Google Plus is this great new medium where we can connect, interact, have fun, meet and greet. It’s an excellent platform for getting to know people, staying connected with people.

How can you get more from the circle concept that they created on Google+?

A circle, if you’re familiar with Facebook or Twitter, is like a Facebook friends list or perhaps one of your private Twitter lists. The concept is the same, you’re putting like-minded people together, or people that have something in common in a circle, like all your family, all your friends, all your business associates, all the people you met at a certain conference. That is the basic way to use Google Circle.

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You can organize by category or relationship or both. Whatever works for you, it’s very flexible. The other awesome thing that you can do is you can create a poll. You can create polls for people in a specific circle, or for people in all your circles. You can identify which circles you want to send the poll to, and ask questions, find out. If you’re going to create a new product find out what are people looking for, what is it that they need right now, and then create that product. So create a poll and ask.

You can also interact in fun ways with your followers. One of the things that I love to do is share the silly stories and the silly pictures that happen with my dog. They are very entertaining, and for my friends on Google Plus who are also dog lovers they thoroughly enjoy them.

You can learn from your friends in your Google circle. I see little bits and pieces of things every day of people posting little bits of information that go “oh”, that’s a good thing, I could use that over here, or I could use that over there. When you keep your eyes open and you’re reading the different things that the people in your circles have posted then it’s just an absolute gold mine of information.

You can filter your posts for specific circles. You only want to take a look at one specific circle for the moment you can go in and you can take a look and see who’s who and who’s talking and who has what to share, find some new information.

Get in there and use the Google circles. You may find that you like it better than Facebook or Twitter, but you do have to get started, you do have to get them set up, and Google has some excellent tools to help you get started and get that happening.

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Everything you say and do online is there for other people to see, for other people to get to know who you are. Therefore, you need to be very careful about what you put online. If you’re in a bad mood or something has really got you upset, stay away. Don’t go online and post something that you might regret later. Or if you have absolutely have to, do something in draft mode, and then go back and take a look at it later. Here are five tips to help you protect yourself online.

1. You need to focus. You need to focus on one particular topic or one particular area in your business that you want to be known for. I have seen lots of people out there who are involved in 10, 15, 20 different things. My automatic response is oh my, they must be a scatter brain. Focus. Develop a reputation for a specific area, a specific business. You can move on a develop other areas later.

2. Watch what’s happening in your industry. You’ll be able to see the trends, where things are going, what is happening, who to believe, and who not to believe. All of the different things that are going on your industry, what’s the new technology that applies to your business, what’s the new news that’s happening, maybe a new procedure, a new program. Watch what’s actually happening in your industry so that you, yourself, are also going to stay current. You want to be seen as the expert in your area.

3. You need to be clear in what you’re talking about and you need to be…

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You must have a goal. If you don’t, you’re going to flounder, you’re going to be chasing the latest and greatest of what ever someone else to have to offer. You need to have the goal so that you can focus on it, and actually achieve it.

The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them. Denis Watley

If you’re going to start social media marketing just because other people are doing it, or you’ve heard, oh my gosh, you really have to get involved with social media, you’ve got to get on Twitter, you’ve got to get on Facebook. If that’s the reason that you’re going to start using social marketing, then I would suggest that you don’t.

You need to have a goal. You need to have a strategy in place, and setting up a Twitter account or a Facebook page and just making some posts is not a strategy that’s going to get you anywhere.

Here are 4 to strategies consider:

1. Is brand recognition. Are you simply out there so that people will know who you are and what you do. Brand recognition.

2. Are you wanting to use social media to get more customers walking in the door? Do you want to geographically target your Twitter, your Facebook, your YouTube? Do you want to geographically target those platforms so that you can specifically get customers walking in the door?

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Do you use the Twitter ReTweet function? Are you getting the maximum benefit? Keep reading and you will learn 3 ways to ReTweet that will help you become that “Know, Like & Trust” person.

