www.BusinessBlueprint.com.au
Sep/Oct 2011
. . . e r u t a e f l a i c e Sp
ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR:
MATT BARRIE PLUS+ What Makes A Great Marketer
Sharon Pearson
CEO of The Coaching Institute
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS Business News Success Stories And More
FAST-TRACKING YOUR BUSINESS SUCCESS TODAY
From The Editor Welcome to our Magazine! Dear Reader,
In this month’s magazine … Check out our latest news and business briefs... Page 4
Since we last spoke, I took a well earned break and headed to Europe for three weeks. I’m not going to lie - it was amazing! I spent one week in London, catching up with friends. en I spent a week in Croatia (which by the way was one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen). And lastly I spent a week in the Greek Islands with two of my best girlfriends. It was really nice to take a break from work and just relax in the warm weather (it didn’t rain once while I was away!).
Feature Article: Entrepreneur of the Year Matt Barrie... Page 6
Since coming back, we have been flat out as usual. We held our July Blueprint Conference a few weeks ago which I have to say, was our best event to date! ere was an amazing mix of speakers (Darryl Lovegrove was definitely a favourite). And we also launched our plans for our Annual Blueprint Overseas Conference in ailand! It was great to see all the members so excited about it and I can’t wait to experience it with everyone.
Check out the photos from our latest July Business Blueprint Conference.. Page 11/12
Find out what makes a great marketer.. Page 8 Malcolm Auld Tony Gattari Andrew Griffiths Read about what Dale has been up to recently... Page 10
We speak to Kerwin Rae and Denise Hall in the Hot Seat ... Page 13/14
In this month’s mag, Jack Delosa has written an article about Matt Barrie who was named the Entrepreneur of the Year. His company Freelancer.com is definitely one to watch and I highly recommend reading that article.
Claim your free audio, ebook and video... Page 15
Also this month we look at what makes a great Marketer and how you can get the most out of Google for your business.
Discover How to Get The Most out of Google... Page 16
Until next time, have a wonderful month.
Be inspired by this month’s success story - Randall Smith... Page 19
Contact Us For any enquires please call 1300 782 734 or email emma@BusinessBlueprint.com.au
NEWS IN BRIEF
S S E N I BUS S F E I R B Microsoft buys Skype Microso Corp has agreed to buy internet phone service Skype for $U8.5 billion ($7.9 billion) in its biggest-ever acquisition, placing a rich bet on mobile and the internet to try to best rivals such as Google. In a cash deal that took a month from offer to signing, the soware company outbid Google and Facebook, which sources said offered to partner or buy Skype for $US3 billion to $US4 billion. Microso's interest in the money-losing, but popular service highlights a need to gain new customers for its Windows and Office soware. Skype has 145 million users on average each month and has gained favour among small business users. But investors expressed skepticism over the deal, sending Microso shares down 1.4 per cent to $US25.46. If those losses hold, the soware giant's market value - already exceeded by Apple last year will slip behind General Electric's and begin to approach IBM's.
Sony Vs iTunes SONY has signalled it may withdraw its artists from Apple's iTunes store and withhold its games from the iPhone in a sign the two companies are on the brink of all-out war. Sony plans to open a competitor to iTunes, a music streaming service called Music Unlimited, in Australia soon. Another service launching later this year will enable mobile phone users to pay and play first generation PlayStation games on their handsets. e head of Sony's games unit in Australia said it was unlikely to be available on the iPhone or through iTunes. A few weeks ago Apple blocked Sony's electronic book application from the iPhone because it would have bypassed Apple's system for buying content. e new Sony music service, which opened in Europe last year, will have a library of 6 million tracks and users will be able to stream songs to Sony TVs, PlayStation3 consoles, PSP portable game players and Blu-Ray players. e chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment, Michael Ephraim, said music streaming was a ''new technology'' that gave consumers greater freedom to play their music on a variety of devices. Because Sony's service will be stored on servers, users will be able to more freely access songs from any device, which Mr Ephraim said was in contrast to Apple's system, which relies on users to transfer their library across devices such as the iPod or iPhone.
