Google+ for Business Part 2

Here are a few other tips to keep in mind to prepare yourself for opportunity: * Keep your circles well organized. This might seem like a ch.o.r.e at first, but the more granular you keep your circles, the better the chance you'll see something of specific value flow by in your stream.

* Build outbound circles. Chapter 5 talks about how to build outbound circles, but different from how you organize the people you want to follow and observe, an outbound circle is a list of people you want to share specific kinds of information with. For instance, I have an outbound circle called "Press," where I share information that reporters and other news professionals might find useful. I have another called "MKTG" for web entrepreneurs, who want some specific tactics and tips on how to use Google+ for more business. Your outbound circles might be different, but the concept is the same.

* Share links back to your main website or blog, but sparingly. People who have you in their circles want to know about you, but they also want you to be a source of other people's good information. The more you talk about yourself, the more people tune out. It's like a c.o.c.ktail party. You can post and share relevant information as much as you'd like (though too much might get you uncircled by others, meaning they'll stop seeing your updates), but you should consider a blend, anywhere from 5 of other people's items to every one of yours or perhaps closer to 10 to 1.

* Build your use of Google+ into your schedule. It's not like your day job is to interact on social networks (unless it is). Consider posting information and shares two times a day, and consider dipping in to answer comments and talk back and forth at least two times a day, as well. The more interaction you have on Google+ (beyond just posting and sharing), the more opportunity you have to find potential business relations.h.i.+ps.

* Think up ways to use Hangouts, the live video chat feature. Aaron Manley Smith of Motorphilia uses Hangouts for virtual Bible study. You can limit attendance to a hangout to those members of a circle, or you can invite the public at large to partic.i.p.ate in a free-for-all video chat. Both have their advantages.

The Personal Touch and Personality.

Sometimes, especially when talking with larger corporations, I'm asked whether it's a good idea to share personal information and topics that might not be germane to your primary business focus. Ask yourself this question right now: Do you prefer buying from someone pus.h.i.+ng a sales agenda, or do you prefer buying from someone you feel understands you or you feel you understand?

Several reports and studies over the years boil down to the same thing: We buy from people we like. Though this isn't always an option, it's more common that we, as buyers, will bend our justifications around going with the choice that supports this view.

For example, think about your experience with restaurants near where you live or work. When you go to a place and feel warmly welcomed, that experience makes you more likely to revisit. The more you revisit, the more you feel "known" and valued. Sometimes, this comes from sharing stories with a server. Other times, it comes from the staff knowing something about you and your preferences.

Now, translate this to the online world. When people get the opportunity to learn more about who you are and what matters to you, they find reasons to be more interested in your other business pursuits, and this can come from all kinds of wild and varied angles.

Your personality can s.h.i.+ne on a social network like Google+, and this will help with business-building. How do you do it? You talk about things related to your business, but you also talk about other points of interest outside of your day job. It's a balancing act because if someone is coming to you to learn about your pa.s.sion for education, and you end up sharing more on Google+ about your pa.s.sion for reality TV shows, the disconnect might not really help you grow your business. But it can be done.

Consider this your litmus test: Would you talk to someone about this while waiting in line for something? If yes, then it's probably okay to talk about in an off-topic way as a means to sharing more of your personality. If no, then don't share it on Google+,.

Blending Business and Personal.

Start with, this disclaimer: If you share all kinds of weird intimate details about how your life is a shambles, how you hate cats, or endless streams of nonsensical "chatter," it probably won't benefit your business. A certain element of curation is required for how you choose to share your personal thoughts and ideas alongside your business information. Filter yourself a little, to be sure that you're not turning away any potential business connections. Pick and choose between all the thoughts that rush into your head, and maybe don't post each and every one of them to your stream on Google+. By "curation," the idea is that you are your own mental editor, and you pick the "best of" your thoughts and ideas for the day to share with people.

But you'd be surprised by what causes a connection.

Following are some of the stranger things I've shared that have brought me unexpected connections: * My appreciation of '90s hip-hop music * Photos of the lake and waterfall near my house * My love of Batman (and comics in general) * A single tweet about a car * Random one-liner jokes.

* Reports on my efforts to get more fit.

* A photo of a lobster.

In all the previous cases, those random choices to share have resulted in an increase in my follower base, and in all those cases, it led to a business relations.h.i.+p that eventually ended in financial and strategic worth. Re-read that list. It's absolutely silly. And yet, because I blend business information (mine and sharing great stuff from other people), people start to feel like they know me. We buy from people we like, and we like people we feel we know.

