Courtesy of altimetergroup.com

The Enterprise Surprise

Perhaps Google+ has finally realized that it will never be the ‘next’ Facebook – whatever has happened, Google+ may finally be heading in the right direction.

Google+ already sparks business interest because of its ‘SEO’ potential, but now with new features like restricted posts for app customers – which gives businesses the power to control who sees their posts – more businesses are sitting up and taking notice.

The app market is growing, and competition is one the rise. Microsoft just bought Yammer for 1.2 billion dollars, so Google+ is looking to reclaim some of the market. Recently, Google has been downplaying its similarities to Facebook, instead calling itself an ‘upgrade.’

Interesting tactic, seeing as when Google+ was launched there were millions of people all over the internet who said that it was built to be a direct challenge to Facebook. You have to admire the resilience of a platform that re-invents itself after initial ‘failure.’

The ‘enterprise’ version of Google+ will be a social network for businesses. People will be able to communicate on this platform, outside of email, at work. At least, that’s the idea.

Google Apps certainly has the juice to compete with Microsoft’s ‘Yammer’ and perhaps even more established business networks like LinkedIn.

A Few Fancy New Features

• Video meetings integrated with gmail, docs and calendar
• Admin controls for business users
• Company specific viewing of certain posts
• Google+ calendar integrated directly with Hangouts

Right now, these features are free until the end of 2013, says Google. This makes me worry that someone deep in the bowels of Google is going to monetize the heck out of these features in the future. That’s one way to permanently end this social network.

Unless Google can get millions of people using Google+ compulsively at work, demanding money for their services will NEVER work. Google may be a great business platform, but it could easily be ruined by over-ambition or money-grubbing.

These features are only available to Google apps customers by the way, so it may not be ideal for the small business with 0 investment.

Time will tell whether this bold move by Google will pay off. Personally, I think it’s a nod in the right direction. Google+ is great with apps, and its SEO potential is invaluable.

On SEO alone, Google has already snagged some business platforms. Small businesses are using it, strictly for that. But as I said, this could go one of two ways. Either it’s an excellent play by Google, or another desperate attempt to make Google+ relevant before it fizzles out.

Do you like the new Google+ enterprise features, and will they make you use Google+ more often? I want to hear it from you!

Courtesy of techland.time.com

#1: Do Something Original That Has Merit

Every social networking site that works, does so because people can’t get enough of it. But why bother on Google+ when the other social sites are more fun? Google+ needs to invent something that will keep people coming back and spending time on the platform – because they are so addicted to it.

#2: Attract The Female Vote

Google+ is 70% male, and stats have already proven that its woman that tend to share more online. Perhaps their growth has been stunted because their site mainly appeals to business orientated men? Either way, we think they need to attract more women. Pinterest did, and they’re the ones doing so well.

#3: Redesign The Redesign

Google+ recently redesigned their site…and made it worse. Props to Google for listening to the world and changing it, but boy did they go horribly wrong. Get some super-designers over from Youtube and do it again. Try to be different. Google+ looks too much like a software dashboard, instead of a fun social network.

#4: Focus on The Hangouts Feature

Google+ made a splash for a while with their innovative ‘Hangouts’ video feature. People enjoyed it, but it wasn’t enough to keep them coming back. Google+ only has about 6 million active users, and these users aren’t there to have fun, they’re there for SEO. Perhaps Google+ needs to focus on what has already worked? Develop Hangouts!

#5: Lose The People Flooding

Circles was a nice idea that never translated into decent user-ship. Controlling your privacy like a paranoid schizophrenic was fun for a few hours, then the people flooding started. Instead of creating streamlined lists with friends, everyone ended up with Circles full of strangers. LinkedIn knew that wouldn’t work!

#6: No Sense of Personality on Google+

Google+ doesn’t allow an individual to create a profile based on their personality. It’s all very limited and controlled. You can have a presence on Google+, but you can’t leave messages for your friends, or create a social environment that will make your friends want to check out how you express yourself online.

#7: Go Back To Basics

Google+ launched with a lot of hype. But they’ve always been too complex, swapping simplicity for cleverness. It’s time to cut
out the parts of Google+ that are clever, and instead make them simple. Google+ needs to go back to the basics of social network creation.

