So what is Google plus? Google+ is the new social platform that Google has been working on secretly. for some time and has now released to a limited number of users. Google+ lets people share comments, articles, photos and videos with various “circles” of friends or contacts, or they can share content publicly with any user who wants to view their posts At this point in time people can only joined the platform after having been invited by someone else. Having said that since its release, three weeks ago, the number of users on Google plus has jumped to a phenomenal  20 million users. This is far quicker than the growth of Facebook or Twitter. However, it needs to be remembered that Google already has large number of people using their other products and so its rapid growth has a lot to do with Google’s large preexisting database

Google+ grows to 20 million in 3 weeks

Image used by permission from Leon Håland

The first feature that you are introduced to when going to Google Plus is the Circles, which is the hub of the

what Google circles looks like

program. Google suggests people that you already know based on the people you have interacted with using Gmail and other Google programs such as Buzz or Wave. The thing I like about it is that Circles replicates how people interact in the real world. Typically, we have circles of friends that we communicate with based on common interests, and Google+ enables you to use this natural way of relating and communicating very easily in a virtual setting. All you deal is to name a circle in a meaningful way for you, so for example, “Family” and then from the pre-populated list of people that you already communicate with, Google shows you images, from which you can drag down your family members into the Family circle you created. The privacy settings are very easy to determine, with Private being the default. You can have as many circles as you wish. When you select a circle stream, you can have conversations with all people in your circle and follow the conversations people in the circle have with each other.

Another feature is called The Hangout. This is the first online capability to creating an impromptu meet up with people online. If you feel like hanging out and chatting with people, you can let your specific friends or a particular circle know that you’re’ hanging out’ and then wait to see who drops in for a face to face video chat using The Hangout. You can video chat with up to 10 people at the same time, and Google intuitively shows that video of the person who is speaking at the time. If the person in the hangout wants to share video, everyone in the video chat can watch the video in exactly the same time.

Google has made it easy to share your photos that you take on your phone. With the Google plus app on your phone. You can instantly at load your photos and videos and  they go to a private album on Google class and you decide who you’re going to share them with

Another feature is called Sparks. You just type into Sparks, what you’re interested in, and it will send you related content  that it thinks you will like. This means when you have a free five minutes, there’s always something that you can watch, read and share..

The Huddle is another pretty cool feature of Google plus, which enables you to text in real-time, with a group of people. So this means when you’re trying to decide with your friends, which movie to go to, for example, using The Huddle  turns all those separate text conversations into one group chat. So everybody is on the same page, at the same time in real time.

Google has indicated that theses features in Google plus are only just beginning and that there are more in the pipeline. So far in the initial three weeks there has been a very positive response to the Google+platform, and over the past  three weeks more people have been spending more time on Google bumping the average time spent from 12 minutes a day to over 13 minutes a day. This can only increase as more people start using it.

To sum up my experience so far, I think that Google Plus is a definite Plus in the social media world. I see a lot of potential for making meaningful connections online and has a very easy interface for setting it up to suit your own preferences and requirements. It can be as public or private as you want it to be and i have found it great for adding like minded people to my network and having meaningful conversations. There is no business component as yet (like the business page capability on Facebook for example) and this can be a positive thing. You are not going to be bombarded by sales pitches and mindless business promotional comments.  Instead it provides a platform where networking and building relationships in a social setting  is easy and isn’t that the way true business partners are created?

If you would like an invite to try out Google Plus for yourself, make a comment below and I’ll see what I can do to send you an invitation:)

In this age of social media people get to witness what’s going on globally in a matter of minutes or less. Nothing can explain this fact better than the January 2010 catastrophe that hit Haiti in the form of an earthquake. People’s ability to act and support communities has greatly been increased.

The American public retweeted and posted on Facebook quickly and in even greater quantity. The social media manager at the American Red Cross Wendy Harman said that the kind of response received from the public was unprecedented for the Red Cross. She said it was the first time she truly felt like people were using these tools to take action for a good cause.

