While it’s still early days in how everyone is deciding to use Google+ personally and professionally – Google has just published a set of Community Guidelines that can help give you an idea of how or why you might want to use Google+ for your business or startup.
Right now the different groups they talk about are celebrities, media organizations, nonprofit organizations, political groups, sports teams & Universities – but the ideas are similar for all organizations or businesses.
One of the more interesting uses for Google+ that I could see is through the use of what Google is calling Hangouts. Basically it’s video chatting with up to 10 other people. It’s been done before – but with Google+ it’s free and easy to have a conversation with 10 customers or clients about your product or service. Some ideas for how you might use Google+ Hangouts:
- Hold a quick video chat on a new feature of your product that you just launched.
- A live Q&A with one of your support staff and some of your customers
- Get feedback from your clients on how business is going.
- Or just shoot the breeze with whoever happens to be online for awhile and see how things are going.
Particularly as more and more of our commerce moves online, using tools like Google+ Hangout to maintain a human connection with your customers is one great way to set yourself apart from all the other websites vying for people’s attention and money.
