Google SLAP(ped me silly)

On Tuesday, the Quality Score for my entire Adwords account was reduced to 'Poor', with $10.00 minimum clicks.

I have campaigns for keywords, content network only, placement targeted, max CPC, max CPM, Conversion Optimizer, etc... Pretty much every imaginable way to advertise on Google Adwords, I have something in place to take advantage of (or experiment with) it. This account has been open for about 5 years, and many of the current campaigns have been running for a long time.

Every single campaign, no matter the setup, landing page, sub-domain, etc... they were all reduced to a 'Poor' Quality Score.

In the last several months nothing had changed on my web site. The only things that had changed in the adwords account were a few new campaigns.

So after freaking out...

I used the new "Chat live now with an Adwords Specialist" functionality. The first agent that I spoke with told me that he could find no reason for the reduction in Quality Score. He would do a little more research and get back to me "in a couple of hours".

The next morning, I log onto the chat again, this time connecting with another rep. She said that, basically, the first guy was still researching my account and would be responding to my query shortly.

Same day, after noon, I log onto the chat again. This time connecting with yet another rep. She said that it takes up to 24 hours to research Quality Score issues and that I should be patient. But, also that she would contact the first two reps and alert them to my inquiry.

Firstly, I feel a little mis-led. The first two people indicated this would be a quick process. Third person basically told me to chill out.

Secondly, I feel powerless. I know I'm a small fish to Google - but also that I've done nothing wrong. My site is rich with content and user experience. My ads are not mis-leading. My pages load super-quick. In a matter of an instant they can cut off the power and leave you twisting in the wind. Which sucks...

So now I wait... no ads running. No reason for it...

And that's no fun...

But that reminds me... I need to log on to Yahoo and set up some more campaigns...

View of Century City - from Hollywood

View from my hollywood office

I was at my client office in Hollywood and leaned way out over the balcony.... This is a beautiful location.

Sleep is NOT for me. Biphasic sleep - 45 day update

I'm not a big fan of sleep. Nothing exciting or productive happens when you're sleeping. Nobody looks back on their life and says "I wish I got more sleep." ... There are no fond memories of "that time I was sleeping." Life happens when you're awake! I sleep 6 hours a day - and I would sleep even less than that if I could figure out a way to maintain it...

I have been on a loose biphasic schedule for about 45 days now. I'll try to run through the perceived advantages and limitations as far as I see them.


ADVANTAGES:

For me, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. I am a big fan of biphasic sleep - thus far it has been a tremendous experience.

Flexibility

As opposed to biphasic sleep, when somebody adopts a polyphasic schedule (many 15 minute naps throughout the day/night), the major no-no is to deviate from the planned sleeping periods. Also, it takes a couple of weeks of major pain for your body to adopt to the new schedule. If you don't stick to the schedule your body will revolt and make up the lost time with a marathon sleep session. And you lose all the work you did to train your body for less sleep...

My experience with a biphasic schedule shows that there is no "adaptation period". Plus, I am able to move between biphasic sleep and traditional sleep. More about this in the "drawbacks" section below.

Productivity

A biphasic schedule allows me to get 6 hours of sleep instead of the 8 hours normally required - and still feel real good.

The two fewer hours does make a difference. But the biggest difference may be the many hours of productive time I have before anyone else in America is awake for the day. This means: no phone calls, little email, no external interruptions - just productive time spent on the day's most important tasks.

Time to Excercise

I have grown extremely fond of my early morning workouts. I mean, I look forward to it eagerly.

Many mornings I'll get up, work for an hour or two and go for a workout. I'll get bundled up with a hat and gloves and a windbreaker and be on the road logging miles by 4:30 am. Two hours later I'll have run 10 miles, get back to the house, take a warm shower, and get my son out of bed. I spend a couple hours with him every single morning - all before getting to work for the day!

There is some kind of a perverse pleasure in having gotten something done and run nearly a half marathon before the rest of the world is awake.

