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Get Started With Google+

chrisbrogan · April 15, 2013 ·

Google+ For Business You’ve been putting off actually doing much with Google+. Maybe it’s because you’re already feeling behind in keeping up with all the other social networks. Maybe you think there’s no one there ( 500 million users). Maybe you just don’t know where to start.

I can help.

Getting Started with Google+

Personal Vs Professional Vs Business Page

First question first: should you have a personal page, a professional page, and/or also a business page?

My experience thus far has been that a personal page seems to do more for most people than separating out a professional page. People are enjoying connecting with all your interests and not just your business interests. If you want to keep it a bit more professional than personal, fine. Share the personal stuff on Facebook. But what I’ve found is that the “blended” approach (some business content and some not-business content) has served quite well.

A Local business or a business with a physical location should most definitely set up a Places listing, which now ties nicely into Google+ business pages. Want to create your Google+ business page? Do that here.

Screen Shot 2013-04-12 at 8.40.12 PM

Want to see some examples of businesses around you who have done this? Check out Google Local.

So, my starting recommendations: build a personal/professional hybrid account for sure and possibly a Google+ business page (much more yes, if you run a location-specific business).

Get More from Your About Page

People seem reluctant to create any useful information on their about pages. MOST people seem to have very little on theirs. If you want to see mine live, click here. But I have some thoughts for you.

Screen Shot 2013-04-12 at 8.43.50 PM Create a simple explanation of what you do for others in the “tagline” section of the Story part of your About page. After that, in the introduction, expand that just a bit so that people understand why they would want to contact you. Make it even easier, if you’d like, by linking to your own contact page (instead of hoping people navigate Google+ to find you).

A Nifty Little Hack

Still on your about page, but in your Occupation area, not only do I list where I work, but I list what I do for people. Thus, when you look at my profile when I comment on someone’s work, you’ll see my tagline and the occupation area do something to entice people to connect.

Use a Nice Personal Picture

It’s amazing how few people put up a decent avatar photo of themselves. You don’t have to use the same one for every account on the Internet, but definitely, take some time to pick out a human picture of you that will let someone know who they’re speaking with, and maybe even a little about you.
Google+ also has a space for a ginormous background “cover” photo. Feel free to post a photo of your neck of the woods, or look at how companies like Red Bull and Lifehacker and PBS use their cover photo area.

Find People to Circle

Google+ has built a little area called Find People and it’s a pretty good place to start, but I have more ideas. Use third party site, Find People on Plus and search by whichever demographics matter to you. Also, when you do find people that you like, check to see who they have circled, and whether they’re of interest to you.

I also follow a lot more search topics on Google+ instead of just following people. For instance, here’s a search I did for email marketing. Sometimes it’s useful, and other times, depressing.

Take Advantage of Communities

Screen Shot 2013-04-12 at 9.08.30 PM One of two awesome secret weapons inside Google+ are its communities. I’m using a bunch of these in a private mode for my various courses, but I’ve also launched a public community about health and fitness. You can create your own, or more simply join someone else’s. There are so many opportunities to connect up with people already passionately talking about items you might find of interest.

From there, you can obviously also find people you might wish to circle and stay even more connected with, so that’s even another way to use the platform.

Connect With Hangouts

Screen Shot 2013-04-12 at 9.10.37 PM Another super secret weapon of Google+ are hangouts, which are live video conferences with either 9 other people privately or an unlimited amount of people watching (and up to 10 actively on camera) with the Hangout on Air feature.

You can use these for quick impromptu meetings with friends or colleagues (though when I want really professional meeting technology, I use GoToMeeting, who are sometimes a client). And the Hangout on Air function allows for large crowds for things like presentations (though I use GoToWebinar, especially so I can reach out to people via email after such an event).

There are many business functions of Hangouts that I cover in Google+ For Business, but I won’t get into those here.

Some Quick Tidbits to Help You Even More

To access all your settings, click here. Consider throttling back notifications a lot so that you don’t get a full inbox or worse while using this app. I have mine almost entirely off.

