By Steve Kayser - on February 06th, 2012
“Google+ for Business: How Google’s Social Network Changes Everything,” By Chris Brogan – WIN THE BOOK
Chris Brogan was on Expert Access Radio and we talked about his latest book “Google+ for Business: How Google’s Social Network Changes Everything.”
TOPICS WE COVERED:
- How Google+ is different from other social networks, and why the difference matters
- How customers and businesses are using Google+ — and what they’re looking for
- How to define effective Google+ strategy and tactics and integrate Google+ into your current digital strategies
FIRST 30 WIN THE BOOK
The first 30 people that contact us with their thoughts (pro or con) on Google+, will win the book “Google+ for Business: How Google’s Social Network Changes Everything.”
RADIO KAYSER
Leave a comment, or email Steve Kayser at skayser@cincom.com with the subject line – RADIO KAYSER. And thanks to @chrisbrogan for coming on Expert Access Radio.
###
NOT NECESSARILY RELATED LINKS:
How to Click with People: The Secret to Better Relationships in Business and in Life
Pen Densham – Riding the Billion Dollar Alligator
Subscribe via Email
I think Google+ has a lot of potential, once people can actually figure out what it is and how to use it. Right now it seems like the Nerd’s Social Network.
So far I love Google+ and what it’s done for my company’s search ranking. That alone makes it worth the effort.
I may be in the minority, but I think Google Plus may not succeed. Google has done a great job of integrating Plus into all of their platforms, but I’m not sure advertising publicly as the Google alternative to Facebook is the way to get people to use it. What’s the benefit to consumers? We know that if people use it, it will make Google search results more rich for Google. But why does the average consumer care. Pintrest has taken off because it’s provides a service that consumers value. What’s that value to the average user. My mom and wife love Pintrest. I can’t talk about Google Plus for more than five minutes before they fall asleep.
I like G+, just don’t use it nearly enough. Still trying to figure out exactly how to fit it in with everything else, haven’t gone on the G+ diet. Yet.
Google+ is one of my favorite new sites. More for the way it is tying the many services I love and use together than strictly for networking.
I’m a fan. I like the idea of being able to have face to face conversations with folks if you choose. I think the chrome tools are all pretty helpful. I’m finding that people are inclined to share and engage with brands a little more deeply on circles than across FB and the conversations among members are great.
I think we’re all so used to using separate Google products. I for one am trying to work out how to use it effectively for business. I do love your profile pic turning up in search results for posts you’ve penned.
I use other social networks for business and have had much success, but I’m really having trouble getting into Google+. I don’t know if it’s my disappointment with Google Wave’s demise or what, but it’s taking longer to grow on me than Facebook or Twitter.
For me Google+ is potentially the online collaboration tool that can facilitate critical online collaboration + opportunity to facilitate introduction+ engagement + and innovation+ across circles. Hangout is a favorite feature.
Perhaps because I dont understand fully what value G+ brings to any business (over and above what FB does), Im not sold on its utility. From a layperson’s perspective it still seems redundant.
Google+ is for me, the right ciment to bring together the Whole Google Services.
I’m using it for my daily job (VideoConfcall with Hangouts, sharing privately docs, intels, and more with clients and partners), and as a personnal way do dispatch news, personnal photos & vidéos, as well toughts who need more space and audience thant on twitter or facebook.
I have tremendous adoption among my clients (big corporation, small bizness – Startups, and Local Business), that start – since I put them on G+, and made them integrate G+ tools on their websites/platform – to see the benefits for them, and real impact .
Google+ is not Facebook, its different buy tons of way, and bring something different to the table.
I want Google+ to do well but to me it’s a bit like the vhs and beta fight… beta was better technology but vhs got out there first. I don’t know that Google+ will ever catch up.
@nicksargent I think the majority would probably concede that Google Plus *may* not succeed, but I for one think it remains very likely that it will. Sure, the first several months I used it my circles only contained fellow social media nerds, but recently I’ve noticed a lot of nonprofits and other organizations adapting the technology. President Obama’s hangout is just one great example of how one can leverage Google’s integration to deliver something with unique value.
As for the Pinterest comparison, I truly think it’s apples and oranges. Sure, Pinterest may have broader consumer appeal right now than Google Plus, but Twitter was not immediately a consumer-friendly network, and we’re still seeing it have serious business implications. Different networks take off in different ways.
Not sure what Google+ will do for companies in the future, but for now it helps with SEO making it a useful and relevant tool today.
@AshlynBrewer Pinterest doesn’t have a billion dollar company, and it’s taking off while G+ still doesn’t have the traction, understanding or interest (pardon the pun) with the public. They’ve made a case on why the product benefits Google. Why should people trade leisure time they’re spending on Facebook, Twitter, watching TV, etc. to interact with brands on G+? Other than: “We’re Google!” they haven’t made much of a case. If people don’t come there and use the G+ tools, it doesn’t matter. This could just as easily blow up in their face as it could be a resounding success.
I got excited about Google+’s features, and by its initial adoption rate, but since that initial push, only one of my contacts updates his stream regularly. I’d like to see more widespread mainstream adoption.
I expected Google+ to cater to companies (they generate ad $, etc.), but am not sure how large the impact will be
Google+ has appealled to the techy crowd, although it’s very clean cut, it’s still not intuitive enough for the everyday user, the process of uploading content is more difficult than it should be. I continue to use it, but increasingly see it struggle to catch on as a platform. One thing is certain though by the amount of hype it received, people want an alternative to Facebook
@nicksargent Pinterest, while interesting, is somewhat of a one trick pony. The functionality of Google Plus is exceptional. I agree with you that users aren’t completely on board yet, but I think we’ll see it experience a growth model similar to Twitter. Twitter went from “one more thing” and “why would I want to do that” to playing a central role in many users’ online experience. Based purely on functionality, I think Google Plus has a good opportunity to do the same. It just needs time to grow.
@AshlynBrewer You’re missing the same point Google is: What’s the hook for the average consumer? Yes, Google Plus has cool bells and whistles (Circles, Hangouts) for the average person. But is that enough to draw broad interest. The answer so far is no. What is Google going to do to change that? The other thing to remember is that the cool bells and whistles are easy for competitors to copy. Facebook and Twitter segmentation will probably improve considerably in 2012, if consumers even care. And while Google Hangouts are cool (particularly the Google Docs link), I’d be willing to bet Microsoft offers a similar feature in their next iteration of Office, which features much richer and widely used business tools. Google+ is looking a lot more like Groupon these days than a Facebook killer. (Let’s not forget that Google tried to buy Groupon for a billion dollars last year. I’m not sure they’ll ever get what really works in social business.)
Google+ seems quiet now but it’s important for SEO. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to attract the everyday Facebook user but for business professionals, it’s a must in 2012. The other advantage is being logged into your Gmail, Google Adwords account and Google+ social networking easily. Now people just need to start using it!
@christinaromito You won – please email me where you want to send it to via skayser@cincom,com with Radio KAyser as subject line?