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Google Plus Game Development

August 11, 2011 Leave a Comment

It looks like Google Plus Game Development is being launched.  Check out the announcement on the Official Google+ Blog.

I would have liked to see Google Plus Business Pages first, but I can see why they are doing this.  Games are more likely to create a sticky Google Plus audience, and if they can show a great audience they will be more attractive to businesses to build Google Plus Business Pages.  My theory is that they will actually charge for Google Plus Business because it would cut down on spam and be totally worth it if the cost was low and it created a higher value network.

We all know how successful game apps and FaceBook games have been, so a lot of people will start building Google Plus Games very quickly.  However, it seems like they are going to limit what can be on the site initially.

Critical to the success of the network is to have a way to filter out requests and information from other people’s games.  Right now there are a lot of techie trend setters in Google Plus and if they start getting requests to go to a virtual farm and slop the pigs, people are going to bail.  In fact, I think the Farmville, Mafia Wars and Vampire Slaying on FaceBook is the #1 biggest reason I never became a power user there.  I do not waste much of my own time on games and I do not want to see things from other people’s time wasting.

So if you are going to start doing Google Plus Game Development, please do not ruin Google Plus.  Make it fun for people that care and invisible for people that have better things to do.

Filed Under: Opt-Ed, Social Media Tagged With: ,

Make Money with Google Plus

August 4, 2011 3 Comments

A lot of people see how fast Google Plus is growing and they want to make money from Google Plus right away.

You can make money, but you are not going to have as much luck as you would with automating other social networks.

Here are some tips to make money with Google Plus.

1) Do not start spamming products and using affiliate links right away. No one will circle you. You must build an audience first.

2) Do not use an automated Google plus script. Engagement is higher and you will simply not get results.

3) When Google Plus business pages are released, do not use them like FaceBook fan pages right away. Learn what makes them different.

4) Develop your expertise on Google Plus and it may lead to new consulting and speaking opportunities.

Probably the best way I have seen to make money with Google plus is to write a really good article or blog post that the Google Plus audience would like and have an affiliate link or sign up on the page. Then use Google plus to post about the page and get people talking about the topic. That will drive traffic, and you can monetize the traffic on your webpage without needing to post affiliate links in Google Plus.

Filed Under: How To, Social Media Tagged With: ,

Google Plus Business Pages

August 1, 2011 Leave a Comment

I have a feeling that Google Plus Business pages are going to be rather sweet.  I also think that Google may charge for some elements of it, but maybe not.  Keep reading if you are wondering why I say that.

Right now you cannot set up a business page on Google Plus.  If you do, they will take it down.  Google is also being very strict about the quality of profiles.  If you are not a real person and list a real name they are deactivating your access.

Money! © by yomanimus

When you consider the commitment to a high quality network and the delay in Business pages, I see an opportunity I would consider if I was Google.

1.  I would continue to put big resources into building a legitimate and high quality network, even though the raw numbers would be lower.

2.  I would come out with the coolest set of Google plus business tools that blow away other networks, like FaceBook and LinkedIn.  I would let businesses build email opt other things that make sense for a business but are restricted in those networks.

3.  To limit sloppy “businesses” and scams, I would charge a monthly fee to have a Google plus business profile page – or at least I would charge for extended services.  This would greatly decrease the low quality businesses even if it is only a few dollars per month.  And Google could justify the cost because of the quality networks, which costs a lot to maintain.

Of course, clubs and other types of organizations would want to have a Google Plus business page but those could be limited and could include ads.

I do not know if this is what is going to happen, but I would consider it if I was them.  As much as we all love free, charging the small amount for Google plus business pages will increase quality and cut the clutter of all those worthless sites.

Please, Google, make us pay for it and keep getting rid of fake people.

Filed Under: Business, Opt-Ed, Social Media Tagged With: , ,

Google+, G+ and Google Plus

July 23, 2011 Leave a Comment

Picking a name is very difficult.  It can actually kill a product at times.  The reason a bad name can kill a product is that it is hard to spell, hard to find, confusing or so common that you cannot stand out.

Google Plus has a huge advantage because it is Google.  I love a made up name that is simple and when I named my lead generation product Buzzoodle, it was with the similar idea in mind.

Of course, I also had to buy domains for all the ways people would misspell it, such as buzzdoodle and buzznoodle.

