The prototypically agile behavior of Google should be emulated...when we find someone more agile, we have to get faster...the fastest cheetah steals ideas to get faster.

A lot of us get attached to the wrong things -- we tell ourselves lies that we're making progress because we put one foot in front of the other and just keep trudging forward ... it's fine to be attached to an old comfortable pair of shoes; it's ok to get comfortable if it doesn't cost anyone money, doesn't slow anyone down, doesn't cause us to be inefficient, doesn't waste our lives while we could be doing something more meaningful ...but we flat out SQUANDER a lot of resources because we like being comfortable and doing the same old thing day after day a bit too much ... we run our farms, our manufacturing businesses, our marketing businesses, our professional careers pretty much the same way that we ran them last year ... it's safe ... it's comfortable ... we think we've gotten to be kind of good at it ... or worse, we run things pretty much the same way we did things five years ago ... or WORSE, it's still very much the same way that we did things ten years ago ... or UNACCEPTABLY PATHETIC, it doesn't look that much different from what we were doing to get by twenty-five or thirty years ago!!!  That kind of comfortable pulling against the same old weight would be fine if you were ox or the beast of burden and someone was going to take care of you [until it was necessary to butcher you]...you have a brain, you're the one who was given the responsibility to take care of things, so just pulling against the weight is not enough.

If you know me, then you know that my judgmental speechifying is aimed at ME ... not too long ago I started realizing recently that I was getting [mentally] old and fat and inflexible and attached to my old ways ... yeah, I know I should have known that, but I just wasn't paying attention ... so now I know that I need to do a better job of more constantly following the analytics tag in in the google code blog.  The thing about Google is that they are prototypically agile ... it's important to learn form them, they never, ever, ever stop innovating to improve their core business (search, AdWords for advertisers, AdSense for content creators, Analytics for web businesses).  The stuff just keeps coming ... and coming!  For example, just a few weeks ago since Google launched the Google Analytics Management API and listened to the feedback they recieved, as a result of that, since Python is one of their more popular languages, they’ve updated the Google Analytics Python Client Library to access all 5 feeds of the Management API ... so now it’s easier than ever to get your configuration data from the API ... but it will all get easier, faster, better ... but I'll  still keep getting older and fatter and someday, I wake up and discover something else I should have been doing ... that's how I know I'm still alive ... when I wake up and I don't feel a bit anxious for missing something, for not already being out there running, I'll know I'm already dead...

Web Metrics and Performance Marketing with Google™ Analytics

Google Analytics is a free tool used by millions of Web site owners across the globe to track how visitors interact with their Web sites, where they arrive from, and which visitors drive the most revenue and sales leads. Google Analytics helps a website owner to evaluate and boost traffic and to turn page views into profits. Insights for traffic optimization and marketing activities can be found with other products in the Google ecosystem for the following::

Analysis and Optimization

• Urchin
• Website Optimizer
• Webmaster Tools
• Insights for Search

Advertising

• AdWords
• AdSense
• DoubleClick
• YouTube
• AdPlanner
• Search Based Keyword Tool

Commerce and Enterprise Search

• Custom Search Engine
• Checkout

If these tools are not sufficient, the Google Analytics Application Gallery also contains applications that extend Google Analytics to help analysts, marketers, IT teams, and executives get even more out of Google Analytics.

Web Traffic Is Important to Your Business

You should think about ways that you can make your website an integral part of your business -- it cannot be a separate activity that operates within its own silo ... for example, it shouldn't be just a dead online brochure or even only a listing of properties, events or news.

Why Measure?
When you have a very clear idea of what value your website brings to your business, it is useful to become familiar with the Google Analytics terrminology so that you can pick up the tools that you will use to identify growth opportunities, measure effciency improvements, and highlight things when they go wrong.

Web Analytics Can Provide Information
How or Where to Start
Web Analytics Can Guide Decisions
ROI of Web Analytics
Understanding Your Web Traffic
Where Web Analytics Fits In

Where to Get Help

• GoogleAnalytics Help
• ConversionUniversity.com
• GoogleAnalytics YouTube Channel
• GoogleAnalytics Blog

You may also want to investigate

• Google Advertising Fundamentals Exam
• Search Advertising Advanced Exam
• Display Advertising Advanced Exam
• Reporting & Analysis Advanced Exam

Related Programs

• Google Advertising Professionals
• Google AdSense
• Google Analytics
• Google for Advertisers
• Google Checkout
• Google Display Network
• Google Places
• Google TV Ads
• DoubleClick Digital Marketing
• Google Website Optimizer
• Other Business Solutions
• Google Site Search

