I’m going to go out on a limb here. I actually like Google+. There, I said it. It’s out there and I can’t ever take it back. For me the platform provides a rich media outlet where images are not static, they are dynamic. Videos are linked very easily to YouTube. The ability for community managers to administer multiple pages from the one account. Hangouts working better than Skype these days. It simply ticks all the boxes for me. But as I said, this is a personal choice.

The question is – should businesses be using Google+?

The answer – yes if you have the time (or an internal / external community manager)

Benefits of Google+ for business

Growing Platform – Whilst Google+ does not have the popularity of Facebook, it does have a fast growing member base. As at April 2012 Google+ had 170 million active users and expected to attract about 400 million users by the end of this year. (Source)

Development – Google+ is a young social network, and still has opportunity to roll out functionality / services that will benefit business. Being tied into the world’s most powerful search engine, these opportunities may place early adopters with an advantage.

Indexing – Google+ posts and a Google+ business page is going to be found by people using Google a lot faster and easier, after all when in Rome, erm – Google.

Functions – Google+ has given us lots of great functionality for business use. Hangouts for video conferencing, linking dynamic media such as animated GIFs, Images that are indexed into search, circles which helps your business segment your stakeholders and the +1 button that is now all over the web.

Customer Service – you can use Google+ to help provide customer services via video conferencing (hangouts) or online social conversation. Creating circles for your High Net Worth clients and your new prospects helps you provide the correct level of service to each of these stakeholders separately.

Community – Google+ is mostly made up of a male population with a high number of software developers and college students. There is opportunity here to tap into these two markets for your business directly

Overall I have been using Google+ since it first came out, and found that just by sharing content from my site, links back to my site and social media posts my PageRank has increased by a factor of two. And I have never paid a single cent for SEO.

I truly believe that Google+ is underrated and should be explored more by SMBs as a useful tool that you will grow to love. The key here is to keep using it, and interacting. Put the effort into Google+ and you will reap the rewards.

As always, Share+ Enjoy.

Let’s Connect:

Twitter: @cosmicrami
Google+: Rami Mandow
LinkedIn: Rami Mandow
Tumblr: CosmicRami
Pinterest: Rami Mandow
Instagram: @CosmicRami
Website: www.cosmicvillage.net

At the beginning of 2012, I wrote about a new mobile social networking site called Path. Since then Path has grown in user numbers significantly, with a majority of my network of friends alone jumping onto the app.

The beauty behind Path not only resides within is multiple platform features and functionality (it’s a music player/store; it’s a phone camera with filters; it enables check-in and tagging; it can push updates through to other social networks) but also that Path is becoming what the new representation of personal social networking will look like – a more niche and limited network of connected friends and a social network based purely on a mobile platform.

These two factors are very important as we start to see a decline in growth in web based social networks (excluding micro-blogging sites) and a trend towards more visually stimulated content through mobile platforms (e.g. Instagram, Pinterest, Viddy).

Path has recently released their latest update, version 2.5 with a few new features:

Personal Content – Path users currently have the ability to share what music they are listening to, and now will also have the ability to share what books they are reading and what movies they are watching. The books we read, and films we watch are rather personal choices which in turn helps drive that core personal social networking within the platform as our connections engage with these content drivers. Book data is pulled from iBooks whilst Rotten Tomatoes and Flixster integrate into our movie selections.

Personal Engagement – To help users keep the network active, Path has introduced a couple of new features to ensure your community self-polices users who have become stagnant. With a new ‘nudge’ feature, similar to the Facebook poke, users can now remind people in their networks that they should come back to Path and share content on the network. User’s friend lists now provide details of when each connection was last on Path, but then also go on further to allow each user to send a ‘quick update’ request to the people in their networks by requesting to: (i) Take a photo (ii) Provide location; and (iii) request their current status.

Additional Filters – Path’s Instagram like photo filters have now also been upgraded with four additional features to allow users to capture their ‘moments’ and share this with their networks. The new functions available are Glow, Depth, Zoom and Cropping of images.

Overall, Path is simply heading in the right direction of ensure its customers are provided with necessary tools to make social networking more personal, and more efficient using smartphones.

How often do you use Path? Religiously or hardly ever?

As always, please share + enjoy!

Let’s Connect:

Twitter: @cosmicrami
Google+: Rami Mandow
LinkedIn: Rami Mandow
Tumblr: CosmicRami
Pinterest: Rami Mandow
Instagram: @CosmicRami
Website: www.cosmicvillage.net

As technology rapidly advances, we become more social online and the rise of the mobile web continues to become a dominant driver in business activities – there has never been a better time to start your own business. We have never had the opportunities that exist in today’s digital revolution that can lower entry barriers so much.

Previous to these times, starting a business was one giant leap for mankind for each of us. We were limited by what we could afford, who we knew that could get us places and sometimes pure luck with striking the right cord at the right time.

Entrepreneurs should harness these services to work for them. There are so many good ideas out there; they just need the legs to stand on to get up and running.

There are now services out there for businesses to help them get up and running without all the cost, pressures and risks.

These services are provided by other businesses and made for businesses, specifically those who are just starting to gain some momentum. Here are a few services to turn your brilliant idea into an up and running business:

Cloud Services

Want to reduce the cost of managing your own server, upgrading your IT, even having IT Staff? Look no further than Cloud Service Providers. In fact you’re probably using them now (MYOB, XERO, Mailchimp, Salesforce). Outsource your technology services and lower your costs.

Social Media Services

Social Media has opened up the global market for your business. You now have the potential to reach millions through Social Media. Think about it as a Customer Service Portal, a CRM, a promotional platform and a place where you can respectfully tap into what people are actually interested in, rather than broadcasting into the white noise. Small business owners can get up to skill with Social Media by attending training classes, or if they would purely like to focus on their sole business operations, they can outsource their Social Media Management to B2B Community Managers. Think about the cost saving of having your own Social Media Professional looking after your portfolio without the investment in salary, super, benefits, insurance or training.                                        

Incubator / Share Spaces

Many businesses just need a location to get themselves started. Instead of investing into a huge new fancy office, a couple of workstations will do the same trick. Here is where Incubators and Co-Working spaces steps in. Not only do you save by paying what you use as you go, you get to network and build relations with other entrepreneurs who are just starting out too. Invaluable experiences are gained in this process at Incubators and they are made for the B2B market.

Mobile Technology

Smart Devices are starting to take a large market share of our online usage time. This applies to your customers too. This means that having a mobile presence as an App for your business is essential. Therefore having your website mobile and tablet friendly is a must. Use the services of B2B mobile developers to secure your business’s location in the mobile realm. This market is only going to get bigger.

These four simple services provided by an array of business to business providers out there, will help lower your costs from day dot, help you build the networks and relations in your industry, help you communicate and market to a global audience and most importantly help turn that little idea that keeps you up every night into the reality you keep dreaming about.

Know of any more? What other B2B services have you used in getting up and running?

As always, Share + Enjoy.

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