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Business Communications with Google Plus

Business Communications with Google Plus

Google Plus for Company Communications

I thought I would share an example of the way that I am using Google Plus to strive for better communication with the employees of one of my restaurants. I created a circle in Google Plus and added all of the employee emails that I knew (I am hunting the rest as we speak), and set out to use that circle as a way to connect with everyone. When something new is added to the menu, when we run into and issue during service that needs to be addressed, when I decide to open or close for a holiday, and any other time that I want to contact the staff this will be the method. Of course I will still be managing verbally while I am present at the restaurant, but this is not a business where everyone is there from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday.

Some Employees work two shifts a week, and it has been up to me and a few managers to convey all the changes to each member of the staff when they came in. Until now.

Google Plus employee communications

This is the first message I sent to the staff to introduce them to the fact that I am going to be using this tool to communicate with them. It is my hope that I will be able to create learning moments from any snag we hit during service by bringing it to everyone’s attention as it happens with the hope that I can prevent the rest from stumbling over the same issue before it is resolved.

With access to this circle via my mobile and desktop I will be able to communicate with the entire staff when the need or solution arises, and that convenience is something that I believe will allow me to be better at what I do. With two restaurants and a growing marketing company my time is in demand and having the ability to communicate like this is a godsend.

Why Google Plus?

Well the greatest reason is that I can create the circle with just their email addresses and whether or not they are using Google Plus already I can contact them. It simply emails the contents of my messages to them if they are not G+ users already. You can’t do that with the friend request format of Facebook, and though I love Twitter it’s short messages and lack of a true group messaging function eliminates that as well. So Google Plus races to the forefront. The ease of setting up a circle is very key as well.

In the future I anticipate the ability to incorporate other Google properties such as: (Google Calendar – Scheduling and Google Documents – Training Materials) With Photos and Youtube there really is little limitation to where you can go with this.

Waiting for an Invite? Here You Go

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I am Spirocks on Twitter.
Filed Under: Google+, Tools Tagged With: , , , ,
Google Plus Customer Management

Google Plus Customer Management

So I am embarking on a new project with my clients, to utilize the tools google has given us in Google plus to organize and market to their customers, prospective customers, and the world in general. First we are using gmail to maintain customer database, and then we are organizing these customers into circles by things they have in common. For instance a realtor is grouping buyers into price range circles, and town circles. In this way she will be able to share only that which is relevant to each group and never be intrusive.

Here is a video explaining a bit more about circles:

Even if the customer is not using Google Plus she will receive an email notifying her of what the realtor is sharing, the versatility of Google Plus will allow my client to share the stunning photos, videos, and written work we do with her in a variety of ways. Gmail will allow her to record all pertinent contact details both at her computer and via her smartphone. Here is the variety of information that Gmail will manage for each customer:

Gmail Contact Information Capabilities

Gmail Contact Information Capabilities

As you can see for a small business or professional the contact data is clearly sufficient with multiple notes sections that can be added for further customization. Couple that with the amazing google plus sharing technology, including video chat, and you have a dynamic FREE CMR and Marketing solution for the mobile entrepreneur and professional.

I will explain further in this video:

Let me know what you think in the comments, or hit me up on twitter: @spirocks

I am Spirocks on Twitter.
Filed Under: Google+, Mobile, Tools Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Features Google+ beats Facebook At (part 3)

This is part 3 to a series of posts on features that Google plus does better than Facebook. Part 1 (photos) and Part 2 (open development) can be found at these links and I hope you enjoy this series. I really wanted to write about Google “Hangouts” today, the video group chat feature that has the potential to deal a serious blow to Skype. But I am devoted to writing about what is truly the most important feature first, so maybe hangouts next… now it is time for:

Google+ is better at Privacy than Facebook

You already knew that right? I know. But here are ways and reasons that may not have crossed your mind yet. I call them the granularization of privacy (my word) in Google+. Everyone is talking circles, and rightly so, the ability to define groups of individuals to share certain items with is a simple yet novel approach to the online sharing quandary. What I see is that Google+ has a chance to be THE SOCIAL NETWORK, not a niche site. I think LinkedIn should be worried, as should Facebook.

Google+ could replace both LinkedIn and Facebook for Most Users

Lets be honest, the things you share and the info you put forth on Facebook is significantly different than what you do on LinkedIn. So basically you have two separate networks for two separate purposes. That means maintaining and updating information in each of them whenever something changes, it means checking messages from both regularly, etc. In short you are maintaining two different CIRCLES of contacts with two different services. Sometimes sharing completely different information, sometimes the same information. With Google+_ you are able to do just that, all within the walls of one network.

Each thing you share is a grain of information, and with google+ you are able to precisely and easily manage whose eyes see it. Facebook fails to do the same, as they push to have everything more and more public, they redesign security settings and leave them open by default so you are required to consistently monitor changes.

By Design Google+ has privacy that you can rely on.

