Google+ is growing in popularity very slowly and many businesses have found successful and unique ways to use it.The growth rate of Google+ has been stunted because Google refused to allow software developers an easy way to post directly to the network. Programs like TweetDeck, cotweet, and MarketMeSuite have direct software connections to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and many other social networks. It's through these programs that people can automatically post information to the social web via a third party.
From what I see, and measure, this automation has de-evolved many of the content posted to social networks to the point of pure garbage and tricks designed to build online followers, but not designed to increase your bottom line. The younger generations see right through the tricks and garbage, they are desensitized by a lot of the stuff posted out there, and they just ignore it.
The phrase "Banner Blindness" is used to explain why online banner ads will occasionally fail. Users have simply become conditioned to ignore specific shapes on a website, and therefore they don't see your ads. The evolution to banner blindness might as well be "Social Update Blindness" because ineffective social posting doesn't help any of us.
I'd love to say that a poor little fairy dies every time Facebook Pages post crappy updates like "TGIF! Click like if you're happy it's Friday." The truth is that every post like that helps to desensitize another social user, including yourself.
Meanwhile, since June 2011, the only way to correctly post to your personal Google+ profile is through your smartphone or your desktop computer. Google intentionally forced us to interact directly, rather through fairy-killing automation. I've heard a few people tell me that Google+ is too hard to use, which makes me think that those same people simply don't want to be directly involved with their online social activities. So be it, go ahead and keep to killing fairies.
In all seriousness, Goolge+ is turning into an unstoppable force. You just don't see it yet. The first program to allow preprogrammed updates to Google+ is Hootsuite, but don't try those "TGIF" posts over there. The audience on Goolge+ is more thoughtful and they naturally have to spend more time interacting with the network because Google has thus far prevented shortcuts.
Remember MySpace and Friendster? I'd like to say that those social networks were for the kids. But then the kids turned into teenagers and young adults and moved on to college. Facebook was founded by college students and had an overnight success as other young adults joined up, followed by a billion other people.
I'd like to say that Google+ is the social network for adults. So far it's looking like the network that people go to when they really want to be directly involved. It's also looking like a social network that follows one of my own personal mantras: "Learn from other people's mistakes."
Here are my 3 best tips for Google+ so far:
1. Want to grow your online following and professional expertise? Use your personal profile to establish Authoriship for your blogging site. Go here to find out more info about this: https://plus.google.com/authorship
2. Post your latest content to your personal profile and to your business page, but you need to spin your own content. For example, each time you publish a new blog article you can announce it on your +Page and on your +Profile. Don't post the same announcement, instead write 2 totally different summaries of your blog and post those with a link. There's a lot of SEO power in this.
3. Invite every person you know to join you on Google+. They give you a way to send invitations to lists of email addresses. Back in July 2011, I sent invitations to 800 or more people I had in my email contact list. Very few of them joined at the time, but Google+ keeps track of who you invited and the notifies you once one of your invitees eventually joins. This is a pretty cool feature that allows this social network to actually be social since it allows you to immediately reconnect with someone you might have lost touch with.
In all seriousness, give Google+ a try before your competitor down the street starts doing it. Oh, and make sure to add me to one of your Circles when you finally get there. I'm the only Matthew Perosi "in the book."
