Book Review: Google+ for Business

I am giving Google+ another look because of what I read in Chris Brogan’s book Google+ for Business: How Google’s Social Network Changes Everything*. The title is a little deceptive because I believe this book would be enlightening for everyone interested in how to get the most out of Google+.

Brogan covers his topic over fourteen easy to read chapters. In each chapter, he provides a number of examples of how others are leveraging Google+. In the first three chapters, Brogan gives his reasons why he believes Google+ will take off, the opportunities Google + provides, and how he uses Google+. Next, he gets into the details of what you need to do to get off on a successful footing, how circles work along with recommendations, and how to post various content to Google+. With the basics out of the way, Brogan starts to provide examples of how different types of businesses might use Google+ through great examples. He also spends two chapters focusing on sharing content and growing your audience; these are perhaps two of the best chapters of the book.

I took his advice to heart and reworked my entire Google+ account and approach. Here are some of the things that resonated strongly with me.

• Google+ is closely tied to Google’s search capability. If you post to Google’s new darling, you have a greater chance of rising in the Google search rankings because Google and YouTube (a Google product) are the top search engines. It also means Google+ is or will be closely connected to other Google applications.
• Spend time to flesh out your profile. The more people know about you, the more they will trust you. Just like LinkedIn, the more information in your profile, the more findable you are.
• Organize your Circles for both incoming and outgoing traffic. However, Brogan also stresses that most of your outgoing traffic should go to the public stream. This is something I am now doing with my posts. I also learned that you can share circles, something that I did not know. Brogan outlines a number of methods for locating people to follow. These include third-party sites, Google’s search, and friend surfing. Friend surfing is another new term.
• Share. “The most powerful opportunity in Google+ is sharing” (p. 18). Brogan recommends doing more sharing and talking about others than talking about yourself. You will benefit in the end by helping others and promoting their material. This is also advice from Keith Ferrazzi’s book, Never Eat Alone, Expanded and Updated: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time*.
• Schedule your time to regularly engage through Google+. He recommends engaging on Google+ at least twice a day to provide unique content that you find. He also stresses the importance to comment on other posts as well as respond to comments on your posts.

Throughout the book, Brogan also includes links to key resources for finding people to follow as well as links to businesses who he believes provide great business pages.

The advice Brogan provides throughout Google+ for Business would apply to other social media applications such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as to individuals, government organizations, and nonprofits. Having been a fan of his posts for many years, he practices what he preaches. I believe his success is largely a result of this philosophy to be more focused on others than himself.

If you want to learn more about Google+ and how to effectively use it, I would recommend his book.

At the time of this update, Google is phasing out Google+

In the spirit of full disclosure, this is an affiliate link, which means that if you purchase this item through my link I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link. I only recommend products & systems that I use and love myself, so I know you’ll be in good hands.
Plus, when you order through my link, it helps me to continue to offer you lots of free stuff. 🙂 Thank you, in advance for your support!