what would google do

WHAT WOULD GOOGLE DO? Rethinking Economic Development

In the Internet Age

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

IEDC Annual Conference in Columbus

A Word About The Book and “Google Rules”

Charles FitzGibbon, VP, Business Development

Journal Communications

Team “And-atalio”

Andy Levine…President, DCI

• Specialized in marketing places

• Work with 400+ cities, regions, states and countries since 1960.

Anatalio Ubalde, CEO, GIS Planning Inc. & ZoomProspector.com

• Invented Web GIS for E.D. Site Selection

• Current clients in 42 states + majority of top 100 cities + small communities

http://www.gisplanning.com/

http://www.zoomprospector.com/

Team “Ben-Jen”

Ben Wright, CEO, Atlas Advertising• Former practitioner, in ED Marketing since

1993

• Specializes in branding, websites, GIS, and prospect management for ED

• Tucks i-Phone in at night

Jennifer Wakefield, Director of Public Relations, Metro Orlando EDC

• Accredited in Public Relations, 10 years in PR, Adjunct Instructor

• Economic Development Marketing > 4 years

Google Rule #1

EVERYBODY NEEDS GOOGLE JUICE

“It isn’t what you say about yourself. It’s what Google says about you.”

Chris Anderson, Author, The Long Tail

WHAT’S GOOGLE JUICE?

• The magic elixir that makes Google value you more because the world values you more

• If your website can’t be found, you might as well not exist

DO I HAVE GOOGLE JUICE?

Log-in to Google and search for:

• Your Community Name + “Economic Development”

• Your Community Name + “Business,” “Business Expansion,” “Business Relocation,” “Demographics,” “Foreign Direct Investment,” “Incentives,” “Maps,” “Office Space,” “Site Selection,” “Workforce”

• Your Organization Name (including variations and misspellings)

RATING YOUR “GJQ” (Google Juice Quotient)

NO JUICE = No Sign Of Your Website On The First Page Of Search Results

GOOGLEY = Website Consistently In The First Page of Search Results

GOOGLIER = In Top Five Results

GOOGLIEST = We’re #1

HOW DO I GET MORE GOOGLE JUICE? Four Rules

1. Get Others To Link To Your Website…Google will notice their links and give you more juice.

2. Keyword Content…Identify keywords prospects use to search for you and prominently display.

3. Avoid Fancy Technology That’s Makes Your Site “Dance And Sing”…Google won’t recognize this and it will annoy prospects.

4. Give Every Page A Logical, Permanent Address

Google Rule #2

MIDDLEMEN ARE DOOMED

“For all middlemen the clock is ticking and the question of value is looming.”

Jeff Jarvis, Author,

What Would Google Do?

Do you get value for what you pay these people? Are they worth it? (page 74)

• Car salesmen

• Insurance brokers

• Head hunters

• Advertising agencies

• Travel agents

• Real estate agents

According to Jeff Jarvis:

• Real estate agents are more distrusted than tabloid writers

• “Eliminate advertising. Or at least fire your ad agency.”

• “…travel agents (oh, sorry, they’re already nearly extinct.”

Hi. I’m an economic developer.

I’m here to help.

Anatalio Ubalde’s slide:Old vs. new economic development

From the What Would Google Do Presentation

Role Old New

Information Gatekeeper Distributor

Relationship Broker Connector

Technical Assistance Bureaucrat Enabler

Process Convoluted Transparent Efficiency

Marketing Say it Be it

Economic Developer Middleman Leader

© Economic Development Online by Anatalio Ubalde & Andrew Krueger

http://www.gisplanning.com/

Google Rule #3

DO WHAT YOU DO BEST AND LINK TO THE REST

“…the link forces specialization.”

Jeff Jarvis, Author,

What Would Google Do?

From general to specialized

• Linking is changing the structure – moving generalization in media to specialization

• Specialization creates:

– Stronger USP’s

– Mass of “niches”

– Opportunities for collaboration

Mapping =

Google Mashup

Real Estate =

Third Party

Examples of ED’s leveraging what others do best

Google Rule #4

BE A PLATFORM & LISTEN

“Stop callin’, stop callin’, I don’t wanna talk anymore.”

