Читать книгу The MultiThread Marketer - Doug Mitchell - Страница 6

There is NO WAY I’m buying a new toner!

So my HP printer throws an error message telling me to replace the black toner. I try and try and try to get rid of the message to no avail. “I know there’s more toner in this damn thing! Next stop, the Google search box: “HP 2605DN Toner Error”. Results: within a few moments I’d found a fairly elaborate workaround that involved pressing keys on the printer in combinations, entering “service mode”, and overriding the message allowing me to print for about another year before buying a new RED toner. A couple minutes of searching saved me nearly $100 and gave me a sense of satisfaction that I’d beaten “the man”.

How Do You Google?

Just knowing how to search is a valuable asset in the MultiThreader’s toolkit. I can’t count the number of times I’ve asked someone to “Do some research on the web and build me a picture of what’s out there” only to be told that “There’s not much out there, really”. Really? Really?

Searching, digging, and plodding through the archives of the universe online can be daunting. Since this book is not a comprehensive “How-To,” I’ll leave it up to you to discover the methods and search strings that can make a huge difference between getting crap results and hitting the jackpot.

I’ve barely begun to scratch the surface here as my work typically involves fairly mainstream topics. One of my excellent freelance bench members is very adept at delivering “Business Intelligence” - hopefully not an oxymoron in your firm. He can dig up primary research and find reports that build a much clearer picture about people, markets, and plans. I call this kind of work “Business Plan Killers” because it typically exposes the hidden facts that dismantle your business (new or existing) assumptions before your eyes. Don’t get me wrong here, most businesses are started from a passionate fire in the gut and in a meaningful percentage, persistence beats data.

For a nifty cheat sheet on getting the results you need from Google, I like this reference from GoolgeGuide.com (http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators_reference.html)

Search.Twitter.Com

Searching Twitter for knowledge and trends has become a very powerful tool in the multithreading arsenal. By visiting http://search.twitter.com you can get a “real-time pulse” on topics. This research can be extremely valuable in deciding how to micro-target certain audiences with long-tail keyword combinations, i.e., three and four word keyword combinations that get far fewer total numbers in search results, yet get very high click through and depth due to their specificity.

MultiThread Search Lessons from Monte Python

Bridgekeeper: What… is your quest?

King Arthur: To seek the Holy Grail.

Bridgekeeper: What… is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

King Arthur: What do you mean? An African or European swallow?

Bridgekeeper: Huh? I… I don’t know that.

[he is thrown over]

Bridgekeeper: Auuuuuuuugh.

Sir Bedevere: How do you know so much about swallows?

King Arthur: Well, you have to know these things when you’re a king, you know.

King Arthur was “The Google” of his time.