GAINMORE

There is no doubt about it…Google Plus is where businesses need to be online.  The challenge business owners have with setting up shop on Google+ is dealing with the change they need to make in their thinking towards marketing.  They will need to steer away from their current attempts of shouting to the consumer to instead start talking with the consumer.   To be successful in the social spaces businesses have to get social for which Google+ offers so many ways for businesses of all sizes to meet this challenge.

Understand Rule Changes

The questions businesses have about Google+ have to do with understanding how Google+ has changed the rules for marketing online.  Google had obviously seen the mistakes other social spaces made by allowed businesses to shout their promotions to the presumably millions of people they say they have on their roster.   This method of billboard marketing is not working and is now making the current social networking places most consumers would avoid.

Along came Google+ with a clean interface to a solid base of Real People and the game changed from social media to social search.  No longer did a business need to blast their promotions to trillions of people.  All they need on Google+ is accumulate a solid community of real people and start having conversations.  The people in the Google+ community would then be part of helping the business be found by the consumers who need their products or services.

How do businesses get the conversation started on Google+?

The problem now is getting businesses to understand they can’t just post something on Google+ and expect something to happen.  They have to have a conversation with people on Google+.  This is the biggest problem business have since that requires resources they do not want to use.

The fact of the matter is, Google+ is where the consumers are going to be.  Sure there will be people left on the other social spaces but they will not be consumers.  The lack of responsiveness to purchasing anything from the few people left in those social networks will quickly result in those social networks shutting down due to them not reaching their financial goals.  This will force businesses to realize they need to change if they are going to get the consumer’s attention..and money.

Easy to Learn

Businesses have to learn how to have conversations in the social space.  This means they will need a person, or people, in the Google+ space responding to people who join their community or who ask a question.  Businesses HAVE TO show consumers they know how to be social or the consumers are going to go elsewhere.

The biggest thing businesses have to do online to be successful is build trust with the consumers who are now flooding onto Google+.

Businesses have to get over their impression that there are not many people on Google+.  They need to realize most people on G+ communicate in private or in communities that do not show up in the mainstream.  However, the consumer’s conversation shows up in the Google Search Engine which is now where consumers go to find the products they need or want.

Businesses will need to go where Real People…the consumers… are and become part of the communities they are part of if they are going to keep a presence in their markets.  It will take dedication to monitoring their communities in order to build the trust consumers expect.  Businesses will also need to tell consumers they are on Google+ to stay.

Businesses need to just set up shop on Google+ and get after it. The old adage is still true..if you build it they will come.  NowLet me know how I can help.

One of the unique things about Google+ can also be the most annoying part of Google+.  The Notifications can be overwhelming if not managed.  Here is how to manage Google+ Notifications.

Too many notifications

If you are swamped with too many notifications from Google+ for new posts, you can reduce them to only see the notifications you want.  Notifications for non-community and community posts are handled slightly differently, as follows:

Circle notifications are controlled in the settings for each circle. Select the button at the top of your Home stream for the circle you want and click the bell icon in the upper right hand corner of the In this circlecard if it does not already show as Off. You must repeat this for each circle you do not want notifications.

Community notifications are controlled in the settings for each community. Click the bell icon between the community name and its avatar.   Select Notifications off.   You will need to repeat this for each community you want to turn notifications off.

Email Notifications

The emails associated with notifications are handled differently for circles and community notifications:

Circle notification emails are controlled in Google+ Settings. Select Settings at the bottom of the drop-down dashboard on the left under your G+.  Scroll down to Email.  In the Notification delivery section to set the email account you want notifications sent to, then add or remove checks under Email in the Receive notifications to select the types of notifications you want emailed.

Community notification emails are automatic if you receive notifications. Your choices are to disable notifications altogether or receive both notifications and the notification email. You can, however, create Gmail filters to automatically mark the community notification emails as Trash so they will not appear in your Inbox.

If you would like to have more option to receive the notifications without the emails, use “Send feedback” (at the bottom of the drop-down main menu) to submit a request for more option directly to the Google+ team.

Let me know how I can help.

New ideas always result in gaining ground on an old idea.  Here are some new old ideas.

