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The Complete Business Guide to Google+, Today’s Hottest New Social Network!
Every week, millions more people sign up for Google+: Suddenly, it’s today’s hottest new social network. Google+ for Business reveals why Google+ offers business opportunities available nowhere else--and helps you grab those opportunities now, before your competitors do. Top social media professional speaker and business advisor Chris Brogan shows how to get great results fast, without wasting time--and without wasting a dime. Brogan guides you through using Google+ for promotion, customer service, community building, referrals, collaboration, and a whole lot more. You won’t just master innovative new tools like Circles and Hangouts: You’ll use them to generate more customers and more cash!
Google+ for Business: How Did I Get Here?
Google+ for Business: Tips for Building Your Profile (video)
Download the sample pages (includes Chapter 1 and Index)
Introduction: Google+ Is So New 1
Who Am I? 2
What’s in This Book 2
Chapter 1: How Did I Get Here? 5
Why Is Google+ the Next Big Thing? 6
Speculating on the Future 7
Facebook Is Better. Twitter Is Better. LinkedIn Is for Business 8
My First Touch with Google+ 8
This Sounds Like Other Social Networks 10
Why Is Google+ So Interesting? 10
The Sharing Culture Grows and Grows 11
Another Social Network to Manage? Really? 12
What Do People Do on Google+? 12
Chapter 2: The Opportunity of Google+ 15
Where Google+ Fits in the Business Ecosystem 16
Google+ Opportunities 17
Preparing Yourself for Opportunity 19
The Personal Touch and Personality 20
Blending Business and Personal 21
Start Early 22
What You Can Accomplish with Google+ 22
Opportunity Is What You Make of It 23
Chapter 3: A Day in the Life 25
My Personal Day in the Life of Google+ 26
Interview with Scott Monty, Ford Motor Company 27
Interview with Greg Pak, Comic Book Author and Screen Writer 28
Interview with Jenny Cisney, Kodak’s Chief Blogger 29
Interview with Darren Rowse, Problogger 30
Interview with Jacqueline Carly, Fitness Professional 32
Some Partially Fictitious Day-in-the-Life-of Suggestions 33
The Author 33
The Real Estate Agent 34
The Reporter 35
The Sales Executive 35
The Educator 36
The Photographer 37
The Business Executive 38
Wrapping Up 39
Chapter 4: First Moves with Google+ 41
Profiles Matter for Business 42
Using Your Google+ Profile for Business 42
Businesses Are Made of People 42
Connections Before the Sale 43
How You Appear to Others 44
Your About Page: The Basics 48
Start at the Top 49
Your Profile Photo 49
Editing Your Name 50
Editing Your Summary Line 50
The Most Important Part of Your Profile: The Introduction 51
Employment: A Useful Hack for You 52
The Links Section 52
Moving on from the Profile 53
Chapter 5: Circles 55
What Circling Means 56
How Do I Know Who Is Circling Me Back? 56
Reciprocal Follows 58
Creating Circles and Naming Them 58
Outbound Circles and Inbound Circles 59
Sharing Circles 60
Ordering Circles 60
Who Should You Follow? 62
Friendsurfing 62
Do I Know You? 62
Should You Circle Celebrities? 63
More About Outbound Circles 63
Circle Tricks 64
Circles Aren’t a One-Time Thing 65
Wrapping Up 65
Chapter 6: Posting in the Stream 67
Google+ Isn’t a Blog, and It’s More Than Twitter 68
Posting on Google+ 69
The Sharing Options Under the Main Post Area 71
Formatting Posted Text 72
Posting Photos 73
Posting Video 74
Posting Place and Location Data 74
Other Post Options 75
Disabling Comments and Reshare 76
The Importance of Sharing 76
Chapter 7: A Simple Content Strategy 79
How Others Approach Content Sharing 80
Jennifer Cisney (Kodak) 80
Michael Dell (CEO, Dell) 81
Scott Monty (Ford Motor Company) 81
Bill Gerth (Social Media Lead at Comcast) 82
The Biggest Content Difference (So Far) on Google+ for Business Users 82
Restaurant Owner 83
Community Manager/Developer 84
Online Store 85
Professional Speaker or Thought Leader 86
Writer, Photographer, and Artist 87
Posting to Build Connections 88
Value Your Audience’s Attention 88
Chapter 8: The “Warm” Sell 89
Attention Is a Gift 90
Make It About Them 90
Turn Self-Promotion into Appreciation 90
Don’t Waste Chances to Sell 91
The Warm Sell--Warming Up a Sale 91
Getting to Know You 92
The Difficult Sell 92
Affiliate Marketing and Google+ 94
The Two-Tier Sale 95
A Power Move--Mention Your Competitor 96
If You’re Not Directly in Sales 97
Chapter 9: Growing an Audience 99
Quality over Quantity 100
Measuring the Size of Your Audience 100
Value Your Audience 101
What Interests Your Audience 102
What Community Means to People 103
Bring a Campfire 104
Connecting People Is Key 104
The Time in Between Is Important 105
You Are a Media Company 106
Make Your Buyer the Hero 106
Sailing the High C’s of Audience Building 106
Chapter 10: Sharing 109
The Value of Content Curation 110
Sharing as a Practice 112
Building Interest 113
You Are a Magazine Publisher 113
Commenting on What You Share 114
What Does Your Magazine Look Like? 115
Two Resources to Help with Your Sharing 115
A Sharing Workflow 116
Can Sharing Add Direct Business Value? 117
Chapter 11: Power Plays in Google+ 119
John Herman: The Hangout Entertainer 120
Michael Dell: The Wide Open CEO 121
Muhammad Yunus: Changing the World 121
Mark Horvath: Handing Out Pizza, Socks, and Hope 122
Robert Scoble and Rackspace 124
My Power Plays 125
Chapter 12: Setting Up Your Business Page 129
The Look and Feel of the Business Pages 130
Rules for Business Pages 130
Coming Soon (or Already Here) 131
How Businesses Might Use These Pages 132
Interesting Business Pages of Note 133
The Corcoran Group: https://plus.google.com/106654503918907830147/posts 133
The Dallas Cowboys: https://plus.google.com/106281600940449244340/posts 134
Intel: https://plus.google.com/111660275132722215045/posts 134
Edelman Digital: https://plus.google.com/106069281351191490929/posts 135
Forbes: https://plus.google.com/116243183460563505245/posts 135
NASA: https://plus.google.com/102371865054310418159/posts 135
The Role of Your Business Page in Doing Business 136
A Robust Business Card 137
Chapter 13: Feeling Lucky? 139
Home Bases, Outposts, and Search 140
Social Signals 140
Shifting Sands 142
How People Come to Matter 143
Serving Suggestions for Using Google+ to Improve Your Search Results 144
Use Your Profile 145
Taking Full Advantage of Google+ to Help Your Business 145
Stay Organic 146
Chapter 14: Next Steps 149
Starting Moves 150
Listening 151
Posting 152
Sharing 153
Video 154
Hangouts 155
Photos 156
Commenting 157
Business Pages 158
Some Final Thoughts 158
A Note About This Book 159
Index 161