I LOVE to watch the sun come up over the mountains. When I start my run it is pitch black out. All I can see is my breath in the cold air and the ground immediately in front of me. So the beginning of my run gives me time to ponder the greater questions of life, like what I'm going to have for breakfast later on (ha!). But once I get all the fleeting thoughts out of my mind and settle into the run, the sun starts to come up over the horizon. It bounces off the lake surface, or canyon walls, and filters through the pine trees. Amazing. Beautiful! The beauty of my life is revealed and I am suddenly appreciative of all I have.


DRAWBACKS AND LIMITATIONS:

There are a few things that will keep me from a biphasic schedule:

Scheduling Conflicts

I've come to realize that my schedule is not completely controllable - but it is predictable. I almost always know what's coming up the next day - can't always control when my event(s) will occur. But, this is perhaps the best thing about a biphasic sleeping schedule - it is quite flexible.

If I have a series of important meetings in the middle of the day, or if I am planning to spend the entire day with family, I will sleep for a whole session the night before and go without a nap.

Occasionally, something unforseen comes up and I'm forced to move my nap around. I might have to take an early or late nap. This is a difficulty - but not a showstopper. I've moved my nap forward and backward by several hours with only minor consequences (harder to sleep, more tired than usual in the evening as a result).

Hard Workouts

My long run is up to 9-10 miles per day. Or, sometimes, I actually (try to) run up the mountain behind my house. When I really exert myself and push past my current limits, my body reacts by sleeping! Makes perfect sense - it needs to repair, needs to recover. But I didn't know this in advance and tried to fight through a couple days of little sleep after a hard workout. It wasn't very successful... I now know full well that when I do a super-hard workout I need a little extra sleep to recover from it.

Illness

A bout of the head cold came and went through my house a few weeks ago and everybody was sleeping longer than normal. Same thing as above - when the body calls for more sleep there is a good reason for it - and I'm not fighting that natural reaction.

Alchohol

A couple of drinks is all I need to sleep in. If I go out for a couple of drinks with buddies, there is no way I'm getting up at my normal time. If I DO force myself to get up at my normal time, I'm much more tired than usual the next day.

Alarm Clock Issues

One annoyance that can't be ignored is the alarm clock issue. As in - and annoyance to my wife and newborn son... When the alarm clock goes off at 2:30am and the baby (who sleeps in his bassinet or in our bed with us) is awoken, he doesn't go back to sleep! That's a no good!

I now set the alarm on my cell phone in vibrate mode and put it under my pillow. I'm looking for a good vibrating alarm clock, but haven't had much luck yet.

All in all...

I've gotten a few bewildered looks and responses when somebody learns of my sleeping schedule. It's definitely not for everyone. But then again, not everyone is as driven or persistent as me. If I perceive something that helps me get to the finish line, and is not destructive - I'm going to take advantage of it.

The bottom line is this: Sleeping less at night and taking a nap in the afternoon allows me to have more productive time to do what is important to me. Spending more time on the things that ARE important to me (family, entrepreneurial ventures, running, etc...) is a very rewarding thing to do.

"How do I get started in such a venture?"

Last night, I received an email from Bob in Illinois. Bob asks a question that I get often - "how do I get started?". So, with his permission, I am posting the original email and my response here. I hope it is helpful.

On Feb 6, 2008 8:20 PM, <p......b@c...t.net> wrote:

Travis,

I read your blog entry regarding StubHub.

I was interested to see you mentioned vacation spots as an example of a possible application. I've thought about that aspect for a while. My idea focuses on Timeshare. It seems there are numerous sites that ask for fees up-front without delivering. As a timeshare owner myself, I'd love a place that is well publicized where I could post my timeshare, like I've done with my Chicago Bears tix on StubHub.

Trouble is, I haven't the first idea how to get started. Where can I learn about the basics of starting such a venture?

Thanks,

Bob M....

Plainfield, Illinois

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the note!

I think to get a venture like this off the ground you need three primary skills.