DFW SEO Specialist, NetOffer, Offers Web-Based Marketing Ideas For Your Business.

Creating an online community for your company requires planning and consideration. It certainly requires more effort than simply building it and hoping they will come.

The process of building a community requires effort, but the rewards are substantial:

1. Top of mind awareness made possible amongst your community members
2. Increased website visitation
3. Creation of website content by community members
4. Increase in sales
5. Greater  client loyalty
6. Reduced market pressure for your goods or services to be sold at a discount

You must first think about what variables are important to building your online community.  An active community requires the following:

• Usability
• Unique content
• Helpful content
• Member generated content
• Members easily able to connect with other members

If you make the determination to proceed, then you will want to start the process of creating the community website and generating activity. Follow these steps:

• Select which community platform to use
• Determine content areas
• Insert initial content
• Send an invitation to core members
• Encourage and generate activity

Following the above steps aggressively should greatly increase your chances for the community to succeed.

NetOffer is happy to assist you during this process. It is our purpose:  Help Build Communities.

DFW SEO Specialist, NetOffer.com, is an online internet & social media marketing company. If you have questions about how you can build a community online with NetOffer, please call 214-772-6854.

The questions keep being asked about Google Plus.  Several of us are getting together as a panel to see if we can explain why Google+ is the place to be.

I’ll on the panel June 27, 2013 at the Dallas Social Media Breakfast in Dallas.  The discussion will be on Google+.  If you are up at 7:15AM stop by to see what the panel has to say. Sign Up  Should be very interesting since these meetings generally are very thought provoking.

Dallas Social Media Breakfast

June 27, 2013

Mastering “Google+ Business” to Boost Your Social Media Presence

Panelists Include:

Grant Wickes, Wasp Barcode Technologies

As a strategic marketer and small business advocate, Grant Wickes helps companies define market opportunities, deliver products, and craft marketing programs that drive business value and profitable growth.

Mr. Wickes’ career includes more than 25 years of sales and marketing experience. Currently, he serves as Vice President of Business Development for Wasp Barcode Technologies, a leading provider of small business productivity solutions. When he’s not helping Wasp reach its full market potential, the self-proclaimed gadget lover is behind the lens, fulfilling his passion for photography.

Scot Duke, KEYimage Media Solutions

Former operations manager with SBC Yellow Pages, currently known as AT&T, with 32 years of business operations and crisis management experience.  Developed an extensive presence online as a first adaptor to social media.  Granted G+ verification in 2012 as a result of an eight year digital footprint.  Is currently consulting and training in Google+.

Moderator – Jackie Bese, Atomic Design and Consulting

Jackie has over a decade’s experience owning, running, and growing successful internet development companies. His experience spans the publishing, non-profit, corporate, business-to-business, and business-to-consumer industries.

More on this event as details develop.

There is no debate on Google+ quickly taking hold of the social spaces.  It is becoming the go-to site for so many people of all ages.  However, Google seems to not be listening to everything the majority of the Google+ users who are on the platform for both social and professional reasons.

Animated .gifs Running People Off

The features annoying most people I introduce Google+ is the animated .gif files Google allows to be posted in the public stream.  The term annoying is the kindest word I was provided from the hundreds of Plussers who immediately responded to my question on their interest in seeing animated .gifs in their stream.

Nearly everyone is asking me how to Mute them or report them or keep from getting them posted to their stream.  This kind of response to my question that concerns me if Google is even aware of the damage these non-stop animated posts are making to their social platform. Many of my supporters have reported deleting their Google account because of the high volume of .gif files.  A large number who took my advice in closely managing their circles to uncircle people who only post .gifs report that the time to uncircle these people is not productive.

I have asked all my followers to click on the Google+ feedback tab to provide Google their feelings on the subject, which all of them said they have done a number of times.

Why Is Google Not Listening

With this many people, and all of their contacts they have talked to, all reporting to Google their dissatisfaction with having to wade through a seemingly endless stream of .gif files in their Google+ Public stream it would seem Google would make some explanation on why they are allowing them..or would implement some of the very sound solutions to allowing them to be controlled.  There is no doubt that animated files get attention and generate traffic and interaction, but is Muting and account deleting the action Google is wanting for allowing these annoyances? Can’t see it in Google’s interest to let these animated .gif files kill Google+.