There are people out there right now who are saying that Twitter retweets are no good. Don’t bother, you’re wasting your time. I totally disagree with them. With the Twitter retweet, there are four ways or four things that you can do so that ther people think about you or remember you.

1. The retweet is a really good way to make others feel good. If you share someone else’s information, you are saying that it’s worthwhile sharing. And who doesn’t like to know that their information is worthwhile.

2. The second is that it shows that you’re thinking of them. You’ve actually gone to the trouble of reading what’s in their twitter stream, and you are sharing that with other people. You have taken the time to look, to decide what to retweet, and then to retweet it.

3. It allows you to spread excellent information around the web. What that does for your customers and clients is it also places you in the category of expert in knowing what you’re talking about because you’re willing to share other people’s information that is complementary or in the same market as your own.

4. You will support others and you will support others in their journey as they build their business, as they become friends, as they get more followers. Remember that old phrase do unto others as you would have others do unto you? That applies really well here. So you can support other people.

There are three different ways that you can retweet:

1. The very simple retweet, You go into twitter, you look into the tweet, you scroll across the bottom and the little button will light up for retweet. And you simply click on it. And there it goes out to your following. that’s the simple retweet.

2. By using a different program like HootSuite or Tweet Deck, you can add a comment, whether it’s something you agree with, something you disagree with. Perhaps you have some other information you’d like to add to it. Maybe insert another link, another post that supports what the person has said. So you can add a comment.

3. You can actually specifically direct a tweet to someone else. Here you go, Mary Joe, I was thinking of you, saw this tweet, and believe this would be of benefit to you. Anything along those lines, you can redirect the retweet to someone else. Just be sure to enter their Twitter name with the @ sign in front of it.

If you are ready to take your Twitter account up a notch or two I have created a great workbook with step by step procedures to follow so that you can take advantage of the power of Twitter.

Check Out The Workbook Here

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Time to get involved with LinkedIn groups. I have four tips for you regarding LinkedIn groups, which are an extremely valuable resource. Groups are a great place to find people who are looking for what you have to offer, whether it is a product or a service. They are also a great way to get your own questions answered about challenges that you’re having in your own business.

1. Demonstrate your expertise. You can do this through links to your blog that show that you know what you’re talking about. You do this in your posts to your profile on LinkedIn.

2. Request recommendations. Most people are too busy and they don’t remember to go back and give a recommendation for someone that they’ve done business with. It’s in your best interest when you’ve had successful interaction with someone or a great business deal, to go back and actually request that they go in and recommend you on LinkedIn. Be sure to remember to…

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One of the things with Facebook that consistently changes as they grow and develop is privacy. There’s been a lot of uproar, hoopla and complaining regarding the privacy issues on Facebook recently. One of the things that everyone who has either a Facebook page or a Facebook profile needs to do is to go back and take a look at your privacy settings. Whenever they make a major update, go back and take a look at the privacy settings because sometimes things change. There are five key areas that you really want to take a look at.

1. The sharing on Facebook. Do you want it set at only your friends, friends of friends, or everyone? It really depends why you’re on Facebook just exactly how you’ll set that. If you were one of the people who only wants friends to see what you put into Facebook, then you definitely don’t want that option to be everyone.

2. Facebook lists. I am a huge user of Facebook lists. I absolutely love them. They also can be set so that some people can see some lists, and some people can see others, what you give to each other. If you only want your mother and siblings to see some specific posts, then you can set it with the privacy settings so that only those people can see the posts. You control that through the use of your Facebook lists.

3. If you’re mobile checking into places, definitely, CLICK TO CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE

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Do you get comments on your social media posts? Are people coming back for more? Do you see the same people commenting? This article gives you 3 tips on how to make that happen.

Commenting on comments, is habit you want to use to build your social media relationships. Part of building your relationships on social media is actually interacting with the people who come and interact with you. You do this by making comments, re-tweet, all the different kinds of options that people have to interact with you and you with them.

