So you want to build a Google Plus presence for your business. What do you need to know?

The fact is, not every business needs to be on every social networking platform. If you deal primarily with white collar professionals, you’re probably not missing out by lacking a Tumblr page. In fact, it’s possible to project an off-putting air of desperation by clogging up your business’s web presence with a dozen or more social media badges — and you may overtax your resources by trying to make regular updates to Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Foursquare — well, the list goes on.

The first step, then, is understanding both your target audience and the user base of the social network in question. Rather than desperation, you want to project the cool, professional certainty that you understand both yourself and your market.

The user base of Google Plus is generally tech-oriented and professional. Bloggers, coders, folks who spend a lot of time thinking about SEO. Many Google Plus users migrated there out of frustration with Facebook, unsatisfied with Facebook’s privacy practice or UI consistency but still desiring the sort of large-scale social media infrastructure that a large company like Google can provide. It’s a generally urban crowd, typically aged between their mid-twenties and forties.

If this sounds like your target audience — or part of that audience — then a Google Plus presence could make sense for your business. So what’s next?

Sign up

Head to the Google Plus for Business page and either sign in with your existing Google account or create a new one.

Select your category

Next, Google will ask you to choose a Category. If you’re a small or place-based business — a restaurant, winery, or bookstore — choose “Local Business or Place.” If you’re promoting a chain, brand, agency, or widely distributed product, select “Product or Brand.”

Pick a good image

You’ll be prompted to enter a Page name, website, business sub-category (“food,” for example), and a 10-word-or-less tagline. You’ll also have the option to upload a profile photo, which you should absolutely do. Take care with your choice of picture, though — this is going to be the defining visual element of your Google Plus presence, and like a book’s cover, it will instantly inform your viewers’ perception of the business.

Add people to Circles

Google Plus organizes your contacts according to “Circles,” which may overlap or stand separately. As an individual, you might have separate Circles for friends and family, so you can post only the most relevant updates to each. As a business owner, the default Circles are “Customers,” “VIPs,” and “Team members” (and of course, you’re free to create new Circles). Go ahead and start adding friends, employees, and close associates — people who will expect the invitation and help you spread the word.

Update Regularly

Your social media presence needs to demonstrate that you’re actively engaged with your audience — if you barely use it, viewers may find you passive or apathetic. Post regular updates on your products, services, or specials. Consider ways you can use unique features of Google Plus like Hangouts — a group video-chatting platform. Answer questions and respond to feedback.And of course, when people follow your updates, make sure to add them to your Circles!

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About the author: Lisa Shoreland is currently a resident blogger at GoCollege.com, where recently she’s been researching writing scholarships and subsidized loans. In her spare time, she enjoys creative writing and hogging her boyfriend’s PlayStation 3. To keep her sanity she enjoys practicing martial arts and bringing home abandon animals.

This post is written by guest author Samantha Casey.

Greetings Folk Media family! I feel honored to be guest blogging for you and sharing with you my business series, “Ammo for Your Arsenal.” This series is designed to bring you empowering advice, tips, and tools that will help you in your day to day business as Professionals. Whether you are the CEO or are just beginning in the business world, this series will provide information which will be useful in all arenas. This Power Topic covers the art of Less Promise, Greater Delivery. Are you ready? Let’s get started.

“Less Promise, Greater Delivery…”

What exactly does that mean? It’s a short phrase yet, encompasses the formula to your success.  For business professionals, regardless of the industry we are in, or position we hold within the company, the critical element to our lifeline is the ability to satisfy our clientele/audience/fanbase. Without them, we don’t exist. We want to provide every essential necessity to ensure they return to us for their services because they Trust and Believe in our business. We want to build relationships; lasting relationships with people who feel they know us, can relate to us, and are comfortable with us as their service provider.

Let’s break this down a little further. Each half is the ammo you will need to continue growing your business, clientele base, and retaining those you already have loyal to you.

