I recently read an article titled "Learning from Google" in a local business magazine. The article focused on Google's business model of developing incredibly valuable Web services and software and then giving them away free to the public.

Phenomenal advertising revenue is generated (commission free) through companies bidding for keywords. These companies write their own text ads that are seen by a targeted audience through Google's massive Web presence. The article noted that with this business model being so successful, some believe that Google will surpass Microsoft in size in only a matter of a few years.

So, you might ask, how is this information related to the electrical apparatus sales and service industry? Actually, it's an example of benchmarking. And benchmarking can be a valuable management tool for our industry.