Let’s talk about that.  Let’s talk behind the back of Google Plus.

Just for a sec.  Shhhh.

The elephant is in the room.  His big fat elephant butt is sitting on the table.

 

 Grand  Poobah   or   Jerk  Face?

 

My initial reaction :  JERK FACE all the way, man.

 

If Google Plus had a face, I wanted to punch it.  Didn’t you?  Admit it.

 

[pinit]

 

At first blush, Google plus appeared to be a pain in the ass  just another social platform.

It made us googly-eyed.  Our eyes glazed over with the mention of the whole shenanigans.   It was a chump and we didn’t want to deal with it. Right?  Right.

 

Why  ?

Like Elmer Fudd, we were vewy vewy afraid.

 

In the past, Google plus had been hanging around like stink in our heads. Whatever.  Stink away.  We had more important things to do.   Like drink wine.

 

 We   may   have   said   this  …

 

 Stupid social platform.  Numskull.  Nitwit of a place to be.  Twit but not twitter-like.  Idiot.   Ninny.  Blockhead.  Out to lunch.  Bonehead.  Dork.  Dimwit.  Dunce like an old Facebook flame.  Goofball.  Featherbrain. Chump.  Lamebrain.  Blockhead.  

 

I confess.   I called it names.   Just maybe.  I’m not sure.  It was something like that.  Yes.  I said it.  Numskull.

Maturity is my strong suit.

 

Dive  Deep  Into  Google  Plus

 

I have four words for you.  It’s not too late.

I have four more  { if you don’t do it NOW }.  You are an idiot*

* I’m apologizing in advance for calling you names 🙂

Do it T.O.D.A.Y.

Now is the time to just go for it !!  Before the sun sets today,  make it happen.

You can do it !!

 

 early   To  Google   Plus  ?

Some jumped on the Google Plus band wagon early in the game.  Some didn’t.

For a long time, I was in the didn’t category.  So there.

 

It has only been about a month or so that I have been really diving in deep and testing the waters in G+.   I have seen a 40 % increase in blog traffic and higher rankings on keywords in Google.

Just. Like. That.

Magical, don’t you think?

If I can do it, so can you.

I started with knowing NOTHING.  Less than nothing.  Negative nothing.

Look on the bright side, it can only get better from there.

 

 

In the early days,  I had merely signed up and waited for nothing to happen with it.

I promptly jumped off of the G+ wagon and ran at a galloping speed straight for the hills.   I bolted like a bat outta hell.

Yes, I repelled it.

Yes, I ignored it.

 

If Google Plus was a house plant, I killed it.

 

Dead as a door knob.

Dead.

Gonzo.

 

 

At the time, I was thinking :  Don’t we all have plenty enough to do on social media already ?!!

Thank – you – very – much.

Your outside voice : Thanks Lynne, I was totally thinking that too.

Clap yourself up.

Now go cry into a bowl of Cheerios and slap yourself on the back of the head.

 

Why  ?!!

 

Google  Plus  is  the  Grand  Poobah @!!*

 

It is all that and a bag of chips.

It’s time to change your tune and start partying with this G+ dude.  He’s like hanging out with a rock star on a yacht of interesting peeps.  You are going to like this dude and his pals.  He rocks out loud.  He doesn’t care if you are fashionably late to the party.  He will pour you a stiff cocktail, slap you on the back and welcome you onboard his damn fine sexy yacht platform.

The peeps at the G+ party are super cool.  They talk about things that you love.  They have similar interests.  They listen.  They tell their friends about you.  They even give you sips of champagne.  Okay.  That part I made up, but you get the picture.  #WishfulThinking.  Who says NO to a boozy party with pals?  Say Yes.  Dammit, Janet.  Say yes.

Google Plus will float your boat, I can promise you that.

 

 [pinit]

How ?   How ?   How ? 

Let’s get this party started and I’ll show you how to party like a rock star on G+.  First things first.  Circle up some G+ gurus and consider them your ring buoys.