Less Promise: aka “Under Promise”

This is where many find themselves in hot water. It is easy to meet a potential client, business colleague, future investment partner, etc and find yourself promising them the moon, stars, sun, and every planet in existence. If you are capable of delivering that, yes, do it! However, it is much more wise to under promise what you will be offering, and wowing your audience when you exceed their expectations by light years. Err on the side of caution here. Confidence is key in how you present yourself and it is very easy to get caught up in wanting to impress your audience, with the result of promising more than you can follow through on, because you are so determined to bring these guys onboard. You can do that without delivering false expectations and your impression will be one that is deemed respectable. This relates to something as simple as when you state you will forward an email or as to when you commit to a project deadline. You want to create commitments which are realistic for your business model and are sure to be honored. Your word is one people will NOT forget–keep it simple; whether in an email or verbally spoken, your word is a contract of its own.

Greater Delivery: aka “Over Delivering”

Over delivering is simply exceeding the expectation you have set forth from what was originally promised to your audience. This is where you have promised a Honda, but have delivered a Bentley. You have committed to a delivery and have executed that delivery by means which are far beyond what your client was originally asking of you.

If you are a Graphic Designer, perhaps you promised your clientele a finished website in two weeks, but have delivered the final product in one. If you are a Recording Artist, perhaps you promised your fans a chat session on Twitter, but have gone live on UStream to interact instead. Over delivering can be appreciated in simple ways but the key to this is: you have delivered MORE than you had committed to. Your audience will thank you, your clients will trust you, and your image will be noteworthy as one filled with integrity. It is critical that your delivery is greater than what you have promised your audience. When you come through, your audience will be awed. Your clients and colleagues will remember this…and this is how you WANT to be remembered! You want to get in there and consistently build a solid reputation!

The Quickest Way To Destroy Yourself

As I know you are aware, the business world is full of many people who cut corners, are dishonest, and talk fast in order to earn a quick buck. Don’t place yourself into that mold due to not keeping your commitments; once in there, you’ll be fighting tooth and nail to get out! Your image will be destroyed. In the long run, more will be coming out of your pocket to salvage all that you have lost along the way therefore; taking the easy road is one that will detour before you reach the road of success. So, steer clear of that mold. Promise what you know you are capable of delivering, and take the time, even a moment, to commit to take it a step further by delivering more. Less promise, greater delivery.

The road to success begins with committing, and following through. Ultimately, this ammo will give you the essential tool to build your credibility and reputation as sound, reliable, and one that is focused on ensuring your clientele/audience/fanbase is satisfied. You do not want to tarnish your word. Negativity spreads like wildfire and it is much easier to be labeled with a sour image than it is to retain a credible one.

Keeping Your Commitments = Keeping Your Business

“Less Promise, Greater Delivery”

Make this your business mantra! Repeat it, use it, and follow it. It is your blueprint to creating a phenomenal and triumphant empire.

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Samantha Casey is the founder and operator of Relentless Consulting Group, a firm that helps businesses and individuals market to the world. She is a blogger, reader, and networker with a passion for helping others and building strong brands. Follow Samantha on Twitter to find out more about her.

*Photo by LarryLens

by Stephanie Wonderlin

I was doing some research online regarding the growth of social media and what it can do for businesses that use it properly.  A number of business people, executives, owners and more still have doubts about social media as a business driver.  This medium is still very new, which adds to the skepticism, and participation requires a different approach from the traditional marketing efforts they are accustomed to.

Through my searches, I came across Business.com‘s Social Media Best Practices: Question & Answer Forums report that was release a couple of weeks ago and details some statistics from forums.  I found the report fascinating, but here was the best part:

This might be the first quantified list of what social media can do for your business. It was taken from a survey of over 1,400 individuals, 69 percent of whom work at business currently using social media and 59 percent of whom are business owners or C-Level executives.

If you were apprehensive about undertaking social media marketing, this study should influence your decision.  Honestly, what business wouldn’t want this type of marketing?  If you’d like to know more about why you should be using social media for your business, be sure to check out tomorrow’s article by Deborah Richmond.

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Stephanie Wonderlin is a social media enthusiast and Regional Sales Manager for a chain of hotels in Illinois. In her spare time, Stephanie blogs, teaches Pilates, and studies to earn her Advanced Social Media certificate from the University of San Francisco. Find out more about Stephanie on Twitter.

