Why I’ll likely never
pay one single cent to Google as an entrepreneur or a consumer (though I’m
happy to as a business owner)
By Danny Welsh
JointVentures.com
I love Google as a
search engine. I use it just about every damn day multiple times per day. It’s
been designed to give the searcher (that’s me) an ability to find the searchee
(that’s whatever I’m looking for). And so far for years of my life it’s been
pretty damn good at providing me something RELEVANT and as a consumer I think
it’s got great value.
But you see, when I
click on a PPC ad and make Google money I’m happy I found a result if it was
relevant, but you’ll never find me (or any other consumer) paying for that
click myself.
The model is too evolved that the advertiser pays, so when
the advertiser offers something of value and pays for that click, if I become a
customer that was a good ROI for them and it worked out just fine for me as a
consumer too.
If I don’t
become a customer, too bad for that advertiser for spending that money on a
click. I’m out the time as a consumer in checking out Google’s “recommendation”
for filling my needs as a searcher, and I’m not mad at Google for it. I just
start over or try to find another way than Google to find what I’m looking for.
Maybe I type in www.whateverIwant.com
and see what’s there. Maybe I phone a friend. Maybe I “search” in the back of
my closet for the YellowPages that is propping up the broken aquarium off the
floor I just haven’t gotten around to taking to the dump yet.
Google Adwords is a
simple, straight forward and a good (but not great) way to get prospects that you can turn into customers.
One of my own long-time business mentors is among the world’s authorities on
Google Adwords advertising with a column in Entrepreneur magazine from time to
time and sold out seminars where folks pay thousands of dollars to learn his
secrets on how to tame the Adwords beast and wring money from it with targeted
clicks.
He kicks ass and I am well aware of how powerful the marketing
medium of Adwords PPC can be, having thoroughly been through a couple of his
courses that sell for thousands of dollars and tested some of his ideas.
The funny part is that as a consultant and copywriter, it’s
unclear whether I’ve paid him more as a customer than he’s paid me for my help
in his businesses.
But I digress, and we’ve wandered off from what is RELEVANT
and sorry for that.
Where was I?
Oh yeah, as a consumer I don’t pay
Google money. You probably don’t either.
Google search, Google Maps, Google Earth, Google Voice. All
free, and all useful. Not one of which has Google put a price tag on to use
(nor will they ever in all likelihood).
What about my other “identities”? Do they pay Google money?
I also love a number of Google’s other intangible online
products and services, especially the suite of custom branded cloud
applications for use in businesses.
Gmail for one totally ROCKS. I’m grateful they let me try it
before I had to buy it. Now all of my companies have and will operate on
Gmail. Simple, clean, elegant, perfectly
functional and ever-improving. I am Danny at TheDannyWelsh.com. I am Danny at
JointVentures.com. I am Danny at FreeVacation.com. I am…yaddadyadda…you get the
idea.
Gmail custom branding email accounts makes that easy and
simple…
GoogleDocs is also a fantastic organization and
collaboration tool.
Google Checkout is a great companion for accepting credit
cards and Paypal. You wouldn’t have it as the only way to accept payments
online for your ecommerce store, but having it does give a bump in sales in
many cases I’ve seen for me and my past clients.
But you see, it’s the “business owner” identity of Danny
Welsh that pays a little money each year to Google to use those very useful
services. Just as that same guy tried a number of other paid services of
Google like Google Pages, Google Sites, and others that just weren’t any good.
The business owner pays Google, not the consumer.
It’s almost like I’m a different person in the same skin.
And frankly, Google has EXCELLED at creating a few must-use
products for small business, just like Gmail and GoogleDocs and
Google-Checkout.
Maybe you even use a few of them in YOUR small business?
You Go Google!
Now we come to the big question of whether it makes business
sense to pay Google for advertising.
Rick Schwartz says
no, and people say “he has an agenda”.
What does Danny Welsh
say?
My answer is YES and
NO.
For me…it depends.
The entrepreneur in me says I don’t need Google (and for years I’ve
done plenty of e-commerce for myself and my clients that had nothing to do with
Google as lead generation…paid OR organic).
FYI if you don’t know the difference between the
entrepreneur that starts the business and CREATES SALES and the business owner
that maintains a system and grows it…go read a book about it!
Cuz they ain’t usually the same type person, though some
GREAT businesses are lucky enough to have leaders that can do BOTH well…most do
NOT, and are better served with a two-headed captain at the helm depending on
the biggest current need for steering the ship.
