Thanks Sam for your wonderful advice. We all need this in doing our business intelligence.
More Google
You already recognize the value of information. My guess is prior to a prospect or client meeting, you probably already do a little Google searching. But are you really getting the full power of Google?
When I deliver my training/keynote speaking, if there are 1,000 people in the room and I ask how many have ever clicked on the “More” button, at best, maybe a dozen hands go up. Yet it’s this simple exercise that can take your Google searching from hundreds of thousands of results to the few dozen that really matter.
When you conduct a Google search, on the left side of the results page, your results can actually be sorted by type. If Google recognizes that it has many different types of information related to your search, it will offer you those types, (e.g., news, blog posting, videos, images, etc.). For the most part, Google does a nice job of showing you only the relevant types of information it has gathered. Note that Google limits the options it immediately shows you to only the most popular ones related to your search. To see all of the different types of results, you’ll need to click the “More” link.
To see how this can benefit your sales efforts, prior to meeting with a company, conduct a Google search, click on “More” link and then the “News” link, and read up on recent press releases and articles about the company. Use that information during your meeting to show your understanding of what’s going on at the company, with the industry, etc.
When you click on some of the links, you can do further sorting by date range. Choose one of the provided options and limit your results to only information that Google has indexed in that specific time period.
The various types Google offers are intuitive. When you click on “Books” you get information on books related to your chosen topic. Click on images and you get pictures. Especially as it relates to business searching and locating information on companies, industries, and people, three types that deserve further mention are Blogs, Discussions, and Updates.
Blogs, or online logs or diaries, often contain a great deal of information that can be very beneficial when searching for business information. There are industry blogs on just about any topic. Do a Google search on “medical devices” and then click the “Blog” link and you’ll find more than 250,000 blogs that mention or are about medical devices. Many companies have a blog (some have multiple blogs) where you can read about what’s going on inside an organization. Other people such as employees, shareholders, partners, or other interested individuals also may write about a company, or even a person, in their blog.
Clicking on the “Discussions” link delivers results where people are engaged in online forums, or discussions, where your search terms appear. For example, a search on “3M jobs” delivers more than 100,000 unique discussions related to finding a job at 3M, the company culture, etc.
Google’s “Realtime” link is one that I find very cool. When you click on “Realtime,” you’ll see the real-time online messages related to your specific topic. Google is searching sites like Twitter and others to find its real-time information (meaning be careful what you post because it is searchable and archived theoretically forever). Enter a popular term like “President Obama” and watch the messages scroll in as they’re posted online. For business searches, enter a person’s name to see if he or she Tweets, or a company name and see what people are saying about the organization.
Once you select a type, you’ll notice that Google expands its left-side menu to include additional options related to each type. For example, on a “News” search, you’ll see that Google expands to include date options, news from blogs, and even the ability to sort by date or relevancy.
Also try clicking on the “More Search Tools” link. This expands the left-side options bar even further and you’ll notice a variety of very cool Google result tools.
If you’re searching for a company or person, by clicking on the “Nearby” link, you’ll find people or companies that are physically located near where your person or company’s address is. You’ll note that the “Nearby” tool also provides additional tools that allow you to further narrow the geographic location.
Clicking on “Related Searches” is a little like shopping at Amazon. When you shop at Amazon, after you select a book for purchase, you’re usually presented with an up-sell stating something like “people who have bought this book, have also bought these books.” You are then presented with a list of other books for you to buy. When you click “Related Searches” the Google result list expands showing other suggested terms related to your original search. Click on a suggestion and you’ll see new results related to that search. This can be a very helpful tool when you’re not necessarily sure what you’re searching for, and/or it helps you reframe your search and provide you with additional search ideas.
Google Wonder Wheel is another helpful resource that provides additional search options and again, helps you reframe your search criteria. When you click the “Wonder Wheel” link, Google provides a graphical representation of searches that are related to your original search. For example, if you search for a company and then click “Wonder Wheel,” you’ll find suggestions like company divisions, competitors, industry information, etc. Click on any of the Wonder Wheel suggestions and expand the Wheel to include even more related results.
Google Timeline tool is one of my favorite Google search tools. Click on the “Timeline” link and you’ll see a graphical representation of a timeline showing the date ranges where information has been published related to your search. For example, enter a company name and you’ll see news items and the date when the item was published. Enter a person’s name and you’ll see articles about that person. Click on any of the decade-based bar graphs and the chart expands to the years within that decade.
Click on any of the bars themselves and you’ll see the news related to that year and month. The taller the bar, the more news during that particular time period. Google Timeline is a very easy way to quickly find information about people, companies, and industries and how things have changed over the years. Prior to a meeting, you can conduct a Timeline search, and with a few clicks have a good understanding of how things have evolved within a company, an industry, and/or even a person’s life and career.
Once you get used to Google’s “More” resources and how they work, you’ll start finding better business information to help you turn your “cold” business meetings (where you don’t know anything about the other person and what they care about) into valuable “warm” interactions where you’re focused on items that the other person cares about. Because you Know More!