To organize the people you follow, put them into a circle (like a list). The names of your circles aren’t public, so it’s okay if you put me in the “loudmouth” circle. I find that organizing these early helps you decide where you want to focus your attention, and sometimes, lets you send info to a limited list of people (though as a marketer, I rarely want to limit my posts to a small amount of people.)

Post to “Public” anything you want to share with the world at large, and/or anything you want Google (the search engine) to index.

A “plus” works nothing like a “like” in Facebook. If you plus something, it doesn’t share with your community. It just shows that you plussed it. To share, click share.

Follow people like Mark Traphagen and Jesse Stay and Thomas Power and Mike Elgan to get some unique takes on the platform and even more ideas.

And maybe, if you’ve got Google+ questions and/or ideas, feel free to share them in the comments section. That’d really be excellent!

Please Consider Getting My Newsletter

Here’s exactly what you get when you sign up to my newsletter: I write you a weekly newsletter every Sunday. In it, I’ll tell you a story that will illustrate some point that’s useful to your life, your business, your organization, or maybe all of these. I’ll invite you to participate. I’ll be very personal. My goal is to help you build a strong, sustainable, relationship-minded business.
This letter is written be me, Chris Brogan. If you hit reply, the reply goes to me. I respond as soon as I can. Most people can’t believe how fast, but don’t let me get your hopes up. Sometimes, it takes a few days. But if you hit reply, I’m there.
If I intend to sell you something (and I do that, sometimes), it’ll be very clear. Somewhat comically so.
So join me. I respect your privacy and will honor your trust in us.

Join us for free and get valuable insights that you’ll end up eagerly awaiting. This is a community pretending to be a newsletter. You are why I write it.

Your privacy and email address are safe with us.

And thanks so much for your support.

–Chris…

Business, Chris Brogan, Community, Conferences, Internet, Marketing, Social Media, Speaking, Technology

Why Trust Agents Did So Well

chrisbrogan · May 22, 2012 ·

Julien Smith and Chris Brogan Keynoting Affiliate Summit East 2009

I’m not fond of bragging. Though I can be as prideful as anyone, I just don’t see the point in it. So when I start my post with that title: Why Trust Agents Did So Well, I owe you an explanation fast.

I just finished watching this video, “Scamworld,” which goes with this huge post about bad internet marketing, false schemes, and all kinds of deception. I will first say that I didn’t read the entire post, but that I feel it’s an important one to dig into (so I’ll get it all read in the next few days). The video is a decent way to see the thrust of the concerns raised on the article:


Can’t see the video? Click Here

I very much liked Danny Sullivan’s article talking about it and adding his perspective. I respect and admire Danny a lot, and when he puts his thoughts onto something fiery like the world of internet marketing, I listen.

Why Trust Agents Did So Well

I make the same mistake that most marketers (most PEOPLE) do: I believe that the way I think is the way you think. I believe that you know exactly my motivation and my thinking. I believe that when I tell you that my goal is to help others conduct business in a more relationship-minded way, that you’re thinking, “Chris wants to help me conduct business in a more relationship-minded way.”

When I look at this video, and from what I’ve read in the article, the part that scares me is that there are SO MANY PEOPLE out there selling absolute garbage that says FOLLOW THIS AND YOU WILL BE RICH.

I believe Trust Agents sold so well because Julien and I said this, “be who you really are, connect with a community, learn how to take what you know and can do and make THAT serve you, connect people to each other, practice the art of being human, and band together to make your goals happen.”

I Love Making Money. I Love Business. I Am Not Rich. And I Didn’t Get Rich Quick.

I haven’t made millions for myself yet. I’ve helped clients and my companies do reasonably well. I think money is wonderful. It helps me eat food. It buys clothes for my kids. I have a really fun electric guitar and I drive a Camaro. I also get to give to charities that matter like Skip1 and Invisible People. I will never apologize for believing that money makes my life better.

