Search and prosper: How to profit from Google
The search engine has the power to help but also hurt any business with an online presence. Meet one entrepreneur who figured out how to thrive in this strange new world.
By Justin Martin, FSB Magazine

(FSB Magazine) -- Kamau Austin is obliged to work at home so he can take care of his 7-year-old autistic daughter, Elon. In 2001, Austin, 50, launched an online consulting business out of his house in Montclair, N.J. Today he runs 28 websites for minority entrepreneurs on topics ranging from online marketing (searchengineplan.com) to Internet strategies (einfonews.com).

Two years ago Austin signed up for Google's AdSense program. The software places ads that complement each of his sites, and shares a portion of the ad revenues with him.

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Marketing consultant Kamau Austin, at home with his daughter, Elon

AdSense has allowed thousands of small online entrepreneurs such as Austin to create an income stream out of content that formerly had no commercial value. "A tremendous ecosystem has built up around Google," says Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Jupiter Research.

Thanks to AdSense, 14 of Austin's 28 sites are peppered with ads from major companies such as eBay and Wells Fargo. He estimates that AdSense generates about 15% of his six-figure annual income. And visitors who find Austin's sites via free Google searches may wind up hiring him as a consultant.

"One way or another, Google generates a large portion of my income," Austin says.

How Google can make - or break - your company

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.