What Is Google Plus?

Just when you thought your social media calendar was full, along comes Google Plus. Some consider it Facebook’s cousin but the future potential of Google Plus far outweighs that of Facebook.

Basically, Google Plus is a social media platform on which you can share information, photos, links and promotions to those following you. As with any social media platform, interacting with followers in paramount in developing relationships with future clients or customers. It’s not enough to set up a profile and then abandon it. Social media is not meant to run on autopilot.

Features of

Google Plus

1. Circles

Sorting your connections on Google Plus is very simple with their Circles feature. Circles are just what they imply…group of friends, work acquaintances, clients, etc with whom you would share certain information.

Rather than having just a list of people following you, possibly totaling in the hundreds of names, you place each contact in a particular circle. That way your family doesn’t have to hear about your latest business venture nor do your clients or customers have to hear about your daughter’s preschool graduation. The idea behind circles is you share only certain types of information with each circle, thus targeting those in your market with a very specific message.

When logging in to Google Plus, you will see a screen with profile pictures and names from your Gmail contact list of those who have a Google Plus account. You can choose to add them to your circles or not. Simply click on the “Add” button next to each name and you can create a new circle name or add them to a current circle. It doesn’t get easier than that!

You also have the option of following the business pages of your favorite brands or celebrities, which is very handy to keep an eye on what your competitors are doing with their own business. Keep your focus narrowed, however, because social media in general can be a huge waste of time if you’re reading about celebrities or the newest movie releases.

2. Hangouts

Another unique feature of Google Plus is the ability to “hangout” with up to 9 people in your circles via video chat. Since almost every computer has a built-in webcam, this is simple for any business owner to use.

This feature can be useful if you have a virtual team and you want to have a quick staff meeting or if a team member is on the road scouting a location for an event and needs another set of eyes to approve the venue. Simply login to your Google Plus account, click the “Hangouts” tab in the left sidebar and choose your hangout contacts.

3. Local Business Listings

As part of your profile setup, Google Plus asks you where you live. If you input your town and state and then click on the “Local” icon in the sidebar, you will see map listings of local businesses, such as bakeries, pizza places, restaurants, etc. Here you can read reviews from other patrons or you can write your own review.

Even if you think you don’t have time for any other social media, it’s worth learning about Google Plus. It’s very user friendly, offers an easy way to sort your contacts into circles and allows reviews of local businesses.

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