I lost a cookbook the other day.
After twenty more minutes of searching, there it was, right on the cookbook shelf. But the spine was much more subtle than the cover, and it hadn’t been what I was looking for or expecting.
We spend a lot of time on our (metaphorical) book covers. That first impression, the way we tell our story or introduce ourselves or earn the sale.
But the real win is often later, when someone finds us when they’re looking for us.
This isn’t SEO. That’s what happens when we try to win a search for a generic category. SEO is coming up first in the search for ‘plumber’.
This is human search. Being there when someone is looking for you. The first step is being the sort of resource that people care enough to look for. And the second is being findable.