 

Here’s my faves :

 

Denise Wakeman   ~   Helping you boost your online visibility. Guaranteed.

Stephan Hovnanian  ~  Google+ strategies for your business

Laurie Laizure  ~  Interior Design Community on G+ and Google Plus awesomeness.

Mike Allton ~  Social Media Manager & Geek of all things G+

Do I have regrets for avoiding G+ for so long?  Oh hells yeah.

If I had a third leg,  I would kick myself with it.

Do you want to drive traffic and grow numbers while you are hanging out at the G+ party?

 

Yes.   Yes.   Yes.

And.

A big fat

 No.   No.   NO.

 [pinit]

Take your foot off the pedal and back up that truck for a sec …

Just like in real life, listen and engage 80% of the time and shut the hell up with talking about you the rest of the time.

You’ll get the floor the other 20% of the time <— That’s your time to shine.

Need some help with numbers?  Mike Allton wrote a fab article with 8 ways to grow your G+ followers.  Circle up Mike on Google Plus and read read read.   There’s good stuff in there.

 

Google   Plus   in   A   Nutshell

 

If Google + had a face, you should French kiss it.

 

Note :  If you are a pro at G+, for the love of Pete … just ignore these tips, so I don’t blush from head to infinity.

Uhhhm, then circle me up and blow me a kiss.  I want to meet you.

 

Until that moment, I’m hiding behind balloons.

 

[pinit]

If you are new to Google Plus or just starting to get your feet wet in G+ stay with me…. this will help…

Ready to pick up that Google Plus flag with a cause and wave it from the rickety boat yacht ?!!

 

 

 

 10   Tips   &   Tricks  !!

 

1.    Circles and Public :   Imagine G+ to be like Facebook.  The horrors of comparison, just for a sec.  You can post an update to G+ in the same way as a Facebook status update.  Share your G+ post to ‘public’.  You don’t need to share to circles as well.   Sharing continuously to circles is perceived as spammy.  Your circles will already see your posts in their stream.  Only share to circles if you have a specific post that you think will absolutely benefit them and you want to highlight it directly to them.

 

 

2.    Images :  Add a photo to your post as often as possible.  It is a proven fact that photos in every social media news feed grab more attention than just text.  Want to know how to create gorgeous photos the easy & inexpensive way?  Sign up to my bloggy and get a free downloadable book to show you how.  Photos and social media go together like peanut butter and jelly.  Who doesn’t love a PB & J ?!  Oh hells yeah.

Did someone say PB & J ??!!

Grrrrrrrrreat.  I’m hungry.

 

[pinit]

3.     Google plus is Google peeps.   I can’t stress that one enough.

 

GOOGLE !

Google.  Google.

 For the love of Gawd….

GOOGLE  !!

 

As a brand, you need to think of Google as your friend.  Any time Google has its eyeballs on you, it’s your chance to shine.  Google crawls Google plus.  Google couldn’t give a shit about Facebook.  Not a rats ass.  That’s right.

Nada.  Zip.  Zero.

Want a complete guide to Google Plus for FA-HHREE?  FRee.  Free.   Martin Shervington shares this complete guide to G+ and he says it all with a much sexier voice than mine.  For real.

 

4.   Facebook vs Google Plus :   Anything you share on your Facebook page is only seen by a small percentage of your followers/likes and quite possibly that girl who stuck notes on your back in grade school.   She probably has a massive booty & missing her front teeth by now.  Do you really need that mental anguish?   Truth is, less than 20% of your fan base actually sees your posts on your Facebook page.  You need to post 2-5 times a day to even be a blip on the radar.

Blip. Gone.

Truth is, I’m still active and post on my Facebook page because there are some benefits to Facebook as well. Google Plus just has greater benefits.

5.   Google Ranking :  Want to help your rankings with Google?  Hint : if you have a blog or an online presence, this is über important.   Google is the number one referer to my blog.  That is pretty much the case for any blog in the history of ever.