Google Plus is suffering a bit from some confusion.  Google seems to prefer Google+, but the search engine itself sees the + as “and” and not as part of the name.  That means for search, calling Google+ Google+ is less effective than calling it Google Plus.

I wonder if they had a meeting where this was discussed – seems a big deal, since they are Google and it is not well named for Google search.  Did someone finally yell, “Damn the torpedoes and full steam ahead”?  Probably.

I am not suggesting it is a bad name.  The fall out of how it will be referred to is interesting.  Many people shorten it to G+ when chatting.  If you are writing for search, you will write Google Plus and if you are formally writing about it in an article for a serious publication, you will have to refer to it as Google+.

Will this ambiguity hurt it?

Well, it took forever for me to find the Google+ app in iTunes because it did not appear in their search.  If you searched on Google Huddle supposedly it showed up.  Now that is intuitive.  And this is only one example of what will probably be a lot of problems.

The good news for Google is that the combination of Brand and Buzz will probably overcome these obstacles, but if you are a less well known company, do not try a + for yourself.

Filed Under: Business, Social Media Tagged With: , ,

Google Plus iPhone App

July 20, 2011 Leave a Comment

I waited for a week to get the chance to download the Google Plus iPhone App from iTunes.

There were a lot of rumors about Apple intentionally delaying the app because Google is a competitor.  Shady if true, but it is out now.

Also, here is the huge issue I ran into.  I could not find the Google Plus iPhone App when searching for the app on my iPhone.  I finally located it by looking at the top 25 free iphone apps because I heard that it had made the list.

If this is something Google did, it is just plain dumb.  If it is Apple, then very shady again by making it hard to find Google Plus app but easier to find 3rd party apps with bad reviews.

Initially the App itself got bad reviews also, but do not let that stop you from trying it.  Initially a test version of the software was uploaded and Apple released this older version of the software first, which was not stable.

Next, when you do install the iPhone App for Google Plus be sure to think carefully before allowing it to push notify you.  I selected yes and it is annoying me now because I am a very popular Google plus user and I get messaged constantly.  I have not figured out how to deactivate the iPhone Google Plus push notification yet.

Lastly, I do like the app.  I am sure it will get better over time and I know there is a lot of complaints about Google Plus iPhone app features, but Google Plus itself is still in beta so you cannot expect the iPhone app to be perfect yet.  Enjoy it and watch for updates, I am sure they are coming.

Filed Under: Product Reviews, Social Media Tagged With: ,

Google Plus Traffic Trends

July 18, 2011 1 Comment

I know I have been writing a lot about Google plus over the last week, but it is very valuable and it is news.  Now I want to write about what I am seeing with Google Plus traffic trends, which is fantastic.

First, I do not expect it to stay this good.  Great Internet traffic is fickle and as soon as the Google Plus system becomes more open and more spammy, the results will decrease.

However, right now in July of 2011, I can tell you that Google Plus is driving web traffic terrifically.  I did a comparison of my much bitter twitter and Facebook followings compared to a much smaller group I am involved with on Google Plus and Google Plus drove 10 x the traffic on a much smaller following.

Not only that, but the quality of engagement is incredible.  I am meeting people, talking to people on the phone, chatting via Google Hangouts and more all towards building my brand and generation Website traffic with Google plus.

So the #1 best way to get Internet traffic with Google plus is to get involved as soon as possible.  The longer you wait, the harder it will be to build a quality network.  Also, you want to join Google Plus and then start adding people to circles fairly fast.  Weed out the ones you do not want later.  If you have a lot of people circle you back after you circle them, then you will have a group that will see your post and check out what you have to say if it is intersting.

I do think that Google Plus web traffic will be more quality oriented then other networks.  The people on there now are very savvy creative and technical folk and they are not going to click on everything in their stream.  In fact, they are more likely to uncircle you than other networks.

So you can produce huge Google Plus Website Traffic if you sign up, develop a group that circles you and put out quality, interesting stuff.  Spammy stuff, not so much.

Filed Under: How To, Social Media Tagged With: ,

What is Google Plus?

July 17, 2011 Leave a Comment

If you have not been in it yet, you may be asking, what is Google Plus?

You cannot help but hear about it.  It is in the new and is all the buzz online.

It is also still in Beta at this point and you have to have a Google Plus Invitation to get in, although that is much easier than it was a week ago.

