Google+ for Business Part 4

Takeaway: This executive is saying that she reads Google+ like a news feed. Depending on how she sets up her circles, this might give her targeted news that pertains to her business. Twitter can be used this way, as well, but the richness of what people can share gives her more interest in using Google+ at present.

Wrapping Up.

This chapter looked at how others use Google+ for their own business pursuits and interests. You've read reports from busy executives of leading technology companies to authors, to fitness professionals, and many more. Including some of my "fict.i.tious" efforts at the end, there are serving suggestions galore for you to start considering in building your own usage of Google+.

Chapter 4, "First Moves with Google+," talks about the first moves you can make with Google+. This is a how-to chapter that gives you ideas about implementing some of what you've read about here and a lot of the nitty-gritty details for setting up and using Google+ for your needs.

4. First Moves with Google+.

You've signed up for Google+. Now what? In some cases, you've purchased this book because someone in the organization or a colleague told you, "You've really got to get on this Google+ thing, and you've got to start now, before everyone's here!" And some part of you said, "YES! That's exactly what I'll do! I'll sign up, get in there, and then I'll... I'll...."

Yeah, that happens. Don't worry about it. Hopefully, Chapter 3, "A Day in the Life," gave you some ideas by walking you through some of the day-in-the-life scenarios. Now, you want to dig in and start implementing some of what you've learned up until now. This chapter covers the steps and ideas of implementation at a higher level (with great detail here about your profile page and your privacy settings) and then Chapters 5, 6, and 7 discuss some more detail.

Consider profiles first, and then you can get into the other first moves.

Profiles Matter for Business.

Profiles might make or break most people's immediate experience with Google+. Why? Because the profile is the first signal you have when connecting with someone. It's the first chance to make an impression. It's a lot like a business card blended with a peek at someone sitting in a waiting room. Because of that, it's important.

Using Your Google+ Profile for Business.

In the early days of Google+, users were concerned with how they could best represent their businesses on the service. The first attempt at business pages was made by users simply changing the name on the account to whatever company they wanted to represent, and making their logo stand for their screen name.

But Google wasn't ready for this, and so it requested that companies take those accounts offline for a while, until it was ready to unveil its true intentions for business profiles. Some people were up in arms about it. Others felt like Google didn't understand how people would want to use this platform for business.

Here's another take: People could most certainly use Google+ for business long before Google was ready to release "official" business pages, even without violating any terms of service. People keep confusing the technology of "Google+ business pages" with what a business person does: connects with potential buyers and existing customers, and builds relationships that add value to both parties. Business pages are a great additional piece of technology to have, but by simply being on Google+ as a person representing your business, there's much to do.

Businesses Are Made of People.

Chapter 3 includes some interviews with people actively using Google+ as representatives of business. In most cases, people are highlighted who represented larger companies, but a few small business owners are included as well.

Jennifer Cisney is Chief Blogger for Kodak, but she also represents herself on Google+. When she shares interesting posts about photography and video, we know she's sharing something that Kodak will approve of as part of her role, but it also comes off as authentically sharing her interest in the subject matter of the films or photos.

Scott Monty is the head of social media for Ford, and as such, his stream has a lot of content about Detroit and surrounding cities (he lives there) and also talks about the automotive industry. However, just as with Jenny Cisney, there's a lot of Scott in there, and these personalities matter.

Darren Rowse of Problogger is his business. When people connect to his stream on Google+, they see pictures of his family that give you a sense of him but that also promote his Digital Photography School. When you look at what he's sharing, there's a natural inclination to want to get involved in his business.

In all cases, these people are representative of their business. They are not the "official Kodak page" or the "official Ford page" or the "Problogger" page. These people represent a business that you can get to know, and that can lead us to helpful information that can improve your world. Businesses are made of people-you don't need to talk to Ford. You can talk to Scott.

Connections Before the Sale.

Google+ is a platform that can enable people to connect to people, and you, as a representative of a business, have some steps to take to build those relationships. One of the most important parts to get your best business value out of using Google+ comes from getting your profile put together, and building the other human elements that people will respond to upon seeing it.