#8: The Last Resort

If Google+ continues to fail, they’ll need a miracle to recover. Luckily, Google has deep pockets. In fact, Google should just buy something that works, and integrate it into Google+. If they do this soon, the platform might be saved.

How do you think Google+ could improve? I want to know!

Courtesy of bhtdownloads.com

The Google Mega-Network

Google has been ferociously burrowing into the market as of late. Funnily enough, very few people are taking notice. With bold steps like social media integration into Google Analytics, the Google+ rise and integration into nearly all websites, and Google owned Youtube’s new social slant – we have to ask ourselves – what ARE they doing? The answer seems simple.

They are building a large scale brand-based network of social sites and integration tools. In other words, they are establishing themselves as one of the most widespread and commonly used social mega-network on the internet. Combine the power of search and social, and you’ll begin to get a better idea of what they’re after.

While Google+ certainly can’t compete with Facebook on a basic social networking level, there’s no denying that it does overall. When you combine all Google branded tools, networks and products – you get something BIGGER than Facebook. Think about it. Facebook is going to reach a billion users this year. But Google already receives 1 billion unique visitors every month.

If they figure out a way to get all of these people to have to use other tools, that are Google branded, (for social connectivity reasons) then they will come out on top. We can already see it. Log in to Google+ or Youtube with your Gmail account. Log-in to any Google tool with your Gmail account. So what does this mean for social marketers?

Preparing For The Google Dominated Internet

It’s creeping closer with every new announcement or product launch they promote. Google wants to carve out its own private piece of the internet. For you, as a social marketer – it means getting on the bandwagon now. If you haven’t been using Google tools or networks, start to use them.

Join the mega-network that they’re trying to create. Get in early, and establish yourself where it counts. There was a lot of conjecture about Google+ and its success. In retrospect, Google+ was ALWAYS going to succeed. Google have cleverly made sure of that. There are far too many benefits related to search, that marketers can’t ignore.

While Google has had a string of failures, it’s led them up to now, 2012. This year, we’ll see more social companies bought by the search giant, and more social technology fall under the Google brand. Learn to use these tools and sites to your benefit, and you’ll be an early adopter. They always make more money. Don’t ignore the signs! Prepare for Google social domination!

What do you think Google’s next step will be on their road to eclipsing Facebook as an online social power? We want to hear from you, our community!

Courtesy of bloggerspath.com

The Social Network Vision

From the beginning Google+ launched a massive campaign, and was described as a threat to Facebook, or a network that will rival Facebook and perhaps even slow its growth. Whether it was bloggers or Google itself that perpetrated this idea, we’ll never know. The point is, that Google+ was NEVER a threat to Facebook.

Those of us who have worked extensively on Facebook, understand that this eternal social network machine has no real rivals. How can it? Facebook is an island. Many have copied it, many have tried to outdo it, and they’ve all failed. So, you should start seeing Google+ not as a weak competitor, but as something on its own.

How Google+ Can Impact Your Business

Slowly but surely, experts are realizing that Google+ has merit in other areas. Areas that are highly beneficial to companies looking for exposure, and business presence on the internet. There are numerous search benefits to having a Google+ social account. Google will index your plus account, and rank it very well. This is page one stuff, and enough to interest any savvy social marketer.

Besides the search benefits, Google+ is proving to be a great place to connect with influencers online. Conversation is far more vibrant on Google+, and industry experts tend to share more commentary there, than on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn. It’s become something of a ‘niche’ paradise.

Then there are the wonderful project management features that have been built into Google+. With circles that you can transform into mini client bases, and hangouts that you can use for conferencing – Google+ is more like an all-in-one, online based social network – where you can build long term, repeat business from existing clients.

Why Use Google+ At All?

Google+ improves your overall SEO, and allows you to branch out, making connections with influencers that you can later transform into business partnerships or social marketing opportunities. It’s also a unique way to create small company related circles, so that you can build up your connections within a client’s company. This is very advantageous to businesses that want to retain long term clients.

Google+ business pages can be instrumental to a well planned social strategy. Put your business on the map by getting your page started today. With a fresh strategy for 2012, your Google+ page will help you drive traffic and support long term relationships. You want to get in on that action early!

Add Google+ to your social strategy now. Use it to increase your visibility, authority and likeability on the internet.

Do you think Google+ is worth using? What have your experiences been with this new social network, so far? We want to hear from you!

