How does Google+ work?

Google+ is a social media platform.  You can use it to keep in contact with friends, family, colleagues, just about anyone with an email address.  Google+ is more effective than other more popular social media platforms but as it is quite late to the party take up is slow.  Google knows however that social media is a game changer that has the ability to change the way people search the web forever – it is therefore a party they need to crash.

How will Google+ win the social media war?

Google+ will undoubtedly punish people who chose not to use it.  They will take away your toys one by one until you give in and sign up.  This might be far fetched but this is a game they must win, at any costs.

How will Google+ grow?

Google+ will grow virally using email as its main channel of super-engagement.  When a Google+ user adds friends to a Circle, Google+ send these friends a notification by email to let them know that they have been added to a Google+ circle by a friend, family member, colleague etc…  they mention you in this notification and are therefore hopping on your engagement channel turning it into a channel of super-engagement.  Another social media platform has used similar channels of super-engagement recently – heard of sponsored stories?

In this post I will guide you through how to create a Google+ profile, how to use Google+ effectively and in other posts I will show you how to create business pages on Google+.

How do I create an account on Google+?

Follow the instructions below to create a Google+ user account.  Please note that before you can create a business page on Google+ you must create a personal account.  For more help you can watch my youtube video on how to create an account on Google+ here.

  1. Browse to the following page: https://plus.google.com
  2. Select “Create An Account” from the top right hand side of the screen.
  3. Complete the form including Name (must be a person, not a business)
  4. Choose a “Username” (if your preferred username is already taken, Google+ will suggest usernames that are available.
  5. Create a password
  6. Enter your birthday, Gender, phone and and alternative email address
  7. Type in the text you can see to prove you are not a robot 🙂
  8. Check the box to confirm you understand and accept the terms and conditions.
  9. Hit “Next Step”
  10. If you want to upload a profile picture then click “Add profile Photo” otherwise hit “Skip Step”
  11. Hit “Continue on Google+” on next page
  12. If successful, you should now see your stream.
  13. Google+ will however urge you to add friends by adding account such as Yahoo and Hotmail.  Skip this step if you are not ready yet by hitting “skip”
  14. When you see the message, Google Plus is better with friends just hit “Continue Anyway”
  15. Google+ will now ask you to add people you now to your circles – to skip this hit “Continue”
  16. Google+ will now ask if you want to add some famous people to your circles – to skip this step hit “Continue”
  17. You will then be prompted again – hit “Continue Anyway”
  18. Google+ will now ask you to add additional profile information – complete if you wish then hit “Finish”
  19. That’s it, all done.

In my next post I will show you around Google+.

Good luck

Digital Entrepreneur