Google+ is Google's social network that allows users to share updates, photos and videos, video chat, and organize contacts into circles. It launched in 2011 and now has over 1 billion daily items shared. Both praise and worries have been expressed about Google+'s ability to compete with other social networks. The document provides tips on getting started on Google+ including setting up a profile, uploading photos, adding contacts and circles, and promoting a business profile. Potential pros for businesses include easily organizing followers, video chatting capabilities, and targeted content sharing. Cons include competing with other social networks, too much noise making content less visible, and difficulty reaching a targeted audience.

1. A Look at By SalesPop!

2. What is Google+? Google+ is a Social Network Relationships on Google+ are asymmetric, which means you can follow people who don’t have to follow you back. Users get a profile, a news stream, the ability to follow topics they are interested in (Sparks), create groups of friends (Circles), interact with them through video chat (Hangouts).

4. Already, more than1 billion items are shared and received per day

5. Over 10 million active (took FourSquare 2 years to reach)The Rising Tide of Social Media: 1 out of every 6 minutes spent online is spent on social networks

6. The Skinny on Google+ Praise “Decided to forward kevinrose.com to Google+. G+ gives me more (real time) feedback and engagement than my blog ever did.” –Kevin Rose; Founder of Digg “There’s a reason why Google calls this a “project” rather than a “product” – they don’t want people to think of this as the final product, but as a constantly-evolving entity that permeates every corner of the Google empire.” –Mashable Worries "You introduce Google+, where am I going to spend that next minute or hour of my discretionary time? I have no more time.” –Jeff Weiner; CEO of LinkedIn When it comes to social networking, Google finds itself in an unusual position, one that its competitors in Web search know all too well: playing catch-up with a service that dominates the market.” – New York Times

7. Getting Started Google+ can be accessed through http://m.google.com/plus Step 1: Setup a Google Profile If you haven’t been invited, you won’t be able to use it yet If you have, use your Gmail address to create a profile Input all of the necessary information

8. Getting Started Step 2: Upload Photos You will then be asked to integrate your Picasa photo albums into your Google+ profile The same security settings will apply where only your friends will have access to view it (might want to still go through it)

9. Getting Started Step 3: Add Friends and Circles Add everyone you know and potential sales leads as well. Google+ only allows you to import Hotmail or Yahoo! contacts. Your Gmail contacts will already be listed Consolidate friends, sales leads, targeted audiences into the Circlestab

10. Getting Started Step 4: PROMOTE! You can do this several ways Make posts on Google+ to get people familiar with your business Add Google+ button to your website - Google has actually added Google Plus stats in your Webmaster Tools account so you can see the the analytics to your button Engage in conversations with other Google+ members and drop your business name and what it’s all about

11. What can your business profile look like? Example Pages Google+ Asks Businesses to Wait… “The business experience we are creating should far exceed the consumer profile in terms of its usefulness to business. We just ask for your patience while we build it.” Christian Oestlien, Google+ Product Manager

12. The Pros and Cons of Google+for Social Selling

13. Pros: Easy to Consolidate Followers One of the biggest headaches of Facebook is arranging followers into specific groups to reach out to Google+’sCircles is a the easiest system on the market to share posts with specific targeted groups Great way to keep in touch with clients and share relevant information with them instantly and privately through Circles

14. Pros: Video Chat Best rated feature of Google+ Hangouts lets up to 10 users simultaneously video chat with each other Video chat options provide a great opportunity for businesses to connect directly with customers Group video chats offer great opportunities to conduct exclusive workshops or to roll out exclusive promotions to VIP customers

15. Pros: Sparks Perhaps the most useful of all Google+’sfeatures is Sparks Allows users to suggest news stories, videos, photos, and more to specific users or Circles rather than automatically posting it to everyone This allows for targeted marketing opportunities by focusing on those users who would find your content most useful

16. Cons: Too Many Social Network Streams Already a huge amount of people on other social media networks and it could be a potential waste of effort if Google+ does not catch on You would need to completely rebuild your social network from scratch – not all of potential sales may be on Google+

17. Cons: Too much Noise If you’re trying to get maximum exposure for your product, Google+ may not be the right way to go due to: Too much noise - Top of the stream gets jammed with too much information Posts are pushed to the top whenever there’s a new comment Collapsing posts with long comment threads– your post may disappear quickly

18. Cons: Tough Reaching Your Targeted Audience Unlike Facebook, Google+ does not have a feature that allows you to “blast messages” It is also still early in the developments and unclear on how easy it is to find people you don’t know Would cause an exceptional amount of effort to find people and reach out to them one at a time

19. Add Some Flare Google+ Tips and Tricks D Mention people in your posts by adding + or @in front of their name. Clicking the +1 button on a post is the same as “like” on Facebook. Send Private messages to people by only sharing your post with them, disable reshare. You can add photos, videos, or links to your posts by dragging links directly to the share box. a *Word* = Word _Word_ = Word -Word- = Word Hotkeys: Space = Scroll down Stream Shift Space= Scroll up Stream J = Single post down scroll K = Single post up scroll Q = jump to chat Return = Start Comment Tab, Return = End Comment