I’ve been looking at Google+ this week…why?  Because it seems like everyone is on Google for something, and that means Google+ will likely gain a strong following.  I have a Facebook company page, and of course, everyone is on Facebook too – so what should we do with Google+?

First – click the g+ and connect with me on this page!

Well to start with – you need a way to connect with clients and prospects – Linkedin is a great networking tool for me, but are your clients using it actively?  I suspect they have a profile set up – but are they paying attention to the posts?  Probably not.  In my own experience, Linkedin is a great way to keep track of where people are as they move from job to job.  If you call on the larger enterprise, this can be useful – IT people leave every 18 months on average, so keeping track can be an important part of territory management.  On the SMB side, hopefully you call on business owners – they are probably not moving around.  If they are, their credit is probably not very good…

Facebook has a strong following – and the business side is growing, but for the average sales person, you probably don’t have your own corporate page – so now you are somehow mixing your personal friends, high school and college contacts, and business contacts all in one.  This just doesn’t do it for me.  I don’t think my clients are interested in old fraternity pictures taken several decades ago.

Google+ seems to have a friendlier interface for this type of thing.  The circle thing works for me, but the “Create pages” feature is really powerful.  You can now set up your profile, and then create a special page – which, unlike Facebook (at least from what I see here), you can create a unique landing page in a matter of minutes.  You can post pictures and bio info specific to what you do, add daily info and insight, and begin building connections that center around your professional side, without getting caught up in the personal side.  80/20 was recommended somewhere – 80% professional, with about 20% personal to give this a personal feel without going overboard.  If you are involved in other leadership activities with outside organizations you might consider building more pages for these things.  Unlike Facebook, they are unique pages with no connection between them – other than you manage them from a central place. The people who connect to you don’t see a bunch of unrelated tabs and posts.

I am now exploring how I might use this to create landing pages for books I’ve written, and more.  Check it out – and see if this might be a way to set up your personal web landing page to communicate your value to those you call on.

© 2012, David Stelzl