The first is the easiest to acquire, and that is basic Internet technology implementation. You'll need to know about programmers and designers and online marketing options.

The second is market research. You need to know if people with timeshares (or looking for them) are willing to engage you and build a relationship. You need to know if there is a pain point that you can address and solve. For this, I must recommend Glenn Livingston's survey model. It is extremely thorough - it will give you the data on your market you need to succeed. I have used it several times now - and if you can handle the intensity, you are WAAAAY ahead of the game.

http://www.howtodoubleyourbusiness.com

The third is the less tangible, which is basic business sense. I just finished reading a book called "Jump Start Your Business Brain" by Doug Hall that goes into great detail about crafting a business idea that can succeed. I highly recommend it!

http://www.amazon.com/Jump-Start-Your-Business-Brain/dp/1558706070

In addition to these skills, you need a whole lot of determination and fortitude. When I first got into e-business I was looking for the silver bullet. And I sometimes still find myself trying to take the easy way out. But the thing is - that never works. It takes years to build a successful business online, just like it does offline. If you're not committed and "in love" then you're not likely to succeed!

Hope this is helpful.

Travis

Wish I was a little bit taller...

Biphasic Sleep Log - Day 8

I skipped a few days, because it was just more of the same. In fact, this is all starting to become quite routine. Which is nice.

Here is my usual day:
* I wake early, it takes a few minutes to feel alert. It's hard to hit my sleep cycle just right yet so some mornings are harder to crawl out of bed than others...
* I have an extremely productive morning, get an early workout in (on workout days)
* I get to hang with my fam for a little longer than usual
* I start to get physically tired in the early afternoon, but my mental capacity doesn't seem to fall-off
* I take an afternoon nap, and it takes a few moments to feel alert (but not as bad as the longer night sleep)
* I feel fantastic the rest of the day
* I get tired right before bedtime at night

One thing of note for Day 8. Usually during the week I can control my own schedule. But today I had an early afternoon meeting that would go right through my normal nap time. So I decided to take my nap in the late morning instead of mid-afternoon.

I usually nap from around 1:30-3pm. Or 2-3:30pm. Sometimes a little bit earlier, sometimes a little bit later - all depending on how I feel and how busy I am.

Today I took my nap at 10:45-12:15pm. I didn't have too much problem getting to sleep. But I woke frequently, wondering if it was close to time to get up (because I didn't want to be late to my meeting). I was also woken by my phone once (note to self: turn that damn thing off when you go to sleep). So the result was not a very good nap!

So between an early nap time and poor sleep, I turned into a zombie around 8pm. I usually go about 8 hours between nap and nighttime sleep - and I start to feel tired right before bed. But time, 8 hours after my nap I seriously turned into a zombie (and still had a few hours till bedtime).


Moral of the story? Couple of things:
1. Try to keep the nap time in the early afternoon if possible.
2. If not possible, don't schedule anything immediately after the nap.
3. Anytime I change the schedule or do something new, the first sleep session will be poor.

Biphasic Sleep Log - Day 5

Morning

I didn't get to bed until around 11:30 last night, so I didn't wake up until 4. Once again, I had a hard time sleeping. It was probably because I was trying out a new alarm and didn't trust that it was set properly. So, I kept waking up, wondering if it was time to wake up yet!

So, when the alarm finally went off at 4, it was off-time, and came from out of nowhere. It was hard to get up... In fact, I almost stayed in bed. Will power was the only thing that got me out...

But once I was out of bed everything was fine. The morning went off without a hitch. My son even woke up at 5am again. I sat in his dark room rocking him back to sleep and didn't feel the overwhelming tiredness like a couple of days ago.


Afternoon

My afternoon nap came at 12:30pm today. I find myself waking up a lot, and wondering if it's time for me to be done sleeping yet... today I woke up after a half hour and it felt like I had slept an hour and a half.

After that - no problems. Slept the rest of the way, woke up easy. Felt great the whole afternoon and evening. Good stuff!