Led by private equity firm Silver Lake, eBay Inc and other investors including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz, would make $US5 billion, or three times their investment, a source familiar with the deal said. Microso is putting more energy and resources into mobile and the Internet as the personal computer business underpinning its Windows and Office franchise appears to be under threat.
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NEWS IN BRIEF
Baby Boomers Take A Hit GENERATION Y workers have received an undeservedly bad rap over the years, frequently portrayed as over-demanding and unrealistic in their short-term career aspirations. Generation X has fared little better - uncommitted and unfocused are the common put-downs. Now the generation largely responsible for disseminating these stereotypes has been told to take a good hard look at itself; because it is baby boomers who are in fact the scourge of the workplace, says research that has examined inter-generational relationships among employees for the first time. So difficult are baby boomers to work with, the latest Leadership, Employment and Direction Survey has found, that most baby boomers - four out of five - do not want to work with other boomers. Generation X finds its boomer colleagues inflexible and set in their ways. Generation Y cringes at boomers' ineptitude with technology. And boomers themselves? Well, their peers would probably be fine to work with if they were not so self-obsessed and determined to do things their way. e research, commissioned by Leadership Management Australasia, surveyed 774 workers spread across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Adrian Goldsmith, the director of Chase Research, which conducted the national survey, said the findings, in which Generation Y came out with a glowing report card from all generational groups, were surprising and concerning. ''ey fly in the face of what we think about Generation Y, and they are worrying because for the next decade, it's going to be boomers in most of the senior management and leadership positions,'' he said. ''Boomers are going to have to reinvent themselves so that their own generation, and the other generations following, will be able to willingly work for them.''
Australian Women Reveal They Are Overworked And Overweight... Australia's women feel stressed out and unfit, and when it comes to leisure time they report just 30 minutes a day. A poll dubbed "Australia's Biggest Health Check", which gathered data from about 26,000 respondents, also reveals a significant mismatch between how much sex women want versus what they get. Dr Aaron Coutts, senior lecturer in sport and exercise science at the University of Technology Sydney, said the research painted an overall positive picture while highlighting some areas where women want, and need, to make improvements. "What it demonstrated was that women are very positive, women want to improve their health," Dr Coutts told AAP. "Clearly some of the measures in terms of stress and overweightness need to be improved but in terms of a comparative kind of study it is a positive finding." e survey was promoted via two magazines Women's Health and Prevention - and also had the backing of Priceline and the Seven Network’s Sunrise program. About 24,500 women responded to its questionnaire, plus 1500 men, and its key findings include: - Women across all age groups aspire to lose weight (47 per cent), exercise more (47 per cent) and get more sleep (41 per cent). - Respondents aged 25 to 39 rate anxiety and stress as their greatest medical concern, topping breast and skin cancer, while women aged over 40 say arthritis is their top concern. - Stress levels were the highest among women aged 25 to 39, and particularly those living in NSW, with financial concerns and lack of sleep and time the major reasons.
