Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Google lands at CONEL to Help Small Businesses in Haringey
David Lammy welcomed Google to the borough and applauded their initiative to help small businesses
The Google mother-ship landed at CONEL this morning for an event to help small businesses in Haringey use digital tools.
David Lammy kicked off proceedings with a warm welcome to Google. He applauded the company's "Getting British Business Online" initiative and welcomed the support they were offering to local businesses in Haringey.
According to Google, SMEs with a high web presence grow four times faster than those without. So getting the web right can very literally mean the difference between success and failure for small businesses.
To get us all headed in the right direction, the Google team addressed key areas for small businesses to focus on.
They began with websites and offered ten top Google tips for building successful websites. One of the tips stressed the importance of photographs and images being of high quality. (If your website's images aren't up to scratch and you're interested in moving things up a notch with some original photography, let me know. I may be able to help. )
Other key issues covered included search engine optimisation, the use of social media and getting to grips with targeting your online audience.
(I was the very soul of discretion and kept absolutely mum about how effective small businesses find HoL as a tool to increase awareness of what they do!)
All the small businesses that attended seemed to find the morning very useful. Emma, one of the may attendees who'd learned about the event through HoL told me. "I thought I understood how to use Keywords, but this made me realise how little I knew. It was a really useful morning."
Whilst there are no immediate plans to run a further event, Google will publicise any new dates through David Lammy's office - and they, no doubt, will post on Google.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Seema Chandwani on
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Did you take that pic Hugh???
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I shouldn't tell you cos I love it when you're curious ;)
But Im a bit jealous how you well you took it, often powerpoint projection images in the background dont show up too well.
Sx
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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I balanced the ambient light with a bounced flash - that may have made the difference.
For some reason, photos on the platform I use for this site don't show up at their best. I've noticed that they tend to look rather fuzzy compared with the same photo on Facebook or elsewhere. Clicking the photo to see it on its own page gives a slightly better rendition.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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I also think it was a very good photograph. I wonder what David Lammy would pay for the rights to it? Probably not as much as he'd pay for one that made him look fat and old eh?
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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Did anyone ask Google whether they will be paying any tax in the UK soon?
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Hi Pam, two attendees asked about Security and Privacy and I asked about Dependency (of users on one company). The company's tax status did cross my mind, but as with the other voiced topics, the Presenter hadn't come to talk about such things. There were about seven Google staff at three desks at the sides.
I was one of the 16 attendees; one of whom rather unfairly asked the presenter why was there such a low turnout and did that not reflect on Google's own marketing ability? (as if that had any bearing on the merits of what the presenter had to say). Which was to explain quite well the company's offerings. It is of course, essentially a 21st century advertising agency, dressed up in by far the most sophisticated way.
The presenter did a good job, but I think he was not of Google, but engaged by Google as a professional presenter. There were some dubious figures thrown out, such at the UK was the world's biggest online economy, which I found a bit incredible. Bigger than the US?
Three figures did attract attention: Google commissioned research on how whether their existing AdWords users felt they had a positive return on investment:
18% YES 45% NO and 37% said don't know.
The presenter found that 37% most interesting: these kind of presentations are perhaps aimed at crystalizing this experience. Of course, on further analysis they might all go into the NO camp! Hugh (On Line) thought the 18% figure quite modest – so did I, and I was surprised they drew attention to it. The message was that Adwords needed to be as specific and targeted as possible.
It was just about worth attending and some people may have learnt a little.
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There were other issues behind the low attendance, Clive, that Google didn't want to go into. Whilst the precise number of attendees isn't an issue (it was lower than it should have been), I'll double check with CONEL.
With regard to my questions to them on the 18/45/37, yes I thought this was poorly explained and their response was less than satisfactory.
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Hugh I was aware of this Google presentation only thanks to HOL, although I understand some people came as a result of their being on David Lammy's mailing list.
While it might have been publicised more, the level of attendance has no bearing on the merit of what was said and I thought it was not relevant (even a waste of time) for it to be brought up.
The example of a successful Adwords campaign – cited twice – was selling larger-than-regular-size Yoga exercise mats in the U.S. Thanks to Adwords, this business is (was?!) turning over $10k to $25k a month. Would it take long to satisfy the entire United States demand for such items? Was I alone in thinking this example was a bit, um, unusual?
Given that one would pay for Adwords by auction, the question in the back of attendees' minds is likely to be, are Adwords more likely to be worthwhile or a waste of money? The info was as good as far as it went, but this concern was left hanging. A more relevant worked example might help.
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It was also in the Tottenham Journal Mr Meldrew!!
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Permalink Reply by abstractjuz on
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"There were some dubious figures thrown out, such at the UK was the world's biggest online economy"
Anything presented to explain or back that claim up?
"AdWords users felt they had a positive return on investment: 18% YES 45% NO and 37% said don't know."
Wow - those figures, as they are, don't exactly scream success do they.
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Anything presented to explain or back that claim up?
Yes, management speak, the same kind of 'micro-language' Hugh admires; perhaps he will comment ;-)
don't exactly scream success do they.
No. Either Google has more explanation to do, or the business model works a lot better for them than for the little guys.
Hugh said the Google Mother Ship [has] Landed; perhaps we should ask to be taken to their leader?
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