what can advertising teach us about creating work that matters

I work in a firm that runs advertising campaigns for clients — paid search.

A way to paid search is to launch Google Ads.

Google charges you, the advertiser, a fee every time someone clicks on your ad. This is called “Cost per Click” or CPC.

Every word you type into Google has a value. That value is based on how much intent Google thinks you have to buy a service or a product. “Where can I find cheap legal service” is high intent versus “legal services.”

If I want to buy clicks from high-intent buyers, I must spend lots of money.

The next best type of click you can get is an organic click. That’s a click that doesn’t come from any form of paid-search. It’s an 18+ month slog of creating content, optimization, testing, re-testing… you don’t know want to know.

If you want to high intent organic buyers, you must invest time.

You now have two things.

  • A basic understanding of digital advertising; and

  • A deep principle of what it means to attract the people who care — you have to invest in them, you have to show up for them. There are no shortcuts.

Lesson from Bobby Knight

The story I'm telling myself is...