Some benefits of social media are as follows:

Democratization of Media: It has been a tumultuous time of change for many industries much of it driven by the Internet. The newspaper industry has been particularly affected by the Web and over the past 10 years, news media has under gone change parallel to the invention of the printing press in 1440. Blogging was a direct challenge to the newspapers and ended up shaking up the print media world. The traditional media has had to up its game as anyone can now publish 140 characters to the Web whether they are a writer or not and this might end up as breaking news as it was proven by the Hudson River plane crash.

Creativity and Remix Culture: Remix is a collage or a recombination of existing, reference images or music mashed up into something new. According to street artist Shephard Fairey, Remix is literacy in the 21^st Century. Copyright scholar Larry Lessig and author Steven Johnson have argued for free expression saying remix is form of self expression that should be allowed to flow without restriction across today’s digital world. The social media’s nature to travel globally has played a big role in trying to achieve this.

Communal Sharing and Connecting: Starting a business can be lonely but now, due to the increasing accessibility of people, ideas and information web communities can be based around business, entrepreneurship. Facebook and Twitter together with other social networks have become an amazing way to learn new lessons and keep in touch with other entrepreneurs.

Transparency in government and organizations: As the social media bug spreads, government and organizations are not left behind. People are now visiting the government sites to get factual information on legislative texts. They are able to give their views and feedback and this keeps the organizations in check. Other sites such as Tweet Congress allow citizens to find their elected officials and contact them directly. Transparency is a huge step because it is government’s way of saying they want to be collaborative and engage with citizens.

Well I feel as if I am on a journey toward something different which is unfolding a little bit at a time. In my last blog post I shared some insights that  I discovered when listening to a presentation by Julien Smith. At this point I feel I have traveled a little further in my journey but have not yet reached a destination.

As an online marketing and social media consultant I have struggled with my genuine desire to help people learn online strategies that will help them build their business, and at the same time, building my own business. I love helping people, and gladly will do it for free. The conflict is that it is also my business, and the purpose and function of the business is to make money. For me, information is what I have to offer, combined with my experience of what works and doesn’t work when marketing online. I have spent thousands of dollars  investing in my learning, and many hours of “doing it” for myself, often learning by trial and error and expensive mistakes.

When meeting with potential new clients, I find myself giving my valuable information away, before I have made a sale or collected a check for my time and advice. The same thing has happened when I have been asked to speak pro bono, with the goal of making new clients for my business.

Social media has affected the way people do business. The concept of keeping certain information a closely guarded secret in order for a business to have an edge on their competitors, is changing. In its place there is a growing sense of working not as a one-person business, but building alliances and working together even with immediate competitors. When people get together and help one another, everyone succeeds. In order to do this I think you have to change your mindset from ‘there is not enough business for everyone to have a share,’ to’ there is more than enough to go around.’  2009 for me was a year when I really got to understand the importance of mindset and how self sabotaging it can be, and began a process of a 180 degree turn around in my mindset and thinking.

Yesterday I was on a weekly mastermind group call. Everyone on the call had participated in a course on social media in the summer, and had kept in touch with weekly calls to support and help one another. In recent weeks a suggestion of having a contest has been discussed, with  points awarded for various levels of participation in helping and supporting one another. Due to our different personalities the thought of a contest spurred and motivated some people into action, however those in the group who are not motivated by competition, were reluctant to be involved in a contest which involved one person being a winner or contributing toward a financial reward.

On the call last night a totally different slant was put on this proposition. If you take away the word “contest” and think rather of it in the light of a way of being kept accountable in achieving goals and taking action, and at the same time helping and supporting other people in their goals, a totally different dynamic  comes into play. In this ‘contest’ you can earn points for writing a blog post for your blog, however if you write a blog post about someone else’s blog you get far more points. Points can be earned by commenting and promoting other people’s content and online projects, as well as doing things for other members of the group in terms of helping and supporting them.