Chapter 2. Available Methodologies and Their Accuracy
Section 2.1. Page Tags and Logfiles
Section 2.2. Cookies in Web Analytics
Section 2.3. Understanding Web Analytics Data Accuracy
Section 2.4. Improving the Accuracy of Web Analytics Data
Section 2.5. Privacy Considerations for the Web Analytics Industry

Chapter 3. Google Analytics Features, Benefits, and Limitations
Section 3.1. Key Features and Capabilities of Google Analytics
Section 3.2. How Google Analytics Works
Section 3.3. What Google Analytics Cannot Do
Section 3.4. Google Analytics and Privacy
Section 3.5. How Is Google Analytics Different?
Section 3.6. What Is Urchin?
Section 3.7. Summary

Part II: Using Google Analytics Reports
Chapter 4. Using the Google Analytics Interface
Section 4.1. Discoverability and Initial Report Access
Section 4.2. Navigating Your Way Around: Report Layout
Section 4.3. Summary

Chapter 5. Reports Explained
Section 5.1. The Dashboard Overview
Section 5.2. The Top Reports
Section 5.3. Understanding Page Value
Section 5.4. Understanding Data Sampling
Section 5.5. Summary

Part III: Implementing Google Analytics
Chapter 6. Getting Up and Running with Google Analytics
Section 6.1. Creating Your Google Analytics Account
Section 6.2. Tagging Your Pages
Section 6.3. Back Up: Keeping a Local Copy of Your Data
Section 6.4. Using Accounts and Profiles
Section 6.5. Agencies and Hosting Providers: Setting Up Client Accounts
Section 6.6. Getting AdWords Data: Linking to Your AdWords Account
Section 6.7. Getting AdSense Data: Linking to Your AdSense Account
Section 6.8. Common Pre-implementation Questions
Section 6.9. Summary

Chapter 7. Advanced Implementation
Section 7.1. _trackPageview(): the Google Analytics Workhorse
Section 7.2. Tracking E-commerce Transactions
Section 7.3. Campaign Tracking
Section 7.4. Event Tracking
Section 7.5. Customizing the GATC
Section 7.6. Summary

Chapter 8. Best-Practices Configuration Guide
Section 8.1. Initial Configuration
Section 8.2. Goal Conversions and Funnels
Section 8.3. Tracking Funnels for Which Every Step Has the Same URL
Section 8.4. Why Segmentation Is Important
Section 8.5. Choosing Advanced Segments versus Profile Filters
Section 8.6. Profile Segments: Segmenting Visitors Using Filters
Section 8.7. Report Segments: Segmenting Visitors Using Advanced Segments
Section 8.8. Summary

Chapter 9. Google Analytics Hacks
Section 9.1. Why Hack an Existing Product?
Section 9.2. Customizing the List of Recognized Search Engines
Section 9.3. Labeling Visitors, Sessions, and Pages
Section 9.4. Tracking Error Pages and Broken Links
Section 9.5. Tracking Referral URLs from Pay-Per-Click Networks
Section 9.6. Site Overlay: Differentiating Links to the Same Page
Section 9.7. Matching Specific Transactions to Specific Referral Data
Section 9.8. Tracking Links to Direct Downloads
Section 9.9. Changing the Referrer Credited for a Goal Conversion
Section 9.10. Roll-up Reporting
Section 9.11. Summary

Part IV: Using Visitor Data to Drive Website Improvement
Chapter 10. Focusing on Key Performance Indicators
Section 10.1. Setting Objectives and Key Results
Section 10.2. Selecting and Preparing KPIs
Section 10.3. Presenting Your KPIs
Section 10.4. KPI Examples by Job Role
Section 10.5. Summary

Chapter 11. Real-World Tasks
Section 11.1. Identifying and Optimizing Poorly Performing Pages
Section 11.2. Measuring the Success of Site Search
Section 11.3. Optimizing Your Search Engine Marketing
Section 11.4. Monetizing a Non-E-commerce Website
Section 11.5. Tracking Offline Marketing
Section 11.6. An Introduction to Google Website Optimizer
Section 11.7. Summary

Chapter 12. Integrating Google Analytics with Third-Party ApplicationsSection 12.1. Extracting Google Analytics Information
Section 12.2. Working with the Google Analytics Export API
Section 12.3. Call Tracking with Google Analytics
Section 12.4. Integrating Website Optimizer with Google Analytics
Section 12.5. Summary

