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Paper Shredder Clay
07-06-2011, 11:35 AM
Does anyone else here have Google+. I haven't been able to invite anyone since I created my account. What good is a social network if you can't invite? I know it is a closed field group, but still let me invite a couple of people.

Sorry, I needed to vent. This is always Google's problem. It was that way with Google Wave and Google Voice.

vangogh
07-07-2011, 12:58 AM
No account yet. I started another thread about Google+ (http://www.small-business-forum.net/social-media/5184-googles-latest-attempt-social-networking-google.html) last week when it was announced. I'm not sure how big a deal invites are at the moment. Google has opened Plus to the general public on and off the last few days. When I visit the site now I see a button to sign in with my Google account. Word is Google wanted to keep this small at first to get rid of as many bugs as possible early on and also to keep things from scaling too fast.

I'm sure they want to open it up to everyone sooner rather than later and are temporarily keeping things more closed until they're sure their servers can handle it. I'm guessing it won't be long till either it's open to everyone or the invites are more readily available.
a
The slow rollout was something that worked well with Gmail. It helped create a lot of buzz and desire for a Gmail account. It also let them iron out major problems before letting everyone in. Last year when they rolled out Buzz they did the opposite and more everyone complained. I think because of their success with slow rollouts and the immediate failure with the product that was release in opposite fashion they figured it was safer to go back to the slower rollout.

Paper Shredder Clay
07-07-2011, 11:26 AM
I finally was able to start inviting a few last night. It works for some and not for all. I understand they need to take it slow, but they should be able to allow each person to invite one person or two; otherwise how can you test it?

vangogh
07-07-2011, 11:49 AM
They originally were letting people invite others, but I think the site grew faster than they expected the first few days and so they needed to turn the invites off temporarily to ensure the whole system stayed up and running. That's why it's now working on and off. Once they've ensure the system can handle more users they let people in. As they fill to capacity they shut down. I would think it won't be too long before Google+ is simply open to anyone who wants to join.

I know it's no fun waiting, but all you can do at this point is send out invites when you can and be patient as Google works out the bugs.

I'm with you though about it being frustrating. You'd think a company with the resources of Google could have a better idea of what demand would be and do a better job of being prepared. In their defense it does take a lot to make sure an application can grow in scale to the size it will need to be to accommodate everyone. From a technical standpoint it probably makes more sense to have people wait a few days or a week to get in if it means everyone who's already a member is on a working system.

greenoak
07-07-2011, 06:38 PM
it seems kind of against the grain....the coommon idea in say the resturant world or most retail... is ....dont open till its great....first impressions mean a lot....

vangogh
07-07-2011, 07:11 PM
First impressions have been good though. That's why people want in. To build a system capable of handling millions of users costs a lot of money. It's silly to spend all that money until you have some idea you might need to support millions of users. You also don't notice many things that aren't working until after the system has grow past a certain point. It's an issue of scale.

Using a restaurant as an example it's starting a chain of 100 restaurants to start instead of opening one and growing from there. You wouldn't invest in 100 restaurants before being successful with the first one.

What Google is trying to do is open up their system to enough people so they can work out all the bugs and ensure that the system gets positive reviews. Once they know they can handle the demand they'll open things up so more people can sign up.

Itsme
10-08-2011, 08:07 AM
How many of you are ACTIVELY using Google+?
And what are you mainly using it for?

Just curious!!!

vangogh
10-10-2011, 11:59 AM
I haven't been very active the last few weeks, but I was actively using Google+ in the weeks prior. When I get busy social media is often the first thing to get cut.

Whenever I come across content I like and want to share I look for a +1 button and if there I'll submit the content to Google+ If I really like the content and there's no +1 button I'll still often submit it. Each time I visited G+ I checked through each of my circles and scanned down the page. Whenever I had something to say I replied. Here and there some back and forth would ensue.

I use Google+ pretty much how you use any social network. I shred things and engaged in conversation with people. One thing Google+ has done is get me to fill out my Google profile a little bit more and also use some other Google properties. For example I've been spending more time with YouTube since joining Google+ I now like and favorite things instead of just watching videos.

Just a note, but last report I saw Google+ up to 50 million members.

KristineS
10-10-2011, 12:43 PM
I'm not active at all. I know I should spend more time there, but I tend to go where the majority of our following is right now, which is Twitter and Facebook. I also know that if I spent more time on Google+ I'd probably have more of a following, so it's kind of a chicken or the egg thing.

