I honestly should be a poster child for Google+, but IT'S JUST THAT COOL! I'm still riding with training wheels, but it's love at first sight! I just bought a shiny new shovel to bury my old friend...you know who, when I am completely ready to move on.
That said there is one problem...
IT DOES SO MANY COOL THINGS THAT IT OVERWHELMS PEOPLE
Don't be afraid. It won't bite.
So, here's what I'm going to do to help you. I will blog very simple Google+ tips (at first) to get you started. Trust me, if you follow the tips, you will be a pro in no time, and I promise I will keep them short and sweet....well except for this one, but that was because I had to make pleasant introductions!
So, why is Google+ so cool?
Because I posted this...
...on my @#*EB@## account (it's like Voldemort) where I have almost 500 friends - hee hee or so I thought - probably not since I only received five likes. I think writers have that in common, our friends think we got lost deep inside some cave.
Anyway, I posted the Happy St. Patty's Day Keep Calm message in two Google+ communities with over 200,000 members between them. So far, I have received 81+1's and 21 reshares. People sure like the Irish.
Okay, serious for just a sec, the communities were related to the Hunger Games because I was hoping to engage with readers who enjoyed YA Dystopian fiction. I would be interesting to hear the main points that make them so fascinating to them. I love these books, too and can't wait for Friday (Divergent). BUT...what is it that really makes it tick for a 15-16 year old? I am guessing they like the strong female characters...sorry guys, no more damsel in distress.
Back to the WHY?...these likes and reshares will assist with increasing visibility with THE largest search engine in the world. We aren't Yahooing it or Binging it folks, we are Googling it. It's a fact. Like dinosaurs. They exist. (you know who that is for).
And remember - it's a marathon, not a sprint!
-Ginger
p.s. if you enjoyed this blog, please click the +1 just below here so that others may enjoy it, too!
Getting involved with Google did seem a bit confusing at first (after living in the world of Microsoft), but really, this is simply WHAT MAKES SENSE. Involving this in our project(s) Ginger has been a great move and it's nice that Google moves at a good pace. Just as you seem to need something...they've been out there thinking it up! Very good things going on here.
ReplyDeleteMy primary confusion is that when someone follows my personal account, I don't know why they followed it, so I don't know what group to put them in. So I don't put them in a group, and as a result they don't see any of my targeted posts. I have business pages set up, but they don't have many followers.
ReplyDeleteThe best way I can think now is to have different pages on Google+ and when someone follows you from your blog, hopefully they follow that particular page, so you can have some idea. We'll have to do some experimenting.
ReplyDeleteThat just sounds too hard for someone like me. I am struggling with just one page at the moment and I have the same problem as above.
DeleteI am check ing this out now as well. FB is not an effective location for authors to interact with readers, only other authors. Honestly, I have a G+ account but no idea how to use that to my benefit yet, so may be a while before it works for me.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the blog will help! I can't believe I'm ahead on you Eric... you are a true pro!
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