Start Early.

I joined Twitter in 2006 and was one of the first 10,000 or so users. Twitter gave me a platform that translated into quite a lot of business value. People who came to Twitter much later didn't always meet with the same success. I believe that my choice to learn as much as I could about the platform and to use it heavily to build relations.h.i.+ps was part of what led to my business success.

The same can be true for Google+. The sooner you get in, start, and build some relations.h.i.+ps of value, the better your chances to have a first-mover advantage.

Don't worry that it's early days. Consider this a great opportunity to get the jump on others who prefer to wait and see what comes of new platforms like this. Scott Monty, head of social media for Ford Motor Company, was on Google+ on day 2. To me, that speaks volumes about him really understanding the value of Ford starting early, and it gives you further proof that you should consider doing the same.

This service isn't yet widely available to the public, and invitations are required, but if you ask your web-savvy friend for an invite, chances are they'll have one. At some point, this service will be open to the public, but if you wait that long, you'll miss the boat.

The sooner you get into the game, the sooner you can use the tools to change how you grow your business. It also enables you to experiment faster, make more mistakes faster (before more people are there), and have a presence before some of your compet.i.tors.

What You Can Accomplish with Google+.

Everyone reads books (especially business books) with a specific goal in mind: "What's in it for me?" That's okay. If you're going to spend your time and money on a business book, there should be some value given in the exchange. But one of the most important things about how to use Google+-and social networks in general-is to learn how to build value by promoting and helping others.

In 2009, Julien Smith and I said in our book, Trust Agents, "Be the elbow of every deal." What we meant was that there's great value and long-term influence in helping others make connections and build business relations.h.i.+ps. Without ever asking for reciprocation, this one move of helping others connect and make business happen with no immediate value to you is a power move worth mastering.

In Google+, you can do this in several ways. One is by sharing posts from people with smaller audiences. Another is to make introductions between two people you follow who might not yet follow others. Another is to promote products and services that aren't yours but that would help your const.i.tuency. These are all big opportunities to build value for others and build relations.h.i.+ps in general.

In opposition to "What's in it for me," consider, "What can I do for others that can help them?" What this brings you, if executed in earnest, is a lot of respect and admiration from people in your community, and if one were to be honest, that kind of currency translates well into people's willingness to share your content with others, with their interest in partic.i.p.ating with you and your posts, and with people's perception of you and your motives. Don't do one simply to earn the other, but understand that, should you work toward this mindset, it does indeed pay off in tangible dividends, even if these aren't always directly monetary in nature.

Opportunity Is What You Make of It.

Google+ isn't a hardcore sales and marketing engine. The game, such as it is, isn't to get the most followers and then start blasting them with offers until they purchase. It is, instead, a way to educate prospective buyers, a way to connect with your community of customers, a method by which to promote offers and events (sparingly) to your audience, and a way to build relations.h.i.+ps before you need them.

If you've noticed, a lot of these methods and means aren't exactly hardcore tricks and tactics yet, which is explored in later chapters. The reason I start with this talk about potential opportunity and about the mindset behind what might be helpful for you, and all this stress on relations.h.i.+p-minded business practices, is that these are what are required for a mindset before you dig deep into the heavier selling or other business functions. I hope that works for you.

We've talked about what you can do and why you might do it, and we've talked about a lot of the various methods by which you can find opportunities in Google+. The next chapter walks you through several "serving suggestions." Pick up a can of vegetable soup at the grocery store, and you'll see a picture on the outside of the can with the words "serving suggestion" nearby. What they mean by that is, "Hey! You can make what's in this can look like this picture, if you want."

Now do that with Google+ by creating a few potential recipes for how professionals might use it for different businesses.

3. A Day in the Life.

I'm writing this book in the early days of the launch of Google+, so my interviews with business professionals on how this platform integrates into their day is based on a scant few weeks of experience and effort. Even so, kernels of possibility are wrapped up in what I discovered in their answers and their current methods. Further, in all cases, the people interviewed blended the answer to what they do with Google+ into the overall sense of what they do with all the other social software platforms they currently employ for business purposes.

What follows are a bunch of recipes. Starting with myself, but then going immediately into interviews with people from all levels of business and in a variety of industries, I have put together some "serving suggestions" for you to consider in deciding how you want to use Google+ for your own business value. You see that many ways exist to use the platform, and some people prefer to use it one way, whereas others have a different perspective on the value of the platform. This was done intentionally.