Kelly Burke, Rachel Olding - www.SMH.com.au
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ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR:
MATT BARRIE ON FORGING A GLOBAL MOVEMENT Jack Delosa talks with Matt Barrie, BRW Entrepreneur of the Year, about the unprecedented opportunity of the internet, the importance of failure and why now is the best time in history to start a business. Matt Barrie is more than an entrepreneur, he is a pioneer at the forefront of a global movement that is changing the way people source employment. “e global labor market is disrupting. ere are 6.8 billion people in the world. 2 billion of them are online but just under 5 billion of them are not and they’re connecting right now at double digit and triple digit rates.” Barrie explains that his business freelancer.com is enabling a whole new class of entrepreneur in developing economies. “ey’re poor, they’re hungry, they’re driven, they’re self skilling and the first thing they want when they go online is a job because the average wage right now is about $10 a day. So what we do is we
connect small businesses in the west with emerging economies.” Freelancer.com offers a platform for anyone to outsource jobs online. Everything from ‘build me a website’ to ‘get to traffic to my website’ to ‘design me a logo’ right through to things as obscure as mechanical engineering and accounting. Barrie, who was recently named BRW Entrepreneur of the Year has good reason to talk about the site with enthusiasm. “It’s typically jobs under $200 and you can generally get the job done for about 10% of what you’d pay locally.” Not only does the site offer massive cost cuts to small business owners and budding entrepreneurs, but it is spreading like wildfire in emerging economies where highly skilled
people are screaming for jobs. “We’ve got a guy in India who makes a million dollars a year building $65 websites. He started from scratch and now has 80 people working for him across three design facilities.” Barrie’s ability to identify this global trend and act on it quickly, has meant he has capitalized on the upli of a rising tide. Freelancer is now in the top 250 websites in the world and is the biggest website to come out of Australia. In 2010 the company recorded revenue of US$23.5 million. “We’ve gone from half a million users to 2.5 million users, we’ve just completed one million projects and we’ve got people from just about every country in the world using the site including people from the Vatican and Antarctica.”
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FEATURE ARTICLE | ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR
Barrie’s message to people thinking about starting a business is clear. “If you’re thinking of starting a business, go and do it because there’s never been a better time.”
having started a company using freelancers to build the original technology and going on to sell the business for $400 million.
With the direction technology is heading, the barriers to entry for internet upstarts in a lot of cases are non existent. “Most of what you need to set up a website is free and everything else like an internet connection a Google Adwords or Facebook campaign, they’re all cheap. So you can literally start a business off the back of a credit card. And if you don’t understand any of those components you can go and hire a freelancer from, for example freelancer.com” he says laughingly, “to put it all together for you.” Barrie outlines that the ability to start with nothing or even very little and scale rapidly, is unprecedented and should be an enormously encouraging factor for would-be business owners. Not having the technical ability isn’t even a valid excuse anymore, with sites like Freelancer.com enabling people to have the technical aspects built for them on a credit card budget. Barrie’s business partner at Freelancer.com is one example of this,
Barrie sites other examples of similar growth curves in online businesses. “If you look at Zynga, Zynga was a company that started in 2007, fundamentally Zynga makes crappy Flash games. But using gamification and the ability to go viral and social using Facebook, last year this is a company that made US$850 million in revenue.” Although he believes group buying is an industry which has a shelf life, Barrie points to Groupon as another example of a rapidly growing business still in its infant years. “Groupon are only a few years old. ey did US $350m last calendar year and they’re on track to be the fastest organisation in the history of man kind to reach a billion dollars in annual revenues.” Barrie encourages people who are thinking of starting something to hurry up and fail, because that is what is going to build their success. He reflects on his previous business which even though is profitable today, Barrie considers a failure because it
took 10 years of sleepless nights to become profitable. “Anyone can hold the rudder when the sea is calm but when things hit the fan, that’s when you really learn. So going through that was a great experience I just wish I did it faster, you’ve got to fail fast.” With more of the world going online, minimal barriers to entry and significant earning opportunity, Barrie leaves us with no excuses to not put our best entrepreneurial foot forward. “e ability to be so capital efficient, bring in revenue and grow at such a curve is just unprecedented so just go out and do it.”
Jack Delosa is a Gen Y entrepreneur and investor. He is the Managing Director of two business education institutes, MBE Education and The Entourage. He has been named in the top 10 entrepreneurs under 30 in the Dynamic Business Magazine Young Guns. http:// www.mbeeducation.com.au/
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MONTHLY MENTORS | WHAT MAKES A GREAT MARKETER
What Makes A
Malcolm Auld
Tony Gattari
GREAT Marketer Marketing is all about finding more effective and cheaper ways to create new customers for your business. It’s a skill thats vital to every business success and you could go so far as to say its the life-blood of any business. In the following columns, we explore what makes a great marketer. You’ll hear from three highly successful entrepreneurs who will share with you their winning ideas and strategies. Before you get into them, let me give you one of my own which was taught to me by a man called Mal Emery. Here it is “Your not in the business of the thing, your in the business of marketing the thing”. In other words, if you want to have exponential growth in your business, spend less time in the ‘technician’ role of your business and instead put that time into marketing and watch your results and profitability soar.