*Photo by svilen001

A lot of speculation has arisen lately about social media’s place in the office.  Some say that social media access should be unrestricted because workers feel more comfortable.  If employees know they can tweet and stay connected through Facebook all day, they’ll feel at home and productivity will increase.  Others say all social media access while on the clock should be eliminated.  If employees are given access, they will do nothing but surf the Internet all day.  So, which one is the perfect solution?

Neither.

The pros and cons of both arguments point to one goal – creating a highly effective work environment.  Therefore, there is not one correct method that must be followed.  Each business is different.  What works for corporation ABC most likely will not work for non-profit XYZ.

To help decide what policy would best suite your organization, there are a few consideration points below.

Beware – these questions will not lead you in one direction or the other.  You must decide what is best for your organization.  The overall goal of any company is to be effective.  Whatever your company needs to do to achieve its goals is the direction it should go.

• Do you have any current office policies that might tackle the issue of social media in the workplace?  How do those policies impact productivity? If your office already has pre-existing rules or directions for social media in the workplace, consider analyzing their effectiveness on morale and productivity.  Do employees simply tweet or access Facebook from their mobile devices instead of a browser?  Would access to social networking sites reduce time on cell phones and iPods?  Does restricting Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, aide or hamper productivity?

• What messages do you want to send to your employees?Restricting access to social networking doesn’t mean you are a horrible boss but your direct reports might think so.  Have you made it clear to your employees why social media sites are or are not blocked?  Mutual understanding is critical for a productive and creative work environment.

• Do you have performance metrics or standards in place?Solid performance goals and expectations that are enforced will keep your employees on track, with or without social media sites.  Ensure that your employees are aware of your expectations.

• What can you learn from the past? Oftentimes, similar situations have occurred in the past.  Remember the YouTube craze?  Did your employees watch videos all day or did they do their work?  What was the final outcome with fantasy sports websites?  Most of the time you will find that a past decision or situation can lead you in the proper direction.

There is no right or wrong answer for social media in the workplace.  Social media can prove to be an aide in some offices and a burden in others.  Reflect on the past, analyze your work staff and their performance, and decide what is best.

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Eric Alpin is the Associate Editor of Folk Media and works for a telecommunications company in Baltimore, Md. He is a social media enthusiast, blogger, writer, and student with a passion for leadership and self-development strategies and techniques. Find out more about Eric on Twitter.

*Photo by: ydhsu

It’s that time of year again – the time for goals, resolutions, broken habits, and a lot of positive thinking.  When most people think of the term “resolution,” they think about personal development and growth.  Through hard work and discipline, goals are set, changed, and, hopefully, achieved.  Resolutions aren’t just for the individual; business can use and develop resolutions, as well.

Businesses are constantly changing and growing with their customers.  If they didn’t, they wouldn’t last long.  However, most businesses have not adapted themselves to secure their presence in social media.  Whether people like to admit it or not, social media is here to stay for some time and if businesses are looking to survive in the next decade, it is critical to stake a claim in the social media market.

It’s a new year and the beginning of a new decade.  What better time to jump into social media if you haven’t done so already?

Choose Wisely

Social media websites are not your run-of-the-mill information sources and each site is different.  When choosing to become active in social media, it is critical to think about the intended goals.  Do you want to gain more clients?  Do you want to develop current relationships?  Do you want the world to see your company as “human” and not just another retail store?  It is important to figure out your social media goals before diving in.

The most popular social networks are Facebook and Twitter.  On Facebook, businesses and non-profits can create fan pages to promote their businesses.  Users of the social networking site can become “fans” of the business and share the information with their friends.  With Twitter, a company would create a profile and tweet, or publish posts, about the company itself, how it can help, and even any special offers.  A great guide to using Twitter is 21 Days to Twitter Leadership.

Set Goals

Your business or non-profit is never going to succeed in social media without goals.  Goals help you measure the success in the physical world and goals will measure your impact in social media.

Some may call it unreasonable to think that a business and non-profits can grow through social media in just a short time.  But, it happens.  If a non-profit sets reasonable and achievable goals, amazing things can happen – donations can flood in, people can be touched, and the organization can grow.  With social media, information spreads like a wildfire.  With the proper goals, that wildfire can be almost unstoppable.