When I deliver my training/keynote speaking, if there are 1,000 people in the room and I ask how many have ever clicked on the “More” button, at best, maybe a dozen hands go up. Yet it’s this simple exercise that can take your Google searching from hundreds of thousands of results to the few dozen that really matter.
When you conduct a Google search, on the left side of the results page, your results can actually be sorted by type. If Google recognizes that it has many different types of information related to your search, it will offer you those types, (e.g., news, blog posting, videos, images, etc.). For the most part, Google does a nice job of showing you only the relevant types of information it has gathered. Note that Google limits the options it immediately shows you to only the most popular ones related to your search. To see all of the different types of results, you’ll need to click the “More” link.
To see how this can benefit your sales efforts, prior to meeting with a company, conduct a Google search, click on “More” link and then the “News” link, and read up on recent press releases and articles about the company. Use that information during your meeting to show your understanding of what’s going on at the company, with the industry, etc.
When you click on some of the links, you can do further sorting by date range. Choose one of the provided options and limit your results to only information that Google has indexed in that specific time period.
The various types Google offers are intuitive. When you click on “Books” you get information on books related to your chosen topic. Click on images and you get pictures. Especially as it relates to business searching and locating information on companies, industries, and people, three types that deserve further mention are Blogs, Discussions, and Updates.
Blogs, or online logs or diaries, often contain a great deal of information that can be very beneficial when searching for business information. There are industry blogs on just about any topic. Do a Google search on “medical devices” and then click the “Blog” link and you’ll find more than 250,000 blogs that mention or are about medical devices. Many companies have a blog (some have multiple blogs) where you can read about what’s going on inside an organization. Other people such as employees, shareholders, partners, or other interested individuals also may write about a company, or even a person, in their blog.
Clicking on the “Discussions” link delivers results where people are engaged in online forums, or discussions, where your search terms appear. For example, a search on “3M jobs” delivers more than 100,000 unique discussions related to finding a job at 3M, the company culture, etc.
Google’s “Realtime” link is one that I find very cool. When you click on “Realtime,” you’ll see the real-time online messages related to your specific topic. Google is searching sites like Twitter and others to find its real-time information (meaning be careful what you post because it is searchable and archived theoretically forever). Enter a popular term like “President Obama” and watch the messages scroll in as they’re posted online. For business searches, enter a person’s name to see if he or she Tweets, or a company name and see what people are saying about the organization.
Once you select a type, you’ll notice that Google expands its left-side menu to include additional options related to each type. For example, on a “News” search, you’ll see that Google expands to include date options, news from blogs, and even the ability to sort by date or relevancy.
Also try clicking on the “More Search Tools” link. This expands the left-side options bar even further and you’ll notice a variety of very cool Google result tools.
If you’re searching for a company or person, by clicking on the “Nearby” link, you’ll find people or companies that are physically located near where your person or company’s address is. You’ll note that the “Nearby” tool also provides additional tools that allow you to further narrow the geographic location.
Clicking on “Related Searches” is a little like shopping at Amazon. When you shop at Amazon, after you select a book for purchase, you’re usually presented with an up-sell stating something like “people who have bought this book, have also bought these books.” You are then presented with a list of other books for you to buy. When you click “Related Searches” the Google result list expands showing other suggested terms related to your original search. Click on a suggestion and you’ll see new results related to that search. This can be a very helpful tool when you’re not necessarily sure what you’re searching for, and/or it helps you reframe your search and provide you with additional search ideas.
Google Wonder Wheel is another helpful resource that provides additional search options and again, helps you reframe your search criteria. When you click the “Wonder Wheel” link, Google provides a graphical representation of searches that are related to your original search. For example, if you search for a company and then click “Wonder Wheel,” you’ll find suggestions like company divisions, competitors, industry information, etc. Click on any of the Wonder Wheel suggestions and expand the Wheel to include even more related results.
Google Timeline tool is one of my favorite Google search tools. Click on the “Timeline” link and you’ll see a graphical representation of a timeline showing the date ranges where information has been published related to your search. For example, enter a company name and you’ll see news items and the date when the item was published. Enter a person’s name and you’ll see articles about that person. Click on any of the decade-based bar graphs and the chart expands to the years within that decade.
Click on any of the bars themselves and you’ll see the news related to that year and month. The taller the bar, the more news during that particular time period. Google Timeline is a very easy way to quickly find information about people, companies, and industries and how things have changed over the years. Prior to a meeting, you can conduct a Timeline search, and with a few clicks have a good understanding of how things have evolved within a company, an industry, and/or even a person’s life and career.
Once you get used to Google’s “More” resources and how they work, you’ll start finding better business information to help you turn your “cold” business meetings (where you don’t know anything about the other person and what they care about) into valuable “warm” interactions where you’re focused on items that the other person cares about. Because you Know More!
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