December 2012 Newsletter
I originally planned to link to several New York Times blog articles on one company's experience with Google AdWords. I felt his actions and problems would provide insight for many of the smaller and mid-sized manufacturers on 4specs receiving this newsletter.
When I started to put the newsletter together I discovered there were more blog articles that I had remembered and together they represented a great case study in small business problems and the use of Google AdWords.
The New York Times has had some of the best non-technical articles on using Google AdWords. While there is a 10-article-per-month paywall at the New York Times, I was able to review all the links in a browser not registered with the NY Times.
Real-Life Lessons in Using Google AdWords is a 2009 article that is a general overview of AdWords.
[link now behind paywall]
Here is a link to the first 100 pages of AdWords for Dummies book you can read, with an option to purchase the complete book:
http://books.google.com/books
The NY Times blog links below are by Paul Downs - a custom cabinet and table maker outside Philadelphia. His blog articles should be of interest to most of the people receiving this newsletter.
[Note - while the information may be available, New York Times is making it difficult to link to these articles and I removed the links. You may be able to track down the articles or contact me for assistance.]
Staying Alive: The Wipe Out - April 2010
It was soon apparent why New York City work [he is in Philadelphia] commands such high prices. The jobs were extremely complicated, and working with architects required a large and expensive office staff.
Thinking About Layoffs Again - September 2011
What Happened Next - October 2011
Three weeks without a sale, an extremely unusual event, had forced me to take a hard look at the numbers and explore what to do next.
Layoffs? Suddenly, We Have a Different Problem - October 2011
Already this week I've had to turn away three prospective clients, whose jobs would have totaled more than $35,000.
My Grand Experiment: Turning Off AdWords - November 2011
I recently found myself with a surprising new problem: all the work we can handle. Because our backlog of orders is as high as I want it to be, I decided to take the opportunity to run an experiment: What would happen if I stopped running Google AdWords?
My AdWords Debacle: Dumb and Happy - October 2012
What's trickier is to see how they relate to each other, and whether my reactions to the events as they unfolded were as good as they could have been.
My AdWords Debacle: Waiting for a Miracle - October 2012
As I said in Wednesday's post, my first theory of why my sales were dropping last spring was that the world was going down the drain again, just as it had in 2008.
My AdWords Debacle: A Wake Up and a Fix - October 2012
I started tracking to see whether the ads in these groups were appearing throughout the day, and sure enough, by about 2 p.m., they had stopped running.
Why I Manage My Own AdWords Campaigns - October 2012
Why didn't you spot the pattern sooner? Am I just plain stupid? Not really. When I sat down to write these posts, the theme I had in mind was how difficult it was for this small-business owner to identify patterns in the blizzard of incoming data and to figure out what to do next.
Mistake in a Pay-Per-Click Campaign Leaves a Business Puzzled - November 2012
In the spring, we stopped getting a certain kind of customer inquiry for the high-end conference tables we sell. At the same time, sales started to contract with alarming speed - to the point where June was the worst sales month I have had this decade. I have not paid myself since April.
Debating the Use of Google AdWords - November 2012
First thing first: my AdWords campaign, as it is configured today, works very, very well. It produces inquiries, which we turn into paying customers.
I hope this was well spent time for you.
Colin
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Colin Gilboy
Publisher - 4specs
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