What Would Google Do? summary

Ask yourself, who cares most about a company’s products? Why, the customers of course. This is why companies are increasingly trying involve their customers in the creation of their products.

Companies used to believe that to have a competitive advantage, they should keep their plans totally secret. However, today it is openness and interaction with customers that creates a competitive advantage. For example, by blogging openly about their plans, a company can get valuable feedback and new ideas from their customers.

Not long ago, companies used to be obsessed with secrecy regarding their products and especially regarding their mistakes.

Today, neither companies nor anyone else in the public eye can afford to lie.

The lifeblood of any website is the traffic it gets, and the most important channel to get visitors from is Google. People ask questions on Google, and from there find their way to the websites that answer them.

So if you run a website, how can you generate more traffic?

The Internet has brought with it some profound changes to the media landscape. The fact that the pages of different websites can be linked to each other has changed the way media functions; it is now more collaborative, and information flows in two directions.

For example, consider the author’s experiences on 9/11: He was close to the World Trade Center when the first plane hit, and could talk to survivors on site. He later used his notes to start a blog about the experience. Bloggers in Los Angeles read his work, wrote about it on their own blogs and linked to him. He in turn responded and linked back to them.

The rise of the Internet has allowed people and companies to collaborate and form networks in an unprecedented way. Savvy companies and individuals can take advantage of this.

Founding such a network can be very profitable, because each member will contribute to the network and add value to it. Similarly, joining such a network is beneficial, since every member can benefit from this kind of collaboration. The bigger the network, the more valuable it tends to be.

It used to be thought that the pinnacle of success for any company was to sell their product to the mass market: everyone, everywhere.

But today, selling to the mass market is no longer an option.The abundance of different and customizable products on the Internet allows everyone to find the products they want instead of settling for generic ones. There is no mass market anymore; there is just an infinite number of small market niches. Therefore, you should focus your resources on serving your niche well rather than serving the masses poorly.

As companies learn more and more about their customers, some savvy companies like Amazon and Google are putting that knowledge to good use. At the same time, they are minimizing the costly and complicated handling of physical products and materials.

For example, did you know that Amazon is not in the business of selling goods; it’s actually in the knowledge business?

Just a few years ago, the idea of a business being profitable while providing its services for free seemed impossible. But today, this is a common phenomenon.

This is because it is entirely possible to provide the actual product or service for free while making money through advertising.