{!date dayname+0}, {!date long+0} Dear {!firstname_fix} Well, what a week...! The News of the World closes down after 168 years, public inquiries are launched, people are arrested and Rupert Murdoch has to fight hard to try and repair reputational damage. His problem? One third of his world empire comes from Sky TV. He needs to control it to ensure the £6bn income continues to roll in. But now, the authorities look like they may be minded to prevent him from doing that. Getting rid of the News of the World was not an issue - it represents a fragment of his income. But by sacrificing it, Mr Murdoch clearly thinks he has a greater likelihood of gaining control of Sky. Chances are he won't - and that is a threat to his entire global enterprise. It is a fascinating business story involving Prime Ministers, seedy private dicks, the Royal family, murder victims and corruption at Scotland Yard. Gosh - if a novelist put all that in a manuscript the publishers would turn it down as being too unrealistic...! But real it all is - and there is a lesson in it for each of us. When the problems first arose almost ten years ago now, everyone tried a mixture of blind-eyes, cover up and hoping it would all go away. Had everyone involved accepted responsibility for their mistakes, had they worked hard to change things and put things right, we would now be in a different situation and Mr Murdoch would be largely unopposed in his bid for Sky, something that would no doubt be constantly reported in a successful News of the World. All that has gone to waste because everyone failed to own up to mistakes and put them right. Ultimately it is a simple lesson for anyone in business: if something goes wrong, if you cock up, just admit it, apologise and put it right. Ignoring it, covering it up, hoping someone else will deal with it - well, they are the perfect recipe for business disaster in the years ahead. I suspect Mr Murdoch now realises that too.
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: Do we need to worry about Google +1? Google recently rolled out its "Google +1" service - indeed you may have seen the little icons on various websites and blogs, including my own. So what is it? And, should we worry about it? Essentially, Google +1 is a social sharing and recommendation system, rather akin to Facebook Likes. It is the latest Google attempt at social. Remember "Jaiku"? That was their first - now long dead. What about "Orkut"? Only if you are in Brazil will you be truly familiar with it. Then there was "Wave", which you needed a degree in engineering to understand. Google Buzz is still around, but had privacy issues at the start and is largely ignored online these days. So, now we have Google +1 as the latest in a string of failures as far as social is concerned from Google. The company just does not appear to "get" social. Indeed, Google +1 is seemingly only a staging post to "Google Me" which was rumoured to be launched in May, but as yet has not appeared. Google and social just don't seem to go together. So is Google +1 any different? Yes. Because in this instance Google is not really bothered about the social stuff - that's just window dressing. What Google is really worried about is losing its search dominance as a result of the increased use of social search in Facebook and Twitter. When the Google search engine was launched it had two significant differences which made it stand out. Firstly, the decision as to whether or not to include something in a search results page was down to a machine; up until that point search results were largely down to human beings rating things in "directories". The algorithmic approach of Google revolutionised search, making results objective and measurable. The second aspect of the introduction of Google was the value placed on links. According to Google's system, if several sites link to another site, that shows a degree of respect for the site that gets the links. The more valuable links you get, the higher up the search results you go. But here's the problem. Links can be automated nowadays and often they are not "democratic" - now they are decided by webmasters, rather than users. In other words, they are nowadays about as useful as the listings in directories were when Google originally came along. Pretty much useless in fact. These days, value comes in things like "likes" on Facebook. These are basically only links, but they are democratic - voted on by actual users of sites, rather than the webmasters. Google +1 is merely a better version of its old linking value system. As it grows, Google +1 will provide better information for Google's search algorithm, helping it improve its search results. Ultimately, Google +1 is not about people sharing links - it is, instead, about Google being able to more accurately determine the value of sites within its search results. That means it is important to you. As the Google algorithm changes over the coming year or two you can bet that more emphasis will be put on Google +1 mentions in determining your ranking position in search results. If you want to rank highly you'll need plenty of Google +1 recommendations - just like in the past you were told you needed loads of links. In the future you can forget links - think Google +1. But there is a problem with Google +1. In order to use it yourself you need a Google Profile - if you haven't got one, set one up at http://www.google.com/profiles. However, if you are a user of Google Apps (and over 25m people are) then you cannot get a Google Profile and therefore you cannot use Google +1. And Google Apps users PAY Google. The people who actually pay Google cash to subscribe to a service are the only ones EXCLUDED from using Google +1. The only answer is to set up a second Google account only for your profile and for using Google +1. But you'll need to keep logging in and out of each Google account according to what you are doing online. Whatever you do, though, add a Google +1 button to all of your web pages and blog posts. It will enable you to start collecting those important +1 recommendations which will help your search engine ranking in the years ahead. Don't think of Google +1 as social, instead think of it as a way of getting links which will help your Google ranking.
WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK: Country folk understand business At the start of the week I was privileged to be asked to speak to the Cumbrian Chief Executives Forum in the Lake District. I took a six hour train journey and when I arrived near Kendal I was taken on a lovely drive through the countryside to my accommodation for the night - a superbly converted barn, up a mile long track through the fells, surrounded by sheep. Later that evening over dinner, I asked about the people who would be attending the seminar the next morning. It turned out that several of them ran a number of different businesses. It all became reminiscent of some sit-coms of old, where the woman running the Post Office also is the local baker and delivers the newspapers in the mornings. In the countryside you often find that people do more than one thing. They have to - there aren't enough people around to cover all the tasks that need doing. So the local builder is also the area's coal merchant - because he has a lorry. And that's also why he helps transport the sheep for the farmer. One person, three different business ventures. It just struck me that in the depths of the countryside people are often more resilient to economic pressures because they understand that they need to turn their hand to a multitude of activities in order to survive. Back down in the built-up South, people are much more "one track minded". Perhaps that's why we have business problems - we are not adaptable enough. I suggest a few days in the country to learn how to maximise your business.
THIS WEEK'S "MUST BUY": Get to the top on Google  I am not a massive fan of "search engine optimization"; much of it is overhyped nonsense. And that which is good relies on the false assumption that most people arrive on a website having searched for it on Google. Some people do indeed land on your website as a result of searching on Google - but most will get there using other ways. What that means is that if you put all your eggs in the "SEO" basket you are missing out on all the other means of website promotion. Having said that, you should not entirely ignore Google - its is quite well known...! So, what you need is a sensible book on search engine ranking, one which is not based on mysterious methodology or spurious claims. Enter "Get to the top on Google". This is one of the most sensible and realistic guides to search engine optimization you can find. If you want to get better search engine rankings, Google +1 will help (as I said earlier) and so too will this book. To find out more about this book, please visit: http://uklik.me/topofgoogle
AND FINALLY: From my blog... Overwhelmed by the web? Keep a diary..! So here I am, writing something else for you to read. Thanks for passing by. But I’m guessing that this is not the only thing you have to do today. Perhaps you also have work to do. Perhaps you also have things to write yourself. Perhaps you have other blogs you want or need to read. Some days, does it all seem too much? Read More About how to manage your web activity at: http://uklik.me/reVkYj
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Kind Regards
Graham Jones Web:
grahamjones.co.uk Tel: +44 118 336 9710 If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter than you can delete your name from the mailing list by clicking this link: {!remove_web} Affiliate Links: Some of the links in this newsletter are affiliate links providing me with a small commission when you purchase the item. However, I only use affiliate links for products which I personally value. |
