The Art of Letting Go (of Google)

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There comes a point in many relationships that one realizes that it’s time to let go… time to move on.  It’s hard – especially when you’ve been conditioned to feel as tho you NEED that relationship.  It’s a scary place to be when you know deep down that the relationship needs to end, but you can’t let go of the feeling that you still NEED that relationship.

Why I Chose to Be LESS Reliant on Google and Google traffic - from PotPieGirl.com

Even though this post was written back in 2012, I still feel the same way now in 2016. Relying 100% on Google, or ANY traffic source, is a recipe for disaster.

Once upon a time, I had a job I loved.  I ended up in that male-dominated business (golf) purely by accident.  A course asked me to work there part time – in exchange, I not only got paid for my time, I also received free golf on that course.

Free Golf? Count Me In!

Worked for me!  I had 2 little kids in school at that time so 2 days a week I worked at the course while they were in school.  I was a stay-at-home mom until that point so yes, it also felt good to get out and do something for me.  The pay wasn’t the thing for me, nor was the free golf.  The situation just fit and I loved it.

Time moved on and I found out not only how much I loved it, but that I was pretty darn good at it too.  I ended up working more, getting more involved and educated in the business, and still having a flexible schedule to fit my kids needs.

Yep, That's Me Teeing Off

Pro PotPieGirl

Flash forward a few years and I was offered the Head Pro position at a new course they were building.  To be clear, I am not a teaching Pro, or a PGA Pro, I was being hired as the managing Pro to run the course.  Still, not the norm in the golf business to offer that job to a female.

I loved the business and I loved the company I worked for so wanting to take that job offer was a no-brainer for me.  However, my personal life at the time was not exactly conducive to me working full-time in such a position that would require a lot of me.  Opening a new course is not exactly easy.

Thing is, even tho the pending new job made NO sense in my ‘at-this-exact-moment’ situation, there was this deep gut feeling that I should take the job offer and be ready to transfer when the time came (which was at least 6 months or more into the future).

Trust Your Gut, Girl!

Oddly, the gut feeling figured prominently.  In the following months, I made a big decision to leave that marriage – and it was a big decision, but I knew that relationship had to end.

That job offer became the biggest blessing because it gave me a way to support myself and my kids.  The course opened and my new life began.  The new course was minutes from home and my kid’s schools, I loved my job, I could pay my bills…all was awesome.

Then, things started happening both with my business life and my personal life.  With the stroke of a judge’s pen, I became 100% responsible for my kids in all aspects.  Weird changes started within the company I worked for at the same time – and they were not good changes.

One day it hit me – I no longer loved this job like I used to…. but I NEEDED that paycheck.  I also realized that I am AWESOME with customer service, customer acquisition, and customer retention, but I really sucked at management and delegation (I also detested mundane tasks like paperwork and scheduling).  I’m a people person and not a desk person which made me a fantastic Assistant Pro, but a not-so-great Head Pro.

Sadly, I was SOOOO wrapped up in my NEED for that relationship to continue, that I didn’t have the you-know-whats to make a change.  When you’re 100% responsible for the care, feeding, and nurturing of two young human beings, fear is a BIG reason you don’t make changes.

Naturally, things got worse.  My lack of any passion for the job showed more and more…and as expected, I got fired.

It Was Bound To Happen

It sucked.  I’ve NEVER been fired before…so to call that moment “humbling” would be a huge understatement.

But here’s the kicker – it was the BEST thing that ever happened to me business/career-wise.  That single event FORCED me to explore new avenues and also to do what I needed to do in order to keep the roof over our heads.  (Just to note: the company I worked for ended up folding not too long after that.)

That was back in June 2005….now here I am almost 7 years later with 5 of those years spent working online.

I’d say I did alright.  🙂

Those break-ups (both my marriage and my job), turned out to be really GOOD things for me – even though it sure didn’t feel that way as they were happening.

And Now… Another Break-Up Is Needed

But oddly I find myself, yet again, involved in a relationship that just might need to come to an end.

I  ended up in this relationship in a very similar way I ended up in the golf business. 

I eased my way in, realized I loved it, and then programmed myself to believe I NEEDED it.

That relationship is with Google – and it very well might be time to let it go.

But THIS time, I WILL have the you-know-whats to make those changes before Google makes them FOR me.

