If your goal is to broadcast your message to as many potential customers as possible, in fact, if numbers are your only metric of success, then don’t waste your time with Google+ right now.
But ignore Google+ at your own peril. It is growing rapidly on a path to becoming a major social media force.
Paul Allen reports Google+ has 62 million users, adding 625,000 users each day.
According to Allen: “If this rate of new signups (625,000 daily) continues then Google+ will reach 100 million users on Feb. 25th and 200 million users on Aug. 3. They will finish 2012 with 293 million users.”
To explain that in ways you can understand and compare it to something else, Facebook reports it has about 750 million users, putting Google+ at 39 percent as many users as Facebook, in just 12 months for Google+.
I bet you’re a little more interested now.
Using Google+ for small business
Start by having all of your key employees sign up for a personal account, and complete their profiles with photos, links to your online properties, and smiling photos. People love doing business with people.
Share some relevant industry information. Each person who has a Google+ account should now begin sharing some relevant information about your business’ industry. This should not be spammy, but instead information that would be of interest to people who do business with your business.
After a few days, and at least three or four Google+ posts, you’re ready to create your business page.
Pick one person, and have her set up a Google+ business page. For a complete profile, and to get the best results, she will need the company URL and a nice version of your corporate logo.
Publish the new business page on her Google+ profile (it’s an option at the end of the setup) and have everyone else who has Google+ share it with their followers.
Share a little bit here and a little bit there, measuring your time and seeing what happens with your investment. Thirty to 90 minutes a week is all the time I’d invest right now.
