference.

If you attend Social Media Marketing World this year, make sure to attend my session and grab me to say hi. I’ll be talking about the evolution of AI-powered optimization and targeting with Meta advertising.

Give me a shout if you’ll be there!

The post Speaking at Social Media Marketing World appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

What are your proudest achievements of 2023?

Everyone’s flipping the calendar to create new goals for 2024. But wait…

First, be proud of what you accomplished this year. It could be personal or in business.

What did you do that was a culmination of weeks or months of hard work? Write these things down or document them in some way. It’s important to acknowledge these things — big and small.

For me, I ran 1200 miles this year, which is the most I’ve ever run. This required daily planning and a commitment to a routine. So many days that I didn’t want to run, but I did it anyway. I’ve run for eight years now and increased my goal every year.

I’m going to successfully publish at least one video every day of 2023. That’s an insane accomplishment since just over a year ago, I wasn’t creating any short-form videos at all. The overall impact accomplishing this goal had on my business is huge.

I was a guest on more than a dozen podcasts this year. This was something I set out to do late last year. While it’s good to reach new audiences, it’s also been awesome having conversations with people I’ve known for years or just got to know this year.

I wrote more than 100 blog posts. This was a bit of going back to my roots. My blog has long been the foundation of my business, and I had an obsessed commitment during the early years of my website. I lost focus during recent years, so I kept to a very strict routine in 2023.

Finally, I agreed to get back on stage for the first time in four years. It doesn’t happen until February, but I agreed to it in 2023. This is a really big deal and it’s surely connected to my other efforts that led to this invitation.

These are all huge accomplishments for me that required a commitment of daily actions to make them possible. I’m super proud of them.

How about you?

The post Proudest Achievements of 2023 appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

We often get focused on selling our product, but don’t forget to sell your story. It’s what makes your brand unique. Here’s mine…

I’m a husband and father of three boys. Our oldest son Michael was diagnosed with cancer when he was two. My outlook was shaped by the experience of his diagnosis.

Priorities changed. It helped me understand that the little things that bothered me before no longer mattered. And it also helped me understand and appreciate what mattered most.

Michael is now 22 and in med school.

I oversaw fantasy games for the National Basketball Association for three seasons. It was as amazing as you might imagine. I’d sit down with a development team and give them an idea for a game. They’d create it. I helped Samuel L. Jackson draft his fantasy team. I went to drafts and All-Star Games and had brushes with celebrities.

While I was there we partnered with Facebook when it had 50 Million users. I fell in love with the platform. This would matter later.

I’d get laid off from two other jobs covering a two-and-a-half-year period, and I started this website.

I didn’t know how to start a business or what I would do with the site. But I just started writing nearly every day (more than 600 posts in two years) and found a niche discussing advanced Facebook advertising.

I’m an accidental marketer who isn’t comfortable selling. Proof of this is that my first real job was as a telemarketer. I was quite possibly the worst telemarketer there has ever been. “You don’t want our service? No problem. Sorry for bothering you.”

Whether my lack of marketing acumen was a benefit or a curse is up for debate. My business exploded quickly, and it still stands 12 years later.

But, it hasn’t always been easy. I failed to evolve. The pandemic helped accelerate a quick decline in my business starting in 2020, and I reached a point where something needed to change.

Despite resisting it for years, I realized that I had no choice and committed myself to short-form video to turn things around in late 2022. That commitment is paying off.

Telling my story was common during the first few years of my business. After a while, I feared that people tired of hearing it. But the story is what makes my brand unique. I can’t just sell a product or service. My story needs to be “sold,” too.

What’s your story?

The post Don’t Forget to Sell Your Story appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Start with 2023 before moving on to 2024…

This is a popular time to start goal setting, but first it’s important to reflect on the current year. Otherwise, you’re just making goals without context.

• What went great this year, and you want to do more of that?
• What felt like a complete waste of time?
• What do you wish you would have done differently?
• What new thing didn’t you do that you want to experiment with?

It’s totally okay if things didn’t go as planned. That doesn’t make it a failure.

I set out to record 100 podcast episodes this year. My focus on short-form video made this nearly impossible. My heart just wasn’t in the podcast, and there was no need to force it.

That pivot was necessary to help me reach my goals with video. I’ll publish at least one video every day this year, and it’s helped me grow my presence on five different platforms. Video has made a huge impact on my business.

