A few years ago at an airport, I got a call from Howie Jacobson. "Hey Perry, the people who publish the 'Dummies' books asked me to write an AdWords book and I said yes. Um, I hope that's okay."
I'd taught him AdWords early on, and he didn't wanna tick me off by competing with my own books.
"No problem, Howie. I just want to make sure all the people in the AdWords cartel are my friends."
Howie is a very good friend of mine and I'm proud of him and his book. I also know his co-authors, Joel and Kristie. The three of them run the online marketing firm Vitruvian. Allow me to tell you about Howie's book.
The first thing I like about this book is the cartoons. AdWords has gone from being a glamorous "bright shiny object" for make-money-fast types (deservedly so) to being quite a complex undertaking for large accounts.
The result is that about half the AdWords books and courses out there are dreadfully boring. They read like computer manuals. It's a shame to do that to AdWords because it's a game for people who understand people, just as much as it's a game for people who do spreadsheets. Howie's occasional humor is appreciated. You might want to use some humor in your AdWords career, as well.
And unless you want to drill down into your AdWords campaigns with Excel pivot tables and mind-numbing detail, this book contains all the basic information you need to build a large and successful campaign.
My favorite chapter is The Ten (or so) Top AdWords Mistakes. Success in AdWords is largely about having layers of refinement that most other advertisers don't bother with. This tells you what the 10 most important layers are. If you already spend significant dinero on AdWords and want an instant improvement, this chapter will pay for your book a dozen times over.
And the case studies in the following chapter highlight different dimensions of thinking that you need to solve different kinds of problems. The advantage Howie & company have over most people is, they've worked in dozens of different industries, where click behavior varies widely from one to another. This chapter is bound to show you something you'd never notice on your own.
One last thing: Howie's modesty - to the point of checking in with me before he went and wrote the first edition of this book - tells you something about him. He under-promises, over delivers, and treats readers, vendors and customers with respect.
When you're laying down your cash to grow a business, that's a big deal. Howie respects your dollar and that's what makes him a worthy teacher.
Excellent job, Howie. A top pick.