If you look up Chris Zoller from PolarUSA (maker of fitness accessories and the like), his bio reads as follows: "Customer experience thinker, community manager, content creator, father, triathlete. I like creating amazing consumer experiences by combining today's tech with good old-fashioned local hardware store love."

This is the kind of person you'd want to do business with. You might think, "Huh, maybe I should check out what Polar sells, because I'm sure Chris wouldn't work for a company full of jerks." Wouldn't you want that kind of reaction for your business?

Chris is sharing stories and information of interest to the fitness community. If you're interested in this, you can see something of interest through what Chris shares. But when you go to his profile and see his language, about hoping to give his community "good old-fashioned local hardware store love," you have a strong sense of what kind of person Chris is, and by extension, you share those feelings with the brand Chris represents: Polar.

Mike Bowler is in the real estate business. He does training, consulting, and selling. When you visit his stream, you can find a mix of local Michigan interest items (which lets you know that he cares about his community and it gives you interesting items from the area he services), stories from the real estate community at large, praise to his colleagues and community members, videos from Mike about what interests him, and more. The humanity of Mike shines through and says to you, if you're in the market to buy or sell a property in Michigan or if you want to train your team of real estate professionals, that Mike is the man for you. Business is made up of people.

If you're Richard Binhammer at Dell, you're part of a larger corporation, and you have a somewhat more defined role. It's a lot easier to be personal and personable, and yet the company requires that Richard shows results that justify his time on various social networks such as Google+. To that end, Richard almost has it easier than if you represent a small business.

If you are president of a small design firm, you have a lot more of the burden to represent the company. And yet, if you don't balance your personal self with your business self, you'll miss the opportunity to build relationships before the sale.

Now let's start on profiles, and then work from there.

How You Appear to Others.

Often when established users of Google+ come across someone new (such as yourself, perhaps), the first view they have is of Figure 4-1.

Figure 4-1 Brief user information in Google+.

Now, when people see this, they can decide a few things. "Hmmm, I've never heard of Chris, nor have I heard of Human Business Works, so maybe I won't circle him." Or they might think, "Well, he runs a company of some kind, so maybe that means something to me." But because they see that information, they have just a little bit more to go on before deciding in a split second whether they want to add you back to a circle of their choosing.

This is just the first part of the importance of making sure your profile is in good working order. There are more steps, but initially people make choices.

Other things to consider, obviously, while looking at the previous picture and text is whether your avatar profile is helpful to people deciding whether to add you to one of their circles. If you have a cute, fluffy kitty, it's less likely that you represent some business of significance to the people viewing you-unless you're fortunate enough to be in the cute, fluffy kitty business.

That preview of your profile is people's first view of you-their first inkling into whether they should consider connecting with you. That's a great reason to give it some attention.

Danie Ware's profile is succinct but gives you a sense that she's creative, artistic, multi-faceted, and definitely not your typical person to connect with (see Figure 4-2). The beauty in this is that when you stand out in the crowd, you get more opportunity. Danie's clearly a "Plate-Spinner Extraordinaire."

Figure 4-2 Danie Ware. Courtesy of Danie Ware, http://danieware.com.

David B. Thomas used to work with me, and we've known each other for a few years now. He gives you insight into what matters most by leading with being a dad and husband (see Figure 4-3). In his business section, he starts with his new book with links right to where one can purchase it. And then Dave finishes with his work history and a link to his professional site. What I like is that his profile is well rounded.

Figure 4-3 David B. Thomas.

Nick Bilton's profile is brief, but in there are so many interesting bits that one simply needs to learn more (see Figure 4-4). He writes for The New York Times, but that's not nearly as cool as the fact he cofounded NYCResistor and that he's "jumped out of 50 perfectly good airplanes." I admire the brevity, plus the ability to get to know about the man behind the column.

Figure 4-4 Nick Bilton.

Rick Klau makes good use of links, both in his introduction and in the sidebar of his profile (see Figure 4-5). He leads with his CV, giving one the sense of his capabilities, plus a hint of what you could do with him professionally. Rick also uses the "sc.r.a.pbook" photos above his profile to good effect, leading you in to want to learn more.

