So the information about Google+ has been coming out slowly but steadily, and although this may not be the Facebook-killer it is supposed to be, yet, it’s got some neat features built into it and more coming.

The biggest obstacle they will have to overcome is getting people to change their habits, but time has shown that it’s easier to get people to do so on the internet.

Google+ is using a lot of graphical interfaces. Instead of groups of contacts, it’s done via circles (social circles, etc…) and instead of grouping everyone together automatically, it practically forces you to assign people to circles as you add them.

It also allows you to hide your contacts from others, so that in Google’s own words, you can “hide that weird aunt you’re embarrassed about, and show off the coolest people you know.”

They have put a lot of effort into groups.. er… circles, which to me is the most fundamental difference between Facebook and Google+, and represents the biggest required changed behavior…

…managing all the circles!

We’ll see how it goes. Google has had its share of hits and misses as it tries to expand from just being “the search engine.” With as many people who have signed on board, so far, though… it will get a fair amount of use to see what people do and don’t like.

“Be relevant.”

Social media is a form of networking, and all networking rules apply.

We wouldn’t walk into a party, set up a display stand and suddenly start selling. It would be offensive and would turn everyone off.

While what we do is a part of a conversation, it is not the main topic.

I tell all people who are new to social media to not post for a couple weeks. Instead, look at what people are doing, what people are saying and what types of conversations are being had. They talk about the same things as they do in real life…. Why? Because it is social.

Once they understand this, then it is easier to get into a conversation about whatever is being discussed without sounding like a salesperson.

As one becomes relevant and a part of the “community,” then people open up to what it is that they do. People like to do business with people they like, and social media gives them the chance to know someone in an industry before they need their services.

How are you using social media to build your business?

“They” say you have to “do social media,” but then you have to figure out what that means.

“Get on Twitter!”
Sure! I’ll get on Twitter! What do I do with it?

“Tell everyone what you’re doing!”
Really? I’m eating a turkey sandwich…

“Go find followers!”
Right… What’s a follower?

“Tweet four or five times a day!”
What the…?!?

“Oh wait! Never mind! Don’t tweet more than twice a day. People are tired of seeing so many tweets because all the twerps are tweeting so much that the twips aren’t seeing the tweets they want to retweet so they’re unfollowing twitterers that they used to follow but don’t really want to follow any more.”
Huh? I need a drink…

“Get a Facebook page!”
ummm, okay… I have one… Now what?

“Tell all your friends to like you!”
I thought they already like me… They’re my friends, right?

Welcome to the world of social media… Where you know you’ve got to do something, but you’re not to sure of what to do.

I’m curious by nature, so I attended a couple “build your business through social media” seminars and classes. They all said the same thing… They said “this is Facebook, this is twitter, and this is LinkedIn.” They went through the motions of how to operate each one…

…but none of them showed how to use them…

No strategy.

The closest they got to strategy was to build your list as quickly and as largely as you can. They didn’t really have anything to say beyond that.

The best experts I have found for social media are the people who figured out how to use social media for their own businesses, and each of them say the exact opposite… Instead of a list of 20,000 people who are “following” them, they would rather have a list of 200 people who were buying customers.

So who’s right? The social media “experts?” or the folks who use social media successfully?

A study at Georgia Tech asked people about their television viewing habits and about the effects that their Internet use had on them. One third of respondents said that they “use the Web instead of watching TV on a daily basis.”

This survey was taken in late 2009. Today, with all the iPhones, iPads, Android devices, Hulu, improved Netflix and a host of other services, I would love to see what the numbers are now.

It’s kinda ironic – like ray-ee-yain on your wedding day – that I waited a long time to start my blog. I urge my clients to do a blog for a host of reasons, yet I hadn’t done it for myself. It’s funny… a website design guy who helps others with search engine optimization (or SEO) and I hadn’t done a whole lot of it for my own site.

While I could argue a business reason for not doing the SEO (haven’t needed to do it… most of my business is referral-based) or do the whole “image management” thing and use some professional-sounding excuse… the truth to the matter is that the reason I didn’t started my blog is the exact same reason that many folks I know haven’t started theirs:

“I’m going to, but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.”

“Blogging” is a business task if it’s done properly. If it’s treated like checking email, taking out the trash, follow-up phone calls or transaction-entering, it gets done.

Now it’s one thing to preach time-management or to know what it’s about, but applying it is a totally different matter… one brought to my attention by my daughter going back to school.

My wife and I own a hair salon which serves both the American and Brazilian communities. Her specialty is Brazilian Hair Straightening Keratin Treatments… with very long and physically demanding hours.

Forcing yourself to get good at time management:

I have stepped in and become the school and activities taxi and official homework checker. Our daughter’s schooling in Brazil has her a couple years behind the other kids, so I am working with her to get her caught up. Yes – I am my kid’s mom (I’m glad football season is here so I can get weekly doses of testosterone!).

This new role has forced me to get good at time management. Not only do I lose a half-hour in the mornings – but I also cannot schedule meetings between 12-3 each day because I pick her up from school. In addition, her homework takes an average of two and a half hours for me to help and coach her to completion (language barriers, math deficiencies, etc… all taken into consideration).

I have to take the hours that I do have and do more with them… which includes fitting my blog and other promotional stuff in there…

…and I am loving it!

So why am I telling people this? What does it have to do with a company starting a blog?

Force yourself to manage your time to get your blogging done.

Whether a business has a website or not, it needs to get a blog going. Blogs create more opportunities for search engines to find and present a company to someone who is searching what that company has to offer. It is worth planning a 15-30 minute session each day to handle your blogging and social networking tasks.

Treat it like a meeting and put it on your calendar if you need to. You will be amazed at what happens in a couple weeks. Not only will you have a blog that is actually being used and read, but you will find that it is one more thing that you can get done in a day…

…and that’s what’s up!