Don’t Give Up

Social media growth and exposure don’t always happen overnight.  It can be tough to continue to attempt to market and promote when it seems like no one is listening.  However, there is always the possibility that times will change in an instant.  When it feels like no one is replying to your company’s posts or taking action on the donation pleas of your non-profit, don’t lose heart.   Revisit your goals and methods, determine what may be the problem, and adjust accordingly.  If you don’t, things might turn out worse.

It’s the 21st century and the start of a new decade.  It is time that businesses and non-profits embrace the full potential of social media.  It’s a marvelous world that can grow and transform an average business into a marketed and thriving business.  Will your business embrace the Social Media Resolution of 2010?

Eric Alpin is a social media enthusiast, blogger, creative genius, and avid reader. Eric enjoys maintaining his website, ericalpin.com, editing and shooting video, reading, hanging out with his friends and girlfriend, and playing sports. Eric works full-time for a telecommunications company in the Baltimore, Md. area and is currently seeking his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.

Get the book “21 Days To Twitter Leadership” The Step-By-Step Guide On How To Twitter, Get Twitter Followers And Position Yourself As The Leader In Your Industry In Less Than 10 Minutes Per Day.

*Photo By shoebappa

Most of the time, people take action based on instinct, not thought.  We see it all the time and are not innocent ourselves.  We have all performed an action or completed a task without stopping to think of the benefits or purpose.  To sum it up, we wasted our time.

However, there is hope for us.  Our hope lies in one question – Why?  It may sound simple, but asking “Why?” can lead to a new line of thinking and direction, especially when you are discussing social media for businesses and non-profits.  Why do you have a Facebook fan page?  What purpose does it serve to have multiple Twitter accounts or LinkedIn job postings?  What is your intended audience and why?  Such questions don’t often have easy answers but they can make the process flow more efficiently.

David Allen, a best selling author, discusses the “Why?” factor in his book, Getting Things Done.  Allen states that asking “Why?” has many perks, including:

• Defining success
• Creating decision-making criteria
• Aligning resources
• Motivating
• Clarifying focus
• Expanding options*

Unfortunately, all of our missions and undertakings in life aren’t successful on their own.  Thinking is required to make them work, no matter how hard we try to tell ourselves that is isn’t.

When you are trudging through the worlds of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube, continually remind yourself of why you are using social media.  What goals do you have for your social media accounts?  Why are you serving your customers online?  What are you looking to reap from your online presence?

Considering this simple question may be the key to moving your brand or business into the world of social media.

Eric Alpin is a social media enthusiast, blogger, creative genius, and avid reader. Eric enjoys maintaining his website, ericalpin.com, editing and shooting video, reading, hanging out with his friends and girlfriend, and playing sports. Eric works full-time for a telecommunications company in the Baltimore, Md. area and is currently seeking his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.

Get the book “21 Days To Twitter Leadership” The Step-By-Step Guide On How To Twitter, Get Twitter Followers And Position Yourself As The Leader In Your Industry In Less Than 10 Minutes Per Day.

*David Allen, Getting Things Done, Penguin Books, 2001, p. 63

Be A Good Citizen On Twitter

What goes around comes around

Call it Karma, call it an act of God – but what you do to others will come back to you tenfold. If you are a good citizen on Twitter the benefits are enormous.

What Makes A Good Twitter Leader

Be sure to do these things:

• Be proactive.
• Remember Twitter has “Karma.”
• Avoid confrontation & Twitter bullies.
• Repeat your Tweets for maximum visibility, especially if your target market is in other countries/time zones.
• Thank people and show appreciation.
• Accept constructive criticism even if you don’t agree.
• Get the attention of your peers.
• Start conversations with notable peers.
• Monitor your Twitter reputation.
• Beware of Twitter bullies.
• Real life rules still apply.
• Quality trumps Quantity
• Be mindful of who you are following and who is following you, you never know who will see your Twitter posts.

How Organizations Are Leveraging Twitter

Learning stuff in the hallways

My dad always told me that I would learn more in the hallways between classes than I would under the professor’s lectures. He was right. The same goes for Twitter. To really take your Twitter to the next level, it is time to spend some time in the hall.

Here are a few companies that “get” Twitter. As you visit their sites, notice what they do and how they are using the platform to set themselves up as leaders in their industries.