Successful Marketers: * are more interested in how their advertisements work than what people think of it * are concerned about sales and the bottom line * are good listeners, always in touch with their customers * invest in testing and research * make decisions based on facts, not just opinions * are ruthless media planners * know the value of a good offer to get results * understand relevance is more important than creativity * create their own path, rather than follow established rules * don't rush to be the first with the new 'new' thing to promote their services * don’t withdraw from speaking their mind, particularly against general opinion To find out more about Helen, visit: http://www.malcolmaulddirect.com/
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Great marketers need: A great attitude - be positive and solution-oriented, you’ll find ways to better communicate your offer and get buyers. Poor marketers focus on problems, which leads to blaming external/internal forces for poor results. Focus on problems, you’ll get problems. An abundance mentality - it's a big world - lots of people, markets and money. With an abundance mentality you’ll see there are many opportunities for you. Lots of activity - successful marketing requires momentum. One activity doesn’t acquire a customer, but several. Set a target, plan your budget, and build a campaign with multiple lead generation activities. For find out more about visit: www.ConversionMasters.com.au
MONTHLY MENTORS | WHAT MAKES A GREAT MARKETER
Andrew Griffiths - The Essential Qualities of a Marketer Juggle projects - there are many times when marketers have to manage many projects at the same time. The better you are at project managing, the more effective you will be at marketing. I get very frustrated when I come across disorganised marketing managers who cause more problems than they solve. They can be very damaging in a large organisation because they waste money and miss opportunities. Follow through - I think the hardest and rarest ability is to create a marketing concept and take it through to completion. Coming up with ideas is relatively easy but turning them into a reality is tough. As the marketing and advertising industries tend to attract creative people, there can often be lots of great ideas flowing but not a lot of follow up or attention to detail - this is where marketing either works or fails. Make decisions - good marketers are able to make decisions. They may not always be right, but they can make decisions one way or another. This is one of the reasons I hate marketing by committee - decisions never get made, or by the time they do the opportunity has passed.
Set goals - I am a firm believer in the importance of establishing goals in every aspect of life. From my experience, those people who set clear, achievable and worthy goals tend to fulfil them; those who don't just float along aimlessly. For me, a life without goals is like driving a car at night without the headlights on. Be open-minded - people, including marketers, often get set in their ways and do the same thing over and over, regardless of whether it is working or not. They use the same advertising mediums because they have worked in the past. They do what they are comfortable with. Being open-minded in all aspects of marketing is critical for success.
Be a great observer marketing is about observations. What are other people doing? What are our competitors doing? What are our customers doing? I spend a lot of time just sitting and observing, reviewing material, brochures, advertisements, the internet and actual businesses to come up with new ideas and find ways to do what I do better. There are opportunities everywhere, we just have to open our eyes to new possibilities. Andrew Griffiths is an entrepreneur with a real passion for small business. Inspired by a constant desire to see others reach their full potential, Andrew has written ten hugely successful books (eight are bestsellers), with many more on the way. His “101 Ways� business building series offers small business owners practical, smart and realistic advice. To find out more about Andrew, visit: http:// www.andrewgriffiths.com.au/
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Diary Dates Hot Seat Interview Thursday 1st September Power Hour Class Thursday 15th September The Business Blueprint Spring Conference is being held from Thursday 6th October - Sunday 9th October
Business Blueprint Members Area Shortly aer I wrote my last entry, I jumped on a plane with my wife Katherine and two small children Finn and Callan and we took a well deserved break. We visited 10 countries and travelled to over 25 cities. It was such a wonderful experience to have, to be so hands on with our two boys and to have lots of time to see them grow and experience the world through new cultures, languages and places. Since returning home, it’s been go go go. First we ran our July 2011 Business Blueprint Conference which I’m pleased to say was a massive success. Many even commented that it was our best yet which leaves me and my team wondering how we can top it and go one better for our next conference in October.
