"It's easy to see how a free tool that connects you to your students can be helpful. But Google+ is not something you simply pick up and assume everyone knows how to use. In fact, I'd recommend making sure everyone you want to speak with actually has an account first!"
"Join us for our 100th Episode Spectacular! After Google On Air Hangouts spectacularly fails- we make do and share a whopping 100 Google tips for educators that you will not want to miss! "
get creative and make your cover image something to talk about.
generate Circles for in-store customers; online customers; partners; industry leaders; business friends; coworkers; etc.
Make sure you use them. And then, make sure you use them well.
Write targeted updates to send out to targeted groups
Using Circles can extend the life of your updates (and blog posts), and can your them to resonate better with each of your segmented connections.
Don’t post your update to them AND send them an email to notify those in your Circle about your recent post:
The email option lets you make sure an important post will reach the Circles you need it to (like to customers, if you’re posting about a social contest marketing campaign, for example).
But don’t overuse this function! It’s particularly annoying if your Circles have not asked you for continual updates! It’s spam.
People do not like to hangout with people who only talk about themselves.
80% of your posts should be about lifestyle, customers and stuff other than you; 20% should be about you and your products.
Another big no-no is not addressing negative comments on your posts. Bad comments will happen. It’s an open forum, and not everyone is going to agree with you, or even like what you do.
judge how to respond to comments on your updates.
If it’s an inappropriate comment - delete it, but I’d try to tell the commenter first - not doing so can lead to even more PR problems for you...)
Find communities that suit your business niche, and join them.
join a few business-related ones - start to network, and you never really know where those connections will lead you.
Engage, share others’ posts, comment. Treat Communities like a networking breakfast, or trade show. These can be your customers! Give them respect and interest, and they will likely reciprocate!
Do not post a link - and not include at least a brief comment!
Make sure your product pages, blog post pages, website and other other relevant landing pages have an easy to click G +1 button!