Google needs to be your bestie.

 Your pal.

 Your chump.

 Your sidekick.

You should smooch him.

Take care of your pal.  Get him sloshed and feed him a nice cocktail every now and again.   Did someone say cocktail ?  

 

 

6.      How do you learn more about Google Plus?  Read.  Read.  Read.  It’s like a magical University in there {minus the tuition}  It’s Fa-Ree.

 

 

7.     Your brand :  Do you want to catapult yourself and/or brand on Google?   G+ is the place for you ~ GoGo Gadget.  Need some help to make that happen?  Stephan Hovnanian wrote a faboosh article on using the Google Plus Hovercard as the ultimate personal branding tool.  Holy Batman, there is epic stuff in there.

 

 

8.      How did I do it?   My sister in law Denise Wakeman sat me down in the treehouse and made me do it.  Okay. Okay.  She’s nicer than that. I gulped my coffee and stared at her with my big saucer eyeballs.   Part of that might have been fear.  Actually, most of that was my fear.  Fear of G+, not fear of my sis in law.  She’s a peach.  I love her to bits.  She only pulled my hair once and shoved my face in the cake when I wouldn’t listen.  About 3 words in there are true.

 

She can teach you too (minus the face plant into the cake).  Go check out her site.  She will rock your world and make online visibility an adventure for you.  There’s even a video to show you three ways to boost your visibility with Google Plus.   I got lucky, she’s a relative of mine.  She has helped me to skyrocket my blog and grow my web presence.  You can have the same benefits by watching her G+ videos and following her bloggy.

 

9.     Knowledge is power :  Read until you feel dizzy ( that could be the cocktails ).  Remember to follow peeps who are Google Plus guru’s when you first get started.

After you start to feel cozy in there, you can start to branch out and circle up other peeps and other interests. Join communities.   It will fill your news feed with what YOU want to see.    No hairy backs.   No big ol’ toothless meanies.   Just good stuff.

 

10.    What is the + sign?   Want to talk to someone or mention someone within Google Plus?  It’s as simple as putting the + sign in front of their name.   Come say hello to me.  I’m here at +Lynne Knowlton.  Want to mention me in a comment?  Just type +Lynne Knowlton and I will be notified.  Easy, huh?  Easy breezy beautiful you. *smile*

 

Next big step :

Google   Hangouts  !

Yessssss.

There are public hangouts and you can also have private hangouts.  Public hangouts are then shared on YouTube (hello, that’s good stuff for your online presence).   A private hangout is similar to a Skype call.  You chit-chat with your pals & no one else can hear it or see it.  It’s like a secret room.  I wish it had a secret handshake, like the treehouse 🙂

 

 

Google Hangouts :

 

Recently, my sister-in-law Denise Wakeman  interviewed me for my first google hangout. I was a google hangout virgin.

Did you hear that?

V.I.R.G.I.N.

That’s me { insert big toothy grin in there. }

 

I shared my insider secrets on how to become a kick ass blogger.

 

 I  talked  about …

*   What motivated me to start blogging

*   The secret sauce to my success ( it’s not an easy road & I share my inspiration on how I did it )

*   How to keep it REAL & truly authentic

*   Ideas on how to keep your blog posts interesting and fun ( insert potty mouth )

*   The one thing I wish I had done earlier

Hint : It’s a big one.  Why?  It quadrupled my blog subscriber rate!!

 

The Adventure in Visibility Hangout : 

 

 

 

This has been a Google Plus public service  announcement.  Snicker.  I hope it nudges you to give Google Plus a whirl.  Take it for a spin.  Give it a try.  Giddy up and Go Go.   It’s off the charts.   It’s the fly.  The shit.  Wicked awesome.

Yes… It’s all that AND a bag of chips.

Did someone say chips?

Please share this bloggy post with your pals and help them to grow their online presence too.  Talk to me in the comments.  Lemme have it.  Are you playing in Google Plus?