Seeks strange to many with the recent launch of the New Google Plus design Google also launched the Autoawsome feature ,which allows a Plusser to link a series of photos to create an animated file. Google just seems to have just put more fuel on the fire that is burning down the interest in Google Plus by millions of Real People who need Google+ for their business efforts.

Catering to the Few Instead of the Many

In recent conversation I have had with people close to the Google development centers I was told many of the features offered by Google are developed from the self interest of developers in particular department of Google.  There is no market studies done to get the input from the general population of Google+ on if a feature is of interest.  Many of the features to Google+ are built to cater to small niche of people outside the front foor of Google who have very, very narrow interest in particular areas of tech and have a high level of influence to large numbers of people who drink their koolaide.

Seems appeasing the photo and animated photo market is the personal interest of many Google developers..so to keep their senior developers for these departments happy Google launches their pet projects in as features to Google+.

Stop The Bleeding

Whether what I have been told is true or not is still up for debate and probably could be validated if someone from Google would address the reasoning for seeming to ignore the damage these animated files are doing to Google+ image.  There is no doubt the animated files are cute and entertaining.  However, when they flood the Google+ stream to a point no other content can be seen in the stream it visually is not value to a Plusser’s stream. Muting the animated files makes the stream look like it has been carpet bombed.  This can’t be what Google wants people like me, who train hundreds of people on G+, to flash up on the screen for newbies to G+ all to see.

I would think Google might want to consider taking action by implementing some of the excellent alternatives suggested to control the animated .gif posts.  Some of which are to TAB the animated .gif and Autoawesome posts so those who want to see them can do so by clicking on the tab.  Or..to place a start stop button in the file like video posts offer.   If these are not options then the suggestion to offer Mute Buttons as part of the call-to-action selection be placed in the .gif animated post.

Hope Google does something soon..like before I get up in front of another group of people to show them what G+ is all about.  Let me know how I can help..please!

Google+ is turning two years old and if you are one of the two people on earth who is not on Google+ it might be time you face the fact.  Google+ is the real deal for social search.  Over these past two years I have had thousands of people ask me questions about Google+.

Why do they ask me?..I can take it from the people who tell me why they are asking me these questions it is due to me being open with sharing my success in using Google+.

I base my success on Google+ on a comparison of what I got out of the other social spaces before I came to Google+.

On the social side of the comparison I am getting more out of Google+ from the real people I have met who actually enjoy having light hearted or serious conversations.

On the professional side of comparing what I was getting from the other spaces verses what I am getting out of Google+…bottomline…my blog posts are getting comments, my phone is ringing and my inbox has at least one business inquiry a week verses the 7 years of hundreds of spam phone calls and emails I received from the other spaces.

Can My Success Be Achieved by others?

I can safely say since I have joined the KEYimage Media Solutions management staff a little over six months ago I have been able to use what I have been doing on Google+ to improve the company’s presence on the internet.  I have also been able to test the power of Google+ with a few of our clients which I successfully raised their presence on the Google Search results.  So, Yes, what I do and am doing on Google+ can be achieved by others.

The caveat is, success can only be achieved on Google+ by using Google+.  Google+ is not a game you play where you make an occasional appearance to post some promotional material in hopes it will get placed in the Google Search engine.  Using Google+ is defined as being in the Google+ community on a regular passes to be social, interact and to provide interesting and  compelling content.  Yes, it is as simple as that.

Use It or Loss It!

The problem is, many people do not want to take the time needed to establish a solid presence on Google+ and build a community organically.  Most people..and a few social butterflies..attempt to find ways to manipulate Google+ to be like Facebook or Twitter.  They want to play the number game by finding ways to quickly and constantly gather hordes of people to broadcast their unwanted content.

There just no way around it.  Google+ is here to stay and has changed the way social networking is done online.

Yes, you’re no longer in Kansas when you use Google+.  Let me know how I can help.

Seems like I keep getting asked this question every couple of weeks… Where is Social Media Going??