There's no one right way to use this tool. Some people post a lot of original material but don't choose to curate or share much. Others are hubs for sharing but don't create a lot of original material. Still others spend a lot of time reading and posting in the comments section and some people use Google+ as just another source of information to read and consider.

To call any one use of the platform wrong (barring outright spamming and bullying) is to limit the possibilities that you might find in using Google+ in ways that provide value for your needs. Why should I (or anyone) tell you that you're doing it wrong, if you're getting something useful out of your method? To that end, read through some of the ways people use Google+ with an open mind, and think about whether you can borrow from several of their experiences to form your own.

My Personal Day in the Life of Google+.

I should preface this part by saying that my business is quite varied. I consult and speak for large companies, and I create products and services for small businesses. That juxtaposition makes it hard to nail down how I use Google+ for my business pursuits, but I'm game to explain it, just the same. Following is a summary of how I use it: Time Used per Day: 2 hours (This is part of my primary job.) Primary Goals of Usage: Build an audience, convert to community, and drive awareness for projects or topics of interest Number of Original Posts per Day: 6 (average) Number of Shared Posts per Day: 8 or more (average) Number of Comments per Day: This varies. If I'm traveling, there are fewer. If I'm not traveling, 2030 comments on average.

Links to My Blog or Projects per Day: 2 (average) Number of Off-Topic Posts per Day: 3 (I added this to show that there's value in writing about things that aren't pertinent to your main business. The mileage varies for this stat, especially because my business is a little more diverse than most.) Typical Strategy: Because my goals are to build an audience, convert them to a community, and then drive awareness to my projects or other topics of interest, I read bits of the streams from my various circles, posting what I think are interesting links, and then commenting back and forth with people on various posts (theirs and my own). And I spend some time promoting my own projects or things that interest me that aren't mine.

I admit that when I have a little free time, or if I'm procrastinating, I tend to read posts for a while to catch up on other interesting (but not necessarily important to my business) posts shared by others. Sometimes, this serendipitous consumption permits me to build new relations.h.i.+ps because I might follow someone's shared post and then learn more about the creator by reading his or her profile-and poof, suddenly, I've added someone else of interest to my circles to follow.

I also use a small, limited pair of circles called Close and Keepers to pay attention to people who matter to me. This lets me dip into those streams to be sure to catch any news that they share, or help with any problems they might have, and that's something that was harder for me to do on Twitter or Facebook, even with list functionality. (For whatever reason, Google+ seems and feels cleaner to me.) But now, let's move away from me and catch up with others. I've chosen these people to interview for a few reasons. In all cases, I either knew the person, or I got to know them via Google+. In all cases, these people represent different ways to use Google+, which is a great way to represent ways you might consider using the platform for your day-in-the-life experiences.

Interview with Scott Monty, Ford Motor Company.

Scott Monty is the head of social media for Ford Motor Company. We've been friends for years, as Scott started his rise to prominence in the Boston area where I'm from. Over the years, Scott has led and partic.i.p.ated in several innovative projects. I saw him all over Google+ on the second day it was open, and therefore, I knew he'd be the right person to ask about how someone in one of the top three auto makers in the United States uses Google+ for business.

Time Used per Day: 1 hour.

Primary Goals of Usage: Surface interesting content, build relations.h.i.+ps, share experiences, learn Number of Original Posts per Day: 35 Number of Shared Posts per Day: 23 Number of Comments per Day: 1012 Links to My Blog or Projects per Day: 1 Number of Off-Topic Posts per Day: 4.

Typical Strategy: I've got my circles pretty well defined, so I look first for those in the tech and influencer circles to see what cool and cutting-edge stuff they're sharing. I find that these groups keep me attuned to industry news, changes, and thoughtful, longer content posts. Then I look to friends, acquaintances, and other close circles to see what's on their minds. When I find really good content from a "noisy" person, I'm careful about sharing it with too many other people and contributing to the noise, instead preferring to comment or +1 it.

Special Uses: Nothing personally, but for the Ford Motor Company account, we use it to share heritage and archival material, as well as Hangouts with otherwise hard-to-reach executives.

Scott's doing a lot in early days to connect and build relations.h.i.+ps. He doesn't talk 100% Ford Motor Company, but he definitely represents his brand. I talk about his content strategy in a subsequent chapter, but the thing to learn from Scott is his gentlemanly approach to connecting with people. Remember: His buyer is anyone who drives a car. It's a decent demographic to chase.

Interview with Greg Pak, Comic Book Author and Screen Writer.

