Rob Olson

22/03/2025

We’ve all dealt with the pain of API-heavy architectures — constant calls, latency, and everything breaking when the network goes down.

I put together a post on Model Context Protocol (MCP) — a game-changing approach that flips the old client-server model on its head.

Instead of remote nodes constantly “phoning home,” they get the logic once, cache it, and run locally. It’s like teaching them to fish 🎣 instead of delivering fish every time.

If you’re running distributed systems, edge devices, or just want faster, more resilient operations — give it a read.

👇 Would love to hear your take.

The distributed computing space has evolved dramatically in recent years, and the Model Context Protocol (MCP) is proving to be a game-changer. For anyone running edge networks or managing remote systems, this approach deserves serious attention.

23/06/2024

👉 Learn how to effortlessly import JSON scripts into your N8n workflows in this quick tutorial. Whether you're a developer, marketer, or entrepreneur, maste...

23/06/2024

👉 Discover how N8n compares to Zapier and Make in this detailed pricing analysis. Learn how to save money while automating workflows efficiently. Whether yo...

23/01/2024

Still one of my favorite quotes - Keep this in mind when dealing with clients questioning your prices.

“It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When
you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all. When you pay
too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you
bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The
common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a
lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well
to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will
have enough to pay for something better.”

― John Ruskin

04/10/2022

Got a client that wants you to sign a hefty lead generation contract/agreement?

Some things to consider....

Whether handshake or contract/agreement deal, they both can come back to haunt you, the difference in a contract/agreement deal is there are limits of recourse.

While I have some common legal insight ( I am not an attorney and you should be able to tell that from my sloppy writing, but I've read more contracts than I care to remember) , I agree with Dan over at Flexxable said in regards to small deal do you really want to worry about this... you want partners not clients....etc... with some exceptions due to having been in many large binding contracts regarding my businesses over the last 30 years.

If you maintain good compliance and data storage on your side, then any contract/agreement should not be too much worry for you.

In the past I owned two successful software companies, our single deals where easily in 6 figures, selling to fortune 1000.. DOD, Banks, Nuclear Plants...etc. Big contracts came with the territory for some software because our solutions could have a severe affect to the operations of their business. We also sold software's that did not, but were more simple tools but we still had our disclaimers signed.

Today as a lead gen, when some of these big shops want me to sign a contract to sell them say ..a $45-75 lead... the immediate reaction is "oh jeez"...it sounds ridiculous... but if you put on their shoes for a moment you begin to understand.. a lot has changed in the last several years.

There are businesses that their sole operation is to find companies violating TCPA by signing up as a fake lead and monitoring how the funnel points touch them... then they file independent lawsuits when they are not even a party. This is the reason for companies that provide compliance solutions such as Blacklist Alliance...etc.. that build lists of these lawsuit skimmers and try to protect you... point is - it's a real thing!

We live in a world of "COMPLIANCE" now... and if your client a bad lead that they are trying to contact and nurture, that violates TCPA, DMCA, COPPA,GDPR...etc...and they get sued for it... its easily $10k+++ per incident not including attorney fees...etc...

so.. that $45 lead ( if its just one) just because a $10k++ liability.
... in court they are going to point at "YOU" as the source, from there things get all messy if you cannot prove you gained that lead with compliance by showing proof of consent...etc. And lets not forget your legal expenses here will be at least 10k if you get a lawyer...and you will surely need one. And for this reason alone at a minimum you should have your "OWN" set of terms and policies. Just like any company that sells a product will include some sort of liability disclaimer clause that covers your ass.

So if you have to sign their contract, make sure it includes limits of liability that protect you too. Else make them also sign your contract, and your contract should state that it overrides any prior contracts terms.

At a minimum if you are working with an easy going client that doesn't care about a contract - AT LEAST :
- get them to sign your terms and conditions, liability disclaimer,
- make sure your leads are gathered in compliance
- collect the consent notice with the lead data ( and KEEP FOREVER )
- deliver the consent data with the lead to the client

Sooo.. you begin to understand the need for contracts.. but it doesn't have to be a "contract", it can be a Terms, Liability Agreement etc. Just like when you buy a bicycle - if you jump off a roof and die, it's not the bike manufacturers fault.

Another way to look at a client that wants you to sign a contract is - "Responsible Assurance"...It shows that they intend to be "complaint" in their dealings and that should be "welcome" by you! .. because if they were to get sued for a lead you sold them, they are surely bring you to court with them... and they don't want to be in court anymore than you do.

I know if some big Solar lead operations that have had the daylights sued out of them and are non existent now and forever.. for TCPA violations.. its common ground now.

If you want to be a lead gen and limit your liability to the smallest degree then "SELL INBOUND CALLS" ... you can limit avoid TCPA and all that crap pretty much soon as someone dials you direct.

TCPA, DMCA, COPPA, GDPR...etc... -- those are real problems. Even for little guys!

Don't let this scare you off, just know that you should cover your bases no matter how big or small you are or the deal is.

Agreements are intended for when a dispute arises as it gives the guide of how it will be handled and the limits of liability, the last thing you as a business owner wants is to be in "unknown territory".

23/09/2022

[ADVANCED FACEBOOK LANDING PAGE HACK]
Post iOS14 targeting is as we know it... screwed.... but using broad campaigns has turned out to be much more powerful than many expected...

But what if you could give more details to FB about who you are trying to reach while still staying broad?

Well...what many people don't realize is that the FB pixel is picking up more than the default pixel code data.. fb is also reading SEO related data to help their data points.