Change Being Made at the Top

Every meeting I have with business owners or executives the conversation turns to asking me to tell them where I see Social Media going.  My pat answer now has been to ask them..Where do you want social media to go? Naturally, that starts the conversation in the direction of talking ROI for which most businesses have quickly found there is no ROI in social media…or at least not in the traditional sense.

What business people are telling me is they have tried the Facebook thing… and the Twitter thing… and the LinkedIn thing and now the Pinterest thing.  They see their CRM’s are having a lot of fun in the social spaces and there are a few examples where they have been able to put out a fire or two.  However, in one of the more recent meetings I had the executive of one of the fortune 100 summed it up by saying…

“We are having a lot of Yada, Yada going on in the social networks but really are not seeing it moving people to come into our stores or buy anything online.  We can’t afford to stay in this direction and would rather only fund being in one social space.  Since none of the platforms we currently are getting us anywhere, which social network would be the one we should support that would get us in front of the consumers?”

I wanted to provide this quote since it is nearly the same message I have received from other businesses over the past five months.  I wish I was at liberty to say who said it, but that was not approved so we will just leave it with them being a company that is very influential to the economy and is a firm that 90% of the business world follows each move they make in business.

Fog on the Future is Lifting

Naturally, I quickly advice them of my success with Google+ and the companies I have helped in experiencing the value of Google+.  The verdit is still out on if these companies I recently have met with are going to make the jump to reality, but I am encouraged in them allowing me hear their thinking on this issue.

It is encouraging to know the companies I felt would be slow to accept social media have actually accepted the fact that social media is the new Marketing for businesses.  Now that they have tested the waters of social media and found what has been hyped as the places they need to be online to get in front of millions of people is really not productive they now have quickly found they really only have been getting in front of millions of computer programs built to appear to be people.

The uncontrolled ‘wild west’ environment the previously mainstream social networks built to draw in millions of people for them to market to has turned these influential business leaders stomachs.  They are not excited with continuing down these paths to nowhere.

Getting Real

It could be these companies are embarrassed of the fact they have wasted their stockholder’s money by building their presence in these social networks only to find it did not market the company towards enhancing their revenue horizons.  They certainly did not give me any indication they plan on moving out of these platforms.  It was clear they are not going to maintain the presence much longer and not make another move until they can make certain the funds they appropriate for their next thrust into the social spaces is going to show some sort of impact to their bottomline.

They did like to learn the impact Google+ has to providing a positive impact in the search engines the other spaces can’t touch and the fact that Google manages Google+ activity very closely to make sure the marketing games and scams are controlled.

Move to Google+ Being Made

Over the last five months all of the meetings I had ended with me feeling certain that Google+ now is on these influential businesses radar.  It also is exciting to know they are seeing what I am seeing going on in the Facebook, Foursquare  Pinterest and Twitter arenas that is not appealing..or should not be appealing..for their or  anyone’s business’s image.

Now the question is, will these businesses who throw billions of dollars into the economy force a favorable light on Google+ being the social platform to be on?  I would say it would be a smart move on their part.

I’ll will be watching what takes place with this situation.  Right now, I would encourage you to get your business on Google+ and learn how being interactive in G+ produces results.  Let me know how I can help.

One thing is certain, if your goal is to increase your digital footprint you have to have a blog that drives your social machine.  Blogs provides the internet with the freshness it needs to keep people coming back.  I am aware there are isolated cases where someone did not have a blog and they have made a significant impact influencing people to their expertise.  However, those very few I have reviewed could of made a greater impact if they had a blog to provide reasoning and support to what they claim to be an expert of.

What to Blog About?

The question I am asked when I discuss blogging is..What do I blog about?

This question  on the surface, appears to be stupid to ask for those of use who have been blogging for a long time, but for a newbie this question is a natural one to ask. Unfortunately, the answer is not clear cut.  I read where blogging consultants tell blogger needs to blog about what interests them, but for a business or a person who is blogging for a cause sometimes what they are interested in is not what they blog site is about.

