Google+
By Cheryl Salazar, The Partner Marketing Group
With all the liking, following, sharing, commenting, tweeting, etc. going on today it’s quite tough to find out who is genuine and who is not. I know that I look at some of this social ‘stuff’ with a somewhat jaded eye and never hesitate to hit the ‘unfriend’ or ‘unfollow’ button. To get into, and stay in the conversation, is more important than ever. While it’s not always easy to look someone in the eye or actually shake their hand, careful use of your social media properties can go a long way for you.
Your social profile is YOUR brand. Everything you put out there is going to reflect back on you and if you’re thoughtful and respectful with your posts you can develop a lot of trust and integrity without ever meeting your prospects or clients in person.
Just like many small towns, we like to know who we’re doing business with and will often welcome a personal profile vs. a ‘brand’. Once you have your Google+ account set-up, fill out the following sections:
How to Create a Great Google+ Business Profile
About
Fill out the ‘story’ to explain more about what you do for your clients, prospects and perhaps other teams within your company. I personally use similar text to my LinkedIn profile to keep my brand consistent across social media sites. Include a tagline that describes what you do for your company.
This introduction also functions as tool for Google+ to use to help your profile gain influence. When you start to post on Google+ you’ll notice that your followers and views will increase over time and it becomes yet another way that your company can be found online. And as people come to know and +1 you on Google+, they will start to associate your company with you.
Contact information
While this seems obvious, this is an often neglected area. Ensure that the information is accurate and don’t display any personal contact information unless you’d like strangers to start knocking on your door (virtually, of course).
Links
Make sure you ‘claim’ your personal profile link. If it doesn’t appear when you create your profile, it will appear the next time you log into Google+. This, once again, assists with Search should someone be researching your integrity, looking for validation for what you say you do, reviews on your company, etc.
Include your social profile links. Only include professional profiles. For instance, in my profile, I only include the company links for The Partner Marketing Group’s social properties and not my personal ones.
If you contribute to any external blogs – your company blog, industry blogs, or have a business-focused blog, add those links to your profile too.
Pictures
As consumers we do business with brands, but in business we do business with people. Make sure you have a professional picture of yourself. Once again, I reuse the one I have from all my other social profiles. You also have the opportunity to include a banner, either choosing one from Google’s gallery or you can upload your own favorite picture. Once again, keep it business focused.
From time to time Google+ will suggest profile updates. You have the ability to fine tune your profile in the Settings tab and if you need to, you can delete your profile altogether.
Need Help with Google+ Expamples?
If you’re a little stuck, please feel free to visit my profile for some clues how to create your personal profile.
