How To Use Google+ Explore to Find Trending Hashtags

So I decided to make a quick & simple video to show you how to use #GooglePlus #Explore. The original Google+ post that I shared about Explore can be found by clicking here.

Check it out, feel free to leave a comment and please reshare the video.





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My Google Top Contributor Experience: First take-away - Empower then Improve

During my Google Top Contributor experience at the Top Contributor Summit 2013, I had the opportunity to participate in breakout sessions. One of my take-aways happened during my first breakout session when Community Manager +Natalie Villalobos encouraged us to empower then improve when brainstorming.

Basically, she suggested that for every one improvement we come up with for someone else's idea that we should be open to empowering others at least three times. So what does this look like? According to Natalie...

"When creating your next solution try thinking in terms of 10X not 10%. Incremental improvements won't get us to that world-toppling solution for a huge problem, so we gotta think big. REALLY BIG. In order to 10X your idea you might need to bring in a group of collaborators that will make your idea brighter as well as help you reconsider the details.

To help get the most out of the discussion tell your group to use the 2/3 ~ 1/3 principle. Coined as such by the Solve for X team at Google (solveforx.com), this principle allows for ideas to be built upon instead of destroyed. Have folks say "Yes, and..." to your ideas and to their own contributions 2/3 of the time. Everyone loves when their ideas are recognized and multiplied! For the other 1/3 of the time, try saying "Yes, but..." as a way of acknowledging their idea but with a dose of something new for them to reflect on.

No one likes it when their ideas are shot down or not considered, so try your best not to do that. This 2/3 1/3 principle thus is an opportunity to develop on ideas together - growing ideas to new heights simply by listening and saying yes."

How to Empower & Improve your Google+ Business Strategy

Applying this simple rule to your Google+ Business Strategy can help you structure your content to empower your target customer in a positive way. Just think, if they felt that you want to empower them more than improve them, it could help to build a solid relationship between you and them.

Some of the ways that you can Empower are...

• Create a survey and ask for their opinion.
• Establish a customer loyalty group who give you feedback regarding your products and services.
• Join a MasterMind group with like-minded business owner who can give you feedback.
• Ask actionable questions on your social media profiles that will encourage your connections to give you feedback.

A few ways to improve your Google+ Business Strategy...

• Know the keywords that you want to use to reach your target customers.
• Define who your target customer is and share content that appeals to them.
• Participate in Hangout by hosting them or joining hangouts that you are invited to.
• Connect with your peers or industry leaders by commenting on their post, +1ing them or resharing their post.
• Become known as a knowledgeable resource in your industry communities on Google+ by answering question or providing helpful tips. Find communities by visiting: http://smarturl.it/gplus-communities

Just know that the more you drawn in people to have a buy-in or opinion the more likely they are to support your products or services. How can you empower and improve today?

Does Meta Description Still Help With SEO?

Meta Description is what you can add to your website, page or post that is a short description regarding the each one. Some believe that meta description is out of date and isn't relevant anymore.

What is Meta Description and How Does It Apply To Writing Blog Post

Yet in going through my daily reading of blog posts, I came across this article by Duct Tape Marketing entitled, "Is There Any Value in Using Meta Description?". In the post, it states that...

Since they are going to show something as a matter of fact, why not help inform what they show. If you leave the description attribute blank they will pick up something based on the search term used. If, however, you get in the habit of crafting well-written descriptions, there’s a very good chance they will use your description.

As you can see, well-written description are still important and can make a difference to your content being found in search engines. Now how does this affect your Google+ post writing? Good question and here's how...

How does this apply to Google+?

One of the things that you should remember when writing a post on Google+ is that the first few character are used as a snippet by the search engine. If you treat it like it is a meta description then when you write a post, you will follow the advice of this article.

The key things to keep in mind when writing a Meta Description that you can apply to writing post on Google+ are:

• Write for readers not search engines (from article).
• You only have 150 characters (from article). Try to make an impact with your first 150 characters in your post so that you can draw in your target customers via search engines.
• Include the keyword(s) for your post in the first sentence. Since the first sentence will be include in the snippet of your post, having the keyword(s) there will help your post get found in search engines.

Do you plan on trying it out and are you will to share your results?

My Google Top Contributor Experience: It all started when...

Recently, I attended the Google Top Contributor (TC) Summit 2013 as a TC from Google+ and my experience was life changing. As a business owner, it was an amazing experience that allowed me to share the small business owner's concerns when it comes to using the Google+ product for business.

How it all started for the TC Summit

To help you understand the full impact that this event made on my life, I want to take you back to the beginning when I first found out that I was a TC. It was a Tuesday, and I had just found out that my brother-in-law had passed. A main water pipe had burst in my area so the water in my home had been off for 10 hours. So I wasn't having a good day.

Then I received an email from +Natalie Villalobos, who was the Community Manager of Google+, to let me know that I had been selected to be part of the TC program. Of course I started doing my Happy Dance and sort of running around the house. LOL!

Representing business owners at TC Summit

On a side note and as a business owner, I realized that this gave me a great opportunity to represent business owners at the Summit. And I did just that whenever I had the opportunity to ask questions. In asking questions, I realized the following:

• Define who who you want to reach on Google+. Who's your target customers?
• Determine how you will integrate Google+ into your current social media strategy.
• Decide how you will using Google products to organize your online presence

I knew that this experience would change my life and it did. While at the Summit, I was afforded the opportunity to have a voice for the business owners on Google+. Representing the business owners' point of view was important to me and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to do that.

If you had this opportunity to represent business owners, what questions would you have asked?