Google makes an adwords change and it could affect you!

Change required? Google does not show ads in the right sidebar any more.

by Johannes Selbach · February 26, 2016

Google no longer shows text ads in the right sidebar on the search results pages.
This change applies to the desktop search results on Google.com and to the search results pages of Google search partners. It is a worldwide change.

What exactly has changed?

• No more text ads on the right side of the search results page.
• Three text ads above the main search results for regular queries.
• Four text ads above the main search results for ‘highly commercial queries’.
• Three text ads below the regular search results.
• The right side of the search results page will continue to show Knowledge Panels and product listing ad blocks.

I really wonder if this really will hurt adword users especially smaller ones!  Ii believe it will.

Accelerated Mobile pages

Google announced in its blog that AMP pages now appear in mobile search results. What is AMP, who uses it and do you have to adjust your web pages?

What is AMP?
The AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) project is an open-source initiative aiming to improve the performance of the mobile web. It was launched by Google last October.
In simplified terms, AMP strips out most of the elements which cause web pages to load slower on mobile devices. For example, JavaScripts, unneccessary navigational elements, and a lot of traditional ads. HTTPS is mandatory for AMP pages.
On February, 24th, Google announced that AMP pages will be displayed in mobile search results:

“Now when you search for a story or topic on Google from a mobile device, webpages created using AMP will appear when relevant in the Top Stories section of the search results page. Any story you choose to read will load blazingly fast—and it’s easy to scroll through the article without it taking forever to load or jumping all around as you read. It’s also easy to quickly flip through the search results just by swiping from one full-page AMP story to the next.
AMP is great for browsing the web on mobile devices, because webpages built with AMP load an average of four times faster and use 10 times less data than equivalent non-AMP pages. In many cases, they’ll load instantly. It’s how reading on the mobile web should be—fast, responsive and fun.”

AMP pages will be highlighted in the mobile search result pages with this marker:

More to come soon.

Disruption!

What is disruption?

Disruption is something far more significant, especially for brands looking to set themselves apart in competitive markets.

Coined by current Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen in his 1996 book “The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail,” innovative disruption refers to the transformation of a product or a service in such a way that it makes it more affordable and more accessible to a wider audience.
These products start at the bottom, catering to a market that cannot afford the more expensive (and more popular) option. But, as in the case of the lure companies, by focusing on the bottom of the market, there is less competition and greater numbers who can afford the product.
One of the most prominent and most vivid examples of disruptive innovation is how smartphones disrupted the laptop market, which in the 1980s disrupted the desktop market, which itself disrupted the mainframe computer.
Disruptors enter the market at the bottom, where people or industries are being underserved, which is a result of the major players in a vertical choosing to go upstream and over-serve the market, often through added features and benefits people cannot use and don't need.

But while they continue to cater to the high end of the market, disruptors slide in and gobble up market share at the bottom, before moving upstream to challenge their biggest competitors as the former's products or services improve in quality, grow in popularity, and suffice as a viable option for even those with more discerning taste.

Use every tool to sell

Today if you asked a typical salesperson how they got their leads, many would answer via the net.  They might say they use e-mail, or Google, or their mobile device.  Funny few say they make good old fashion telephone.  You remember the phone don't you...one ringy dingie, two ringie dingie!  Yes the phone can be your best friend. How about sending out flyers!  You remember those paper things that your company spent a ton of money on.  What about cold calls, the old fashion way of actually seeing a prospect face to face.  Many salespeople are afraid to cold call, they are afraid of rejection. People hate hearing no but I find it refreshing to see my fellow human occupationally and you would be surprised how often that person is happy to see you. You break up the boredom of the day, You provide a break and yes sometimes they might actually want what you have to sell. Anything else you ask, I say thank you cards not thank you e-mails, they are personal and will make that suspect remember you.

OK more to come!

Remember a no is not failure it is an invitation to sell, sell and sell some more!

The power of a Thank You card!

How many of you have gotten a thank you card recently? How many of you have sent them? Think about it, were you not pleasantly surprised to get it? I am not an agent of the US Postal Service, I am just a veteran salesperson who knows that this little bit of kindness can go a long way.  You may not sell that person, but I bet that person will remember you. When you talk to a customer and he gives you a referral, thank  them! If you find a suspect, thank them. I bet your competitors will not do this.  Yes they send an e-mail thank you but it can not hold water to a personal thank you card signed by you. You took just a bit more time, who do you think they will call first!

Thank you notes work!!!

More to come and remember if you want me to speak to your sales people, ask me!

How do you get leads?

Leads, every salesperson wants them and most do not seem to want to work to get them. It is always nice to get as one of my old bosses use to say a blue bird but those do not just drop from the sky. If you just wait like many sales people do they are often the losers and the first to be let go. You can only kiss ass for so long and someday someone will ask your boss what the heck is that person doing? I always say don't worry about that time coming and go aggressively after leads. How can you get them you ask? First check your existing customers for quick upgrade sales.  Second, go and check old quotes perhaps from the last salesperson in your territory and call those former leads. I was recently called by a customer that had rejected me over a year ago and now he asked me if I wanted to bid on his business.  That was not quite a blue bird but close.  You just never know you have to keep trying.  A majority of salespersons do not ever follow up but statistics show it could take five or more calls to close the deal. Do not get down, do not take no as the final answer sometimes it is just the beginning to a sale.  By the way, if you get that sale, ask that new customer if they know of others and if they give  you some names, thank them and send a thank you card.  Yes I said thank you card, they work!

OK more to come soon.

Joe

Plan your work

It is not easy to sell, trust me I know after thirty plus years of doing it but the basics are always the same. Yes you can use the net and you can e-mail but the time tested means of getting leads to me never changes. You havge to learn your territory first then you have to see if you have any customers in that territory. If you have customers and are not forbideden to meet them then set up an appointment and go see them. Introduce yourself as their new representative and see how they are doing and if they have any concernes. I think you will find that most of those customers are happy to see you and do have questions about their service. I often found that sales opportunities sprung forth from those meetings and the opportunity to get to know your contact and them to know you. I often found that once they got to trusting you they will tell you many thngs about your new territory and potential leads. Take that contact out to lunch, get to know him or her and usually good things will follow.
More to come

Joe