Tsū: A new social network you can take to the bank.

People are flocking to Tsū today - and why not? It is a brand new social network with $7 million in backing led by Sancus Capital that claims it pays users to be social - and it just got a ton of media coverage today from Re/code, Billboard, VentureBeat, Examiner and the New York Business Journal. Tsū launched last Tuesday so if you have ever wanted to "be first" on a social network - now is your chance. I've only been there three days and you can see that my stats are pretty awesome already - and my network is now growing exponentially by the hour.

How Do You Make Money?
Tsū aggregates advertising, sponsorship and partnership dollars and pays you for clicks and views of ads around your content and the content of those in your network. Tsū keeps 10% of the revenue, the original content creator keeps 45% and their network shares the remaining 45%. The more interaction you can get around your content and increasing the size of your network will effect your ability to make money. In the first day, I earned $0.17 for just being social.

You are laughing? It's ok... but I will be laughing all the way to the bank...
Seventeen cents. I know that's not a lot. But let me tell you - try to earn seventeen cents on YouTube. I wish I would have taken Adsense more seriously and built out more websites 10 years ago. Those couple cents a day from websites I did put Adsense on have increased to a couple dollars a day and have almost reached $10,000 in passive income over the years. Perhaps this will too. I think it will and I am all in. I will let you know when I cash out my first $100. Read more about Tsū’s algorithm here: http://www.tsu.co/faq

Pennies Add Up! I have earned nearly $10K on Adsense to date in passive income.

So You Joined To Make Money?
Actually, no. Before joining Tsū I also joined Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, and most recently Ello - I like being social and social media platforms in general - if they all paid me, I would like them even more. I tested out Ello a few weeks ago, but it didn't feel "finished" enough to me and it didn't have a mobile app - a deal breaker for me. I may become active there again in the future if they add one. Tsū has a very nice UI, a familiar look and feel and it's new, so I want to try it out. If I make money in the process - even better!

How Do I Join?
Tsū is invite only. You can join today with my "short code" (http://tsu.co/ChristineDeGraff) and then create your own - your URL is your code. I also created a bit.ly link to make mine even shorter/easier: http://bit.ly/JoinTsu. Once you sign up you can give out your own URL to sign up your friends.

What Should I Do First?
After you join, upload a profile photo and a cover photo under settings >> profile. Fill out your bio and add your website. You can also include your YouTube, Tumbler and Pinterest URLs. Connect your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram social accounts under settings >> social accounts. Set your privacy settings under settings >> privacy to determine whether friends or public can see your posts, send you messages, etc. If you do not want to receive friend requests, uncheck the box and people will be able to follow you (one-way stream - they see your posts, you don't see theirs) but not request friendship (two-way stream - you can see each others posts.). Finally, be sure to check your notification settings under settings >> notifications to set up how you want to be notified.

Start Tsūing!
Now that you have set up your account, search for friends or hashtags and start following people so you have content in your stream. Create a few posts and go like, comment and share other people's posts. Invite your friends to join your "family tree" which is your network. Spend some time learning the platform, download the mobile app (click here for Tsū Android app) (click here for Tsū iOS app) and just be social. Help those that you invite get started to grow a strong, active, engaged network that will be both fun and profitable. Tsū is great for musicians, writers, photographers and anyone who creates and shares content - which is just about everyone!

Is There A How To Tsū Guide?
Not officially, but it is soooooo easy you won't even need one. If you can Facebook, you can Tsū. Just go have fun and learn along the way! If you really do need a guide, +Wade Harman is working on one at http://bit.ly/1sLcj14 and the official FAQ is at http://www.tsu.co/faq.

Click Here To Join Tsū

Tsū Offices in New York

Follow me on Tsū by signing up with my code http://tsu.co/ChristineDeGraff and feel free to leave your URL in the comments below so others can connect with you (or sign up under you)! See you at the bank!

A Closer Look at the New Google "My Business" Insights for Pages

Brand pages on Google Plus just got better! Today Google announced that page owners now have access to some basic stats that can help them learn more about their audience and view trends in their follower count and the +1s, comments and reshares of their posts. New businesses getting started with Google and current users of Places for Business will have access to the new Google+ Dashboard. 

Below are a closer look at the new Insights (analytics) for my client's brand page, +Naturally Colored, after clicking the new "My Business" tab. Insights were previously only available for local pages.

New Dashboard for Google Plus Brand Pages

New wording under the Share section indicates that "Posts you share here will appear on Google+ and Google.com." According to the information on the "Learn More" page, posts "will appear on the Google+ stream for your page and may also display across Google on Maps, Search, and more." While this information is not new, the placement under the Share section will likely make more users more aware that Google Plus is Google.

Best Tools to Find Fans for Your Google + Brand Page

Building a following for a brand page on Google + is not easy - and building a following that is targeted, interested and engaged in your brand, product or service may seem next to impossible; however, there are tools that can help you identify and follow potential fans in your niche.