I’m going to lean into that success, and my goals for 2024 will include creating even more videos next year. I’ll do that by spending less time on editing and more on creating.

What went well for you in 2023?

The post Reflect on 2023 appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Are blogs making a comeback in 2024?

Some might say they didn’t go anywhere, but let’s be honest. Blogs have fallen down the marketing priority list in the past few years.

I keep seeing marketers predict that blogs will be big in the new year. The argument the way I understand it is that people are losing trust in other forms of content.

This is likely driven by how short-form video gurus have taken over social. Everything is about quick hacks and get-rich-quick schemes. So a return to the simplicity of blogs could be in demand.

While it makes some sense, it also happens while traffic sources to blogs are dwindling. It’s why I found it so startling that I kept seeing this prediction.

Social devalues links in favor of videos. Search engines are devolving into AI-powered answer engines. Email open rates are falling.

How could blogs possibly overcome these negative trends to return to prominence?

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love for this to be true. My blog is a huge part of my business, and it was the source of my success in years past. I even wrote more than 100 blog posts just this year.

But I’m also a realist. I started my blog at the best possible time more than 12 years ago. The type of content I created was in high demand. But user behavior has changed. The landscape has changed. While I’ve kept my blog going, it’s why I’ve pivoted to short-form video.

The next big thing? Consider me hopeful, but skeptical.

What do you think?

The post Are Blogs Making a Comeback? appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

I’ve been pretty open about my struggles over the past three years. The start of the pandemic sent me on (or accelerated) a motivational spiral that led to two very trying years in business.

A year ago, I made the commitment to short-form video with the full belief that it would turn things around. While I’d repeatedly get reminders that it was working, it felt like blind faith at times since things weren’t turning around financially. The decline simply slowed.

But here we are. November will be my biggest revenue month in 2 1/2 years. I don’t like talking about revenue, but it’s relevant. This recovery is absolutely because I didn’t give up on video, myself, or the business. The belief and motivation returned.

One good month isn’t a comeback, and I’m still nowhere close to the glory days. But it’s super encouraging to see the hard work pay off substantively, rather than just FEELING like it’s working.

It’s a reminder for creators and business owners generally…

Content creation is a long road. There are ups and downs. You’ll have moments when you see glimmers that you’re on the right path, but you still can’t answer the incessant “But does it make you money?” questions.

People don’t like talking about their struggles, so it can feel like a lonely place. You’re not alone. You’ve got this.

If you believe in what you’re doing, just keep going. It takes time. But it truly is worthwhile.

Just over a year ago, I had no TikTok presence, virtually no Instagram presence, and my YouTube channel was on life support. Now these places are the primary places people find me.

It’s been a crazy transformation.

The post You’ve Got This appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Just because you built it doesn’t mean they’re comin’…

Don’t build your house on rented land, they say. It’s not that simple. Having something you own is less than half the battle.

You should have your own website. You should own an email list. You should own as much as you can. But you will rely heavily on platforms you don’t own.

Google sends you traffic organically until they don’t. Or maybe AI chat eats into referrals.

Twitter sends you traffic organically until link headlines are removed and the user base is cut in half.

Facebook sends you traffic until videos get prioritized.

Google and Facebook ads send you traffic until the costs double and you run ads less often.

You drive people to your website with your email list until privacy regulations and other changes impact open and click rates.

You absolutely should own as much as you can, but you’re at the mercy of things you don’t own more than ever before.

Each platform is a spoke in your marketing wheel. While you control none of them, you need to use several to keep driving people back to what you own.

What do you think?

The post What You Own appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Be wary of strategies that are easy to agree with. Ask yourself WHY people agree. Here’s an example…

“You can’t be everywhere. Focus on one platform and be great there.”

People love that advice. Those who are focusing on one platform now will agree. It doesn’t matter whether they’re having success with it or not yet. It validates their approach.

People who are trying to grow on multiple platforms unsuccessfully will also agree. They can blame this lack of focus on their inability to break through.

Having one platform and doing it well is the easiest approach. People love easy. But it’s also an enormous risk.

Imagine someone telling you two years ago to focus all of your energies on Twitter. That wouldn’t look too great right about now.