Power Hour Class Thursday 20th October Hot Seat Interview Thursday 3rd November
On the following pages, you’ll find some photos from our event which featured business experts like Creel Price, Darryl Lovegrove, Sharon Tieman, Ari Galper, Sam Cawthorn and Jesse Forrest and of course myself.
Power Hour Class Thursday 17th November Hot Seat Interview Thursday 1st December Power Hour Class Thursday 15th December Power Hour Class Thursday 19th January Business Blueprint Annual Overseas Conference is being held in Thailand from the 3rd of February to the 6th of February
We covered numerous important business topics such as getting control of your business finances, boosting your online sales, understanding your customer on a deeper level and developing a marketing plan to take your business to the next level. We also announced to our Business Blueprint Members that in February 2012 our annual conference will be in Phuket, ailand. We also announced a special extension where members will have the opportunity to visit an orphanage in ailand called Hands Across the Water. I’m pleased to report that we had a great response to this extension which really shows the heart of our members. Until next month,
MEMBERS AREA | FROM THE GALLERY
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HOT SEAT | KERWIN RAE
HOT SEAT
Kerwin Rae
Kerwin has trained over 350 consultants on business development, marketing, sales and peak performance strategies. He has also taught more than 3,000 people across the globe through his seminars and workshops. Kerwin is the author of the Entrepreneurial Apprentice business training system. What is the most important thing you have learnt about successful marketing? Know thy market – test and measure. At the end of the day it is easy to assume what people want and what they will respond to. But as they say, the truth is the result and the rest is just theory. You need to learn how to create a unique and very appealing position for your product or service that separates you from the rest of the competition and clutter that is rife in the market place. What makes you different and why should I do business with you right now instead of the same business down the road? Domino’s ruled the pizza delivery market for years by offering ‘Fresh and hot in 30 minutes or its free’. It made them different and made them stand out as the most obvious first choice in home delivery. Fed Ex ate the competition up with their position of ‘When it absolutely positively has to be there over night guaranteed!’ I oen see business owners who assume that their customers and their market (potential clients) are just like them – the same likes, dislikes, wants and needs. Oen this is so far from the truth that it makes me worry when I look at the result it creates. On many occasions I have presented materials to clients only to have them say something like, ‘Oh, I don’t like that and neither will my clients’ or ‘My clients won’t respond to that’. e only way I can dispel their belief is with a little exercise around testing and measuring. Something to remember though is that even my stuff doesn’t work all the time.
Sometimes you have to try up to five letters or advertisements until you find one that works best. Other times you can hit the jackpot on the first run. I have heard a lot of people say that direct marketing methods don’t work simply because they tried it once, didn’t get results and so they wrote it off. Sometimes it might not work because of something little, like using the wrong headlines, copy or bonus. at’s why it is important to try it more than once. What are the essential qualities or attributes of great marketers? The eight most essential qualities and attributes of a great marketer are: 1. Belief and faith in yourself 2. Acceptance that you will make mistakes and seeing these mistakes as lessons not labels you put on yourself 3. Take risks (but only when it feels right) 4. Understanding the biggest problems, wants and desires of your market and communicating solutions to them 5. inking differently to everyone else and uncovering opportunities that most people would miss 6. Understanding basic psychology behind influence and decision making 7. Being creative and finding alternative ways to do something
8. Being able to put yourself in the heart, mind and shoes of a potential customer. What do you think holds people back from becoming successful in marketing a business? Faith and persistence: you need the faith to believe in yourself, your business, products and or services, your methods and the people around you, and then the persistence to see it through no matter what. When I first got into the marketing profession I had to invest $80,000 to do the training, learn the ropes and get all the products I needed to do it. I still remember people telling me things like, ‘You have already lost everything once, why risk it again?’ and ‘Kerwin, you’re a smart guy, why do something so stupid?’ and ‘You have a good job and earn good money, why throw it all away on a silly dream?’ Not exactly words of inspiration and encouragement. However my Mum asked me one question when I told her my plans. She said, ‘Kerwin, do you believe you can do it?’ to which I replied ‘With all my heart’. She told me to go for it!
