Where’s Martha?

I was watching The Apprentice: Martha Stewart a couple weeks ago (and apparently, I was one of the few) when the youngest candidate, David, was dismissed. He’s only 22, but the owner and founder of an internet advertising company.

When Martha let him know “he wasn’t working out,” David made a case for himself before he left. His position in her company would not be decorating wedding cakes or gathering flowers for the perfect bouquet. It would be helping her market her web site through search engine optimization. He told the ex-con that her site didn’t show up anywhere when someone searches for “recipe” (in fact, it’s not in the first 100 results in Google). And even though David still didn’t “work out,” she wanted to discuss these ideas further with him at a later date.

That spurred some curiosity. I wondered what other terms Martha Stewart’s well-known site wasn’t positioned for. So I did a little research.

I remember her saying that she creates some of the finest wedding cakes in the world. But can anyone find them? Well, since her site wasn’t anywhere to be seen when I searched for “wedding cakes” in Google, probably not.

It’s not uncommon to see Ms. Stewart frolicking through her garden with clippers in hand, occasionally trimming an already perfectly trimmed topiary. Let’s see if anyone is using any of her wonderful ideas. I put “gardening ideas” into Google. What did I find? Nothing.

How about crafts? Martha is like the real life MacGyver. She could make a Christmas ornament with a toothpick and stick of gum. She has become famous for her creativity in craft design, so I figured this was a fail-safe topic. I typed “crafts” into Google and her site didn’t show up. Perhaps it’s too broad. The holidays are coming up; maybe people need some unique ideas. How about “holiday crafts?” Still nothing.

I gave it one last shot: “insider trading.” There we go! Her name comes up on the second page! Now Martha may be able to settle for having great visibility on that term, but I’m not so sure about the others. She’s going to need some real help optimizing her site if she wants to become a billionaire twice over.