If you go all-in on one platform, you absolutely may grow that one presence more quickly. But algorithms change in a heartbeat. You can’t rely on that platform forever.

People don’t gravitate to building on multiple platforms at once because it’s freaking hard. But diversification is the smartest and safest approach.

You’ll be grateful you did later.

The post Should You Focus on One Platform? appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Consider this a warning if you’re an online creator who relies on your content and the audiences you built with it to drive revenue.

DO NOT take it for granted.

DO NOT assume that what works today will work tomorrow.

News feed algorithms change. Platforms implode. Ad costs, competition, and effectiveness change. User consumption evolves from one format to another. Email regulation impacts deliverability and effectiveness. Search engines change what they favor and evolve to focus on AI chat conversations.

If you assume you can keep doing what you’re doing and be able to easily pivot if you need to, you’re in for a rude awakening.

I can say this because that was me. I built something amazing pretty darn easily. I felt special.

I leaned into the Facebook platform, cheap effectiveness of ads, blogging, traffic that Google sent me, and the email list that resulted from it.

It was far more successful than anything I could have dreamed of. I took it for granted. I assumed it would keep working. And if it stopped working, I’d easily be able to pivot to something else and leverage that first thing I built.

It didn’t work that way. I made my pivot a year ago, but it may have been too late.

It’s possible that you can’t see this now. You’re a well-oiled machine. A combination of hard work, strategy, good timing, and good fortune helped you get here.

But it doesn’t guarantee it’ll take your business to tomorrow. The platforms and formats you built your business on owe you nothing.

Constantly evolve. Be prepared to make difficult changes. And be curious about the new thing, rather than resistant to it.

The post The Platform Owes You Nothing appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

I wasn’t planning to write about Facebook ads. I wasn’t expecting to start a business.

What I did know was I didn’t have a job and I needed to do something. That website started as my online resume. I hoped it would help me get a job.

I used a free design template. I’d create my first logos myself — and they were absolutely awful. I was not and am not a web designer.

And then I started writing blog posts. The topics I covered were all over the place: social media for personal use, marketing, the job search, everything.

I want you to know that I did not jump into this with a plan. But my website would eventually drive more than 30 Million page views and counting.

The rise of my website is a great lesson. If you’re struggling to get started with something because you’re waiting for it to be perfect, you’re going to keep on waiting.

What I did was possible because I just got started. I showed up every day. I made a whole lot of mistakes. Those lessons helped me refine my writing and find a focus.

Today, I’m grateful for having had the courage to create this site without a vision. And for pushing through the endless reasons why I just couldn’t do it.

Get started, my friend!

The post The Day I Launched jonloomer.com appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Twelve years ago today, I was laid off…

It was the second time I’d get that news in two and a half years. As the main breadwinner for a young family of five, I felt like an utter and complete failure.

I didn’t know what to do next. There was no master plan or roadmap.

I simply started to create content. My focus and niche had yet to be determined. The plan, at that point, was to find a job. Maybe that content would help me reach this goal. It also gave me something to do and kept me busy.

I didn’t know how to start a business. I wasn’t trying to start one. Just know that this was not something that was strategically planned.

Eventually (and far sooner than I’d expected), my content generated revenue. While it was never my plan, I had started a business.

And now, here I am, 12 years later. A business owner through it all.

I’m grateful for that layoff, even though it would have been difficult to see it at the time. It’s just more evidence that good things come from adversity.

I’m so appreciative of all of the people who have helped me along the way. And thank you so much for being a part of my journey.

The post 12 Years Ago… appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

“You have to spend money to make money!”

This is truly one of my least favorite sayings. It tends to come from business people who currently have money. You also need to have money to spend money!

I admit, I also made this statement in the past. If I were to be honest, I said this only AFTER I started making good money.

My business took off while I was being the stingiest because I had no money to spend. But I was smart about what I spent and where I spent it.

There are some major caveats to the connection between spending money and making money that we don’t talk about enough.

First, you shouldn’t take bad risks. If you have very little income, I would not advise that you bet it all on your vision. For every success story of someone who took this approach, there’s a long line of financial hardship.

Instead, I’d start first with taking a look at where you spend money. Eliminate what you don’t need. Investigate where you truly NEED to spend money to grow. Invest smartly and efficiently in that area.

