thinks

With apologies to the Go-Go’s, of course. I could sing the song. I just never looked as good on stage. Ah, well…

Just a heads up that I’m going to be on vacation next week, so posting will be light. thinks will have its weekly e-commerce link digest tomorrow, but won’t maintain a regular posting schedule after that until September 2nd.

In the meantime, you can follow me on Twitter, FriendFeed or del.icio.us to see what I’m doing online during the down week.

Or, check out some of these past favorites:

• The One Question that Stops Your Customers from Buying Online
• Only One Tool can Guarantee a Strong Business
• Comparing Hosted Services for Small Business Websites
• Comparing Jimdo to Site Kreator, Webnode, Weebly and Wordpress
• Daniel Pink’s “A Whole New Mind” (Book Review of the Week-ish)
• The 12 Most Important Books of the Last 10 Years
• The 7 Keys to Successful Web Metrics
• Smart Companies Use Twitter. Here’s How.
• Why Best Practices Aren’t Always Best for You
• When Does Marketing Become Sales?

Enjoy the last days of summer, folks!

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John Battelle’s The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture is not a new book. In fact, my copy has been sitting in my reading stack - off and on - for the better part of a year. Why? Because. Who doesn’t know this story? What can Battelle tell us about Google - about search overall - that you can’t find all over the web, not least of all on Battelle’s own blog? Lots. Lots and lots, actually. Better yet, it’s all in one place. Battelle does far more than lay out the history of Google. He examines the history of people looking for things and the myriad attempts to help those people find what they’re look for.

Better yet, Battelle does not view this as some abstract, academic pursuit, despite search’s academic origins. Instead he uses a reporter’s instinct to examine the who, what, where, when, why - and, crucially - who makes money and how much they make. And he does it so masterfully, I’m going to have to find room for The Search in my list of the most important books of the last 10 years. And, yes, the book is a couple years old. Doesn’t matter. Battelle focuses on concepts that hold true, while still telling an engaging story along the way. Plus, you get it at a discount. Lucky you.

Central to Battelle’s story is the concept of the Database of Intentions. It’s widely known that one of the keys to Google’s success is the fact that customers tell Google what they want every day. Battelle explains the far-reaching benefits that provides, not just for Google, and not just on the web, but for any business.

Whether you rely on paid search, organic search, internal search, local, Yellow Pages, GPS, OnStar or just about any other form of search for helping your customers find you, your business depends on search going forward. For that alone, you owe it to yourself to read The Search.

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Back in my product management days, I used to introduce myself to new developers as “the feature creep.” It was partly to get a laugh. But it was partly to let the developers know I was going to push for what I felt was best for customers. The problem was when others emulated the push, without understanding my rationale behind it. I wish I’d had Jason Putorti’s GigaOM column then. Jason offers a great look at how to develop applications - whether desktop, mobile or web-based - that actually meet the needs of your customers and your business. 6 simple tests designed to help you determine whether or not your efforts will pay off in the end. In fact, don’t limit this to just application development. Marketing programs, promotions, hiring, and other aspects of your business also can benefit from asking these same types of questions. Well worth the read. God knows I wish I could have given it to my fellow product managers. And the development teams.

Let me introduce you to my high school principal, Fr. Edwin. Fr. Ed, really. He is a tough, scrappy little guy. 5-foot-nine. Maybe 160 pounds soaking wet. Running a Catholic school in what was once the toughest part of Newark, NJ. It’s still a part of town, sadly, where far too many young people die from violence. But Newark is making a comeback. Slowly. But surely. Crime rates have fallen. And - of all things - hockey has a home there now.

Why?

Because of people like Fr. Ed and the work he does. He - and others like him in the city - work damned hard, every day, to improve the lives of those around them.

His secret?

Show up.

Every day.

We never had snow days in high school. Never. Not once. Why? Because showing up matters.

Woody Allen is credited with the joke, “90% of life is just showing up.” But Fr. Ed was who told me first. And showed me. Every day. So much of life is just showing up.

Last week, we talked about how you can get lucky. And, really, so much of it is just putting in the work.

That doesn’t guarantee success - that’s where the other 10% comes in. But success mostly comes from putting in the time, day after day after day. You want to find smart ways to do it a la Tim Ferriss. But a willingness to work hard and smart will get you where you want to go. Want another example? Look at how Jon Stewart runs the Daily Show.

The key is, it doesn’t matter whether your goal is to grow your business, make people laugh or shape the lives of others, showing up matters.

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Are you feeling overwhelmed lately? Flummoxed by whether to grow your business via new services like Twitter and FriendFeed, Seesmic and Brightkite? That’s when it’s best to go back-to-basics. Get the simple stuff right and the rest gets easy. Here are some ways to do it.

• I love back to basics posts. And nothing seems to get my attention so much as back-to-basics SEO posts. The great Jill Whalen is spot on with her 6 common website mistakes that are costing you money.
• Jeff Sexton at GrokDotCom talks about focusing less on information architecture and instead guiding customers to conversions.
• Linda Bustos shows how, breaking down how The Source and Circuit City merchandise their sites. And may I recommend looking at these 6 simple rules for merchandising?
• Finally, because it’s always good to know where you’re going, Fred Wilson talks about the coming strengths - and current limitations - of the mobile web as demonstrated by services like Fire Eagle.

And for the most basic, often the best way to clear your head is to put it aside for a day or two. So go enjoy your weekend.

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Lots of people talk about how to merchandise online effectively. Linda Bustos at Get Elastic and the folks at GrokDotCom do a particularly good job. But the simplest rule of merchandising came from a good friend: focus on the reasons your customer buys and display your offerings around those reasons. Some reasons?

• Customers who buy new (want the latest fad) vs customers who only buy used (like to get a good deal)
• Customers who only buy things on sale vs. those who like to pay full price (either to impress others or drive their own self-satisfaction)
• Customers who only buy domestic goods vs. customers who like to buy imported
• Customers who always buy name brands vs. those who buy generic
• Customers who buy things they need (required purchases) vs. customers who buy things they want
• Customers who buy things that are scarce vs. customers who buy things that are abundant (looking for good deals)

Any I’ve missed? Tell us about them in the comments. And don’t forget to subscribe to thinks to never miss an update.