To find out more about Kerwin Rae visit: http://www.KerwinRae.com
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HOT SEAT
Denise Hall
Denise took over aCE talentNET on a national level and built a solid foundation for its successful growth. aCE talentNET is run entirely by entrepreneurial mothers, just like herself.
Why did you start your own business and how did you choose what field to go into? Wanting to do my own thing led me to my own business. At the outset, I was doing more of the same but on a much smaller, independent consulting scale. I was then approached by an ex-Proudfoot Consulting colleague about setting up a Melbourne office of the Sydney-based aCE talentNET (then aCE Resources). Aer much consideration, I came to the conclusion that it was a great opportunity, something I could do around my baby (being pregnant at the time) and a way of building an asset for the future…perfect! As good fortune would have it, as my daughter has grown so has this business. I took over the entire aCE talentNET business in 2000 and it is now a lot bigger than me. It grows and thrives both nationally and internationally.
With your own business comes a need to be a smart money manager, how have you been able to do this? A smart money manager indeed! It became evident that I needed to be one when I was not on a regular salary for the first time in my life (and doesn’t that make you focus on money matters?!). I had to seriously review my financial responsibilities for myself and my child, so cash flow (current and future) did become a key consideration. I read many books and articles, attended seminars, talked to targeted and talented people, and progressively built a knowledge bank, which enables me to now feel reasonably comfortable when making financial decisions. Examples of key financial decisions that I have subsequently been
responsible for are the development and growth of aCE talentNET; the purchase of three properties (one has since been sold); the trading of shares; the growth and sale of another small business; and the partial ownership of a racehorse (all at the same time as continuing to finance significant overseas trips for two). Not bad in ten years!
You believe that sometimes it’s important to ‘de-institutionalise’ and unlearn in order to progress. What do you mean by that? ‘De-institutionalisation’ is something that I had to ‘name’ and learn when I was leaving corporate life (and also school for that matter). It’s where you release yourself from the shackles of what you were taught to be true as being the only way to go about life or business. It’s basically about purging groupthink and identifying, establishing and living your own thoughts. It’s probably also a little bit about rediscovering the ‘why’ behind doing the things you used to get into trouble for. It’s about standing on your own two feet and eventually being pleasantly surprised, encouraged and validated that you can. It’s about realising that doing it your way is okay aer all!
What do you think holds people back from achieving their goals? When the characteristics of successful people have not been or are not being cultivated, goal creation and achievement will be held back. erefore, you run the risk of not doing what you want to do because you are too fearful, and/or because you are not confident enough to believe you can. But it doesn’t have to stay
that way. If identifying and achieving goals is a true driver, then educating yourself by finding out ways, means and tools to do just that will assist in getting you where you want to go. If you don’t have age on your side (and let’s be honest, sometimes that doesn’t help!), then find talented, sharing people who do.
What is the biggest mistake you have made and how did ‘going with the flow’ help you overcome it? I define a mistake as a ‘mis-take’. Fortunately, my life has been a neverending series of mis-takes, as they are what I have used to chart my life’s course. e situation I placed myself in at 36 could have ended up being my biggest mis-take, however, I have learnt (and continue to learn) that going with the flow is the real and only way to live. I now have an innate belief that all works itself out as it needs to. It’s not the mis-take that matters, it’s the recovery. One of the main responsibilities of my life is to set sail, strive to ‘do it my way’ and, in essence, enjoy the ride!