Do You NEED Google?

I’ve let Google have too much control and once I gave them that control, the ol’ mentality of “NEED” festered more and more.

I don’t need Google…and neither do you.

Yes, they are THE source of free organic traffic (right now) – and YES, if you can just figure out what the heck they want, you can enjoy great traffic and perhaps even great profits.

But we’ve become complacent.

Relying on Google, or ANY single source, for the ultimate success of your online business is a big mistake.  The whole ‘get ranked and become a millionaire’ concept is long gone (if it ever existed at all).

That’s not a business – that’s a trend..and trends are short-lived and unpredictable.

Sure, I’ll still appreciate when Google loves me – we sure have had some good times and continue to do so – but my reliance on that relationship is over.  My gut is telling me something that no one wants to hear, but the writing is on the wall.

Sadly, when things go haywire (as they have been lately) the majority of the community hyper-focuses on what to do to get Google to love them again, as opposed to putting their head down and figuring out every option and alternative avenue that could and CAN grow their business without relying on Google and their fickle ways.

The Irony of Google’s “Improvements”

What’s ironic to me is that in all of Google’s supposed attempts to make things better, they have actually turned things into a horrible cluster of a mess.  What they call “transparency” is more like spreading FUD in the community (FUD means: Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt).

Who wants to be in a relationship when one person keeps the upper hand simply by inducing FEAR in the other?

I feel that most couple’s therapists would call that a toxic relationship, wouldn’t they?

“If you don’t figure out what I want and give it to me, I won’t love you – and you’re nothing if I don’t love you.”

Heck, that’s toxic AND passive-aggressive with a nice dose of narcissism thrown in!

What DOES Google want? 

Now I am just one little woman working and watching from her home office in Georgia, but I really don’t think Google even knows what they want anymore.  All of this going on lately has a “desperate” smell to it.  Add in Google’s proposed stock split that they will put before their shareholders in June mixed with all the other legal issues and criticisms and it certainly makes me feel that something is going on – and we might want to consider NOT being involved in it.

Heck, even Google’s own speak out against the search giant:

“Google is too powerful, too arrogant, too entrenched to be worth our love.”

source

“The Google I was passionate about was a technology company that empowered its employees to innovate. The Google I left was an advertising company with a single corporate-mandated focus.”

source

I’ve begun having this feeling that Google is tired of others making money off of their organic results – and it’s money they (Google) can’t get a piece of…so off they go with all these whacky algo changes to take those earnings away (but they call it ‘making the SERPs better’).

Go ahead, call me crazy… I can take it – and I am more than happy to be wrong here. 

Just before you call me a nut-job, really LOOK at the things that are ranking well now….and the sites that are slowly (or not-so-slowly) finding their way to Google Purgatory.

Perhaps if we each find a way for Google to make money off our pages, then we might be loved?

And no, I don’t mean just toss some AdSense ads on your site so they (Google) make money off your clicks.  That doesn’t work.  If your site sends clicks, but few to no conversions for those AdWords advertisers, Google will NOT love you.

But, if your site DOES send strongly converting clicks to Google’s paying advertisers……well…..think about it.

Is The Playing Field Level?

Regardless of what Google wants, the playing field is NOT level.  In fact, it’s become more and more slanted towards Google than ever before.  The irony is that Google has used OUR content for years to make money.  Our web pages and content gave them billions of search result pages to put their ads on!  And let’s not even get into how much information they have gained from our use of Google products that enables them to better target their ads….ugh!

But now they’re so big that they don’t need us anymore…

And that’s all fine and good.  They absolutely DO need to do what they think is best for their business – but SO DO WE.

If your bottom line is reliant on Google’s actions, and you really care about that bottom line, it’s time to rethink your strategy.

From here on out, any traffic from Google should be seen as a BONUS, not as a business plan.

Find the people in your market and go get them….we can’t rely on Google to send them TO us for free anymore – no matter how good, relevant, and/or compelling your site is.

I’ve been having incredible success with Pinterest – LOTS and LOTS of traffic.

Here’s how I get all that traffic from Pinterest.

As the song says, breaking up is hard to do.  However, like with many breakups, this one will force you to be creative and truly take control of your future.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is never a bad thing.

jennifer-potpiegirl-pic-signature

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