The most important place to interact is on your blog, you want to acknowledge the fact that people have made a comment. You want to comment on their comment. You don’t want to just post any old thing, like oh, thanks for dropping by, or nice post. Make thoughtful comments that show that you understand the comment they left on your post.

When you comment on the blogs of other people you want to be thoughtful and demonstrate that you actually understand what their post was all about. You can tell them that they made a great point, name a specific item or point and then say something about the post itself.

You may want to have a helpful answer. I recently posted CLICK HERE TO KEEP READING

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What do I say on Twitter?

How do I get the right followers from Twitter?

With Twitter, you want to think about who you want your followers to be. It is really important to define your target market, to define who you want as your followers.

1) You can do this with key words.

What are the key words that are associated with your business. For me, an example of key words are help with Twitter, Facebook help, learn Facebook, how do I use LinkedIn. Those are a few of the key words that I use in order to find followers. There are a number of tools that you can use to find… (Continue reading)

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Recently we adopted dog from the pound. His name is Bogey. The ladies at the pound thought that he was such a gentleman that they named him after Humphrey Bogart. Now you’re wondering what on earth does adopting a dog have to do with social media. Bogey has taught me a couple of really good lessons.

When we go to the park, whether we’re on leash or off leash, Bogey just wants to play. He has made some wonderful friends just by being exuberant, running up to them, introducing himself and wanting to play. You know what that’s like, smelling butts at the dog park. He plays, he has a wonderful time.

The one thing that he does not do is he doesn’t concentrate his energy or attempt to get someone to play with him who doesn’t want to play. He’ll have his initial greetings and decide whether or not they’re friendly. If they’re not, he finds someone else to play with.

There was one day, this great big black lab, beautiful dog, but he was not wanting to play that day, and he just kept bugging Bogey and bugging him and bugging him! Bogey just pushed him off, go away, I’m playing with my other friend here, Jack. They played, they ignored him until the black lab went away, and he did. He went away.

Bogey reminded me of the lesson that in social media, or really in anywhere, you need to concentrate on the people who are ready for your product or service. Don’t waste your time trying to convince someone to play with you when they are just not in the mood to play. Your product or service is not going to fit everyone’s needs now, just like not everyone is ready to get gung-ho into social media.

This is what happens when we come home from the off-leash park.

I’m a dog person. I don’t have room for a horse. I’m not interested in the paraphernalia, the lessons, the equipment, and everything to do with horses. Bring me something to do with dogs, and you have my attention. The same concept applies for you when you’re on social media and looking for the people who are going to be interested in your product or service. Don’t waste your time concentrating and building or attempting to build relationships with people who are not interested right now. Concentrate on the people who want to play; concentrate on the people who are ready.

Social media can take a lot of time. You need to learn to be focused. That’s the other thing Bogey taught me, you must be focused on what you want. Stop wasting time on those who don’t want to play with you and focus your attention and your time in social media on those who are interested in your product or service, and you will be surprised at how your business will grow.

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The goal for your business is the prize. Whether you already have a brick and mortar business or are building a business online social marketing is just another marketing tool but you need to learn to use it to your best benefit.

When you initially become immersed in social media marketing it can be a bit overwhelming. Are you wondering where to start? What will be the best for me in my business? What is the difference between LinkedIn and Twitter? Do I really need both?

With social media marketing it’s the same! You must stay focused on what you want. Why are you using social marketing? What is your goal? Don’t get caught in all the action that does not produce results. If you don’t learn the lesson the first time the lesson will keep getting harder and harder; until it feels like you’re being hit up side the head with a two by four.

Three behaviors you can adopt right now…

1) Get a timer, does not matter what kind so long as you know how to operate it. When you go to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any of the other programs set the timer and stick to it.

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AND as always I would love to hear your comments and questions over on the blog!

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