Google+ for Business

In this book, top social media consultant and Google+ early adopter Chris Brogan shows businesspeople how to leverage its immense potential. This friendly, conversational, business-savvy guide helps businesspeople identify where Google+ is most likely to offer them value, avoid missteps and wasted energy, and get results fast. This is a business book, not a technology book. Business decision-makers will learn: How Google+ is different, and why the difference matters Where to start after you sign up How to define effective Google+ strategy and tactics How to integrate Google+ into current online/digital strategies How customers are using Google+ -- and what they're looking for How businesses are using Google+ -- with case studies from small businesses, enterprises, entrepreneurs, and employees How to use Circles to organize contacts and interactions far more effectively How to create posts that draw attention and spark conversations How to build a simple, low-cost content strategy How to grow an audience and share others' valuable content Tips and tactics for going way beyond the basics

Introduction 1 Chapter 1: How Did I Get Here? 3 Why Is Google the Next Big Thing? 4 Speculating on the Future 5 Facebook Is Better. Twitter Is Better. LinkedIn Is for Business. 6 My First Touch with Google 6 This Sounds Like Other Social Networks 8 Why Is Google So Interesting? 8 The Sharing Culture Grows and Grows 9 Another Social Network to Manage? Really? 10 What Do People Do on Google ? 10 Google Ghost Town: One for the Naysayers 12 The Average Isn't All That It Seems 12 What People Are Saying and What It Might Mean to You 13 Why I'm Still Betting on Google 15 Endnotes 18 Chapter 2: The Opportunity of Google 19 Where Google Fits in the Business Ecosystem 20 Google Opportunities 21 Preparing Yourself for Opportunity 23 The Personal Touch and Personality 24 Blending Business and Personal 25 Start Early 26 What You Can Accomplish with Google 26 Opportunity Is What You Make of It 27 Chapter 3: A Day in the Life 29 My Personal Day in the Life of Google 30 Interview with Scott Monty, Ford Motor Company 31 Interview with Greg Pak, Comic Book Author and Screen Writer 32 Interview with Jenny Cisney, Kodak's Chief Blogger 33 Interview with Darren Rowse, Problogger 34 Interview with Jacqueline Carly, Fitness Professional 36 Some Partially Fictitious Day-in-the-Life-of Suggestions 37 The Author 37 The Real Estate Agent 38 The Reporter 39 The Sales Executive 39 The Educator 40 The Photographer 41 The Business Executive 42 Wrapping Up 43 Chapter 4: Profiles and Examples of Google Business Users 45 Mike Elgan--Media Maker 46 Matt Dooley--Intercontinental Hotels 47 Deepak Chopra--Spiritual Advisor 48 Rick Bakas--Wine Personality 49 Bill Gross--Serial Entrepreneur 49 Jeremiah Owyang--Analyst, Altimeter 50 What About a Brand Page Doing Something Interesting? 51 Chapter 5: First Moves with Google 53 Profiles Matter for Business 54 Using Your Google Profile for Business 54 Businesses Are Made of People 54 Connections Before the Sale 55 How You Appear to Others 56 Your About Page: The Basics 60 Start at the Top 61 Your Profile Photo 61 Editing Your Name 62 Editing Your Tagline 62 The Most Important Part of Your Profile: The Introduction 63 Employment: A Useful Hack for You 64 The Links Section 64 Moving on from the Profile 65 Chapter 6: Circles 67 What Circling Means 68 How Do I Know Who Is Circling Me Back? 68 Reciprocal Follows 70 Creating Circles and Naming Them 70 Outbound Circles and Inbound Circles 71 Sharing Circles 72 Ordering Circles 72 Who Should You Follow? 74 Friendsurfing 74 Do I Know You? 74 Should You Circle Celebrities? 