Appendix A. Regular Expression OverviewSection A.1. Understanding the Fundamentals
Section A.2. Regex Examples

Appendix B. Useful ToolsSection B.1. Tools to Audit Your GATC Deployment
Section B.2. Firefox Add-ons
Section B.3. Desktop Helper Applications

Appendix C. Recommended Further ReadingSection C.1. Books on Web Analytics and Related Areas
Section C.2. Web Resources
Section C.3. Blog Roll for Web Analytics

The rise of globally synthesized collective intelligence

In the first chapter of Building Web Reputation Systems, Randy Farmer uses one of those priceless quotes from Yogi Berra;

“Nobody goes there anymore—it’s too crowded.”

We can guess what it means -- it's a funny turn of a phrase, but it makes sense, i.e. the place that Yogi was referring to had been so obvious to the masses that it was so popular, it had become overcrowded. When he said this, you can bet that Yogi and his friends [who weren't "nobodies" who followed crowds] had already moved on to the next big trendy thing ... when you're hip, you don't go where the crowds are.  In the 1950s reputations mattered more because they were still primarily changed by word of mouth -- television was still in its early days and there was nothing like the internet for increasing the speed of news and communication ... it was easier to be hip, cool, one step ahead of the crowd. Reputation still matters because it is information used to make a value judgment about an object or a person -- how that information is transferred from one person to another has changed dramatically, but many of the principles are the same.

Increasingly we rely upon instantaneously updated hyper-current news from things like Twitter along with globally synthesized collective intelligence to furnish with that reputation information -- we Google something, we check Yelp!, we have our different online sources ... if the decision is serious, we spend a fair amount of time looking -- but the tools we use have gotten a lot more powerful; we have also become more adept at using searching engines and determining the trustworthiness of difference sources.  For some time, we have been familiar with a vast array of reputation systems like FICO scores, Nielsen ratings, Google PageRank ...we might recognize that none of these are perfect, but we still use them to make inferences ... to sort wheat from chaff.

The problem of course, is that we can't control how people will use the reputation systems ... we can avoid doing something stupid like Fair Issac did in marketing FICO scores as a way to tell whether a job candidate is going to be a good employee ... but it is very tricky about how reputations are built ... that is why there is going to be an even bigger market for reputation defenders.

Web Services, Data APIs, Affiliate Programs

If you look at either Amazon Web Services Product Advertising API or go a step further and look at vary array of the AWS Products and Services offering you cannot help but be AMAZed by the depth of resources available to re-build your auction business into a 21st century web business ready to serve your customers better than ever.  Companies like Amazon have recognized that their business is not only dependent on their mastering the integration of information technology and logistics into their business, they also want their data and their systems to be the core building tools used by other companies that are also mastering the integration of information technology and logistics into their businesses.  Companies like Amazon want to be the hub that other companies rely upon.  

And yet, as much as Amazon offers, it is only the tip of the iceberg -- there are more than a few other companies, governmental entities and other organizations who are providing a range of resources starting with Data APIs out there -- a typical company [that isn't quite up to Amazon's speed yet, but is racing to get there] is eBay.  If you are serious about providing a range of accelerated marketing alternatives for your customers, you will want to explore eBay's offering:

• eBay Developers Program – tap into eBay’s marketplace with tools and services to meet the diverse needs of buyers and sellers on eBay
• eBay Market Data - get access to rich historical data about what is bought and sold on eBay, and who is purchasing it
• eBay Certified Program– get certified as a best-of-breed eBay Platform innovator who helps eBay users grow their businesses through services, including technology or data licensing services
• eBay Solutions Directory - a one-stop shop of hundreds of tools from eBay, service providers, and third party developers who have developed tools and services for use with the eBay.com website

Of course, many companies are not far along enough in the maturation of their information and marketing strategies to offer a range of web services [like Amazon, Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, IBM, HP, Cisco, Dell, Force.com, and many others] ... many are not even far enough along to offer Data APIs yet -- but the population of companies engaged in affiliate marketing programs is large.  Of course, you may want to carefully consider whether or not the companies that are at this level are going to be good partners for you -- either as an advertiser on your webpages OR as a publisher of your ads on their pages -- perhaps the best way to take advantage of these programs is to search for an "affiliate" page on the website of solid partner companies that fit well with your business and look for a way to fit that company's affiliate program into your strategy.  If you are looking for additional affiliate programs to add, you might start with the Google Affiliate Network [since Google has the inside track on this because of the importance of search and the integration of AdWords and AdSense into Google's network] ... if that's not enough for you, check out some of the different programs at AffiliateScout.com, Commission Junction, AssociatePrograms.com, AffiliateGuide.com, AffiliateBot.com, Click2Sell, CX Digital Media, or search for even more ... it's safe to say that you'll probably never exhaust all of the different opportunities in set of affiliate programs.

