I recently received my invite to Google Plus and I must say that I like what I see so far. The Droid phone AP allows you to have text chats with one friend, select friends or your entire circle(s), you can video chat, determine what you want to share by groups. I certainly can see where I will be moving away from Facebook as soon as I get my best buddies migrated over to G+. (2016 Update, that never happened)
One of the first things I did is to install the plus one button, this displays on each individual post. To do this quickly and efficiently I used the Google Plus One plug in, once installed it was good to go. You can check your setting to decide if you want the plus one to go before the post or after, decide if you want the count to show and adjust the size; there are a few more tweaks I didn’t bother with.
From there I wanted to have a link to my Google Plus page, GoogleCards was the answer to this issue. Thanks to James Pruitt who I met on BlogEngage for the heads up on this neat plug-in. You can find GoogleCards from your dashboard plug in add screen. With GoogleCards your site will have a box in the widget section where people can connect to you via your Google+ account. The set up for this is very easy as well, once the plug in is activated you place the widget in your side bar, insert your google plus id number in the set up box and that is all there is to it. Your google plus ID number can be found when viewing your profile while in Google plus, it is the long 21 digit number in your web address bar.
The other place I wanted to place my plus one was my actual website, Google Plus has very easy to follow instructions on how to place this function on your site. Not only did I add my google plus button in my side bar but I also added to my website. Since Google will be using plus one to aid in searches this is a very important aspect to the add to your site(s) as quickly as possible.
I’m glad you and James are spending some time over on Google+ It’s so much more fun when you’re friends are there. I’m having a ball now 🙂
True Ileane, I have many in my circle but only a few are actually using the system. If it is going to replace Facebook then people will have to migrate over there and use it. I love the discovery of the whole process and being part of that initial group that uses it.
Hey Janet;
Wow! But aren’t you the quick learner here for Google Plus. LOL! Have you added me yet? I do have you in my circle of friends.
Great post and wonderful tips!
Dr. Rus
You should spend more time over there DrRus, we had a nice gathering last night with a few fellow bloggers. You know you were one of the first people I put into a circle, in fact you are in more than one..
So far I have enjoyed it. I haven’t used it in over a week but I’m always on blog engage busy doing stuff there. I always sign up and join these websites to help our members market but rarely do I use them for any personal gain.
Glad to see you over there and all set up!
Brian I am glad that you are signed up, so far it has been a good experience and I hope you get enough free time to enjoy it yourself. Thank you for reading my post and for your comments.
I love Google+, the best part is that you don’t have to allow friends on there to see everything you post. You can easily separate them into there own little circle and make different post for each different group. I do wish however that there were more of my good friends on there, but I am sure that will come soon enough.
I find that you have more control over who can see your posts. I think that is a major fail of Facebook as you can’t post to particular groups of people without having to have a secret group or something.
Whatever happened to “phoning a friend” for a visit or social hour cocktail parties? 🙂
Seriously, awesome explanation for us non-techies!
Say, if you and your “Circle” have any “pull” from above, we could sure use a little rain down here in the Lone Star…worst drought in 100+ years.
Oh man we have had almost t0o much rain here, or at least we did this spring. I lost more than a few good plants to the wet and damp conditions, it really saddened me to see them struggle. We do so well with berries here I am almost ready to start a berry farm and volunteer my time at the local CSA instead of fighting to keep my own sandbox veggies going. If I could box it up and send the rain you way I certainly would.
I suppose the entire U.S. has had abnormal weather patterns this year. too much snow, rain in some parts, too dry in others…Either “Feast or Famine” as the saying goes.
I highly recommend “doing some time” at a CSA. They are one of the valuable pathways of getting our food system back on track. Plus it supports one of our country’s greatest icons, the local farm.
I truly believe I will take the CSA route, so many organic gardeners had their crops just wither away. The other advantage is pooling resources and a wider variety of vegetables being planted as I plant what does well in our super sandy soil while the CSA I would pick has a loamier soil plus they also raise animals which gives them natural fertilizers.
I’m still trying to catch up with everyone that is adding me on Google Plus, though I do have to admit, I like what I’ve seen so far 😉 😉
It is like anything new Karen, it will take a bit for people to catch on and for Google plus to work out the kinks.
I have not tried google plus yet. That must be something very exciting to try.
Yes it is an exciting time to be the discoverers of this new social media platform. Be sure to look me up when you do get your account.
Thanks For the Mention 🙂 I am loving Google+ although I cant see myself totally moving over there. Too many of my facebook friends haven’t gotten with the program yet.
Really, right now most of the people I know are really techie people. Since a lot of my fans outside the IM niche don’t really get into the techie stuff, it will be a while before I could safely move everything over, if ever.
Yes we are having fun with Google plus aren’t we, right now we are the explorers setting the pace so the others can have a good time when they arrive. My friends are the same, many of them are here but not as active as they could be.
Hi Janet,
I’m not a part of the Google+ crowd. I’ve only heard bits and pieces so far. I’m still trying to keep up with the FB crowd at the moment. Great post.
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It does get rather overwhelming doesn’t it!! I think I have too many social media irons in the fire at the moment..
I agree with you. As I joined G+, my site’s unique visits had dramatically increased and with great conversion.
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Well, for me, my site starts went up for the first time. Made 10 sales per day since I joined G+. Here’s what I did, I hired a specialist who will find people in a specific geography and ages 30 yrs old and up. It was quite a challenging job and he managed it by giving invitation to G+ the emails from our previews email subscription. It’s not easy but it’s worth every invitation and add in G+.
If I had a business it would be an interesting plan for sure. Good luck and I wish you continued good fortune.
Thanks for replying bodynsoil. Congratulations for being the top user in BE.
I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment, thank you.
Good luck and I wish you continued good fortune. They are one of the valuable pathways of getting our food system back on track. Yes we are having fun with Google plus aren’t we, right now we are the explorers setting the pace so the others can have a good time when they arrive. Say, if you and your “Circle” have any “pull” from above, we could sure use a little rain down here in the Lone Star…worst drought in 100+ years.
I love the discovery of the whole process and being part of that initial group that uses it. Plus it supports one of our country’s greatest icons, the local farm. Too many of my facebook friends haven’t gotten with the program yet.