This will change everything.

Courtesy of crazyengineers.com

Your Google+ Business Page

We’ve spoken previously about the precarious nature of Google+, and how the social network seemed to be losing ground. Now with the launch of their business pages, we’re bound to see another boost in signups, and people returning to complete a very advantageous business presence on the platform. Google is indexing each Google+ business page super fast, and this alone could change the tide for Google+.

They’ve included a handy little feature called Direct Connect, which allows Google search users to add a ‘+’ in front of their search term, if they would like to find a company listed on Google+. In other words, if you want to find our presence there, simply type +socialmediamagic into the Google search bar. This is quick, easy, and very appealing for businesses that want to secure prominent keywords.

The Impact of Your Google+ Page

Now your business can take advantage of the other features on Google+, for your company page. The hangouts feature alone could open several new revenue streams for you, as your business delves into livecasting, webinars and live chat with your fans and clients.

Your circles will get an enormous boost from Direct Connect, as fans are able to find you easily, then +1 or add you to their circles, right from a basic Google search. The page layout seems remarkably Facebook-esque, but this isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it will give new users the confidence to create beautiful profiles for their businesses.

Courtesy of launch.is

Should You Get a Google+ Page?

Yes. There are enough benefits now – so you’ll want to establish a community on this network. You’ll be able to use Google+ as a promotional tool, and even a cloud based work tool – as your team members, managers and clients will all be in certain circles. Google+ has only just launched this new feature, so it will be some time until they’ve sorted out the kinks.

One small thing we don’t like, is that fans can’t post on your business page wall. Having said that, we can’t expect Google+ to be exactly like Facebook. Are they rivals yet? No. Facebook is still miles ahead of Google+, and we don’t expect this to change anytime soon. As a platform in its own right however, Google+ is worth including in your next social marketing plan.

All you have to do is sign up for a Google+ profile, and on the homepage click on the Google+ create a page. It will take you to a set up screen, where you can fill in your details and get started. The sooner you do it the better, so get cracking!

Do you like the new Google+ business pages? Please tell us what you like or don’t like about the new features.

Courtesy of vsee.com

Using Google+ Hangouts

The Hangouts section of Google+ is where a lot of the main action happens between friends, groups, business contacts, or anyone willing to join in the conversation and meet new people. It’s basically a live video chatroom, where you can speak with up to nine different people at once. Don’t worry about the limit right now, Google+ is going to expand it soon. First you’ll have to invite people to your ‘chatroom,’ and you can do this by selecting one of three options.

Invite friends by email that aren’t on Google+, invite friends from your circles or leave it public, so anyone can decide to pop in. Once all of your friends have arrived, you can chat to them in person, or use the text chat option as well. There is a Youtube button that means you can watch videos with the people in your Hangout. In the extras section, you can even work on a Google document with your group.

How Do You Use Hangouts For Work?

Google+ is a great tool for any person that needs to connect with people when they aren’t at the office, or aren’t in the country. All over the US clubs, groups, societies and companies are using Google+ to bring people together. Collaborate on a project with co-workers or host a video conference with a few of your clients – the applications are virtually limitless.

New to Hangouts is the Hangouts on Air concept, that allows Google+ users to broadcast live videos to the public. This is great for anyone that loves to webcast. It seems the whole goal of Hangouts is to eventually become a fully integrated collaboration tool. There is even screensharing and a sketchpad tool. Will this usher in a new generation of live-cast videos? Perhaps.

Here are some great ideas on how you can use the new Hangouts. Start a vlog, and gain a following by doing it on Google+. Do you love reviewing products? Do it in Hangouts. Use it for expert Q&A sessions, or to clear up project details with a new client or two. Why don’t you crowd source new ideas from the public, or announce you need help with a project and see who answers!

This is an excellent tool for developing your personal brand on the internet. It makes using video online easy and fun again. It also feels more fun that using a similar program, like skype. This is definitely one of the better things to come out of Google+, we hope they run with it, and keep developing the concept.

Have you used Hangouts yet? What do you think of it? We’d like to hear what you have to say.

