If you’ve seen the power of social media in entrepreneurship and small business, can you afford to ignore Google+? I think not. Plus already has more than 100 million users, and some business press is predicting more than 400 million by the end of this year.
But even if you’re already working with social networking for your business, maybe especially if you are, you may be feeling like I did, initially, about another social network. I like Twitter a lot and I’m there a lot, and I’ve tried to keep up with Facebook and LinkedIn, so my reaction was a lot like what Guy Kawasaki says was his first reaction to Google+:
I need another social media service like I need more email or my dog to throw up on the carpet.
That quote is from the introduction to Guy’s latest new book What the Plus. Yes, I recognized the feeling. But What The Plus goes very quickly from that initial hesitance to why you want to deal with Google+ at all. Guy Kawasaki is known as the original and quintessential Apple Evangelist, which makes this quote particularly significant:
“From my perspective, Google + is to Facebook and Twitter what Macintosh is to Windows: Better, but fewer people use it, and the pundits prophesy that it will fail. As a lover of great products, this rankles my soul.”
I liked this comparison too, part of an opening chapter called Why I Love Google+: Twitter is about perspectives, FaceBook about people, and Google+ about passions:
“Ask yourself if you want to enhance and expand the number of people who share your passions. If the answer is no, stick with Twitter and Facebook until Google + reaches critical mass. Or, you may decide you need multiple services: Twitter for perspectives, Facebook for people, and Google + for passions. That’s OK too.
I ended up reading the book from cover to cover on one weekend morning, loving it, and reviewing it last weekend on Small Business Trends as A Quick Practical Guide to Google+. I said:
a short, practical to-the-point book on Google Plus by Guy Kawasaki. It’s all about tips, shortcuts, and step by step to taking more advantage of Plus, and doing it better. Don’t judge it by my presence on Plus, because I’m writing this fresh after reading the book, before implementing. I’m not going to take long, though, to implement this books suggestions for modifying my profile, my profile pictures, my posting strategy, and my approach to circles.
Often the best spend in business, dollar for dollar, is a good business book. You can get this one on amazon.com as an ebook for only $2.99.
Conclusion: As I said in that review: “It’s a lot easier to learn from a well-written and practical book than my trial and error.”
Tim Berry is the founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software and Bplans.com. Follow him on Twitter @Timberry.
