Million Dollar YouTube Ads with Jake Larsen

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, the only daily show interviewing the world's top entrepreneurs seven days a week. Today, we'll be breaking down million-dollar YouTube ads. To drop these value bombs, I have brought to Jake Larson and the EO Fire Studios. Jake is the founder of Video Power Marketing, a performance video ad agency specializing in YouTube ads that turn views into sales. Their campaigns average 3x return on ad spend. And today, FarNation, we'll talk about the hidden benefits of YouTube ads, a video ad framework, how we can target our future customers and clients with YouTube ads, and oh, so much more.

0:38And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Jake and our sponsors. Is now the time to grow a successful business? Attend the world's highest rated business growth workshop taught personally by Clay Clark and now featuring football star Tim Tebow and President Trump's son, Eric Trump at thrivetimeshow.com slash EOfire. Again, request life-changing tickets today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire. Do you have the right mentor in your life right now? For the first time in seven years, I'm opening up a few mentorship slots for individuals who know they need the guidance and accountability to take their business and life to the next level.

1:18Email me at john at EO fire.com with a subject line mentor and we'll schedule a 15 minute chat to go over the program and see if it's the right fit for you. Jake, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. What's up, Fire Nation? One thing I believe that most people disagree with, I believe that there's always something broken in your business or your life, and that's okay. Like when you think about a business, there's different aspects of it, right? There's the marketing, getting the word out, sharing people what you do and your product or service.

1:58and then there's the sales category of this is what we'll do for you this is the service we'll provide in exchange for this money this amount of money and then there's the delivery aspect delivering on what you promised you said you'd what you would or the the product and then behind that all you've got accounting are we making enough money to cover our expenses and also have some profit and over the last 10 years what i've just realized and i had to come to peace with is there is always something broken and that's okay. So when marketing does its job, it breaks the sales system, like the team or the system.

2:36And then you fix that. And then once you fix the sales, now the operations breaks, like how we deliver the service breaks. And then once you fix that, it's like, okay, now we've got the system and the team. Now we need to turn on marketing. So then you need to figure out, like expand your marketing. And it's just like this constant optimization process where there's something always broken and that's okay. Come at peace with it and just get really good at solving problems. There is something always broken, Fire Nation. Just come up with ways to solve problems. That's what we do. We're problem solvers.

3:11And today we're talking about the million dollar YouTube ads. And I want to start with your story, Jake. I mean, pre-interview, we actually talked a little bit about how you used to listen to Entrepreneurs on Fire before you launched your business, which has now been rocking for a long time. So tell us that story about how YouTube ads allowed you to quit your job, get your first clients and speak on stage stages across the nation. Yeah. I mean, it's wild. Like I was on this podcast 11 years ago and I remember like I had a day job. I was actually creating videos at this company I was with and listening to uh, fire nation and like, Oh, that'd be so cool.

3:49And I, so far I made the commitment. I got, I, uh, I got three clients on a three month retainer. So I knew I had like three, uh, levels of income. And then like, I want to quit my job and build this agency. Uh, the challenge was my wife was, uh, she, we were having a baby the next month. So she was eight months pregnant. Wow. And she was like, as long as we have insurance, you can do this. So I made sure we had insurance. And then I, I quit the job and I quit my job because we were one of the first companies to start using YouTube ads. There was a time on YouTube where ads didn't exist. And a couple of campaigns we created, we would spend$20 to get a customer that was worth$60.

4:31So it's like a three to one return. Like, this is really cool. Nobody's doing this. I want to quit my job and build an agency around this. So I made that commitment. I had hospital bills to pay. I had a mortgage to pay. And I'm like, this has got to work. So I'm like, I practiced what I preached, right? I created my own video ads. I created a free video marketing course that I could deliver for free. And I ran the YouTube ads to that offer. My email list started to grow. People would take the course, they would go through the free course, they'd buy the paid one, and they'd be like, hey, this is a lot of work.

