Articles by Elizabeth Marsten

You remember that episode where Homer Simpson goes into space as a NASA astronaut? He only got to go because Barney Gumble has an alcoholic relapse and Homer was the second runner up. Scientist: Well, Homer, I guess you’re the winner by default. Homer: Default? Woo hoo! The two sweetest words in the English language: [...]

Pay-Per-Click advertising is a beautiful thing. Set up an AdWords or adCenter account and your ads can target thousands of potential customers looking for a product just like yours. Mmm, that’s nice. But it can be complicated and difficult. Especially on a budget. And time consuming. PPC Essentials Package That’s why Portent is rolling out [...]

Hey Everybody! Don’t forget about Portent’s free monthly webinar on Thursday, April 26 at 11am PST. This month, yours truly will be presenting: PPC for Cheapskates. Pick up great tips and tricks to maximize your PPC dollars, whatever your budget size might be. If you have not registered yet, don’t be shy, registration is quick [...]

If you’re not familiar with the exciting adventure that is an AdWords Manual Review, heed my warning. It’s one of those clauses they hide in the terms and conditions and has little to no flexibility on either scheduling one or finding out more about them- like why your account was flagged in the first place. [...]

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Thanksgiving, it’s fast approaching. I’m sure you’ve got your campaigns all pumped up with holiday-riffic ad copy burgeoning with sales and promo codes sitting in an Editor file, ready to go. And course, have your daily budgets set to skyrocket to keep up with demand. People sure a love a deal. [...]

I haven’t heard much about Contact Form Extensions since PPC Hero talked about the beta last January 2010 (yeah, AWHILE ago) and all but forgot about it until I ran across it today myself. Searching on what will be a super hot topic, well now, I found a contact extension form ad in the sidebar, [...]

If you’re attending SMX East this September at the Jacob K. Javits Center, look for me! I’ll be on the Q&A panel for Ask the Paid Search Buyers on Thursday the 15th. Bring the questions you’ve always wanted to ask about PPC. And you’ll definitely not want to miss my presentation on How to Create [...]

I pitched SMX Advanced this year for the Human vs. Machines: What’s the Best Way to Manage Paid Search? session. I didn’t get accepted (sniff) but that’s doesn’t mean that my pitch can’t be a most excellent blog post. I knew I was a little off the beaten track with it anyway, but that is [...]

You’ve seen the blog posts- the painstakingly written over 5 months series on taking the MSN adExcellence exam, but the clicking from post to post and inability to look at them while taking the exam is NO MORE. That’s right, all the posts have been compiled into a handy FREE downloadable ebook that you can [...]

Ian’s on vacation this week, to a place with little or no internet and he asked for a volunteer to do a CM post and to have “fun” if so warranted. Well, it’s warranted. And I am leaving the country while he’s gone and not coming back for a couple of weeks after he gets [...]