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