Courtesy of plusheadlines.com

#1: Sheering The Notification List

If you’ve been on Google+ for a while, you’ve probably noticed that the notifications come thick and fast – for everything. If you comment on a post, you get every notification thereafter. If someone +1’s you, you get notified. When people add you, you get notified. Lists of names, actions and nonsense that really don’t have to be there. It’s nice to know people are interacting with you. But then make it exclusive interaction, or pop in some control setting for this. It’s info overload gone wild.

#2: Extreme Stream

The main news stream on Google+ is very disorganized. It has absolutely no filters like the Facebook edgerank system, that ranks updates according to relationships. Instead, every time you scroll down to read something, and scroll back up again, the posts gone – replaced by new posts from a huge influx of people. When you follow thought leaders that post often, the endless scrolling really gets to you. How about a new algorithm that sorts this out?

#3: So Very Many People

Google+ has the potential to form huge communities, well beyond the average Facebook users 130 people limit. This is mostly due to the find people section on the circles page. It’s great to suggest people that we don’t know, Google, but having to click on each one of them to find out who they are – is mission impossible. Everyone likes to race to have highest numbers – so are we forming communities of useless people we don’t know? This system needs some streamlining.

#4: The Games Issue

Google may not have realized it, but their brand continuation on Google+, makes the games section feel a bit…redundant. Why not do a normal Google search for games and play on other websites with a greater selection? Why should I play these generic games on Google+? They just don’t have the same appeal as Facebook games. If Google+ doesn’t do something to their games section, its going to fail.

#5: Complete Lack of Business Functionality

Yes, Google+ is working on getting the business functionality ready. But in the meantime, they’re losing users and people are seeing less and less value in the platform. Business features are what attract so many people to Facebook. Google needs to get moving on this sooner rather than later, or they’re going to miss their chance. And once it’s gone, they’re going to experience a MySpace-like meltdown.

#6: Limited Connectivity

At the risk of continually comparing Google+ to Facebook, Google+ lacks something rather large. When you arrive on Facebook, there are a million things you can do, waiting to be done. Playing, shopping, chatting searching pages, finding groups to join – enjoying the social atmosphere. Google+ doesn’t have this. The platform feels hopelessly limited. There’s not much to do, but interact with people, and that’s not always what people want to do. Perhaps some deeper layers Google+?

Do you have any suggestions here? We’d love to hear your comments!

Courtesy of businessinsider.com

But Google+ still has a respectful 43 million users, so is it worth using?

The Life and Times of Google+

One of the first things we noticed about Google+ was that it attracted lots of tech-people and business influencers. The kind of people that tend to be progressive and embrace new technology. We also noticed that conversations and comments tended to be a lot longer on the platform, than on Facebook. This may have been due to Facebook’s character limit on their updates.

Now Facebook has upped their character limit from 500 to 5000 – which essentially destroys that unique feature on Google+. It seems at every turn, Facebook has been able to come back with updates and fixes that have blown Google out of the water. But Google+ is still ticking along, with a host of new features coming out soon, like the much anticipated business pages. Perhaps this will attract more online users, and their numbers will start to climb again.

One thing is becoming bracingly clear. Google+ has not been the runaway success that tech-lovers predicted. All the hype, secrecy and beta-phase testing in the world, could not combat the kind of innovations being produced by the Facebook team. So the question remains – should you bother being on Google+?

Facing The Music: The Google+ Dilemma

Honestly at this stage, it’s hard to say. For business-minded people that want to connect with influencers, it’s a nice platform. For the average, everyday user – it may not be as valuable. And that’s why the influencers are there in the first place. Google+ can’t be successful without a mainstream market. It’s behaving more like a really powerful LinkedIn group at the moment.

Bottom line is that it lacks the addictive-ness of Facebook, the marketplace, functionality and connectivity of Facebook – and is living in the shadow of an established giant that will not be supplanted. Google+ does not give users a compelling reason to stay. They check it out, muck around, and then head back to Facebook. It’s been blindsided by the incredible Facebook team.

At the end of the day, it’s up to you to decide whether Google+ will be worth using. Yes, you can establish a business presence there without the business ‘page’ functionality, but even that seems forced. Why not spend more time on your Facebook business page, where you know you can get good returns?

Even business people know that time spent on any social network is money. Either you’re earning it, or you’re losing it. All we can say is, good luck Google+, you’re going to need it in the coming days ahead.

Do you use Google+? What do you like about it? Leave your comment below!