Analytics 2.0

A lot of these books have deceptively warm and inviting covers -- which they need ... since analytics and metrics are, by their nature, dry, tedious and cold topics ... important topics, but dry, tedious and cold!  There are some writers that I enjoy more than others -- one of those is Avinash Kausik, Analytics Evangelist for Google and author of the blog, Occam's Razor and presenter of videos on analytics.

The reason you should read this book is that Avinash really, really, REALLY gets that the GOAL is the highest net value to the business from web analytics implementation ... it's not about the feature of software packages or services, the esoteric intricacies of the technology ... it's about what it means to the business, how do the analytics drive a change in the website -- how does that change how we do business -- to make more money.  

That understanding is why, for every $100 spent on analytics, Avinash suggests that $10 be spent on analytics tools and vendor professional services [even free tools like Google Analytics still require the time of professional, even if the cost of that person's time is hidden] and $90 is required for “intelligent resources/analysts.”   Websites [for businesses that are serious about their web strategy] tend to be massively complex; although the analytics tools can capture all of the data from a complex site, they don’t actually tell you what to do.  Web analytics tools in the market spew out tons of data.  We don’t live in a simple Web Analytics 1.0 world anymore; it's necessary to make complex linkages.  We now have to deal with quantitative data, qualitative data, results of our multivariate experiments, and competitive intelligence data that might not tie to anything else.  Converting tons of data into insights also makes the linkages between the website and the people in the community or business -- this is about keeping up with the “tribal knowledge” in the community or business surrounding the website: unwritten rules, missing metadata, the actions of random people, and so on.  Real success is driven by the people you use -- you need an "real person" analyst with a planet-sized brain who both can use the web analytics tools AND go beyond the tools.  The book is worth it's cost for just that one insight -- my take:  hire the the smartest professional you can find ... then hire another one!   




It's advice that applies in many fields!

Suggestion:  Read SMARTER, read more, read faster.

The most important skill that you can have is to get really good at reading ...you might imagine that success is just a matter of busting your tail and working hard and listening ... those things are necessary, TOO ... but the reality is that readers will always be the leaders.  When you don't read, you follow.  Read better/ smarter by using something like GetAbstract and Google Books find books.; take advantage of  gadgets to build a page for you to scan to suggest BOOKS.

Blogs and other things you find on the internet is fine to scan, rapidly for good ideas -- but I am still an advocate of reading books [because the content is focused and deep; it must be well enough written by author qualified enough to be published by a company and edited by a professional].    $25 spent on the best book you can find any day is really cheap when you think about the insight a book furnishes ... actually $5000/year or so spent on a book almost every day would be a great investment if you could read that much ... the thing is that you should read that much ... it would prevent a lot of costly problems and furnish you with at least a few $5000 ideas in return.  If you have any wealth at all, I'm guessing that you've easily made [and probably lost] at least 10X or more than much in a year your stock market accounts.

Find tools to read smarter; make reading a core competency.  Do you already have a subscription to O'Reilly Safari?  If not, I'd suggest you check it out -- with an unlimited subscription you get over 14,000 recent, relevant titles; moreover, the mobile website can also be accessed using the web browser for the Kindle 1, Kindle 2, and the Kindle DX or on an Apple iPad. If you enjoy flipping through the pages of a "real" book ... I would definitely suggest picking up copies of used texts if they are are available, the principles that a good text like discusses does not really go out of date that soon ... of course, if this stuff is key to your business and you really shouldn't wait for used copies, I'd suggest that you head over to Amazon to browse the pages of Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online Accountability and Science of Customer Centricity and buy it or maybe some the other texts suggested by the Amazon recommendation engine.

Auctioneers focus on the sellers, enabling the seller to establish a business, build a reputation ... auctioneers enable entrepreneurs

eBay became the dominant online auction by listening to and figuring out how to better serve the needs of sellers ... come to think of it, I'd guess that eBay has probably helped more entrepreneurs to launch a business than any other organization in history ... you might think this is limited to auction sellers, but it isn't ... eBay has also launched a peer-to-peer microfinance lender called MicroPlace