Having a personal Google+ page can help you stay active in conversations about your industry, connect with like-minded people, and its another way to promote your business online. To begin creating your Google+ account, sign in with your personal Google account on the Google+ Start Page. If you don’t have a Google Account, you will be directed to create one first.
Creating A Google Account
Your profile is where people can find your stats, basic info and where you can upload a photo. It’s a good idea to keep your photo consistent across all of your social media accounts for better personal branding.
The first time you access Google+, a screen will prompt you to add people you know or want to follow, as well as a list of suggested users Google has curated for you to follow.
When you follow someone, you can see all the activity that he or she publishes publically, much like following someone on Twitter. You can add people to Circles, such as friends, family or you can create a personalized circle.
Circles act very much like filters — you can share content with those in your Circles and you can see what they choose to share publicly. People and brands will be notified when you have added them to your Circles, but they don’t know which Circle or who else is in that Circle with them.
Completing Your Profile
You can include additional information on your profile that could improve your professional reputation and promote your business by updating your Story.
In this section you can include information about your education or other classes you’ve taken, your work related skills, and links to your business and other profiles.
Posting on The Platform
Google+ is similar to a mini blog. Your posts can include images, links, videos and a long body. When you post on Google+, you can share things you like or start a conversation with other users.
Google+ allows you to segment your audience with filtered Circles to get the most out of your interactions. This way you can segment your posts for Circles that you know will be interested in your posts.
Getting the Most Out of Google+
Communities are used to bring people around a particular topic, to share questions, comments or content. After logging into Google+, you’ll see an icon on the left for Communities. This will bring you to the Communities homepage, which will give you a sample of the types of public communities you can join. You can either start your own community or search for existing communities from there.
Its a good idea to join communities related to your business or industry to share ideas,meet new people and promote your business. You can also join communities based on location, such as Guelph, to connect with new people that might be interested in learning about your business.