Blogging for business or for a cause can become very daunting for the blogger.  Unless the blog site, or the purpose of the blog, is for a subject that is very fluid and changing daily eventually the blogger will hit a wall.  This makes it real difficult to maintain a motivation, especially, once you have written several blogs that cover all of the subject in detail.  This is where most bloggers get burned out or just quit blogging.

Passion Driven

Bloggers who are Generalist are not immune to hitting the blogger’s-block wall.  I have hit it many times on all of the blogs I support and have to ask myself the question every seasoned blogger eventually asks..what eles can I write about on this subject?

What I suggest bloggers do when they hit the wall is to take a break and look around the internet on what someone else is writing on the subject.  That usually produces a thought on what else can be written.  I find going to blogger communities on Google+ to read what other bloggers are talking about or what frustrations bloggers are dealing with produces many thoughts I will have for subjects for a blog.

Change Environments

Going to a conference on blogging or attending a seminar on a subject you are blogging about also produces months of material to blog.  Developing a solid Circle of people on Google+ to socialize with can result in many interesting blogs.

What to write about for a Blog is only limited by the blogger’s imagination..or motivation.  My best advice is..make sure the subject you choose to blog about is one you are passionate about.  If it is not, it takes a brillant talent to write about something you have not interests about..I know..I do that from time to time and it sucks.

Let me know how I can help.

One of the discussions I seem to be repeatedly frequently having has to do with questions old school SEO experts ask me on how to use Google+ to play the SEO Games.  Since I am not an SEO expert, and clearly have not interest in being one, I take it since the content I post on Google+ does make it to Google’s first page is why they are coming to me with these questions.

Naturally, their goal is to get their clients on the first page of Google and since Google is narrowing down what type of content gets placed on the first page of the Google Search Engine these hardheads seem to want to go down fighting the fact Google is reeling in the SEO to be under their control..not theirs.   The battle cry from Google is…Get on Google+ and you have a better chance of being seen on the Google search engine.

Old Habits Die Hard

Unfortunately, old habits are hard to let go of for many who have clients who feel seeing reports filled with unverifiable statistics justifies the expense associated to their SEO services.   Now that the Old hat SEO’rs see all of their methods of manipulating the internet to get their clients on the first page of Google are failing they are scrambling to hold onto their business.  This results in them flocking to G+ where they have obviously found Google first looks to Google+ for what is put on the search engine.

To say the game has changed for SEO after the launch of Google+ would be a confirmed understatement.  Now that the dust has started to settle around the bomb Google dropped on internet marketing in the form of Google Plus it is now becoming clear what all the new restrictions and policies Google placed in the SEO rules were all about.  Not that I would be the first to say it, but Google is forcing businesses who live and die on the first page of Google to now have a presence on Google+.  However, what also has become clear is not only do they have to have a presence they also have to be active..or better said..socially interactive with consumers.

Breath of Fresh Air

This really is good news for which I wholeheartedly support.  Not to say all the dark-side of SEO has been eliminated  but it is safe to say Google has put forth a clear effort to clean up the mess they started many years ago with promoting sites to the first page of Google from the number of keywords the Google Spiders found on their sites.   Now, Google is looking within Google+ for quality content that is based on what the consumer is REALLY looking for instead of what the manipulators of their SEO rules are wanting them to see.

What Google started when they placed Google+ in the mix of social networkers was the beginning of the change from the need for social media to the consumer driven Social Search.  The consumer finally won the war of battling the unwanted ads and unrelated information coming up in their search.  They did this by finding things to use to blocks pop-ups and they finally stopped clicking on stuff being placed in their face.  The consumer..which is anyone who uses the internet…action’s sent a clear message to Google telling them they have had enough and it is apparent Google was listening.

What Works for Me

I have found my presences on Google+ to be rewarding from posting original content, interacting with others on everything while sharing other’s content.  My presences on Google+ has resulted in my content..and a few of my client’s content..being placed on the first page of Google+. How I did is what people want to know is the secret for which I simply say…

You have to get after it in the social spaces if you expert Google to pay any attention to you.

Most do not take this advice seriously since they would rather spend their time finding ways around spending the needed time to be social.  I can confirm it does take time, but there are people..good people..who know how to be social that these businesses can hire to be social for them.  That seems to be what they also do not want to do.