I knew Greg Pak as an author but not personally, but when I saw a single post of his on Google+, I added him to one of my circles and immediately started closely following his work. I also ran out and bought several of his most recent comic books so that I was "in the know" on what my new "friend" was up to.

That's what is so cool about Google+: There's an instant sense of connectivity that seems to come from using these tools. For example, when Greg shared his schedule of appearances at the San Diego Comicon, and when I commented on how clever that was, he answered back quickly, was human in his interactions, and earned a new fan (and hopefully friend) without a lot of hard work. If you're a creator of any kind, you should think about how Greg talks about his day in the life to see what you can glean from his usage of Google+.

Time Used per Day: 30 minutes to 1 hour Primary Goals of Usage: Keep current readers aware of what's going on with my projects and books and try to reach and rope in new readers Number of Original Posts per Day: 46 Number of Shared Posts per Day: 23 Number of Comments per Day: 35 Links to My Blog or Projects per Day: 45 Number of Off-Topic Posts per Day: 12 Typical Strategy: Because I have comic books coming out every week or two, I tend to have a steady stream of news to share: preview pages, interviews, reminders that books are out, and reviews. At the same time, I keep my eyes open for other news that might be of interest to folks reading my stream-Comixology's 99 sales, for example. And I'll reshare interesting posts from folks in my circles, whether they're related to anything I'm working on. The basic idea is to create a familiar voice that readers can trust to share interesting news and discussion, which, of course, just happens to include my own comics work.

I've also made a point to try to thank people for kind comments, answer questions they might have, reshare posts that amuse or enlighten me, and bring the Follow Friday tradition over from Twitter to recommend other interesting people to follow. I'm a big believer in casting your bread upon the water. When you share with others, more comes back to you.

Special Uses: I've done a lot of thinking about digital media, social media, and personal technology over the years-all key themes in my graphic novel Vision Machine. So I've found myself using Google+ to talk quite a bit about Google+, which of course is what many users have notoriously spent a huge amount of time doing since the service began. I think that interest in discussing these questions of technology and social media is one of the things that made the service a good match for me from the beginning. I have many friends in the comics field who joined but still haven't posted, probably because few other comics people were posting in the beginning. I was lucky to have an interest in the techy kinds of things that people were discussing in the early weeks, so I had an incentive to stick around and get comfortable.

Moving forward, I'm sure I'll continue to post about technology, social media, and the Google+ experience, which makes sense because it's one of my big areas of interest, but it is also serendipitously a good pull in this specific social network. So I've got that going for me.

The biggest takeaway for business professionals is to see how Greg uses his Google+ stream as a way to share information to connect with his community, and he doesn't limit it to talking about his own work. That's the key. He brings up information that can appeal to the community about their own interests, and you can do the same.

Interview with Jenny Cisney, Kodak's Chief Blogger.

Jenny Cisney and I have known each other for a few years, although I mostly know her in her professional capacity as Kodak's Chief Blogger. She's also funny, has a great ability to find interesting things to share, and is the kind of person you feel you already know before having ever met her. Here's how Jenny uses Google+.

Time Used per Day: 1/2 hour to 1 hour Primary Goals of Usage: Find new, interesting, useful information; share the neat things I find/make/do; and share cool stuff about photography, video, and sharing that can link back to Kodak Number of Original Posts per Day: 10 (5 personal posts + 5 photography or social media posts) Number of Shared Posts per Day: 2 Number of Comments per Day: 5 Links to My Blog or Projects per Day: 1 on my personal blog-www.ljcfyi.com-and 1 for Kodak's blog-http://1000words.kodak.com/thousandwords/ Number of Off-Topic Posts per Day: I guess the personal stuff is off topic: 5 personal.

Typical Strategy: Add value to people's lives when it comes to photos, video, printing, and sharing by making it all easier, simpler, and fun. Hopefully our products can do this for them also and they become/remain a happy customer of our brand.

Special Uses: What makes my toe start tapping is the potential for customer support in Google+. How could it play out and how would we support it?

Notes: There is huge potential with Google+, not just via our partic.i.p.ation in streams and huddles as a brand, but also in how our products can integrate with it! It's exciting!

Jenny points out one of the facets I am most excited about when thinking of Google+ in a business setting: customer support. Imagine you've just purchased a digital picture frame with Wi-Fi from Kodak, and you can't figure out how your family can email pictures to the frame. In Jenny's view, you could just connect with someone from Kodak on Google+ and explain your issue. Then, the representative from Kodak might invite you into a video Hangout to talk you through the process. It's exciting, for sure.