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From the desk of Roy Furr, August 16th, 2008
From “Ten things Google has found to be true:”
2. It’s best to do one thing really, really well
As a business owner or internet marketer, when you think of Google you may have 5 or 10 of their different services run through your mind (Google Apps, AdWords, Analytics, Website Optimizer, Google Products/Google Base, etc.). But if you approach the general public, ask 100 people what Google is, and every answer will revolve around “Search.”
Since Google incorporated on September 7, 1998, they’ve been working to perfect search. (Even before that, too.)
They’ve put the best and brightest minds in computing on solving the search issue, to get more relevant results, faster. And even to this day, they’re changing how sites show up in the search results, to continue optimizing this process (remember “optimization” above?!).
They don’t rest on their laurels, even now that they’re completely dominating the search engine market (in terms of percent of searches conducted on their engine vs. competitors). They’re always working to make their search better.
By being the best at that, they can then introduce new, surrounding products into the marketplace. Products that provide a different type of value to the same users that come to their search engine every day.
They have instant credibility with these new products, because they’ve become known as such a behemoth in the search engine market. (And they know as long as they continue to apply their continuous optimization philosophy in these other fields — WITHOUT losing sight of their core mission of search — they’ll dominate there, too.)
So ask yourself — “What is the one thing my company (or I) does really, really well?”
And then — “What are we doing to become known in the marketplace for that one thing?”
And finally — “What can we do to increase the focus on that one thing in our communications, advertising, and media coverage, even if it means spending less time focusing on our additional products or services?”
It sounds counter-intuitive. But you can take Google as proof that it works.
Posted in Business, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Philosophy of Google, Website Design | No Comments »
From the desk of Roy Furr, July 7th, 2008
From “Ten things Google has found to be true:”
1. Focus on the user (customer) and all else will follow
It’s easy to get caught up on the dollar (whether for yourself or your company’s stakeholders).
When this happens, it is often at the expense of customer or user experience. Which takes away from long-term business growth opportunity.
A better approach is to constantly be seeking out how to make the customer experience of doing business with you a better, quicker, easier, more enjoyable experience. Then, customers will become very loyal and return, even without advertising expense on your part. (Coming from an advertising guy, of all folks!)
Here’s how Google does it:
- The interface is clear and simple.
- Pages load instantly.
- Placement in search results is never sold to anyone.
- Advertising on the site must offer relevant content and not be a distraction.
Most of these probably don’t apply directly to your business. But the idea behind them does. So find a way to make the idea work, because a happy customer will tell friends.
Posted in Business, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Philosophy of Google, Website Design | No Comments »
From the desk of Roy Furr, June 28th, 2008
Most businesses could learn a lot from Google (mine too).
Starting with the entire vision they have for business — what it means to be in business, how they define success in business (hint, it doesn’t start with profits), and how to make their business better every day.
Google’s put a lot of thought into it all — which may be obvious from their success. But what might not be as obvious is, these are things you can apply in your business.
When you do, it’s very likely you’ll double your business. You’ll be happier with what you do every day. Your customers will love you. Your team will have a renewed spirit. Work will be exciting. And both your bottom line and top line will grow steadily.
So where does it start?
“Never settle for the best”
You’ve heard of optimization, right? It’s part of search engine optimization and conversion rate optimization (among other things…).
A simple definition of optimization is working to make something better.
W. Edwards Deming was one of the first in business to really push for the philosophy of continuous optimization. Google takes it to the nth degree. Whatever you’re doing well today, you can do it better tomorrow. All you have to do is be continuously coming up with new ideas of what might make your business better — and test them.
Google does it all the time. In fact, they make it easy for you to do it all the time in your online business, too. Tools like Google Website Optimizer, the Ad Testing tool in AdWords, and even Analytics to track performance make this all possible.
Learn to use these to track how customers interact with your website and your business communications. Then experiment with ways to make each communication — each customer touch — a better experience.
Beyond that — into manufacturing, product development, and down the entire list — keep trying every day to make what you do better.
Everything else in Google’s philosophy is founded on “never settle for the best.” You should also implant that deep in your business mind. Always be looking for ways to make what you do better. And with what you’ll learn over the next 10 parts of this 11 part series, you’ll have ten powerful starting points for optimizing your business.
Posted in Business, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Marketing Testing, Philosophy of Google | No Comments »
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