I’ve spent the last week reading‘The Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords (Fourth Edition)’ by Perry Marshall. Perry Marshall is regarded as the guru of Google AdWords. He wrote the original version of this book in 2007, around the time I was getting started with AdWords.
As an AdWords novice back then, I devoured the book from cover to cover and put into practice what it taught, which no doubt saved me a lot of money I would otherwise have wasted. (In fact, I still did waste a lot of money during the first year or so of learning AdWords because there are so many pitfalls for the inexperienced. But I would have lost a lot more if I hadn’t read Perry Marshall’s book.)
With AdWords, you need to keep up with changes
The fact that this book is now into its Fourth Edition shows how rapidly Google AdWords is constantly changing – so a book written two or three years ago is now out of date. And even now, with a multitude of other books having been written about AdWords, I like Perry Marshall’s book for the clear, simple way it explains the fundamental principles.
So, the main reason I’m telling you this is, if you are running Google AdWords (or thinking seriously about it) and you want to do it yourself, rather than hire an expert – Perry Marshall’s book ‘The Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords (Fourth Edition)’ is what you absolutely must read.
You can get it from Amazon.
Why I almost gave up on AdWords in 2007
There was a point in late 2007, a few months after I started running AdWords for my own business, that I almost gave up. My credit card was taking a real hammering and I didn’t feel I was getting enough return on what I was paying to Google.
In January 2008 I went away camping for a weekend with my son and his friend. While the boys were off swimming and exploring, I spent most of the time in the tent re-reading Perry Marshall’s Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords. I read it pretty much from cover to cover during that weekend. And I came back inspired like you wouldn’t believe.
Since then, I’ve never looked back. In the following year I ran AdWords to sell my web design services and my turnover doubled within the space of 12 months. Mainly due to AdWords.
Up until then I had not had the confidence to offer AdWords services to my clients. I was referring them to someone else. Eventually I realised I actually knew just as much as the expert, based on my own learning in the school of hard knocks with my own credit card.
So In 2010 I took on my first AdWords client. It was a highly competitive market with a low profit margin (florists) and it wasn’t easy but eventually I got his campaign more profitable then either of the two previous agencies he had been working with.
It was only then that at I finally realised I had an aptitude for AdWords. But as I said, things change rapidly with AdWords and you have to keep up or you get left behind. And it’s getting more and more competitive as more businesses jump on board.
So, reading the Fourth Edition of Perry Marshall’s book in the past week has given me a fresh boost of inspiration and several new perspectives on how to make an AdWords campaign even more profitable.
Why not read this book over the Christmas/New Year holidays?
So, if you are running AdWords yourself and you don’t feel you are getting the results you should be, I would recommend heading over to Amazon and getting this book. The Christmas break is coming up and that’s an ideal time to sit down and read it, so you get some fresh inspiration for 2016.
It’s not just geeky stuff about AdWords but looks at the wider business perspective as well. So even if you don’t run your own AdWords i.e. if you get an agency to do it – it would still be worth reading this book so you at least know the fundamental principles – enough to hold your agency to account.
Here’s the link again on Amazon.
And here’s Perry Marshall’s website if you want some wider inspiration on marketing and business to get you fired up for 2016.