Comcast really does care

Frank Ellison had a great idea to use Twitter to watch for how his company was portrayed on Twitter. He will personally respond to complaints about Comcast service or products.

What the Dell are you doing?

We’ve counted 35 separate Twitter accounts for Dell. You can see a list of them here.  But what is truly amazing is the amount of revenue that Dell has been able to generate exclusively on Twitter.

In an online article authored by the company, Dell claims that they have generated over $2 Million in revenue using their @DellOutlet Twitter account. (Cited From Dell’s Site)

General Motors get’s specific on Twitter

While other companies rely on one or two people, GM has managed to coordinate four people to cover their Twitter feed.

H&R Block party

H&R Block understands how to engage their followers. Almost every Tweet starts with an @mention.

Kodak moments

Although nowhere near the staggering number of Dell, as of this writing, Kodak has four Twitter accounts. You can see them all listed here. I think Kodak does a great job personalizing their Twitter accounts. They put a face to the company.

Whole Foods – Part Twitter

Whole Foods has a huge follower base. They have grown by giving out great content and interacting with their customers.

These are just a few of the “brand” companies that are using Twitter in amazing ways. Your business can harness the same power of Twitter – for free. Now go take action.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, and speaker who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter.

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Get the book “21 Days To Twitter Leadership” The Step-By-Step Guide On How To Twitter, Get Twitter Followers And Position Yourself As The Leader In Your Industry In Less Than 10 Minutes Per Day.

*Photo By FábioMakesMistakes

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People think in stories and narratives – not in data and facts. Is your business taking advantage of the storytelling abilities online? In this audio series we cover the four “C’s” of building a business narrative: Content, Characters, Crowd, and Capitalize.

Here are five social media strategies recorded last week during my daily audio updates on Utterli. (Utterli is a free voice recording service that allows you to record a message using your cell phone and then post that message to the web). .

Monday: Building A Business Narrative

Tuesday: Business Narrative: Content

Wednesday: Business Narrative: Characters

Thursday: Business Narrative: Crowd

Friday: Business Narrative: Capitalize

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Joel Mark Witt is a producer, speaker, and new media leader who writes about social media and its impact in the business world. He is also the Founding Director of Folk Media. Send him an eMail: joelmarkwitt (at) folkmedia.org or follow him on Twitter.

Subscribe to the Folk Media Insider eNewsletter. It’s a free monthly newsletter packed with tips, tools, strategies and resources to take your business to the next level online.

*Photo by Olivander

The value of Twitter comes from having a plan. Your business needs to be able to manage your Twitter presence and track your metrics and analytics.

Having a Twitter plan is the best way to increase engagement and ensure an active and interested follower base.

Step 1 – Sketch out an editorial calendar.

For those in the PR world you may have experience with this already. Plan your Tweets in advance based on company product releases, holiday sales, and major events. Literally layout a calendar on your desk and theme out the weeks and months ahead. Have a staffer then draft up 5-10 twitter posts per week based on your calendar.

Step 2 – Use a service like Hootsuite.

Hootsuite is one of the major Twitter tools you should be using for your business. It allows you the ability to schedule twitter posts and track URLs.

Take your list of Tweets and plug them into Hootsuite keeping in mind that you’ll want to schedule out your Tweets at various times of day.

Step 3 – Think distribution in advance

You should think of your Twitter strategy in two parts. Part one is the distribution of your business content. Updates, alerts, specials, breaking news, and product/service announcements fit into this catagory. Refer to your editorial calendar to plan these updates. This is your baseline content.

Step 4 – Think conversation in the present

Part two of your updates should be real time conversation tweets. These are replies to people who are talking about things related to your core business, customer service follow up, and contest/question tweets.

I would recommend a 60/40 twitter post rule. Sixty percent of your business tweets can be announcements as long as 40 percent of your updates are conversational.

Step 5 – Create a Twitter landing page.

Twitter allows you to include one Web address on your main profile page. The best thing you can do is to send visitors who click on your link to a special Twitter landing page on your site.

One of the benefits to this type of page is your ability to track incoming visitors. Using Google Analytics you can count your page views and see the amount of traffic your Twitter presence is generating.