I spent very little money early, but the money I did spend was on Facebook ads, a CRM, design, and website hosting.

Second, you can absolutely throw money away when you have it. Looking back, I spent money stupidly when I had more to spend. I thought this was what I was supposed to do. I felt I needed to invest in every software and technology.

But I didn’t truly benefit from most of the things I spent money on. I was wasteful and inefficient.

Sure, you have to spend money to grow. It doesn’t have to be a lot. A tight budget will slow the potential speed of your growth.

But spending MORE is far from a guarantee that it will benefit you. Be smart about where you spend your money. Have laser precision in the areas where you should invest.

And don’t let people with money tell you how you aren’t spending enough.

The post Spend Money to Make Money appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Who are you not?

Defining who you are not helps your potential customers and organization know where the line is drawn. This may be even more important than defining who you are.

I am not a guru or a ninja. I hate these terms, and I made this very clear way back in 2011.

I am not a brash, in-your-face, Ads Bro who loudly proclaims how you’re doing it all wrong, and only he knows how to do ads right.

I won’t lie and deceive you to get the sale.

I won’t claim to have a secret system for success or make guarantees that if you do it my way you’ll always get results.

I’m not a pushy salesman who won’t take “no” for an answer and will do anything to talk you into the sale.

I won’t break, bend, or push the edges of the rules in order to get a temporary benefit.

I won’t tell you to use black hat strategies that will put your account at risk.

I’m not a business expert. I haven’t been formally trained in business.

I will never bunt because bunting is stupid, both in baseball and in life.

And I’m not a Cardinals fan because the Cardinals SUCK.

That’s who I’m not. How about you?

The post Draw the Line: Who Are You Not? appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Who are you?

It’s important that your potential customers know, but your organization should also know who you are and what you stand for.

You as a brand, a business owner, and as a person.

Here’s my story…

I’m an accidental marketer whose first office job was as the worst telemarketer on the planet. Marketing and sales have never come naturally to me.

That may be why I take a softer approach to sales. I’m less concerned about urgency and that quick sale, and more about building a long-term connection.

I have a unique path that includes a philosophy degree and jobs in insurance where I never felt I belonged. I flipped that experience into — amazingly — overseeing Fantasy Games for the National Basketball Association.

I’d eventually start my own business 12 years ago without any prior experience starting one or any clue how to do it.

I’m a husband and father of three boys, including one who is a cancer survivor and is training to become a surgeon. Another is studying to become a journalist, and our youngest is making us proud playing baseball as he finds his path through high school.

Everything I do is built around them. Spending more time with them. Building a better life for them. Setting a good example. And making them proud. This is why my business has always been so important to me.

I’m a stats nerd built by my love of baseball which naturally carried into marketing.

My business is focused on Meta ads education and my goal is to make you a well-round advertiser who understands how everything works and has foundational philosophies that will last.

I value honesty and transparency, both in life and in how I do business.

That’s me, summed up as briefly as possible.

How about you?

The post Who Are You? appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Learn from my mistakes! Do not obsess over surface-level metrics…

Back in 2011 I had just launched my website and was trying to find my footing. I wrote a post about Facebook hoaxes that exploded. My first taste of big traffic.

My reaction was to write another post about Facebook hoaxes. Then a couple more.

Each time, I got good traffic. But it was empty traffic. Beyond making a little on AdSense back then, this traffic didn’t lead to business.

I’d eventually learn that I needed to create content that appealed to a potential customer.

The same is true of video views and the perceived need to go viral. It’s okay to look at views — but don’t obsess over them.

If you get lots of views, figure out who these views come from. Does this exposure lead to more business? If not, they’re empty views.

Be aware of surface-level numbers. But don’t let them rule your strategy.

It can go both ways, of course. You may get very few views on a video or visits to a blog post. But maybe you get the right ones that lead to business.

That’s what matters the most!

The post Stop Obsessing Over Surface Level Metrics appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

About 12 years ago, I was laid off for the second time in two years. I created a website and just started writing.

I had no idea what I was doing or what I should do. But I knew that I had to make it work.

I didn’t have TIME to make it work. My family depended on me. I fought through feelings of failure and fears of what would happen if I couldn’t figure it out.

It was scary!

But that fear was a great motivator. And these were some of the most inspired, most creative, and most accomplished days of my life. I was so proud to fight through those days and come out the other side.