This is not a setting, this is you telling the network exactly which individual you want to share this piece of information with. It is not up for debate and the settings can not be changed in a way that changes that fact. That is privacy that you can rely on.

In the span of 1 minute you can post a picture of yourself accepting an award from the State house for running a few family businesses, and share that with the your customers, friends, family, employees. And then post a video from your liquored up karaoke party where you sang AC/DC and share that with your friends only. Done, no worries, no security setting menus to navigate through. Basically no bull shit.

Facebook is likely to have to change to keep up, consider this quote from the Fortune story on the privacy differences between the two:

…it’s much easier to manage Google’s privacy options than Facebook’s. Reviews of Google+ mention its superior ability to manage personal data, better transparency on how that data is shared and the option to delete all your data… If better privacy is in fact a big factor for many people, then Google+ could easily become so popular enough that Facebook will be forced to improve its own privacy policies.

Implications for businesses are huge.

Privacy is a strong word, it stirs up emotions, but on a level that relates to marketing it can be less strict and more of a tool. Think for a moment of a company Google+ page with various different customer Circles, they could be leveraged to:

  • Deliver offers to select groups of customers, by geography or other factors.
  • Test out different marketing pitches and campaigns.
  • Send customer groups to different landing pages and monitor effectiveness.
In this way the ease of Google+’s circles becomes paramount to encouraging there use. Check out this video for an idea of how easy they are to use:

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I am Spirocks on Twitter.
Filed Under: Google+ Tagged With: , , ,
Features Google+ beats Facebook at (part 2)

Features Google+ beats Facebook at (part 2)

This is the second installment of a series of posts I am writing on the features that Google+ does better than Facebook. While I have heard from some listing things that Facebook does better, I would simply say, I am not writing about that. Google+ is a start up network that has the clear advantage of being created by some of the worlds best programmers, a vast financial resource, and the second mover advantage. The second mover is by nature behind, but also has the ability to dissect what the first mover has done and find ways to incorporate design and strategic elements to improve on the existing first mover example.

Google+ beats Facebook at Openness in Development

Google+ is impressive in its feature set already, as I noted in Part 1 with their superior handling of photos, but Google has stressed in their statements that this is a ‘field trial’ not an alpha release, not a beta release, but a field trial. They have made tweaks and changes, and when they have stumbled, they have acknowledged it and fixed it. One of the most impressive features is the easy to use feedback tab on the lower right corner of every google+ page. When you click on it, you can easily report a problem as you encounter it with this pop up form:

Google Plus

This easy to use form helps them get better fast.

As you can see you actually highlight the problem on your screen, and describe it to them. I have used it and seen the issue resolved within 24 hours. That bodes well for the future of google+. The fact that they make it so easy to report the issue means more will be reported, which means less people will encounter them, and things will work better.

Google+ has its big guns out there talking to Users

You might not know Vic Gundotra but he is a senior vice president at google, a software engineer, who is in charge of much of what google+ is. He is out there every day using the very very cool video chat tool in google+ to “hangout” with users and get feedback about features they want or want to work better. When a team has their superstar that invested good things happen. Think Tom Brady showing up first to practice, and locking the door on his way out.

Vic Gundotra

This is Openness in Development, with Users coming first

Google is going to Integrate Google+ with other Products, Carefully.

Gmail, Youtube, Google Search, Google Docs, Picasa, Blogger, Google Talk, Android, Google Calendar, Google Maps, Google Translate… heard of those? Yeah well Google has a stable of horses already running at the front of their races. They will integrate them into Google+ and they have shown that they have learned from the issues they faced with the failed Google Buzz launch.

Take for instance the openness and true desire to hear from users as to how the integration of Gmail should go, shown by Mark Striebeck the Engineer in charge of Gmail’s front end:

gmail frontend engineer

This is Organization wide commitment to Success.

 Google+, the Path to Success

While I feel like I amy hav elost some readers with this topic, having used the service consistently for a week and a half since launch, this needs to be written now. I have read articles from people who are trying to decide if Google+ is going to succeed or not. To me they are morons just looking to get something written. Google threw the gauntlet down to their employees last year, social was priority #1, and it shows in the out and out dedication I have shown you a glimpse of above. Remember a few things:

  1. Google has many of the most talented people in software today.
  2. Google has most of the industry leading online services under their roof.
  3. Google has the financial strength to do what it wants (not pre-ipo, not a garage start-up)
  4. Google has motivated the best programmers in the game to get social by tie-ing all bonuses to the success in social.
  5. Google has the bases covered: Android to Search to Youtube to Gmail – you already are heavily involved in Google+ whether you know it or not.
Id your business in a position to guess that google+ will fail, or do you want to be among the first to establish a presence there and avoid playing catch up next year? If you want help making that happen, let me know, that is what I do.
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I am Spirocks on Twitter.
Filed Under: Google+ Tagged With: , , ,
Features Google+ beats Facebook at (part 1)