This morning I followed a link from Facebook that led to a site called Third Tribe Marketing. The concept of a tribe first came from  the book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin. A tribe works together to support others in the tribe and so contribute to their success. Then 2 hours I then discovered a different mention of this concept in my Facebook Inbox with an invitation to a TribeMastermindforum webinar call where building a tribe and participating in a community while at the same time being taught valuable information was being sold.

An epiphany is percolating! I see the power of helping one another and I’m curious to explore the tribe concept further. I decided to become a member of the Third Tribe site because I want to learn more. Interestingly since our mastermind call yesterday I’ve been contacted by two members who need my help. Normally the information that I have shared with them would be something that would generate revenue for my business, but it didn’t matter as something larger is happening within me. It seems that when you give to others inevitably you will receive in some way, but at the same time this should not be a motivation for giving. I’m reminded of the quote  by Zig Ziglar

“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want. ”

So I’m going to read Seth Godin’s book( yes it was published in 2008 and so maybe I’m a bit behind), and follow on this journey that I’ve started, to make real connections with great people and support them in whatever way I can.

If you’ve learned something about the ‘Tribe” concept, please comment on this post and give us all more insight .

I had thought that perhaps Julian would be talking about the contents of the book however, it in addition to that, he presented some interesting thoughts and concepts about how communication has changed and the impact of those changes in the way businesses market and sell their products and services.

Some of the points he made of got me thinking about how I can apply them to my own business and also help my clients effectively transition into referral and relationship-based marketing rather than the familiar push marketing and advertising that businesses have traditionally used for decades.

Ever since the first voice was heard over the radio in 1904 we have become used to channels of one-way communication. As entertaining and informative as these channels can be, they communicate carefully crafted message with the intention of influencing the listeners. One-way communication is so limiting as there is no way of clarifying how the receiver of the message feels about the message and no way for the receiver to respond to the message. It is a one-way channel and now social media presents the opportunity for two-way conversation.

Some of the ways that Julien Smith talked about how to use two-way conversation effectively on social media channels  I thought was very interesting and I want to share one or two thoughts that he presented.

Reginald Fessenden was that first voice heard over the radio in 1904. At that moment a new channel of communication was born .Reginald Fessenden’s voice was experimenting with that new channel. Julien Smith challenged us to experiment with the new radios of the future. He gave the example of a child. A child learns about the world by touching and trying new things, and in doing so  expands the world that was previously known. Some experiences teach  good things, other experiences can hurt. Even when the child touches the burner and gets hurt he has a great understanding of the world. Every experience teaches us more about the world if we’re willing to take the risk to touch something new.

There will be many new channels  on social media that have not yet been invented. Our world will stay small if we are not willing to try and experiment with new things. Am I going to be a person who waits until a channel is proven before I experiment? Or am I going to be a pioneer who experiments and develops a voice in the new channels of the future.

When geese fly in V. formation, the goose at the head of the V is paving the way for the others. In taking the lead the head goose creates a channel and in doing so makes it easier for the other geese to follow by reduceing resistance. Does your business have the courage to take the lead using social media as a channel to communicate to your clients and potential clients leading the way?

What about the communication voice that is used in your channel in social media? There is a difference between hype and found a channel. Hype is like a 30 second commercial on TV, when it’s over the hype dies.  A channel, however, can continue forever as it is where you build connections. To have  control over the future of means taking control of your channel. If you own your channel you can communicate whatever you like in it. What is your unique communication voice that characterizes your channel?

Julien gave a church as an example of a channel for a community or tribe. The church represents a channel because people know where to go, what to do, and what to expect in a church. When your channel functions like church people want to come as it is reliable and people can be part of every conversation. Insider language breaks down walls. It creates a sense of being part of the community.

