Google+ is the newest social media network and it offers so much more than than just the ability to incorporate a +1 button on your blog.
Google+ first introduced what I call a personal page sometime last summer based on the concept of networking by adding people to “circles” that you can create and have full control over. It also provides each of us with the ability to host an online meeting or a hangout where we invite specific people or have it open to the public.
Every Friday at 8 am Pacific/11 am Eastern I usually attend the Accountants, Bookkeepers & Business Owners Hangout for an hour (where we discuss QuickBooks, general business, social media, and whatever).
On Wednesday, I participated in #GPCW (Google Plus Circle Wednesday) on Twitter – which allows you add your Twitter followers to your circles. This is done by sending a tweet using a special hashtag of #GPCW and including the link to your Google Plus personal or business page.
All you need to get started with Google+ is a gmail account, so if you don’t have one go to gmail.com and create one. Set up your personal page and then be sure to add a business page as well. Make sure that you add information and photo’s to your profile and then start searching for people you know to add to your circles.
Follow me on Twitter and watch for the Wednesday hashtag of #GPCW to connect with some really interesting folks, if you already have a Google Plus account you can circle either my personal page or my business page – if you are interested in knowing more about the Accountants, Bookkeepers, and Business Owners hangout every Friday morning be sure to let me know and I’ll make sure that I share the hangout information with you.
Free eBook: Have You Built Your Google+ Business Page Yet?
Get yourself a copy of HubSpot’s ebook to learn how you can start using this new platform for your business, you will need to complete a short form in order to download, but it’s worth the effort.
HubSpot’s guide will provide you with information about:
- How to set up a business page
- Marketing best practices
- Circles and the value of segmentation
- How to incorporate the +1 button on your blog or website
I hope you’ve found today’s topic to be interesting – hope to meet up with you here on the web!
Like everyone who writes a blog, I always wonder how well it’s doing – how many people visit, what the most popular posts are, are people really interested in the information that I post here, are they really using this information – meaning are they printing out a specific post to perhaps use later on down the road, are they sharing this information —- bottom line —- is it worth it for me to keep investing the amount of time I spend each day? Luckily WordPress has some pretty awesome tools that track all of this information.
Even though we host our own WordPress blog on our site {rather than hosting it directly on WordPress.com for free}, I did create a WordPress.com account and tied it to our blog – this mean that I can access Site Stats right from the Admin panel of the blog using the fairly new Jetpack features. Sure I use other site stat tracking options as well – AddThis has a plug in that shows me which posts were shared, I also have a Google Analytics account – but the one that provided me with the most information was the WordPress Site Stats – especially the year in review that they did for our blog. This is what it had to say.
The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 140,000 times in 2011. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 6 days for that many people to see it. {Wow! 6 days – good grief, better bring LOTS of your favorite beverage if you are going to hang out here at our blog for that long!}
In 2011, there were 45 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 303 posts.
The busiest day of the year was September 21st with 830 views. The most popular post that day was QuickBooks 2012 Announced.
Our top referrers {where people found us} for 2011 were:
- linkedin.com
- our own website
- quickbooksusers.com
- facebook.com
- the search engines, of course, played an important role in how people found us
Most of our visitors came from the United States; with Canada and the United Kingdom not far behind.
Our top 5 posts in 2011 were:
- QuickBooks 2012 Announced – 9/7/2011
- Using Account Numbers in Your QuickBooks Chart of Accounts – 1/09/2009
- Straight From the IRS – Social Security Tax Reduced to 4.2% – 12/17/2010
- Calculating & Displaying Fringe Benefits on a Certified Payroll Report – 7/12/2010
- Freebie Friday – Bookkeeping & Accounting Tasks Schedule – 2/11/2011
I just thought this was pretty interesting and wanted to share it with you. Have a great day!
Top 10 Tuesday Tips from around the web includes our favorite QuickBooks and business productivity tips from other bloggers around the web. We hope you’ll find these articles as interesting as we did.
Veritas Consulting Safety Services – Free Health Safety Checklists, Templates and Forms for your Business- BNET – 7 Things Employees Are Thinking – But Won’t Say
- Construction Law Developments blog – Are You REALLY An Additional Insured on All Subs’ Coverage?
- QuickBooks in the Cloud – Running QuickBooks in the Cloud: Information from those who know
- Mashable – HOW TO: Create Custom Twitter Backgrounds
- Accounting Today for the WebCPA – Selling Your Services? Think Like a Buyer
- Inc. Magazine – 3 DIY Facebook Design Services
- PC Magazine – 100 Essential Tips for Microsoft Office 2010
- TFCN – Don’t Let Them Fool You – 5 Myths and Facts of a GSA Proposal
- Business Insider – How to Better Utilize Social Media to Grow Your Business
That’s it for this week’s Top 10 Tuesday, stop back next week to see what we’ve come up with.