Will what I do on Google+ work for everyone?  Probably not if they are not on Google+ and espcially not if a business is not interactive on Google+.  In tests where I have posting the same content in all social spaces only the content I place in Google+ is posted on Google search engine.  In a few cases the information I post on Facebook made it to the Google Search a few weeks later while the Twitter posts are purely hit and miss.  So the question I asked myself was..why bother with the other spaces if I got nothing out of it?  I think you know the answer I had for this question.

SEO on Google+

What Google now uses to determine what goes to the first page of the Google search engine is still quality content on a product, subject or interest.  However, what has changed is this quality content has to be backed up with quality social interaction.

Yes, this means instead of flooding the social streams with post after post showcasing elaborately placed Keywords in hopes the Google spiders pick up the volume of keywords being posted, Google now looks for posts with content that is getting reactions and responses from Real people.  There now is some logic behind what Google is doing to determine what goes on the first page of the search engine.  This tips the scale of control of what is viewed on the internet towards the consumer and away from the SEO dudes and dudetts who still are out rubbing to sticks together to make a fire.

Is SEO Dead?

The verdict is still out on if Google killed SEO by launching Google+.  From what I have seen after being on Google for a few years it certainly has made SEO much easier to understand.  The question now becomes, will businesses start to trust the fact that things have changed in internet marketing and that being artificially placed on the first page of Google does not guarantee their phone will ring?

Will SEO Experts settle down and accept the fact that the elaborate campaigns of creating dozen of affilate sites loaded with nothing but blah blah keywords are no longer going to work?  Will G+ be seen as a user friendly way of feeding the search engine machine?

All of these questions and many more are being asked and the answer is certainly being answered each time Google makes enhancements to Google+.  The smart thing to do if you are in the business of providing SEO to businesses, is to stop fighting Google and dig into Google+.  By doing so you will find it is much easier to provide compelling content that attracts social interaction from within G+ than it is outside G+.  Of course, if your business has quality issues or has made consumers nauseated by hitting them over the head with Keyword soaked content your efforts might be like putting lipstick on a pig for which the consumers will see through.

It is clear to me Google+ = SEO now and is the heavyweight champion of the battle of what gets placed on the search engine.

Let me know how I can help.

Sometimes being the Answer Man for so many interesting questions concerning how to use G+ can be fun and other times it can be very thought provoking.  Recently, the question I was asked recently was both.

I was asked…

What percent of interaction on Google+ should be spend on posting, commenting, sharing and +1 people’s posts, comments and shares?…and which of the functions produces more interaction?

This was a great question that lead me to find that nobody really has addressed the amount of effort a person should spend using the different forms of interaction on Google+.  Of course the question came up on how much time should someone spend using each of the interaction features.  Before that can be determined an explanation of the features and which ones are more important needs to be discussed.

The Good, Bad and Ugly!

To answer these questions I started looking at how I and others are using the G+ interaction features.  What I found was rather exciting but I also found that the dark side of SEO and Social Networking is rapidly moving into G+.

Hopefully offering this look at how to effectively use the G+ interaction features and how they are used the wrong way will steer people to understand the fact they need to use all of the features if they are going to be seen by Google as someone who is truly interactive.

Following is what works for most of us so I am sure it would work for everyone.

Posts

Posting original material, making heartfelt statements and linking to  posts offering relevant data or content is by far the number one feature that produces the most interaction on G+.

I consider there to be two types of Posts people make on G+.  The more favorable type of Post is the original text material reflecting an original thought or remark on something of relevance.  Usually these remarks or statements are prefaces with a link to a blog or a photo/graphic.

The other type of G+ post people make is considered the less desirable type of posting.  I am not sure why so many people prefer to use this method but posting Only a Link without any original content or remark does not produce effective interaction.

This style of social networking is prevalent to how many spammers or people who have a misunderstanding of social media will use to gain prevalence in their search rankings.  People using the Link Only…or Hit and Run as it is commonly referred to…, usually find the number of people who place them in their G+ Circles going down..rapidly.  Good to hear that Google is looking into discounting the Link Only posts.