Also a Twitter specific landing page can be tailored to your Twitted audience. Have 300 dentists following you? You’ll want to make sure the landing page is optimized to speak to that demographic.

Step 6 – Get buy-in

The ultimate goal for a Twitter business plan is to actually build your business. One of the best ways to do this is to get visitors to subscribe to an email newsletter. As useful as Twitter can be email is still the powerhouse marketing tool of the web.

So be sure to have a call to action on your Twitter landing page for email subscriptions. (note: here is a list of email service providers). The goal is to get buy-in from your visitors. Once you have an email, you can follow up and continue to build a relationship with these potential custmers.

For more on using Twitter for your business – subscribe to the free Folk Media Insider eNewsletter.
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Joel Mark Witt is a producer, speaker, and new media leader who writes about social media and its impact in the business world. He is also the Founding Director of Folk Media. Send him an eMail: joelmarkwitt (at) folkmedia.org or follow him on Twitter.

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Subscribe to the Folk Media Insider eNewsletter. It’s a free monthly newsletter packed with tips, tools, strategies and resources to take your business to the next level online.

Here are the tips that we posted this week on Twitter about using social media for your business. You can use Twitter Search to look these up. We used the hashtag #business and #socialmedia to track the conversations. For the future – follow @FolkMedia to stay up to date with online Twitter discussions and tips.

1. What is something your business can do this week to educate you prospects using Twitter? Do it.
2. Twitter Business Tip: Every company that is on Twitter should tweet a “”tip of the day.” It is easy and helpful to your followers.
3. Twitter Business Tip: Make a list of your social media time drains. Cut the bottom 80% that do not produce results.
4. How much time each week do you spend on social media marketing & PR for your business?
5. Twitter Business Tip: How can you think beyond Twitter and online social media when connecting with your audience online?
6. Twitter Business Tip: Use twitter to listen to conversations.
7. Never never ever underestimate the current and growing power of email. ALL of your business prospects have email accounts.
8. Imagine having the superpower of being able to listen to peoples’ conversations around the world in real time. It’s called Twitter Search. Use it to see what’s happening — right now.
9. Check out what #journchat is doing on Twitter and how they are using it to host discussions. What could your business host?
10. Twitter Business Tip: Think of your business Twitter account as a connector. You don’t need to have all the answers – just link to them.
11. Twitter Business Tip: Remember – wealthy people invest in relationships. Wealthy businesses are NO exception.
12. Twitter Business Tip: What can you do online to help further the career of a colleague or staff member today? Do it.
13. Has your business considered holding a press conference only for Twitter users in your industry? Treat them like NYT reporters. You’ll be surprised at the results.
14. TIP: Send one email per week to your VP or CEO with a summary of Twitter activity and stats. It will keep it top of mind for them.
15. Business Twitter Tip: If you are a CEO – be human. You need to protect your time – but it helps to converse with Twitter @ replies
16. Your @ reply area on Twitter misses a lot of @ mentions. Use Tweetbeep to catch all @ mentions for your business.
17. @joelcomm wrote a good book on getting started with Twitter called “Twitter Power”  http://ow.ly/6haU
18. Social Media Business Tip: Metrics are everything. Check out @ImpactWatch for social media monitoring http://ow.ly/6h4o
19. Twitter Business Tip: Your business needs a reason to use social media. Without a reason/plan your wasting your time.
    
20. What is it about Twitter that screams “broadcast” in the ears of business professionals? It is broadcast AND a conversation.
    
21. Twitter Business Tip: Twitter is a platform. Your business needs to brainstorm come and revenue models to build on top of it.
    
22. Twitter Business Tip: Use Tweeteck (http://ow.ly/6fGu) to have keyword alerts pop up on your desktop during the day.
    
23. Twitter Business Tip: Each company brand can have it’s own twitter profile.
    
24. If you are an Internet company – don’t loss sight of the value of a good old fashioned sales letter. Aka – snail mail.

What  social media business tips would you add to this list? You can post them below in the comments or join the discussion in real time on Twitter.

Subscribe to the Folk Media Insider eNewsletter. It’s a free monthly newsletter packed with tips, tools, strategies and resources to take your business to the next level online.