Learn how to monitor your social media channels in 10 minutes a day with this free eBook from Hubspot.
Social media can be beneficial for your business, but monitoring different channels can take a lot of time and where do you start!
Download HubSpot’s new eBook to learn how you can streamline your social media monitoring while saving time!
This eBook will teach you the most important elements you should be monitoring across relevant social media networks. We will suggest a few practical habits you can execute while sipping your morning coffee.
After reading this 20-page eBook you will know:
- How to best spend your time monitoring social media
- How other marketers are spending time on social media
- What tools consolidate your social media information
- What you should be monitoring on Quora, Facebook, LinkedIn and more
NOTE: HubSpot will require that you complete a request form in order to download this eBook, but I think it will be a good resource.
Each of us only has so many hours in the day, and while social media is/can be beneficial to your business it consumes a lot of time that none of us really has! I know that over the last few months I have had to cut back on the amount of time that I spend monitoring Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, etc. because I just have too many other things that need to be done. I’m hoping that this eBook will provide some useful tips – no, I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, so I can’t vouch for it; however, HubSpot usually puts out some really good information.
Please let me know if you find this eBook to be beneficial, perhaps we can compare our experiences. Are you finding that social media is getting in the way of client time?
Request your copy from HubSpot today, by clicking here.
Business networking is simply about building relationships. In business we all need a solid group of people we can trust and respect. This of course works both ways.
These 20 business networking tips came from Jeannette Purcell Associates, and they were just so good that I felt I had to share them. Enjoy!
- Be yourself. There are many ways to network and you need to choose the techniques and tools that suit your personality and style. Not all the suggestions here will work for you.
- The energy within your network must stem from you – be the guiding light, the one who introduces useful contacts to others – try to keep in touch with them all.
- Who are the key players you’d like to get to know in your organization? If you don’t know them can a colleague arrange an introduction? Suggest a meeting over coffee or ask for just 15 minutes of their time for a chat.
- Don’t be afraid to seek help or advice from people you meet (they will be flattered and most will respond positively). It’s a great way to learn, develop connections and promote yourself.
- In conversation, genuinely listen to what people say and make a considered response. Are there any connections you can help them with?
- Face to face conversations are still the best way to deepen connections and to build trust. Aim to be an engaging conversationalist, ask questions, give feedback, include others in the discussion. Your genuine and positive engagement will generate interest in you.
- When someone in your company gets promoted or achieves something special, send them your congratulations. Even if you don’t know them well, the gesture will be appreciated and it will mark you out as someone who is interested in others.
- Use Linked In, Twitter, Facebook and other professional networking sites. Half an hour a day is plenty of time to find and keep in touch with ten people in your field who are openly networking.
- Always carry your business cards but don’t give them out like sweets. Only offer them when appropriate.
- Make a note on business cards you receive to remind you of who you have talked to (e.g. “26/4/11 woman in red – send copy of my article”).
- If you’re going to an event do your homework in advance. Who’s going? Who would you like to meet? Who should you make a point of meeting? If it’s a dinner, who will you be sitting next to? (the organisers will normally give you this information if you ask) Do some research on people beforehand to help you to make conversation.
- Prepare your answer to the question “What do you do?”. This is your opportunity to engage, interest and sparkle! Try not to be defined by your job title. You are a multi-faceted individual with a range of skills and talents that are portable.
- At an event join a new cluster of people by simply saying “Hello, can I join you?” (with a smile!), and waiting for introductions. If they don’t acknowledge you, don’t take it personally, just move on – they could be deep in a private conversation.
- Help others to join your cluster by opening the circle, welcoming them and bringing them into the conversation (e.g. “Hi, we were talking about …”)
- Approach someone on their own with a neutral conversation-opener (e.g. “Hi, isn’t this an interesting venue?” or “Have you been to one of these events before?”)
- Don’t invent an excuse to move on from one group to another – people appreciate that you want to talk to others. “It was nice meeting you” or (if appropriate) “Would you mind if I gave you a call?” are quite sufficient.
- Focus on quality, not quantity. In a large group setting, circulate and meet people but don’t try to talk to everyone. A few meaningful conversations are more valuable than 50 hasty introductions.
- Managing food and drink at a stand up event can be a challenge. Better to eat beforehand if you can and stick to one glass of wine.
- Always follow up a meeting with a short email, e.g. “It was great to meet you yesterday and I’d love to learn more about what you do”. Do you have time for a coffee next week?” It’s nice to include a personal comment picking up on something from your conversation, such as “I hope you managed to catch your train”. It shows you were listening and that you’re not sending them a standard email.
- Be patient if your networking efforts don’t immediately achieve results. Stay politely persistent with your contacts and build momentum. Networking is like gardening – you do not harvest immediately after planting the seed. Networking requires cultivation that takes time and effort for the process to pay off.