5:12Can you do this for me? I'm like, sure we can do that. Um, in fact, three months after I had quit my job and turned the ads on, I got this email one day from a guy named Ryan Dice. He was the CEO of digital marketer. And he's like, Jake, I saw your ad. I bought your course. I had this event that happens, uh, the traffic and conversion summit. would you like to come speak at it? And I'm like, sure. Like, let's do it. And so it's crazy. Like, you never know who's watching these ads, right? Like it just turned out that I had the right person at the right time. And that, I mean, that's all we've been doing for the last 11 years is creating videos and using YouTube ads to tell people grow their business.

5:56Now you believe that advertising impacts all aspects of a business. We're talking marketing, we're talking sales, operations. Tell us more. Something's always broken. I think the best way to illustrate this is we had a client, she was a business coach and she helped women start and grow their business. And she had a great program. People, these women would sign up and she had great testimonials. She had just a great program that people love. She's just like, I need more people to join, to become aware of it. So we created some ads and we create this awesome video. We launched it. And that first month she had 300 people applying to work with her program.

6:39So she's like, holy crap. Like we got a lot of people applying and she had to bring on a couple salespeople to handle all the leads and all the business that was coming from it. And so. All right. So that's now she's got this asset. She can spend a dollar. She's making three dollars on these ads. She's got this huge flow of people coming in. So we kept it going. And then a couple, like a year later, she's like, hey, I had some people leave on the sales team. Like I'm getting way too much applications. Can we, can we pause the ads or reduce it? And I'm like, sure. So we, we lowered the spend. So we like, so that she could handle, like she could fix her sales system, her sales issue that she's having.

7:25So she hired two more people and she's like, hey, I got these people. Can we turn it back up again? Like, yep. And so we increased it. So when the when the ad is done right, it's bringing in a consistent flow of qualified leads and sales. And now it's this asset that you have where if you need more business, you can increase spend. Or if you're having too much, you can lower the spend. But it's just nice to have that that tool in your pocket to help grow the business. Now, you already mentioned one of the hidden benefits of YouTube ads. I mean, you had this guy, Ryan Dice, who is a household name if you're in the online marketing world.

8:03I mean, traffic and conversion has been a massive event for a very long time. I've gotten the immense pleasure of speaking at that event, and I love the audience. I love the events. The hidden benefits. I mean, Ryan Dice watching your ads, having you speak on stage. You become even more of an authority and an influencer in your space. what are some other hidden benefits of YouTube ads? One is just you, you have the ability to get your product or your service or your story seen in front of millions of people at like a very low cost. I mean, we had the Superbowl, uh, what a month ago and people spend millions of dollars to get their, their product or service seen on that Superbowl.

8:49Um, but people don't know, like there's 40 Super Bowls that happen every day on YouTube. And not only that, but you can get your message seen and people seeing like your, your product seen for pennies on the dollar. So instead of spending millions of dollars on a Superbowl commercial, you could spend like thousands on, on YouTube and get the same amount of views and the same amount of reach. So your ability to get your message or your product or brand seen at the cost, it's one of the most affordable ways to advertise to reach your audience. And not only that, but if you have, you're also building your remarketing list.

9:34So people who have large YouTube channels or a lot of website traffic, you can put a pixel on that page. and now you can reach people, anyone who's seen your video, anyone who's subscribed to your channel. You have a way to reach them guaranteed at a very low cost. Fire Nation, really exciting what you can do when you have an offer that converts. And of course, that's one of the first steps. Once you do, you can then use something like YouTube ads to turn it up, to turn it down when you need to. Like, I love that story of like, hey, we're kind of a little overwhelmed right now. Can we kind of turn the volume down a little bit?

10:13Done. Okay, now we're back. Our systems are better. Our sales force is in place. Turn things up. Let's crank this baby. Let's have some fun. And Fire Nation, we're going to have a lot more talks around video ad framework and targeting future customers and so much more when we get back from thanking our sponsors. Is this your year to grow a successful business? Are you looking to learn the proven processes and success systems that have been used to create thousands of millionaire success stories? See thousands of success stories and testimonials from real people just like you who Clay Clark has mentored and coached into prosperity at Thrivetimeshow.com slash EO Fire.