I love business. I love helping companies grow. I love seeing companies and individuals do better at what they want to do. It’s the best feeling in the world to believe that something I’ve said helps someone else grow their business and feed their families.

I am not rich. I live in a 955 square foot loft in a very small town. My television (which is plugged into a Wii and a Blu Ray player) is about 26″ across, I think. I own one car. Most of my clothes come from the Men’s Wearhouse and Target. I eat well. I won’t deny that (as if my belly would suggest otherwise).

I didn’t get rich quick. Maybe some day after a few more years of working, I can get rich quick. That’d be cool. Like, you know, after 20 years of doing what I do, seeing a check with six zeroes once would be really cool. But that’s not what I do.

Trust Is So Fragile

When people debate where to spend their money, seeing a video like the Scamworld video and then reading some of the accompanying mega article and commentary just makes me feel so sad for people. People have to try and evaluate who is trying to rip them off. Everyone has a kind of “eyebrow raised and one foot ready to retreat” stance online, and it comes from all these kinds of experiences. It’s no wonder that people ask me some of the questions they do or assume some of the beliefs they have about me, about this space, about the potential to build business.

Even hearing the people use the term “affiliate marketing” in the video reminds me why so many people still have a very negative view of affiliate marketing: because there are still some people out there who abuse its potential and who use it for nefarious purposes. As a user of affiliate marketing programs for three years, I can tell you that I understand why people get tempted to go for it and make a gazillion dollars just pushing links to make cash. It just never seemed right for me and my business pursuits. If I’m going to sell you something, it’s because I believe it is an amazing product or service and I believe it’s going to benefit you.

Do you know that people still stop me in airports or at conferences and tell me that they bought this suitcase (affiliate link, naturally) based on my video review and on the word of others like Mitch Joel? That’s gratifying, because it’s a really great product, and I’m glad so many people have benefited from that video review and Mitch’s advice.

The Cult of Information vs The Agents of Trust

What’s most important from the Scamworld article and video isn’t that you get it. I’m going to assume something: you GET it. You know this isn’t how to get rich. What I believe, however, is that if you watch the video, and you listen to the woman on the phone being pressured into giving away $1000 for some program that will make her millions, I can imagine one of two things: you’ve done that and felt the sting before, or someone you know (most likely are related to) is about to fall into this because they didn’t know better. And that is the scariest part of the puzzle. It’s not whether you’re clever or not. It’s whether you can help those who might accidentally buy some kind of “you can make money starting TOMORROW” program from someone that’s less than reliable.

As an agent of trust (you’ve just been sworn in), it’s important to spread that gospel: that one doesn’t get rich overnight, and if they do, it’s related to someone else’s suffering most often. Money grown organically is money you can feel happy about. And if you’re not committed to the success of your customers and clients, then you’re on the wrong tack and likely headed for stormy weather.

I don’t agree with every single sentence in the article, and I don’t think that everyone the article singles out are evil or whatever. I think that the overall message and caution and concern should be that too many people are out there falling prey to the notion that you don’t have to work hard and you don’t have to build relationships of value to earn money.

Here, where’d this soapbox come from?

Business, Community, Conferences, How To, Internet, Marketing

Update to the Unfollow Experiment

chrisbrogan · September 26, 2011 ·

Bird on a Wire

As you might know, I chose to unfollow the 131,000 or so folks I was following on my Twitter account. I did this primarily because I was getting crushed by direct message spam. I chose to follow that many people in the first place, because I felt that reciprocal following was polite. However, I came to realize that I wasn’t actually seeing anything that anyone was posting. In fact, because I followed so many people, the various software I use to view Twitter couldn’t even be served enough data.

What I’ve Learned

First, I learned that people put a lot of emotions into their social network subscriptions, and they put a lot of value into the concept of “friending” online. They feel an emotional response to whether someone chooses to connect with them via a social network or not. Responses in the comments and in my contact form and via other means of communication ranged from indignation that I would dare to unfollow them after “all these years” to hurt (I just can’t understand what I did wrong!) to some kind of, I don’t know, reverence: “I’m truly honored to have been followed by you for as long as you did.” All of these emotions were interesting. None of them are something I’m judging. They’re just all interesting for what they are.

