Of course, one data point like this is useful if we look at all the other stories we get here on a daily basis.
It is worth more these days, but that is because people searching for [bingo card creator] are probably looking for Bingo Card Creator (for example, with five seconds of checking into my stats, I can guarantee at least 30% of folks searching for it last week and clicking on my site already have an account with me).
(Have I mentioned that "Google owns navigation on the Internet"?)
On a related note, I'd be very happy to pay you for an SEO consultation.
"Organic searches with the word 'bingo card' makes up ___ percent of my sales."
As you say, tho-- might be hard to parse out brand searches. But every single one of your holiday-specific landing pages benefits from "bingo card" being in your URL. Isn't long tail SEO a big part of your acquisition?
o Code is 10% of the business
o Wall Clock Time vs. Calendar Time
o Avoid Events, Plan for Processes
Is pretty obvious to anybody that's ever had or worked in a business.
The other two are common sense. But that doesn't mean that it isn't good to re-iterate these things every now and then, but if you fell off your chair because of any of those three sentences then you do not have much - or even any - business experience, and likely are not quite ready to make the jump.
There are some much deeper insights in that piece than those:
- I started this business to make an extra $200 so I could spend it on video games without feeling guilty
That's a really good one, it shows you that no matter what goal you have when you start out your business you are not going to be even near it (in a positive or a negative sense) when you're a couple of years down the line. After all, why didn't he stop when he made his goal? Why all the extra work? Clearly we set our goals, then the goal becomes the new 'base', and we set another goal. If I can make $200, how about $400...
Another gem:
- The 'time as debt' view. That's a very interesting way of looking at time, and I think that if it is an original then that alone is a huge contribution to running a small business. It also says in no uncertain terms that if you want to run a small business, any small business, you should learn how to do some minimal automation.
There is lots of other good stuff in there, but those two stand out for me.
One really good thing too, is that in spite of doing this for years, Patrick never quit his job or skimped on it. He waited until the right moment, probably constrained by the $-in-the-bank as well as the amount of money made on a daily basis by the job vs the project.
OPs time as an asset/debt idea is right up with what I believe, since people seem to believe their time is free...I believe it's better off outsourced so I can spend the one resource I'll never get back. Good article.
:)
Patrick is trying to derive generic advice by formalizing his personal experiences. While it is useful to know what worked in his case, it is still just one project, an isolated experience.
I've been in a similar situation myself. I have sold a startup that settled me and my family for life, and things unfolded pretty much as I expected them to from the start to the acquisition. But the more I think about the whole experience now the more I am becoming convinced that there was a great deal of chance involved. And over the years I started describing my startup less in terms of how things should be done and more how they worked for me.
In other words, once you are lucky, twice - you are good. Once you are "twice", then it will be Insightful. Until then it's just Interesting. Feel free to disagree ;)