The entrepreneur in me says I can develop and attract prospects dozens
to hundreds of cheaper ways than Google PPC Advertising and dozens to hundreds
of more certain ways than organically SEO-gaming Google…and use a
superior business, products, and services, as well as how me and my employees
who work for me the business owner treat people…and turn enough of those
prospects into customers to do just fine.
So why bother sticking my business AMEX in Google’s mouth
every month to pay for clicks that put food on their employee’s tables and may
or may not put food on mine?
The entrepreneur in me increasingly says if you can do what
the entrepreneur says he can do (and I can, have, and will continue to do so
for any and all of my business projects)…then why not develop prospects and
bring them in using primarily low cost and no cost marketing initiatives and
use the brand recall alone of the category NICHE.com to bring those customers
back to buy “NICHE” whenever in the future they want to make another purchase?
If so, Google is useful for me as a business owner.
It’s awesome for me as a consumer.
But it’s unnecessary for me as an entrepreneur, the guy who
has to MAKE SALES HAPPEN.
And as a domainer or entrepreneur, either one…well, you
either “see it or you don’t”.
Like Rick Schwartz
says, there are masters and there are slaves.
I choose to be a master.
You can too.
Or just give your money to the golden god and trust your
destiny to Google.
----> Not this guy.
Think WIN-WIN and take back your own destiny.
Danny Welsh
JointVentures.com
Rick Schwartz
I actually plan on givng Google millions of dollars. Someday. When the timing is right.
Like I have said before, I think of Google as a last resort, not a first resort. So AFTER I exhaust all other marketing avenues and have them FIRMLY in place, then it is Google time!
The last piece of the puzzle is Google. It is not the first piece from where I sit. That is the big disconnect as I talked about last week. If Google is your answer to everything, then you have an answer for nothing.
Uzoma
It depends on which Google we are talking about.
If you are referring to the Google that Larry and Sergey, Stanford computer science grad students, began collaborating on a search engine called BackRub, I like that Google. I like entrepreneurship. It’s as American as apple-pie.
If you are talking about Google of 2004, that launched orkut as a way for us to tap into the sphere of social networking. I am impressed.
If you are referring to the Google of 2005, with initial public offering, Image search, and so on… I’m still with you.
But, If you are talking about the Google of 2008, with acquisition deal for DoubleClick, you begin to lose me. There’s something different. There’s the aura of jack of all trade. It smacks of the 1980’s At&t, a monopolistic suspicion and accusation from its peers, that finally took an act of congress to resolve; and technology blossomed. It depends on which Google you refer to. No entity is all good, or all bad. It’s up to Google to decide which side it belongs. So far, with what they did with PPC, it’s pure evil. And I have other complaints, hat actually goes to individual levels.
Jeff Schneider
Hello Rick,
I am going to say something controversial (so whats new)
Google really and truly values the SEO manipulators,and they are an integral part of the their smoke screen Ad MATRIX.
Ad companies and SEO proponents will (NOT), suggest the PURE PLAY .COM they will suggest the SEO Manufactured Play that obsolesces with each Algorithim Change. Great for them Bad for duped Corporate End User !
” Pound for pound, a superior Web address is the most powerful form of perpetual advertisin any company can buy.™ ”
Gratefully , Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
andy kelly
I dislike google that much that when I’m surfing for anything from motorhomes for sale to holiday homes for rent that I copy and paste the ads rather than click.
I hate the way the big g has way too much power not only over search but over domainers.
Anunt
Do NOT depend on Google to get your site ranked on top of their search engine.
But you should definately buy Google Ads for your website to make more money.
There is a huge difference between the two.
Also, do NOT depend on Google PPC Income…
I love GOOGLE stock…goooo GOOG
Good Luck to ALL
Jeff Schneider
Hello Rick,
Google senses Smart Money is catching onto their game slowly but surely. They have a nice think tank for schmoozing the angles and will lose more and more Marketing clout as Marketers wake up to the New World Smart Marketing Strategies your educating them on here.
You have a strong tailwind at your back as Type-Ins become more and more common. Just be aware that they may apply heavy handed PR to counteract End Users getting a break with your strategies. They have very smooth Marketing Operatives grooming the Blogs as you may have already noticed. My prediction is Honest Type-In search will catch on like wildfire.
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Bako.com
I am starting to see what rick is talking about with Google. Two small points, when you type in movie times or weather now into Google, their search engine is becoming more and more a website so instead of you finding a new local website Google just pulls up that information on there website. I guess Google is just trying to become the internet and their really isn’t much stopping them from selling anything they want.
Jeff Schneider
Hello Rick