Commenting

Since a comment field is available on every type of post on G+ one can take it Google is encouraging comments.

Posting a Comment …especially a supportive or constructive form of a remark or statement… is the top ranking form of interaction on G+.

However, I placed Commenting number 2 in order of effective G+ interaction since there are many people who ONLY Comment and never post any original material in their profile page.  One has to question these people’s motives and after reviewing a few Comment Only people profiles it became clear they do so in hopes their comments will lead people to view their spammy looking business services they display in the banner header of their personal profile page.

Unfortunately, many people do not want comments made to their posts.  Sometimes cutting off the comments is warranted but most of the time it is to keep anyone from disagreeing with their point of views.   This really hurts the person blocking comments.

Commenting is a basic form of socializing and offers people in a social community the opportunity to express their opinion, to socialize or ask questions.

Share

The Share feature on G+ is the most powerful of all forms of interaction.  Having a Post shared by others is the biggest honor they could receive.  Sharing a G+ post means the author of the post has delivered content to the space so profound that nothing else can really be said better about the subject.

Sharing a post is also an easy way to continue a conversation from one circle of interest to another circle of similar interests.

G+ has made it easy to share content with just clicking on one button.  Once the Share button is  clicked it becomes a Post which allows for additional remarks and comments to be made.

Of course, there are the Share Happy people who just Share other people’s post without making any comment or statement why. In a quick exchange of questions/answers I had with one of the Happy Sharers I found this particular person was told by a “G+ Guru” the should go through their stream each day and share all posts since it will trick Google into seeing them as an “Ultimate Interacter”(…believe me, I couldn’t make up these phrases this person provided.)

Sharing content is a huge part of interacting and should be frequently done but moderately.

+1

The +1 feature has to be the easiest interaction feature on G+, but questions still, after almost two years, are echoing through G+ on what does it mean when someone clicks on the +1?

To some the +1 is a lazy form of interaction and is the only form of interaction many people use.  The debate goes on if the +1 is a true form of interacting or just another form of appearing to interactive with people to trick the Google Search program into thinking they are interactive so they get a higher placement on the Google Search engine.

What the +1 button means to many people is a sign of support towards someone’s content they made on a post or as an acknowledgement that they read the person’s post.

It is still unclear why a complete stranger hits the +1 button on a post

In another interaction I had with a person I found that each day would go down their G+ stream and hit the +1 button was AGAIN another person being told by a G+ Expert, ..this time in a paid seminar…, that hitting enough +1 buttons each day will trick Google into seeing the person as someone who is interactive.  They also were told by the presenter of the seminar that G+ was a complete waste of time and the only value someone can get out of G+ is to daily go through their entire stream to +1 all posts…. then go back to Twitting.

So this is what I have found as the ways to interact on G+ that really work.  Now for the question of how many and what is the balance of usage of these features.

Where to Spend Time

Like anything else, when someone uses only one of the interaction features as their ONLY form of interaction their existence on G+ could be questioned. The question then becomes…

What is a good percentage of each type of posts should a person make to be viewed as someone who understands what social networking is all about?

Here is what I found as a good ratio of usage of the different interaction features that works for me.

• Original Post 40%
• Comments      30%
• Share                20%
• +1                      10%

Granted the Share feature is the most used interaction tool on G+ and does bring in the most valued information or content.

For the more content heavy providers the Post with a link to their blog or supporting sites would be their strongest interaction feature.  For the social butterflies, the Comment and +1 feature becomes their prevalent features with Shared Button as a close second place.

Use It or Lose It

It truly is unfortunate there are still people fighting the fact G+ is taking control of the social space for personal and business interests.  What I have found is happening is most people are entering G+ using other social platforms method of interaction.  This just will not work in the Google overseen environment.

Many people are just not getting a good start on G+ and are taking the advice of people who are not understanding the change Google is making in social networking.  This results in the majority of people on G+ not understanding what they are doing on G+ and just doing what someone else is telling them to do.

Hopefully, newbies of G+ will find people who do understand G+ and the direction social networking is taking.  I hope what I have found on how the interaction tools should be used is of help..if not..let me know how I can help.