We already have known that sending paid traffic to your website can boost your SEO dramatically... this is basically a result of "engagement".

So what if SEO can boost your paid ad targeting? "ah ha!" ...

The FB pixel is reading the landing page to gain intel for targeting audiences but so is the FB Bot Agent when you submit an AD.

The more data we can give the Agent the better ( as long as its the right data, since the agent is also there to slam your for policy violations ).

But how can we balance lander sales copy vs feeding data to Facebook pixel AI machine learning?

Simple.. SCHEMA markup

SCHEMA is used to help search engines list and rank your site, page...etc. by telling the search engine what the site and content is about.

We can also do this for Facebook... we can tell facebook what the content is about and feed it tons more data without dirtying up our sales copy, facebook will then use that data to aid in targeting audiences that more closely relate.

So for instance, below is a sample medical schema I built a framework for years ago for my spine surgeon clients, I've built SCHEMA's for every possible spinal condition and treatment... notice in the SCHEMA how much detail I can put in for "Foraminal Stenosis" vs what I might not want to put "on page" of a sales landing page.

You think FB could use some of this data in helping my ads hit the right targets?... I bet so!

In full transparency - I have not had a chance to A/B test this yet, I read about the topic .. a one liner stating the pixel code reads schema and lost the reference, but it stuck in my head... then I went back to some of my old SCHEMA's and it was a 'DUH' moment.
If this is old news.. then forgive me... but I've yet to see any conversations regarding paid media and SCHEMA.

What I do know very well is that when you add a target URL to your Ad and submit the Ad for review to go live... FB agent fetches and reads your landing page 8-11 times on average before the Ad goes live.. you can see this yourself if you using a tracking solutions such as voluum, funnelflux...etc.
We also know FB reads the content up to 3 links deep...it looks for policy violations, existence of disclaimer, privacy policy.. foul content...etc. And that is NOT new news...! But even as a seasoned SEO it just skipped my mind I guess that FB may use SCHEMA for its data gathering as well in the post iOS14 world... I certainly would!

This all goes beyond Open graph meta...so try not to confuse the two... Facebook has been mentioning since around 2018 that Schema may become a very important factor in Ad performance... the question - are we there?

Regardless - any data you can feed to FB to help your Ads is a WIN!

So... My little contrib for landers ... consider SEO'ing your landing pages from now on... specifically adding "Schema markup" in addition to full Meta and Open graph meta details... most clients I've worked with using solutions such as UnBounce don't even bother adding a correct Title Tag and Descriptions to the meta fields... at a minimum DO THIS!


{
"": "https://schema.org/",
"": "MedicalWebPage",
"audience": "https://schema.org/Patient",
"specialty": "https://schema.org/Musculoskeletal",
"about": {
"": "https://schema.org/",
"": "MedicalCondition",
"name": "Foraminal Stenosis",
"alternateName": "Stenosis",
"description": "Foraminal stenosis is an abnormal narrowing (stenosis) of the spinal canal that may occur in any of the regions of the spine. This narrowing causes a restriction to the spinal canal, resulting in a neurological deficit.",
"associatedAnatomy": {
"": "AnatomicalStructure",
"description": "The location of the stenosis determines which area of the body is affected."
},
"cause": {
"": "MedicalCause",
"description": "Aging, Arthritis, Heredity, Instability of the Spine, Trauma, Tumors of the Spine."
},
"signOrSymptom": {
"": "MedicalSignOrSymptom",
"description": "Symptoms include pain, numbness, paraesthesia, and loss of motor control."
},
"typicalTest": {
"": "MedicalTest",
"description": "The MRI has become the most frequently used study to diagnose foraminal stenosis. The MRI uses electromagnetic signals to produce images of the spine. MRIs are helpful because they show more structures, including nerves, muscles, and ligaments, than seen on x-rays or CT scans. MRIs are helpful at showing exactly what is causing spinal nerve compression."
},
"code": {
"": "MedicalCode",
"codeValue": "31116"
},
"medicineSystem": {
"": "MedicineSystem",
"name": "Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatories",
"description": "Naproxen, Ibuprofen"
}
}
}

25/08/2022

📢 Big news: Facebook has released B2B targeting capabilities.

Here are the four new B2B segments:
• IT decision-makers
• Business decision makers based on job titles and interests
• Business decision makers in IT, Marketing, Strategy, or HR based on job titles
• New businesses 6, 12, and 24 months old

08/08/2022

"Lead Ads Filtering"
For those considering the new "Lead Ads Filtering" feature in Facebook, here is why to consider NOT using it:

Using this feature means that if the visitor selects the option that rules them out as a lead, facebook just kicks them back to the site and you don't get the data at all, vs if the filter gives valid lead then facebook will send you that data.

These option might be great for a small business running solo ads... this is not ideal for an lead gen agency IMHO.

You already paid to get an ad response so collect "ALL" the data, do your filtering in your lead distribution platform( ie, leadbyte,leadprosper....etc) .. that's what it's for..... the leads that don't qualify to be sold immediately - NURTURE THEM FOREVA! (SMS & EMAIL) in GHL or Drip...etc...( you can also build SMS & Email nurturing sequences right in Zapier and even Twilio if you don't have another platform)

I easily increase my overall lead conversions by 7%+ by nurturing the ugly data.

Say you are running debt campaign and your buyer wants debts over $15k... but you have visitors selecting $5k ... well.. there are buyers for $5k too... or you can cross selling credit repair, refinance, tax help, bankruptcy lawyer....etc. don't let facebook toss that data, just learn to use it on the backend.

There's money in the list - Don't throw it away!