Social media is social; it is for breaking down walls in communication and building rapport and relationships. Julian showed a slide of a dog in a sweater with its head poking out of one of the sleeves. It was a ridiculous topic for a picture, and yet it made people laugh and broke the ice. He said it would be a talking point at the bar afterwards. Silly and ridiculous things break down walls in communication. This is an illustration of what it takes to build relationship and have your message spread virally. As silly as it may be, it creates a connection as people laugh or talk about it. Things that are different, things that make us laugh, things that we want to share, build rapport and a sense of belonging. Everyone has a need to belong. People are looking for their tribe, a place where they relate, and feel comfortable and fit in. They find this in a channel.

To become a channel in social media with a unique voice, one needs to be a human artist. When something is familiar people lose concentration and focus but when something is different it grabs their attention. A human artist breaks patterns and causes people to pay attention.

As I have reflected on these concepts today, I been asking myself questions that challenge me. There are people and businesses in social media that have gathered a significant tribe of followers. What is it that has made these people so popular online? What is unique about their channel of communication? What patterns did they break that caused people to sit up and take notice of what they have to communicate?

More importantly for me is the challenge to find my unique channel, my unique style and voice that is different and causes others to want to follow my channel and become part of my tribe. Once I have become a ‘human artist’ I can pass on those secrets to others.

My commitment in 2010 is to blog more frequently, and in doing so to find my unique voice and create my channel.

Can I challenge you to find and create your unique channel? Will you be the lead goose? Are you willing to risk putting your hand on the burner to expand your world? Will you be someone who experiments with the new ‘radios’ of the future whatever they may look like?

For more about Julien Smith’s presentation read Julien Smith at Third Tuesday Vancouver liveblog or watch it Julien Smith on video

Are you embracing this change?

Social media is changing communication globally. Traditional media is losing it’s dominance as  social media allows ordinary people to spread information quickly across the Internet. The death of Michael Jackson illustrates this fact.

On June 25, 2009 the death of Michael Jackson’s sent ripples of shock and disbelief across the world. This tragic event revealed a very significant change in worldwide communication. Traditionally news such as this has been broadcast on television and radio. In June 22th social media led the way in informing the world of the news. Michael Jackson’s name appeared in the third and sixth positions on Google’s list of top 100 trending topics 55 minutes after the first tweet on Twitter trended the same topic.

It was a social media site that broke the news of his death when up till then CNN and the LA Times were citing stories of his hospitalization. It was 40 minutes later before main media sites caught up with the story and most media used two blogs as a source of information. 4.2 million global visitors per minute visited online news sites. I first heard the news on on Facebook. How many of you first heard the news through some form of Social Media?

On the day of Michael Jackson’s Memorial the social Web was prepared. Facebook partnered with CNN, Ustream partnered with CBC. offering live streams combined with the ability for viewers to post their comments and responses to the event in live time. 1 million Facebook users posted status updates related to that online broadcast.. CNN received 72 million page views ,14 million viewers watched the event through live streaming video,People inside the Staples Center shared recorded video and tweets to the world from their iPhone’s.

Social media unlike TV allows people to connect and see the story from multiple perspectives.

Facebook has a Michael Jackson page. In one week the fans grew from 800,000 to over 8 million due to the popularity of Michael Jackson and the viral nature of Facebook. Michael Jackson’s heirs and Sony who produces his music now have a highly targeted list of over 8 million fans to market and sell to in the future.

The Obama presidential campaign is a highly successful example of how planned social marketing strategies can create massive exposure and engagement. This was different from the results created by Michael Jackson’s death, as it was planned out and built up over time. The inaugural ceremony has  set the record so far for the largest Web event in terms of numbers and exposures there were almost 27,000,000 live video streams on that day. Barack Obama’s Facebook page drew millions of supporters that are now regularly connected with updates by the Obama  administration. The president keeps his followers updated on what he is doing via Twitter.

For the younger generations who have grown up with technology, communicating through social media channels seems as natural as breathing. However, what about the Baby Boomers and older?

Can we catch this wave or we will be left behind?