MostHeather
10-10-2011, 02:16 PM
I'm with Kristine on this one. I've used Google + here and there, but the idea of building up another social networking website sounds too time consuming. Facebook is still ahead in my book..

vangogh
10-10-2011, 02:30 PM
Facebook will be ahead in terms of the number of users for quite some time to come, perhaps always. There are reasons though why it makes sense to spend time on Google+ despite less members.

1. It will help set you up as an authority account when the people are there. On Facebook now you're one of 800 million or so. Sure your customers are there, but you have a lot of competition for those customers. Google+ doesn't have the same competition now so getting a head start will put you in an enviable position later.

2. Social signals are becoming more and more important in search ranking. Google is going to use data from Google+ above any other social network, so being on Google+ will likely give you the greater chance to improve search traffic than being on Facebook.

I wouldn't suggest people abandon Facebook at all. Just suggesting you don't want to ignore Google+ either. 50 million users in roughly 6 months, most of that time being in closed beta. That's some very quick growth. Google+ will likely reach the mainstream in the next year and before long become the second largest social network.

MostHeather
10-10-2011, 04:39 PM
All good points. No reason not to have some coverage there, but you still have to manage your time wisely. Did you say that you were using it, Vangogh? I believe it's been opened to the public..

vangogh
10-10-2011, 08:29 PM
Oh I agree. You do have to spend your time wisely and none of us can be anywhere. I do think Google+ is going to make it and be one of those places where a year or two from now you're going to feel like you have to be there. Might as well get started today. Even a half hour a week sets you up to be in a stronger position later.

I am there. Here's my profile (https://plus.google.com/117416570692199036719/posts). I wrangled an invite before it was open to everyone, but yes it is open to all now. You need to set up a Google account. You don't need to use a Gmail address, but you need to be willing to have a public profile on your account. Your email can remain private. Google+ is just another thing to add to an existing account much like YouTube or Google Docs. Google's network really encompasses all the different services/products they offer.

They still don't have business pages yet, but they're supposed to before too long.

MostHeather
10-11-2011, 09:42 AM
:) What is your method for adding people to your circles?

As soon as they opened it up I got a slew of invites from people I didn't know, that mostly seemed to be from distant lands. Since then I've sort of tuned out, so to speak. Before then I had to mute a few people that might have been OK at first, but went dowhill soon afterwards.

vangogh
10-11-2011, 10:56 AM
When I first opened the account I searched for a few people I figured would be there that I'd want to follow or connect with. In my case that was mostly web designers and SEOs I knew or knew of. Finding a few I spent a few minutes going through the people in their circles to find more of the same. I also searched for friends I thought might possibly have an account and found a few.

Prior to Google+ being completely public I also wrote a quick review and asked readers of my blog if any would like an invite. I gave out about 50-55 and added all who asked for an invite to a circle.

Mostly though I just searched for people and then looked through the list of people they had in their circles. I have 150 or so people in circles now and want to keep it at that size for awhile. I'll still add people I know who want to connect, but I'll keep from specifically looking for more people for awhile.

claudiusjaeger
11-01-2011, 05:43 PM
There are other ways to start leveraging google+, such as in SEO. Everytime you google, you can click on google+ by any listing. Do that for your own sites...

vangogh
11-02-2011, 01:07 AM
I doubt clicking on your own site all the time is going to have much effect. I anything it won't be all that hard for Google to figure out what's going on and ignore your clicks at best or flag your site for attempting to manipulate results. Even if they never make the connection your single + isn't going to have a positive effect.

orion_joel
11-02-2011, 01:17 AM
I did join, that was maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago. However I found it to be as easy to use as I would have liked. Also I feel that very few people in my current circles are using Google+ at this point. However that may be a benefit in some ways where I may be able to expand to new circles, and create a larger group that I did not use to connect with in anyway.

I will likely give it more of a chance, but I was having difficulty using it, at the time. And there was one or two things that I am sure came up saying they were not yet available.

vangogh
11-02-2011, 02:05 AM
Joel I just searched you our and added you to one of my circles.

I'm actually finding Google+ easy to use. I was pretty active for a month or so, though it's trailed off recently. Whenever I get busy I find social stuff is the first thing to go. I have about 500 people now who've added me to a circle. In the beginning I searched for a few people I figured would be there that are in the industries I travel in. Mostly designers and seo/marketers. I added a few and then looked through who they were following and added a few more.

Then I started commenting on some posts and +1ing content the same way I was tweeting it. I've still been doing that even while not as active. I did have one benefit early on in that Google+ wasn't open yet, but I had invites so I wrote a post and offered invites to my audience and picked up some followers that way so I could interact more with readers of my blog.

Most of the followers have come since I've been less active and only +1ing new content.