It goes the opposite way, too.

When I felt safest and most accomplished, I was the least motivated, least creative, and least DESPERATE.

That safety net breeds complacency if you aren’t careful. For me, I lacked purpose.

Late last summer, I reached that next desperate moment. After 11 years, I was stuck in my ways — and those ways were no longer working. Things needed to change quickly.

I had no choice. It forced me to stop making excuses and fight through my fears.

It’s when I finally got started with short-form video. Not just to experiment with it, but to fully commit to it — BECAUSE I KNEW I HAD TO.

That desperation creates clarity of purpose and intention.

What motivates you?

The post No Better Motivation Than Desperation appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

If you struggle to maintain a routine, this is for you.

This is something I’ve long struggled with. There have been times when I’ve had no structure at all. And then I’ve overcorrected and tried to structure everything.

Neither approach is likely to lead to a consistent routine (at least long-term).

The solution that I’ve found actually works: STREAKS.

Pick three or four important activities that you want to make into a habit. These could be professional, personal, or health-focused. It should probably be all three.

Here are my four priorities:

1. Run
2. Meditate
3. Read
4. Publish a Video

Every day, I want to do these things. Most importantly, I track whether I do them.

Then, it becomes a competition. I don’t want to break my streak!

Running is a good example. For the past eight years, I’ve set an annual running goal. Until the past few years or so, I’d run into a patch when I’d simply stop running. I’d then need to start running every day to catch up.

But now, I just make it part of my routine that I expect to run every day. I’m also tracking how long my streak is, and I’m aiming to break my record streaks from past years.

I’m now applying this approach to other things.

I plan to publish a video every day of 2023. That’s a big goal! To accomplish it, I need to make video production a part of my daily routine.

Of course, recording a video every day may not be realistic. But the beauty of this goal is that I don’t technically need to record every day. I just need to publish a video every day.

Because it’s a priority in my routine, I will plan ahead and record multiple videos when I want to take days off (like weekends and holidays) so that I can schedule those videos to publish.

I use the HabitBull app to track this stuff. This was a tip I read from Joe Pulizzi — both here on LinkedIn and in his book Content Inc.

How do you maintain your own routine?

The post The Secret of Streaks appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

“Adversity is my unfair advantage.”

This is a quote I heard from Blake Leeper, who is a Paralympian who was born without legs. I cannot get the quote out of my head.

A man who was born without legs sees that as an advantage. It was that adversity — those mental and physical scars — that made him stronger and inspired him.

We all have adversity. While we don’t necessarily have adversity quite at that scale, this is something we can learn from.

It’s the adversity, when overcome, that leads to clarity and inspiration. It provides purpose.

I’ve also seen that in business, I need some adversity. It was during times when things were too “easy” that I may have lacked that creativity and drive.

I faced the most adversity when my oldest son Michael was diagnosed with cancer many years ago (he’s fine now!). That experience for a young parent was difficult to describe. But it helped clarify what was and wasn’t important.

And I would also say that adversity is why I’m still running my own business. I was forced to do something different after getting laid off for a second time. It was extremely difficult, but it gave me focus and purpose.

Strangely, I feel I’ve returned to similar adversity during the past year. It hasn’t been easy. But in a way, that’s a good thing. I feel I’ve been more creative and inspired as a result.

Adversity is what makes us who we are. It’s ultimately what we think of as our life story. It may scar us, but it is often what separates us.

What do you think? Has adversity been your unfair advantage?

The post Adversity is Your Unfair Advantage appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Are you an unnatural connector?

Maybe you say you’re introverted or even antisocial. It could be related. But I’m talking about the difficulty making personal connections.

You’re at a party or conference and you’re surrounded by people you don’t know. Do you wait for someone to talk to you? Do you strike up a conversation? Do you leave?

I admit I deal with this type of anxiety. But this can impact us in the online world, too.

Do you make online friends easily? Do you reach out to people you don’t know? Are you worried about how they’ll interpret your message? Do you resist or distrust many of the people who do reach out?

The problem is that we can’t do this on our own. We need real-world AND online friends. We need the support and this is also how we make business relationships.

I feel this gets more and more difficult with time as I work from home. I now need to make a conscious effort to reach out to people and either strike up or maintain online friendships.

How about you?

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