Earlier this week, Google announced that it will shut down its Google Reader product. This is a painful body blow to yours truly. I’m subscribed to 250 RSS feeds and scan thousands of headlines every week. These stories keep me up to speed on the latest Internet marketing developments and provide ideas and inspiration for blog posts and other content.
The Tip Jar examined the risks and rewards of using free services as part of your inbound marketing strategy.
Tip Jar: The Price of a Free Lunch
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Reactions
It’s become an indispensible part of my workflow and now it’s going away. Of course, I’m not the only one in this position and the reactions range between “you get what you pay for” and “see – Google is evil after all!” Dave Winer, one of the investors of RSS, had this to say: “Next time, please pay a fair price for the services you depend on. Those have a better chance of surviving the bubbles.” Mike McDermot, CEO of Freshbooks, wrote an article titled Why Free is Bad. He gave three reasons why:
- Free things are never really free. We always give up something (like personal data or content).
- Free services don’t serve you. Since you’re not paying, there’s no customer support.
- Free services for small businesses don’t last. This one is debatable and the reality is that paid ones don’t always either.
All of that is true enough. However, I’ve used Google Reader for many years now and received tremendous value. I’m not happy that it’s going away but I simply can’t complain. And I’m already seeing signs that companies are rushing in to fill the hole and am looking froward to the innovation that should follow.
Marketing Lessons
Lots of Internet marketing tools these days are “free.” Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter, etc. With those, we face al of the negatives mentioned above. I’ve seen a few marketing folks suggest that because of these tools, some companies don’t even need a website anymore. I saw someone suggest that businesses could use Facebook Pages as a substitute! Why is this such a bad idea?
It’s incredibly risky to put all of your marketing resources and efforts into properties you don’t own. In addition to the risks listed above, the terms of service for these are frightening. They can remove your account without notice or recourse for any reason, in most cases. Is this the basket you want to put all of your eggs into?
So does this mean you shouldn’t use them at all?
Diversification
Just like an investment portfolio, the key to minimizing risk is diversification. You want make your marketing presence a mix of paid/owned properties and free services. Your website and email marketing list are examples of assets you own. With these, you have the maximum flexbility and lowest risk. However, you can also extract a lot of value and benefit from free services, so it makes sense to take advantage of those as well.
The key is to mazimize opportunity and minimize risk. Be smart about it and don’t look for magic potions or get rich quick schemes. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is!
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Reading List
Binary Marketing
95% of visitors to your website are researching. Binary marketing means you’re only paying attention to the 5% who are ready to make a decision. Does this sound like an effective strategy?
The Social Resume [Web Savvy Segment]
This week’s radio segment on the Girard at Large program discussed the demise of Google Reader and the emergence of the social resume. Did you know that some companies are using Klout scores as part of their job requirements?
Why Google Analytics Tagging Matters – Whiteboard Friday
Rachael Gerson sheds some light on “dark social” and explains why tagging in Google Analytics improves the accuracy of your referrals. Take credit for the work that you’re doing, and tag your links!