75 More About Outbound Circles 75 Circle Tricks 76 Circles Aren't a One-Time Thing 77 Wrapping Up 77 Chapter 7: Posting in the Stream 79 Google Isn't a Blog, and It's More Than Twitter 80 Posting on Google 81 The Sharing Options Under the Main Post Area 83 Formatting Posted Text 84 Posting Photos 85 Posting Video 86 Posting Place and Location Data 86 Other Post Options 87 Disabling Comments and Reshare 88 The Importance of Sharing 88 Chapter 8: Video, Hangouts, and More 91 Adding Video to Google 92 YouTube and Your Business 92 Hangouts and Your Business 93 Creating Video 95 Chapter 9: A Simple Content Strategy 97 How Others Approach Content Sharing 98 Jennifer Cisney (Kodak) 98 Michael Dell (CEO, Dell) 99 Scott Monty (Ford Motor Company) 99 Bill Gerth (Social Media Lead at Comcast) 100 The Biggest Content Difference (So Far) on Google for Business Users 100 Restaurant Owner 101 Community Manager/Developer 102 Online Store 103 Professional Speaker or Thought Leader 104 Writer, Photographer, and Artist 105 Posting to Build Connections 106 Value Your Audience's Attention 106 Chapter 10: The "Warm" Sell 107 Attention Is a Gift 108 Make It About Them 108 Turn Self-Promotion into Appreciation 108 Don't Waste Chances to Sell 109 The Warm Sell--Warming Up a Sale 109 Getting to Know You 110 The Difficult Sell 110 Affiliate Marketing and Google 112 The Two-Tier Sale 113 A Power Move--Mention Your Competitor 114 If You're Not Directly in Sales 115 Chapter 11: Growing an Audience 117 Quality over Quantity 118 Measuring the Size of Your Audience 118 Value Your Audience 119 What Interests Your Audience 120 What Community Means to People 121 Bring a Campfire 122 Connecting People Is Key 122 The Time in Between Is Important 123 You Are a Media Company 124 Make Your Buyer the Hero 124 Sailing the High C's of Audience Building 124 Chapter 12: Sharing 127 The Value of Content Curation 128 Sharing as a Practice 130 Building Interest 131 You Are a Magazine Publisher 131 Commenting on What You Share 132 What Does Your Magazine Look Like? 133 Two Resources to Help with Your Sharing 133 A Sharing Workflow 134 Can Sharing Add Direct Business Value? 135 Chapter 13: Power Plays in Google 137 John Herman: The Hangout Entertainer 138 Michael Dell: The Wide Open CEO 139 Muhammad Yunus: Changing the World 139 Mark Horvath: Handing Out Pizza, Socks, and Hope 140 Robert Scoble and Rackspace 142 My Power Plays 143 Chapter 14: Setting Up Your Business Page 147 The Look and Feel of the Business Pages 148 Rules for Business Pages 148 Coming Soon (or Already Here) 149 How Businesses Might Use These Pages 150 Interesting Business Pages of Note 151 The Corcoran Group: https://plus.google.com/106654503918907830147/posts 151 The Dallas Cowboys: https://plus.google.com/106281600940449244340/posts 152 Intel: https://plus.google.com/111660275132722215045/posts 152 Edelman Digital: https://plus.google.com/106069281351191490929/posts 153 Forbes: https://plus.google.com/116243183460563505245/posts 153 NASA: https://plus.google.com/102371865054310418159/posts 153 The Role of Your Business Page in Doing Business 154 A Robust Business Card 155 Chapter 15: Feeling Lucky? 157 Home Bases, Outposts, and Search 158 Social Signals 158 Shifting Sands 160 How People Come to Matter 161 Serving Suggestions for Using Google to Improve Your Search Results 162 Use Your Profile 163 Taking Full Advantage of Google to Help Your Business 163 Stay Organic 164 Chapter 16: Tactics 167 Searchability 168 Lead Generation 169 Informational Offerings 170 Lead Nurturing 171 Prospecting 171 Customer Service and Community Management 172 Direct Selling 173 Traffic Enhancement to Your Main Site 174 There's More 175 Chapter 17: Recipes for Using Google 177 How to Find More People to Circle on Google 178 How to Be Ready for Business on Google 179 Promoting Yourself and Your Business on Google 182 Hangouts on Google : The Best Opportunity You Rarely Take 184 How to Use Google for Sales 186 How to Set Up Your Local Business on Google 187 How to Use a Google Business Page to Your Best Advantage 188 The Personal Versus Business Page Recipe 190 Are There More Recipes You Want? 191 Chapter 18: Next Steps 193 Starting Moves 194 Listening 195 Posting 196 Sharing 197 Video 198 Hangouts 199 Photos 200 Commenting 201 Business Pages 202 Some Final Thoughts 202 A Note About This Book 203 Appendix A: Interesting People to Circle on Google 205 Additional Plus Starter Packs 207 Artists 207 Brands 207 Businesses 207 Celebs 207 Photographers 208 Other Sites and Resources to Check Out 208 Index 209