Second, I found that by following a lot fewer people (I’m currently following around 370), I see a lot of conversations that were missing to me before, plus I’m seeing more of my @ mentions and more information in general. This is interesting to me because Twitter had become fairly crippled by me when I was following so many people. The software couldn’t even send me the messages intended for me in the @ replies.

Currently, I’m wondering what I want to do about following. The 370 I follow are all wonderful people. I’m still missing some good friends that I’m sure I’ll find via @mention and add back, but I don’t want to add everyone back again. I said that was my intention in the original post, but I don’t think that would be very beneficial. Instead, I think I’ll keep it quieter like I have it now. But what I might do is cycle in and out some number of followers, like drop 30 and add a different 30 from time to time, to see a new set of conversations from time to time.

These Are My Observations For Me

One point to make to you, especially the “you” who has to deal with clients who say, “Well Brogan did this,” and “Brogan unfollowed everyone,” please realize that a lot of what I do with each social media tool set is experiment. I work hard to understand what will work well, what won’t, what will serve my needs or my clients’ needs, and what will happen if I do this or don’t do that. To follow along with what I do too closely would be to fall in some of the same ditches I’ll discover by making mistakes and learning from them. Experiments are just that, and sometimes, things shake out in ways that aren’t as intended.

What I Know For YOU

Twitter is what you want to make of it. I know that the most important element of using your Twitter account, if I had to pick just one, would be to reply as often as you can, if engagement and community matter to you. If they don’t, use it however you want. But to me, replying when you can and as often as you can seems to be what people value most.

What’s Next for Me and Twitter?

I’m thinking of Twitter more and more as an “in the moment” tool. For instance, it works really well at events like PodCamp and other conferences, because people can easily follow a stream of information flowing out of hashtags. Twitter does serve well as a “feeding network,” sharing information into an ecosystem of people who are looking for new and interesting things to share. So, with that in mind, though I’m spending more and more time on Google+, I will still use Twitter to keep information flowing. I will reply as often as I can there, though I will likely go a lot deeper into conversations on G+. Why? Personal preference, plus I believe there’s more value to be had at Google+ in the longer game. It lets me “see” people better.

Do What You Like

There are so many ways to decide how you want to use Twitter. Find the one that works for you, especially as an individual. I prefer accounts that are a mix of informative and also diverse. You might see your needs differently and want to keep things very homogenized. Do what works for you.
And no matter whether I’m following you or not, you’re still important and doing good work. My following is not a seal of approval. It’s a choice. Like all things in life.

Make sense?

Community, Conferences, Social Media

Selling Information

chrisbrogan · July 18, 2011 ·

Lemonade Sales on the Vivid Image Front Lawn

It’s amazing how some people get all upset when someone puts something up for sale on the web. I released a Google+ for Business LIVE webinar (that goes on Wednesday, by the way), and a few people complained that I had the audacity to charge money to educate people for two hours at the cost of $47. This kind of thing used to bug me. I’d feel really insecure if someone complained that I was putting a product up for sale, or if I were promoting something. But it doesn’t bother me any more and here’s why.

People Buy Knowledge All the Time

We buy knowledge every day. I pay a mechanic to service my car, even though that information is freely available in tons of books at the library. I pay someone to manage my website technology, even though I can do most of it myself. I pay for books. I pay for audio programs. I buy webinars and seminars. I pay to attend conferences (Okay, I don’t often pay for conferences any more, but when I do, they’re worth it!).

But for some reason, sometimes people get tweaked about it. There are lots of people who get upset when one sells something. They call you a sell-out, a shill, a grubber, and all kinds of other words.

Selling Isn’t Evil

Selling isn’t evil. Selling crap might be evil. Selling something someone doesn’t need might be evil. Selling something someone didn’t ask to buy might be evil. But selling isn’t evil.