10:51Clay's proven business coaching program is month to month and it costs less money than hiring a minimum wage employee. Yes, it's month to month and it costs less money than hiring a minimum wage employee. Schedule your free personal 13-point assessment with Clay Clark himself today at Thrivetimeshow.com slash EO Fire. because Clay only takes on 160 clients and only allows 300 attendees to each business conference. You will interact with Clay directly. See thousands of real success stories and learn about attending the Thrive Time Show two-day in-person workshop featuring football star Tim Tebow and President Trump's son, Eric Trump, today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EOFire.

11:28Become the next success story. Schedule a free consultation and request tickets to join football star Tim Tebow and President Trump's son, Eric Trump, at Clay Clark's next business conference today at thrivetimeshow.com slash EO fire. Question for you, Fire Nation. Do you have the right mentor in your life right now? For me, mentorship was everything from when I was just getting started in podcasting, webinars, course creation, book writing, you name it. I hired a mentor to guide me every step of the way. For the first time in seven years, I'm opening up a few mentorship slots for individuals who know they need the guidance and accountability to take their business and life to the next level.

12:09It's a three-month program, and together we will achieve massive results. If you're interested in learning more, email me at john at eofire.com with the subject line, Mentor, and we'll schedule a 15-minute chat to go over the program to see if it's the right fit for you. That's john, J-O-H-N, at eofire.com, but only if you're prepared to ignite. Jake, we're back. Before the break, I teased the video ad framework. Share that with us. What's a video ad framework that's going to capture attention, build trust, and most importantly, inspire action? When I speak at these events and talk to people about what we do, they're like, YouTube ads?

12:54Doesn't everyone skip those? It's true. Most people skip them, but you don't need to have millions of people click. Like you just need a small percentage of the right people to, to, to have it be effective. And so when the video is done, right, it gets people's attention. So the first part of that frame or the most important part of the video is the hook, right? It's that first five, 10 seconds of the video. So you want to think, what can I say or show in five seconds, that's going to get that person curious where they're going to want to keep watching. In fact, like a great ad is going to, you're going to qualify that audience right up front.

13:37So if you don't like your product and service isn't for everybody. And so if people skip it, that's a good thing because you don't want to waste their time. And also you don't want to waste your ad spend on people that just aren't interested. So when you have a great hook that can attract your right audience and also repel people who aren't, that's a great qualifier. So like when I had some ads on or even if you were to do it, like a great hook would be, hey, you're on you. You're seeing this ad because YouTube thinks you're an entrepreneur. Let me share with you like the biggest challenge that entrepreneurs have, you know, some way to get their attention to call out the audience.

14:17Who's it? Who's it for? And and what they should do like what they can expect to learn. So one, get their attention. You have a great hook up front. And then, then, then it's about creating value, right? I think a lot of people where ads go wrong is when they just talk all about their product or their service. So great ads, boring ads are about the product or service, but the great ads are all about the transformation that your product or service creates for your customer or for your clients. So people are on YouTube to either be entertained or to be educated. And when you can have an ad that both educates and adds value to somebody, and you can do it in an entertaining way, that's when you got something that's working.

15:11So between getting their attention, the hook, then you're adding value, you're providing a solution to people's challenges that they have. And then, then there's the call to action, right? The whole point of the video is to get a click or to have people move to that next step. And so if you have a training or some type of lead magnet or a webinar or a download, you want to build the whole video around the click. So once you've got their attention, you've helped them show like that you have a solution for the problem that these people have, then invite them to take that next step. Like give them a gift, like that free gift or that lead magnet.

15:53So now you can get people who are interested, they give you their name, email, phone number, and now you have a way to follow up with them and start that relationship, like start that business relationship. Fire Nation, I hope you're fired up about this video ad framework because it's just one of those step-by-step processes that you can apply that you know works because it comes from somebody who's been there and done that. And I want to get detailed now, Jake, about how we can target our future customers and clients specifically and obviously with YouTube ads. This is what makes YouTube such a powerhouse and such a unique ad platform, especially compared to like, you know, Meta or Instagram is...