To find out more about Denise Hall, visit: http:// www.theentrepreneurialmother.com.au/
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In this video, Dale Beaumont gives you 10 trigger points to assist you in finding the hook you need to create media interest in your media release. With his past media experience, Dale has discovered the critical factors the media are actually looking for in their releases. These 10 minutes will show you exactly what you need to know in order to give your business the media attention it requires to go to the next level. From perfect timing to solving problems, Dale knows what angles are the best to catch the media’s eye and gain thousands of dollars worth of free publicity.
In this video presentation you will discover... • 10 Trigger Points for finding the right hook for your media release • How understanding the key of “perfect timing” can spring you into the media world • e art of using what is happening in your business right now to your advantage To Access This Free Video, Visit:
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www.BusinessBlueprint.com.au/Mag Business Blueprint Magazine Sep/Oct 2011 15
ARTICLE | GETTING THE MOST OUT OF GOOGLE
Getting the Most Out of e undisputed king of the search engines in 2011 is Google. Chances are that Google Search is a major way that your potential prospects and clients either are or are not finding you. But Google is much more than just a search engine. ey are a very smart organisation that has morphed into a whole bunch of different services or utilities online. Many of these services they provide are free for you to use, while some are premium paid services. Lets now look at some of the best services that Google provides so that we can quickly identify how you as a business owner can ‘get the most out of Google’. e areas we will cover are as follows: • Google Adwords • Google Image Ads • Google Places • Google Analytics • Google Website Optimizer
1. Google Adwords Google Adwords Search Network ads are the paid ads that turn up on the top section and the right hand side section of the Google search screen.
is is the most pure and perfect form of advertising that exists in the history of mankind. e reason why I say this is because your ads only show up if people are actively searching for the keywords that you have advised Google are related to your product / service that you are advertising. You only pay for your advertising if a Google searcher clicks on your ads. It can’t get any fairer than that. e Google Adwords search network system works on a Pay Per Click (PPC) model. is means that you pay a pre-determined amount (eg. $0.56 or $1.03) every time that someone clicks on your ad. e whole thing works on relevance. If Google determines that your ad is very relevant and highly regarded by its searchers because it’s getting a good Click rough Rate (CTR) and people are staying on your site a good length of time, then they will reward you with lower advertising costs and your ads will rank higher than other advertisers who are not creating as relevant advertising. To really win the Adwords game your ads need to be relevant to the keywords that are being searched for, and then the website landing page that the searchers end up at aer clicking the ads need to be closely relevant to the keywords that were searched for as well as the keywords in the ad.
2. Google Image Ads Google has a 2nd major part to its advertising, this is the display network. e Google Display Network is when your advertising shows up on relevant non Google Websites where website owners display Google ads on behalf of Google on their sites. Display network ads come in many types, but essentially there are two main types – text ads (like Google Search) or image ads. I love Google Image ads because it works out a very cost effective traffic source for driving leads to free offers. ‘Image ads’ is just another way of saying Banner Advertising on Google’s display network. e thing is that it is more targeted than standard banner advertising on other networks because you can determine the keywords and page content that are relevant to the websites where you want to show your ads. Your image ads can be either standard images or they can be animated (gifs or Flash). is form of advertising is not necessarily well suited to every business. Where it is relevant is if you have some kind of free offer that you are using for lead generation such as a free report or video in exchange for their contact details so that you can market to the leads again.
16 Business Blueprint Magazine Sep/Oct 2011 www.BusinessBlueprint.com.au/Mag
ARTICLE | GETTING THE MOST OUT OF GOOGLE
3. Google Places ‘Google Maps’ is now called ‘Google Places’ even though most people still think of it as Google Maps. Millions of people search Google Maps every day. A free listing on Google Maps makes it easy for them to find your business. If you are a localised business then you want to make sure you are maximising your exposure in this medium as it really is an easy way to rank high for free traffic from Google. Use Google Places to create your free listing. When potential customers search Maps for local information, they'll find your business: your address, hours of operation, even photos of your storefront or products. It's easy, free, and you don't even need a website of your own, but it is better if you have one that you can link to from there. Google Places is particularly relevant if you have a ‘traditional business’ such as ‘Accountant in Bondi’ etc as these local searches are when the Google Places listings will show up. If you haven’t already done so then please visit http://www.google.com/ places/ to claim your business listing today.