Selling is what one does when one has something of value that someone else might want or need. I don’t consider my grocery store evil. I don’t think Amazon is evil. We buy from people every day, even if it’s not money that’s exchanged. I buy information with my attention every day. I read great blogs and watch interesting videos every single day. Don’t you?

A New Place to Learn About Building Business

I’m introducing my new project (part of Human Business Works) that addresses this. It’s called The Owner’s Mind. The premise of this project is to create a private communication channel for aspiring web entrepreneurs to learn how to build their businesses and grow their future. I’m putting into this project all my learnings (plus interviews with all kinds of people who know tons more than me.

And we’ll talk about failure, too, because failure is an oft-overlooked part of learning how to build successful web businesses. You and I? We’ll cover that. Want to get involved? Just click below to read more, and then sign up for the free weekly email. I look forward to working more with you.

Image hosted at Flickr

Business, Conferences, How To, Technology

On Being Roasted

chrisbrogan · May 12, 2011 ·

This post is ridiculously long and somewhat self-serving. Skip it, if you just like when I talk about marketing and stuff. Read on, if you want to know about just a few people who were kind enough to honor me last night.

Last night was one of the scariest nights of my life. I was honored by friends at a roast, where people would be throwing well-meant jabs at me all night in front of my family and friends. To say that I was scared might be an understatement. I was terrified.

I’m not afraid of public speaking. I’m not afraid of meeting very important business leaders. I’m not afraid of my own death. I was absolutely freaked out and scared of what this roast thing was going to be about.

And I faced it like a coward.

I drank a lot too much, and though I did my best to stay coherent, I’m really regretful that my closing speech after everyone was finished didn’t go something more like this:

Thank You

Thank you to CD Vann for putting on this roast and for supporting Sit Stay Read, a charity that helps make literacy more fun for kids. I’m happy that this event helped out in even a small way.

Thank you, Jason Falls for hosting the roast, and for doing an excellent job of preparing for what must have been a much harder experience than one of our typical speeches. You performed magically, and were so kind ahead of time, during, and after (near as I can recall).

Thank you, Jon Swanson, my good friend and pastor, who led the best prayer ever. In fact, I really want to see a copy some day, if any of that was written out, as I suspect it was. It was priceless. Thank you to you and Nancy for coming down, and for just being my friend. Had I been a lot more coherent, I’d have told the room the story of Andrew and his friend walking by me that night years ago.

Thank you, Joe Sorge, for your great Honey Badger video, and for making me laugh so much. Of particular note was the Mama Badger and the Camero Therapy badger bits. If I had it to say again, I’d have told people how strange it was to meet a guy who I feel like I’ve known for years.

Thank you, Liz Strauss, for being my first grade teacher. You did a great job of telling meaningful stories that never happened but that sum me up much better than several things that really did happen. You continue to be a wonderful example of community.

Thank you, Dave Murray. From the moment the lab coat went on, I couldn’t stop laughing. You hadn’t even said anything, but because I count you as one of the funniest people alive, I was already pretty darned ready to laugh. Your jokes at that dinner at that Lebanese restaurant outside of Detroit have become legendary to me over time. The other day, someone asked about the shoe with the bottle of Jager in it that adorns our bookcase at home. I couldn’t answer, because I was laughing.

Thank you, Gary Soucy, the scariest wild card a room could ever hold (he knew some really insane stuff about me, but didn’t give up the best dirt). Gary also played the role of “guy not really in our space, who can tell us we’re all crazy.” It was a big surprise seeing you there, and I was very grateful.

Thank you, Rob Hatch, for a really well-written roast that had me laughing hard and appreciating you all the more. I know that Megin was ready to razz you, but there’s nothing to pick on. You were really funny. Thanks also for getting drinks with me beforehand, and for that moment before we began it all when you made me laugh and spit carrot into your glass.

Thank you, Amber Naslund, for doing a great job of summing up the last few years of insanity, for being kind, for throwing in a bunch of the long-running jokes that defined the countless conferences and hotel ballrooms. It was great to relive those memories, and just good to catch up.