Lady Gaga

“Telephone”

PLATFORMS

IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

flickr

Orlando Rocks

LISTEN

Examples of ED’s listening

Google Rule #5

JOIN A NETWORK & THINK DISTRIBUTED

“We can’t expect our customers to come to us”

Quincy Smith, President

CBS Interactive

Power of Networks

How To

• Give a talk at an industry conference explaining something that has value to the attendees; develop relationships with them.

• Make sure your websites are linked from/to the right partners.

• Grow your social network.

• Join online industry and economic development networks.

• Grow where the networks are largest.

• Be where the networks are specialized.

Expecting Customers to Come to You

© GIS Planning Inc.

Be Distributed: Where the Customers Are


Result: More Customers Come to You


How To

• Hire more people.

• Fly more places.

• Buy more ads.

• Distribute your online presence.

• Widgitize your organization.

• Be where your customers are.

• Create EDO profiles/pages on social media networks. Add value on them to customers seek you out.

Being Distributed

• Create value within the networks you occupy. Make sure you’re are a node in the network that each time it’s touched the other nodes get value.

• Be where your customers are.

• If you are small be a part of something big: a network (page 56)

• Create something so great that others distribute it.

Build a Digital Ambassador Program

• Identify savvy executives in your community with social media followings

• Provide with frequent updates that they can tweet, blog and share to their networks

Google Rule #6

ANSWERS ARE INSTANTANEOUS

“Fast is better than slow.”

Ten Things Google Has Found To Be True

“Comprehensive List of Major Private Sector Employers

with Headcount”

ED Organization Website

Easy to Find

Difficult to Find

Not Found

Airdrie Economic Development

Athens County Economic Development Partnership

Iowa City Area Development

Kilgore Economic Development Corporation

Metro MSP

The Indy Partnership

Dennis Donovan

WDG Consulting

“A Map That Shows Your Location in the Context

of Surrounding States.”


Easy to Find

Difficult to Find

Not Found





Metro MSP


Kathy Mussio

Atlas Insight LLC

“List of Four-Year and Two-Year Colleges with

Enrollment Stats”


Easy to Find

Difficult to Find

Not Found





Metro MSP


Joe Lacy

Biggins, Lacy & Shapiro

“Contact information (direct telephone line and email) for senior economic developers”

ED Organization Website Easy to Find

Difficult to Find

Not Found





Metro MSP


Jason Hickey

Hickey & Associates, LLC

“A Concise List of Economic Development Incentives”

ED Organization Website Easy to Find

Difficult to Find

Not Found





Metro MSP


All Consultants

Surveyed

Google Rule #7

YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE YOUR AD AGENCY

“In the 20th century, we did monologue marketing. In the 21st century, we’ve

moved to dialogue. Customers…will not tolerate not being heard”

Source: John Hayes, CMO, American Express

Your Customers are varied – use them to develop and tell the story

• Real estate developers/brokers = inventory experts

• Local bloggers = local insight and color

• Local CEO’s = your sales team

• Site Selectors = the translators of your message

Testimonial Example

Google Rule #8

MAKE MISTAKES WELL

“Oops. I did it again.”

Britney Spears

“Oops. I Did It Again”

OUTSTANDING MISTAKES

Summing It Up

1. Everybody Needs Google Juice

2. Middlemen Are Doomed

3. Do What You Do Best and Link to the Rest

4. Be A Platform & Listen

5. Join a Network & Think Distributed

6. Answers are Instantaneous

7. Your Customers Are Your Ad Agency

8. Make Mistakes Well

• Presenter emails:

• Andy Levine: [email protected] / twitter: @AboutDCI

• Anatalio Ubalde: [email protected] / twitter: @ZoomProspector

• Jennifer Wakefield: [email protected]

• Ben Wright: [email protected] / twitter: @atlasad

• Charles FitzGibbon: [email protected]

Thank You!!!