Courtesy of ben1976.wordpress.comn

Riding The Content Stream

Your Google+ wall is also called your content stream – or the place where content from your circles shows up. It’s basically where your shared content is displayed. There are two ways keep the conversation going in your stream. First of all, publish your own content, updates and curated stuff. Or – you could comment on other posts in your stream, posts that your circles have syndicated.

Sharing Your Own Content

You’ll notice that when you choose to share an update on Google+, you have several icons peering at you before you can click the ‘share’ button. There’s a camera icon for photo sharing or album creation, a video icon for video syndication, a link icon and a location icon too. Then you can choose who gets to see your update – which circles in your overall Google+ community.

But What If I Want To Share From a Website?

Can you share on Google+ as easily online as you can on say, Facebook and Twitter? A month or two ago the answer would have been no, but Google has gone to great lengths to solve this little problem. Remember the +1 button, you know the one that originally had nothing to do with the Google+ platform?

Well, Google has realized that the +1 button can be just as powerful as the ‘tweet’ or ‘like’ button. Brand new and gaining in popularity is the ‘share on Google+’ button, which is really just the +1, with a hover over that says ‘click here to publicly +1 this’ – a great update by the Google team. Our advice – get the button on your websites, quickly. Now as you browse you can publish things to your feed, it’s easy.

Sharing To Other Social Networks?

What happens if you want to share content from Twitter or Facebook – on Google+? You could do it the long way of simply syndicating the link separately. But in these mobile times, most sharing is done on the go. Google+ has a great app that integrates with Twitter, and a few social management giants like Seesmic. To share content from one platform to another, or to publish to both platforms, simply click on the two arrows and adjust the content.

Sharing effectively on Google+ shouldn’t be any different than sharing on a platform like Facebook. Until we know more about the rules, just keep sourcing, creating and syndicating content as always. Just be careful who you share it with. If you want it kept private, turn the public sharing option off. Google+ updates are indexed on Google, and they will show up when someone types in your name!

How do you share on Google+? Tell us how you share great information on this new platform, and we’ll share it with our social communities!

Courtesy of businessinsider.com

Google+ addresses many of the problems fans have with Facebook, and there are visible improvements in its development. But – to put it in the context of a childhood analogy – a kid will always play with their favourite toy, broken or not.

Will Google+ just be another new toy that we all leave lying on the kitchen floor? Let’s take a look at how it could improve network building and our presence on social media sites.

Google+ Insights

With Google+, Google is rolling out a more efficient way to share with different groups of people. They call it ‘circles,’ and you can segment different friends, family and work colleagues into groups. While all of these circles will still be contained on your Google+ network, it allows you to share information in a much more controlled environment. This is great idea, but as many tech bloggers have explained – it makes sharing a whole lot more fangled.

Google says that sharing is sloppy, and on sites like Facebook – everyone is your friend and gets to see your private messages. This isn’t the whole truth of course, as it ignores the Facebook edgerank system. But this sort of sharing does have incredible possibilities for businesses. You’ll be able to segment various clients and connect to groups of them for specific tasks. And Google+ will have it all, image and video sharing, chat and targeted interest search.

Let’s take a closer look at the other 3 main features of Google+:

Sparks – Google’s new online sharing engine, that tracks what you love, and feeds it to you in a neat, digestible section on your profile. Great news for businesses, as the conversation around products people really love will get a major boost.

Hangouts – The on-screen get together location, between friends, or various people in your group – via live video feeds. Useful for mass conferencing, or if you just want to spend a few minutes of your day chatting with some friends.

Mobile – Google’s new mobile idea, lets people know where you are (geo-location) and will instantly upload photos of you onto the internet if you let it. It’s a very useful photo sharing service – and a great way to let your colleagues know when they are late for the meeting.

Google+ is poised to become the all-in-one Google solution to social networking. You know that new black bar across your Google homepage? It’s here to stay, and more – connect all other Google apps to you. Having one single location built for connectivity will do marvels for your social media presence.

Everything you do will be indexed and valuable. Will Google+ charge onto the internet and steal people from Facebook? We’ll see. Until then, it’s always best to do what the giant search engine suggests. Being a thought leader means early adoption!

What do you think of Google+? Dead in the water, or Facebook’s impending doom? Leave your comment below, right now!