4. Google Analytics
get per day, how they found your website, what parts of your site that they are clicking on and much more. You can even get Google Analytics to send you automated reports on a how your website is progressing. You can get Google Analytics for your site by visiting http:// www.google.com/analytics/
5. Google Website Optimizer Google Website Optimizer is another free service from Google. What it does is it gives you a way of comparing two website pages or website elements together to see which one results in the best lead or sales conversions. Website Optimizer, Google's free website testing and optimization tool, allows you to increase the value of your existing websites and traffic without having to spend additional funds on traffic. Say you have a page on your website and it’s primary purpose is to give away a copy of your free report in exchange for the site visitors details. Each time this happens we would consider it a ‘conversion’.
of 2 similar web pages and declare a winner. Effectively what you are doing is constantly tracking and measuring and pushing the conversion rate up on your website. You can have the same advertising cost but actually reduce your cost per lead simply by increasing your conversion rate. If you are paying for any advertising for your site you should without a doubt be utilising Google Website Optimizer in your business. ere is much more to Google Services than we have outlined here, but this is a good summary of the fundamental services of theirs you should be implementing in your business today.
Greg Cassar is the leading Internet Marketing Strategist behind the scenes of many of the biggest Internet marketers in Australia and abroad (InternetMarketingDoneForYou.com). You can receive a free subscription to his ‘Internet Marketing Magazine’ valued at $311.88 at http:// internetmarketingmag.net/
You then use Google Website Optimizer to compare the conversions
“You can’t manage what you can’t measure”. e tool that I use for measuring website stats and I recommend that you use too is Google Analytics. Google Analytics is a free service from Google. Effectively you tell Google what website that you want Google Analytics to track website visitor statistics on. Google Analytics will then supply you a piece of tracking code to put on the pages of your website. Google Analytics will then start recording how many site visitors you www.BusinessBlueprint.com.au/Mag Business Blueprint Magazine Sep/Oct 2011
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BUSINESS BLUEPRINT SUCCESS STORY
Randall Smith In our business, Churchill Education, we solve 3 problems ... having real world experience but no qualification that reflects your skills, how to achieve qualifications when you’re short on time or money, and how to make your team feel appreciated and give them the opportunity to grow professionally. We help our customers grow to their next professional level. We wanted someone to do the same for us … along came Dale Beaumont and Business Blueprint, solving 3 key business problems for us. Having a clear vision in business… We were busy doing business with no clear vision; but not anymore! I’ve listened to the speakers at Business Blueprint Conferences, to Dale Beaumont, Ari Galper, Tony Gattari, Taki Moore, and Andrew & Angela Smith … and I came home to live the dreams that they inspired in me, armed with the practical tools for how to plan for and pursue our vision. Now, I know what we want for our lives & our business and how to achieve it. What a difference this has made! Staying refreshed in business… We wanted to surround ourselves with successful, positive business people – not another networking group, intent on selling us their wares. The Business Blueprint members have been great company. They share their experience and enthusiasm, cheering our successes. I come home refreshed every time I see them, ready to tackle the next quarter.
Getting ahead of the game, not just chasing it… We wanted to be a business that stayed on the cutting edge of business tools and resources, to help us grow into the next level of doing business. The tools and resources I have been shown during the Business Blueprint conferences have been new to us, and they have made doing business on a day to day basis more streamlined, and more cost-effective. It feels great to have the resources to strengthen our business in practical, day-to-day ways. Business Blueprint has delivered more than it promised, and I’m loving the ride! Randall Smith http://www.traintosucceed.edu.au/