Google Plus is a social network created by Google that sits someplace between Twitter and FaceBook in complexity.

One of the advantages of Google Plus is that it integrates with other Google tools, such as Google Docs, GMail, Google Calendar and more.  This alone makes it very interesting because it is like having your Office suite integrated with your community.

Google Plus also has many new features that you will not find in other social media services.  Hangouts are video chats that are very interesting.

Managing people you want to get information from in circles also gives you more control and most people citing their favorite feature are saying this is it.

There are many benefits.  You get a social media do over – meaning rebuilding with more intention and control will probably give you the best network you have ever had.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With:

Google Plus Avatar

July 16, 2011 3 Comments

As I go through my Google Plus account and circle people (follow) I tend to circle people bases on a few things.  The first thing that can immediately cause me to not circle someone is the Google Plus Avatar they have in their profile.

The avatar is the little picture that represents you.  If I see someone make an interesting comment, I look at the avatar, then if it meets my criteria I hover over it, if they have something interesting in their mini profile I will then add them to my general follow circle and later organize them based on what they are saying.

Now the first thing I am going to say about avatars is that it really depends on the audience you want to attract. Currently Google Plus has a lot of tech and creative people in it.  They are a savvy group, and spamming at this point would get you no where because they are just too experienced and will shut you out.

Here is my option of what is important with your avatar.

  1. You MUST be able to see your face or you will hurt your circling.  I am currently not circling many brands as I understand they are not even supposed to be doing that.  Plus, I am in Google plus for interaction, not constant news.
  2. Don’t show a pet unless you only want circled by other pet owners.  Actually, your pet picture is a great warning to me NOT to circle you because I do not want to see a steady steam of kitten pictures all day long.  My 6 year old does, so I am not knocking it.  Just not my thing.
  3. Be creative, but not too creative with your avatar.  In Google Plus I am just not circling things that are too odd.  I do not mind close ups, half behind the camera, etc.  But if you just look like a freak I may leave you to be circled by the guy that runs the carnival.  (Harsh, I know)
  4. Be careful how sexy you are.  (A problem I have too.)  Yes, you will attract attention with a more sexy picture but I followed one person that was an author and actor but she kept feeding through a lot of really hot pictures of herself and as much as I appreciated them, I did not want them in my streams.  I am married with kids.  Had to uncircle – but I am sure a lot of single people are keeping it in the circle of “People I want to meet.”
  5. If your name is even slightly androgynous, you do not get to use a photo of you and your significant other.  Sorry.  If I am confused from the picture on who I am circling (even though it should not matter) I will hesitate and not circle you.
  6. Standard social media rules apply here too.  Your future boss and spouse will see what you do here.

People are making split second decisions in Google Plus based on the Google Plus Avatar.  If you care about having a good experience there and maybe developing a higher level of influence, you need to pay attention to the little things.

Did you like this Google Plus article?  Lets discuss issues like this in Google+ – Add Ron McDaniel to a Circle.

Filed Under: How To, Social Media Tagged With: , ,

Google Plus – Unique Things I Have Done

July 15, 2011 Leave a Comment

I have done some things on Google Plus that I have definitely not done on any of the other platforms, and I thought I would share them with you in this quick post.

One thing I did that was probably the coolest Google plus thing is that I was on a podcast radio show via the video chat.  I did not expect to get great PR in the first week of using the tool.

Next, because it is a lot of interesting techies on there and not many people spamming, I am actually trusting the content.  I bought an iPhone App, membership to a monthly service and will probably buy some premium WordPress themes soon that someone recommended.

I have browsed someone’s Spotify music list and added some of their music to my list.

I have written blog posts specifically so I could post them in Google plus – usually I write for the blog and then promote via social media.

I have NOT opened as many traditional emails.  My open rate has been cut in half.  Sorry Internet Marketers.

Google plus is a new traffic source that is second only to using Buzzoodle to generate search traffic for me.

Overall, I expect that they will keep adding cool things like business pages to Google Plus that will give me more and more things I can try.

Filed Under: Business, Social Media Tagged With: ,

Google Plus Video

July 13, 2011 Leave a Comment

I recorded this quick Google Plus video for you.  Some of my early observations about traffic from Google plus.

Obviously, this is early as Google Plus is in beta, but I think it will trump twitter over time and give FaceBook a run for its money.

Filed Under: Social Media, Videos Tagged With: ,
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