At first glance, Google+ appears pretty much like other Internet selling channels. You want to use it because you have a product or service you wish to promote or sell. Like all other social environments, it’s about interacting and cross-promotion, only it’s more targeted and relatively easy to set up.
Begin with building the number of your Subscribers; this is the key to your success. Subscribers will typically begin as normal browsing prospects landing on your profile page; from there, their details are captured using what are called ‘lead magnets’. These are highlighted free offers; for example, asking for an email address in exchange for downloading a ‘how-to booklet’ with true value. This is the simplest form of transaction, and as long as you make it worth the effort of typing in an email address, it quickly generates a personalised subscriber list worth its weight in gold.
Make sure your Google+ profile is up to date and interesting – make it fit for purpose. For example, ensure your photo reflects what your profile is about; if it’s a fun page, then don’t look serious in business attire. Show a picture of the sort of fun or activity that reflects your business, such as people laughing at an event, or a smiling face – it doesn’t even have to be yours.
Google+ Hangouts are groups of like-minded individuals who can interact regularly to have more meaningful conversations – somewhat like chatrooms but controlled by you and specific to your needs. They can have public access or be directed at your subscribers. By doing this you will begin to attract people back to your page on a more frequent basis. The fact is that over 95% of your website hits do not result in purchases on the first visit, which means you need prospects to keep coming back in order to get them to buy, and by achieving thisyou will drive extra sales. Once logged into Google+, go to the left hand side of the screen, click on the Home button and a list of options will be presented. Select Hangouts and follow the guide. It takes seconds to start a Hangout and start building interest.
Once you have a profile suited to the purpose of your business or society, and you have attracted subscribers into their own dedicated Hangout, you are now in a position to pitch your products in a targeted fashion.
To target your product or service at the right people, you use the appropriate Hangout and get in touch, via email, with the subscribers inhabiting them. You can also host webinars in these Hangouts to add value and get ‘personal’ with your interest groups.
For a more general approach to selling to a broader public, set up a Community (access is also via the Home button). These are accessed by general Google+ subscribers and at first glance they look a little like rows of Pinterest groups. The Google+ subscriber clicks on the picture that interests them in order to enter a community. Make the cover image interesting and relevant to your intentions.
If you offer services, depending on how you transact business you may want to advertise these locally. To do this you create a Google+ Local Business Page. Always include your verified website address on this page in order that prospects can deepen their investigation of what you offer. You can even add a portfolio to this page if you like. Once this is done, you can also add Google+ Hangouts and Communities to this local environment using the same process outlined above.
To broaden your appeal to a wider market, you can add affiliate product content to your offerings by claiming Google+ Authorship, raising both market awareness as well as your ownGoogle+ Authorship rank (specifically targeted at those writing books or reviews). Once you have done this, you can also add specific people or groups to the target market for this activity. That way, when you post new content publically, it is driven to those people specifically as well as being available to larger audiences which will, in turn, drive subscription – and revenue! After all, subscription is the Holy Grail of marketing and revenue generation.
Finally, a word about Google AdSense. This is the most popular and probably the easiest way to make money from your website. All you have to do is insert a specific piece of java script code into your website (and most template-based websites have a dedicated field in which the code is inserted). You can then generate revenue when adverts relevant to your content are shown on your website. The revenue will vary depending upon the type of advert and whether it was an impression only or a click-through. The beauty of this is that you don’t have to do anything other than continue business as usual. Money for almost nothing.
In conclusion, Google+ is a relatively simple way to enhance your revenue through a few easy activities – most of which you will already be doing one way or another – giving you a powerful, new channel to market. To start earning money immediately, I would suggest you complete Google AdSense subscription in the first instance. If you want more information or to get started on AdSense, browse around online, where you will find a set of Google tutorials that delve deeper into specifics of tips and tricks, as well as additional ways to manage campaigns and commission, as well as other sophisticated advert processes.