It's really like most other social networks. Spend a little time and in the beginning there's not many people for you to interact with, but if you keep using the system you'll connect with more people. I do think there are going to be seo benefits to being there, though not by +1ing your own content. I think I've said it a few times in this thread already, but search engines are using social signals more and more as a ranking signal. It stands to reason that Google is going to weigh data from their own network more than any other since they have more access to the data.

greenoak
11-29-2011, 08:57 AM
im not hearing much about it from my part of the business world...
..it makes me wonder about the 50 million users vg mentioned.......where did that number come from? ... im planning to sign into it...

KristineS
11-29-2011, 12:37 PM
I'm sure the number comes from Google and there probably are a lot of people on it, if you figure worldwide, but it may take time to find people you know. I know I've been building my Google+ profile and a page for the business and it's been difficult finding people. Like anything else, I guess it takes time.

greenoak
11-30-2011, 07:36 AM
you are right...i googled it...lol....

vangogh
11-30-2011, 11:25 AM
I forget where the 50 million estimate came from. I don't know if Google specifically said it or not, or if someone came up with a guesstimate based on data that was out there.

Right now the people on Google+ tend toward the early adopters. Internet marketers, techie types, etc. It hasn't filtered down to the masses so it's not surprising you aren't seeing all the people you know there. The question is whether or not the masses will eventually join. Google is aggressively pushing Google+ through all their other products and the success with the early adopters suggests they will get the masses there. Facebook didn't start with 800 million users. It took them several years before the masses were using the site.

A reason for getting in on Google+ now is that you can build a presence and be in a good position if and when the masses do arrive.

greenoak
12-12-2011, 02:38 PM
today i read thru these google threads with my web person ...we have signed up for google + .... but when we looked t some of the most popular people we know, like with 500 facebook friends.... there were very few on google +....so for now anyway it isnt being used by very many people in my target field.... my web person doesnt think its going to take off.... we are open to it if it does tho......

vangogh
12-13-2011, 10:49 AM
Not everyone is there so it wouldn't be uncommon for people you know on Facebook not to be using Google+ yet. I would disagree with your web person though about it taking off. I wouldn't expect it to grow to Facebook size any time soon, but it's grown enough already and is being promoted by Google to indicate it probably will catch on with the general public.

greenoak
12-13-2011, 05:55 PM
.my field is heavily on facebook so if they arent on google + that tellls me what i need to know............. i would say a customer w ith 500 friends and just a teeny amount on google + tells me a lot...and my dil has over 400 friends and about 6 google +..why wouldnt you count this as good info?....they are typical of my customers.......
also if all these customers are happy with facebook why and how would they make the time for another big social thing? im not against it...just judging the facts i see around me... so far...

vangogh
12-15-2011, 12:55 AM
It tells you they aren't there today. It says nothing about whether or not they'll be there tomorrow. Ann the only thing I disagreed with was you said your web person said Google+ wouldn't take off. The facts you're pointing to only suggest it hasn't taken off yet, not that it won't take off in the future.

None of us knows where Google+ will be a year from now. What we do know is it has grown much faster than any other social network in its early days and that Google is putting a lot into promoting it. Google has a lot of users across all its products and it's integrating Google+ with all of them.

You can't grow a social network to a size approaching Facebook overnight. Facebook didn't get there overnight either. Having seen other networks, including Facebook, grow we can see certain hurdles they had to get over on the way to mass adoption. So far Google+ has been getting past the early hurdles that most networks never get past.

And I'm not saying now that you have to spend time with Google+ If your customers aren't there then you aren't going to get much out of it now. However I'm suggesting that in time your customers will be there and if you were to spend some time with Google+ between now and then you'll be in a much better position to profit when that time comes.

greenoak
12-15-2011, 09:37 AM
i hear you.... im hearing more doubts about it so far...
hopefully ilt isnt t rying to be facebook...we already have that....
im there if it does take off...

vangogh
12-16-2011, 12:38 AM
I do understand why you wouldn't be jumping all over it. Your customers are on Facebook and so that's where you should be. And I also understand the lack of time trying to be everywhere all the time. There's only so much time in the day.

Google+ does want to compete with Facebook. I think they would ultimately like to be your first social network for all things. I don't think the world should stop at one network either. True we have Facebook, but not everyone likes it and competition is a good thing. For example Facebook has already added better privacy controls because Google+ launched with them and some people left Facebook because of those controls.

The reason I've been pointing people to Google+ is because I do think it's done well so far and it looks like Google finally got social networking right. I don't expect it to happen overnight, but it won't surprise me to see Google+ grow to the point where it is competing with Facebook in a few years.