16:36And so with Facebook, Instagram, they have a lot of interest based targeting, right? People who are interested in starting a business, people who are interested in buying a house. Whereas Google, because Google owns YouTube and it's the largest search engine in the world, you can go a layer deeper and target people based off their intent, which is a little bit deeper than the interest. Right. So if somebody is wanting to start a business, they're going to go to like YouTube or Google. They're going to search. Hey, what do I need to start a business? And then they're searching that on Google. So Google know YouTube knows what you're searching for.

17:23And then they can line up that ad using that framework to to put your message right in front of that person when they need it the most. um so like it's uh so you can target based off what people are searching for on google which is a huge intent so that's like our go-to sources it's called custom intent targeting when you when you build this out on the google ads platform so targeting people based off what they're searching for um they also have in market interest so people who are in the market for specific solutions, right? So maybe it's weight loss or they want to gain muscle, whatever people search for, you can then have an ad, Hey, do you know what the biggest challenge is when it comes to losing weight?

18:11And you can really position your brand and your company in a way that's going to put your message in front of the right people at the right time. So keyword targeting, the custom intent targeting is one of the really unique factors that makes YouTube ads such a valuable platform. And then, and then remarketing, right? So if you have a large YouTube channel, the, that's the lowest hanging fruit is you can, you can target any of the people who have watched your video or subscribe to your channel over the last 540 days. So it's a huge, it's almost similar to an email list, right? Or like where you can reach people whenever you need to.

18:53It's the same thing, a remarketing list. Like that's the lowest hanging fruit is, is putting your message and placing it in front of your YouTube subscribers or YouTube viewers. It's yeah, it's, and that outperforms a lot of the cold traffic too. So maybe on Facebook, you're getting that$10 cost per lead. Well, with the remarketing audience using YouTube to your subscribers, that could go down to a$3 or$5 cost per lead. So it can really cut your cost per lead in half. Jake, we talked about the hidden benefits, the ad framework, targeting our future customers and clients. What is the single takeaway, if there could just be one, that you want our listeners to get from our conversation today?

19:41Advertising amplifies what you already have working, right? And so if you have a great product or service, it really depends, your business success depends on your ability to get your message in front of the right people at the right time and being able to add value to that person. And YouTube ads, I believe, is one of the most powerful platforms that you can use to do just that, to get your message in front of specific types of audiences. And so just letting people know that you have the ability to reach millions of people who are searching for a problem that your business can solve. Jake, if Fire Nation loves what you're talking about, they want to learn more, they want to connect with you, what is your call to action for our listeners today?

20:31Call to action, if any of this has been interesting, go check out videopower.com. I have what we call the YouTube ads playbook, which kind of breaks down how to do a lot of the stuff we just discussed. We also are a performance-based agency. So we want to work with other brands that have great products and services and be able to shine a light on, on what you do great. So we've got a lot of great resources and trainings and case studies that people can learn a little bit more about YouTube ads, how they work and what would be possible for them. Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

21:10You've been hanging out with JL and JLD today. So keep up the heat. For links to everything we talked about, visit eofire.com. Type Jake in the search bar and the show notes page will pop right up. Jake, thank you, brother, for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Yeah. Thanks Thanks for having me, man. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Jake for sponsoring today's episode. And Fire Nation, are you an entrepreneur on fire who's looking to share your amazing message with the world? If yes, we are now accepting applications for EO Fire.

21:45To learn more about becoming a guest, visit eofire.com slash guest, or I'll catch you on the flip side. Is now the time to grow a successful business? Attend the world's highest rated business growth workshop taught personally by Clay Clark and now featuring football star Tim Tebow and President Trump's son, Eric Trump at Thrivetimeshow.com slash EO Fire. Again, request life-changing tickets today at Thrivetimeshow.com slash EO Fire. Do you have the right mentor in your life right now? For the first time in seven years, I'm opening up a few mentorship slots for individuals who know they need the guidance, and accountability to take their business and life to the next level.

22:27Email me at john at eofire.com with the subject line mentor, and we'll schedule a 15-minute chat to go over the program and see if it's the right fit for you.