Figure 4-5 Rick Klau.

Scott McCloud's sc.r.a.pbook photos to the right of his profile are the best part (see Figure 4-6). His clever use of an eye plus time equals a comic's progression is the perfect shorthand for his most well-known work, the book Understanding Comics. Scott's also done a lot to use appropriate anchor text (the text that shows up in blue to indicate a link), so that he can use Google+ to try to boost his ranking for the terms "online comics" and "public speaking and teaching."

Figure 4-6 Scott McCloud. Top right graphic copyright Chris Ware.

Your About Page: The Basics.

The elements of your profile page are a photo avatar, your name, a small "summary line" below your name, a spot for your introduction, "bragging rights," your occupation, your employment, your education, places where you've lived, relationship status, a sense of what you're looking for, your birthday, your gender, other names (in case of a maiden name or a common spelling error), a nickname, and whether your information should be visible in a search (see Figure 4-7). Besides this, in the right column, there is a spot for links, where you can insert links to other social networks plus point people to important URLs that matter to you and your business.

Figure 4-7 My profile page.

You can also choose whether to let people send you email via your profile page. They can't see your actual Gmail account address, but they can click a b.u.t.ton (if you expose it) that lets them fill out a form and send it to you.

Via this About page, you can also control whether you want people to view who you've added to your circles. You can choose to hide that, and then people see only who has added you to their circles via your About page. (I'm not sure of the value to show or hide that data, but I currently have mine hidden, so as not to upset or offend anyone that I haven't chosen to add to a circle yet.) The other tabs on your profile include the following: * Posts, which shows what you've posted * Photos, which shows people photos that you've uploaded where you and others have been tagged in the same photo, and photos that others have chosen to share of you * Videos, which shows videos that you've uploaded to Google+ (and not your YouTube account specifically) * +1s that you've shared via the +1 function OFFSITE (versus the +1s you give things on Google+) * Buzz, which is a link to those things you've connected to your Google Buzz account

Start at the Top.

This feels like a lot of stuff to cover. When you get to your About page, click the Edit Profile b.u.t.ton in the upper right, and now, when you hover over various sections of the page, you see that you can click them to edit them.

For instance, if you click the little blue Change Photo link below your profile photo (or avatar, as it is often called), the system enables you to upload a photo or pick one from your existing alb.u.ms, pictures people have posted of you, mobile uploads, and so on.

Your Profile Photo.

Your profile photo tells people a lot about you. If you choose something too formal (those photos that look like they're the grown-up equivalent of a school photo, complete with a cloud-like background), people will get one sort of impression.

The opposite can happen when you choose a red-eyed (from flash) snap of you where someone else was in the photo, but you've cut them out because it was a good smile. That never comes off as especially professional or inviting, either. There's a kind of happy medium you should aim for in these matters.

Shoot for something personable that might also give a sense about who you are outside of work, if that's acceptable and of value. For instance, perhaps you're not only the vice president of your bank, but maybe you're an avid fly-fishing enthusiast as well. This would make for a great avatar photo, insofar as it gives another view of you and humanizes you to your audience.

Following are some tips about how to choose avatar photos: * Don't include photos of your kids as an avatar. People friend you, not your children (or pets).

* Photos of your company logo are far less engaging than photos of you.

* Cartoonized avatars are only cool if you're an ill.u.s.trator or someone in a business that relates to these.

* Check whether you think your photo qualifies for "also looks a bit like a serial killer." (Some people choose "interesting" photos to represent themselves on the web.)

Editing Your Name.

The Google+ profile editor enables you to edit your name as it appears in Google+. You might be inclined to add something to your name that you want people to think about when they see you. But if you change your profile name here, by clicking your name and then typing in something new, you might run into a problem.

If you edit your name on the Google+ Profile page, it changes that information on all other Google accounts related to this one. Meaning, if you change your Google+ profile name to "Dave 'The Incredible Plumber' Taylor," it's going to change your Gmail account and your Google Calendar account, and everything else that's tied to it. So, in short, you might not want to do that.

Editing Your Summary Line.