Whether you are just getting started with Google+ or you are
an established member looking to improve your readership
it is easy to fall into old web 1.0 tactics where the most
exposures resulted in the most subscribers.
In todays social marketing world it is more important to make
smaller numbers count. Quality content plus user interaction
are the 2 main keys to success. This post covers the first.
Google Plus members with large follower numbers are not all created
equal. Aspiring members who want to get real results from their
networking and publishing activities should be focused on the
quality of their readers and not just the numbers.
Rather than following a bunch of people with large follower counts
in hopes of getting follow backs (can you say Twitter), you should
instead become an active member of the community by
reaching out to others.
Make your comments on topic by reading the discussion before
you arrived instead of making half assed me too types of
comments (ie: comments without engagement)
with the hope of getting noticed by other commentors.
It is not difficult to find posts on your topics of interest and get
involved in the discussions. By doing so you will get more ideas
for your business and maybe make a few friends at the same time.
You should not expect people to follow you though. it is not
necessary. You can easily have a circle of people that you
follow and stay in their awareness by visiting and contributing to their
posts.
I have several people I admire that I am learning from just because
we both participate in the same discussions. Having them follow me
back would be nice but I do not get offended if they do not. In some
ways it is better they do not follow me if they already have too much
to read in their streams.
I am working on an extensive lesson called Circle Management 101
that I hope will help the community to be able to follow more people
but for now just assume that most people will not follow you back.
You only want a few people to follow you in the beginning because
your objective should be to engage with your new followers.
Further Reading
My special thanks to +Denis Labelle for telling me about the first post
below which in turn lead me to find posts 2 and 3 listed further down
this page.
The following posts are full of great information concerning the value
of a follower. You will also note that these posts have great discussions
happening in the comments section. I suggest getting involved in the
dialogs. In some cases it will have been several days since the
discussion ended but this is no reason to stop you. Start up the talks
again!
1) +Alexander Becker wrote the following post which takes a look at the
inflated and over hyped value of the Suggested User List.
Improving the Suggested User List -->
https://plus.google.com/108384201920217141722/posts/KpqT8vTsAQQ
Take note of the amazing quality of commenting going on in the
above post from the likes of +Max Huijgen , +A.V. Flox and
+Alexander Becker plus countless others, too many to mention
here.
2) +Kevin Kelly wrote The Ciphers of Social Media which takes a look at
some fascinating statistics about the percentage of user interaction and
the true value of a follower.
The Ciphers of Social Media -->
https://plus.google.com/u/0/116416314233992548280/posts/4WonVFkQUk1
3) +Max Huijgen wrote Zombie armies of blueheads are a reality
Where he asked +A.V. Flox and +Brandon Campeaux if they would rather
have fewer but higher quality followers. Read the post to get the full scoop!
Zombie armies of blueheads are a reality -->
https://plus.google.com/u/0/112352920206354603958/posts/b4h2GZEZaf2
Conclusion
It is clear to me that there are quality people out there making a difference
so there is hope. The key is in finding these people and making a
connection with them. Stop looking for followers and make your
contribution to the Google Plus community.
Followers will come later and they will be real people!
More photos from Gregory Allan
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