Thanks, Jeff Willie. You certainly added to the night’s craziness. I don’t exactly remember your roast parts, except for the Follow Friday parts, but I’m sure it was wonderful.

Thanks, Troy Janisch, for adding to the experience. You were telling me months and months ahead of time not to worry and that it’d be okay. You were right. It was fun to hear your perspectives and I’m grateful that you were in the room.

(At this moment, I really hope that I thanked everyone who roasted me in person, because I’ve gotta tell you, it’s 4:30AM local time and I’m hung over, and I think I got them all, but if not, I really loved whatever you said, person I forgot to mention outright).

So, friends also contributed videos. Angel Djambazov did one in a bathrobe that had me laughing. Zena Weist did one that was as sweet as she ever is. Christopher S. Penn told our meeting story, which gets funnier every time he tells it. Shashi Bellamkonda shot a video for me. Other wonderful folks did, but I’m never going to remember you all.

There were all kinds of celebrity video bits, including Cloris Leachman, and um… oh god, lots of people who I’m not going to remember, but Dr Drew, some comics, some music stars, all doing a montage of sorts of “Who’s Chris Brogan?” I hope it goes up on YouTube so I don’t have to explain it.

I’m pretty darned sure I didn’t thank my parents, Diane Brogan and Steve Brogan, who were probably a fine mix of proud and embarrassed by the end of it all, both by the people roasting me and doubly by me. My parents made me all that I am, but I doubt they’d want to take credit for the fact I got drunk last night in the face of my fears. That said, they love me, even when I mess up, the way parents are supposed to love you. I hope I will someday be half as good at that job with my kids.

Thank you, Katrina. Thank you. You did a wonderful job of connecting with people, of helping with some of the last minute details, with checking in, and then you were the poor soul who had to handle the very unglamorous part of my night. Thanks for getting me upstairs instead of letting me wander into that restaurant to talk more. Thanks for getting me fed and watered and put to sleep. I’m so glad I didn’t get sick, but I’m super grateful that you dealt with my shenanigans. And thanks for being part of the event, but never getting the mic. : )

Next to last, thank you to everyone who sent well-wishes before and during the event from afar. I was served drinks from long distance (avoiding land sharks). I was wished well by friends who couldn’t make it. I was honored by all of your kindnesses.

Finally, I was so humbled by the people who attended this event. I feel like I let you down, at least some of you, by not getting over to talk to you before the shenanigans began. I said hi to lots of folks in the room and talked to people who had come from all over to be there. Sue Murphy came down from Canada. Rick Calvert and Cheril Hendry both came from California to be there. Peggy Fitzpatrick came from New Hampshire. Several people made five or six or more hour drives. Friends like Jim Raffel and Katie Felton and Robin Walker and Becky Johns and Hajj Flemings and Anita Campbell and Shawna Coronado and many more came to be part of the story. I couldn’t get over that.

At the end, when I was probably my most incoherent, I wanted to say this: I am you. I am every Katherine Bull and Kim Beasley and Salvatore Fiorella in the room. I’m not worthy of being the center of attention at an event like that. Jason Falls and Liz Strauss and thousands of people do what I do and then some all the time. They deserve to be roasted. You deserve to be roasted and honored and treated with the love I received from you all. And how do I know this? Because I’m you. I’m a nobody who works hard and who believes above all beliefs that humans are just trying to do what they can, and that they (you!) are inherently good.

In the end, I will repeat that I was a coward about last night. I was so afraid. I got a little drunk because I was so afraid, and that’s a cowardly move. Because in the end, the roast that people put on for me was a testimonial to the love that great people can share for a regular guy like me, and with every passing moment, it dawned on me that I’d read the entire situation wrong, and that it was nothing but love.

So thank you, my friends, for the roast, for allowing me my flaws, and for a great time last night. I will remember most the sense that the world to which I’ve dedicated over a decade of passion came together to say great things, some of which were true.

Thank you.

Business, Chris Brogan, Community, Conferences, Marketing, Speaking

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