I manage several brand pages and have observed many others; I am convinced that there is a "tipping point" that you need to achieve before your page will begin growing organically. I also believe that this "tipping point" cannot be achieved (or at least would be much more difficult to achieve) by following people at random or simply by being included in shared circles. While your follower counts may increase, long term success depends upon increased engagement so that your posts will extend beyond your followers via plus ones and reshares to help attract new followers. Until that happens, you need to actively identify and follow potential fans, as well as unfollow those that are not actively engaging with your brand. The goal is to build a targeted fan base which will help your brand reach a larger audience by engaging with your content (plussing, resharing, etc.).

CircleCount Reactions Graph for My Music Hangout Page

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Getting Started - Benchmark/Track Progress & Manage Circles w/ Tools for Google +
If you plan to use your Google + data for reports and/or analysis, it is important to note that some tools will only begin to track your data from the date you set them up. I recommend setting them up now so you will have the data available when you need it.

• CircleCount
• Circloscope
• NOD3x
• Steady Demand Pro (Note: 14 day free trial. Use code #CQApproved for 20% off for life.)

In addition to the tools above, you can use Google+ Search, Hashtags and Ripples to find people and pages to follow.

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PostPlanner's New 'Super Feature' is 'Guaranteed Facebook Engagement' says @IanCleary

+Christine DeGraff from the +HOA Street Team sat down with +Ian Cleary, founder and CEO of RazorSocial, to interview him the day before his presentation at Social Media Marketing World 2014. RazorSocial.com has been named one of the Top 10 Social Media Blogs by Social Media Examiner in both 2013 and 2014.

#TNTBootcamp - Series Kickoff Review

Last week +Ronnie Bincer and I launched a new series Influence Marketing Tools N' Techniques aka #TNTBootcamp, which airs on the 1st & 3rd Mondays each month at 11:30am PST / 2:30pm EST in a live hangout on air on Google Plus. #TNTBootcamp will help you learn to identify and engage with key influencers in your industry and to understand how to "get on the radar" and become influential yourself. Here's a recap of our first show.

Audience member, +Robyn Adams, shares her thoughts on the show:

Measuring Influence: Don't take common sense out of the equation

I believe we are on the verge of a very interesting phenomenon where we will begin to see savvy Internet marketers using tactics that allow them to quickly surpass established social influencers and thought leaders in terms of both follower count and engagement levels. This is happening during a time when both influencers and brands still see follower counts and engagement levels as a primary measure of influence (see chart below).

Measuring Influence: Follower Count Still Matters

Like it or not, Facebook likes and Twitter follower count have been and continue to be a measure of influence, even among influencers. TechnoratiMedia's 2013 Digital Influence Report found that when it comes to how influencers measure success, both for themselves and their peers, the number of Facebook likes and Twitter followers are ranked highly as a social metric, second only to blog traffic; the top metrics brands used to identify and select influencers were comScore/Nielson, closely followed by the number of Twitter followers and Facebook friends.

With this information in hand, is it any wonder that increasing follower count by any means necessary and targeting high engagement rates by posting content that appeals to the masses, such as cat memes, inspirational quotes and landscape photos, seems to be the main goal for so many marketers and brands? 

And... is there anything wrong with that?

The Core Influence Principles Make It Easy for People to Say YES!

Do you want to know how to dramatically increase the chances of having someone say 'yes' to your requests? If so, read this post from top to bottom as you are about to learn how you can use six core influence principles to make it easy for people to say 'YES!'

How Influence Works

We all like to think that people make decisions based purely on logic ... but nothing could be further from the truth! The reality is that we have so many decisions to make every day that this process is built into our DNA. In other words, there are principles within us that rule our decision making processes.

People who are skilled at influencing others, sometimes referred to as "professionals of compliance" - sales people, marketers, advertisers, recruiters, etc. - have long discovered these principles - the principles that make us more susceptible to saying 'yes' - and understanding the decision making process is vital in order to succeed in ANY business.

You are about to discover six core principles of influence that you can apply in your marketing efforts to help persuade others to say 'yes' to your requests.

After you've watched the video below, we'll go into more depth on how you can use these principles in your blog, social media profiles and overall marketing approach.

How to Keep Google+ Manageable at 50K Followers

Back in March of 2013, with only 77 followers and nobody to talk to, it did seem to me that Google Plus was indeed a ghost town. Today, just 9 short months later and approaching the 50,000 follower mark within the next few weeks, I sometimes receive so many notifications that it seems impossible to keep up with them all due to the sheer volume. At first glance, that seems to make sense - more followers means more notifications right? I don't believe so; in fact, I do not believe that the number of followers you have has anything to do with the number of notifications you receive at all. If you compare the two charts below, you can see that while my number of followers continues to increase, my engagement level on my own posts has remained fairly consistent once I passed the 5,000/10,000 follower marks in July/August.

Screenshot of my follower history since March 27, 2013 via +CircleCount

(http://www.CircleCount.com)

 Screenshot of my total engagement by day since March 27, 2013 via +Steady Demand
(https://www.steadydemand.com/tool/)

Note: Use my code CQApproved for a 20% discount off Steady Demand Pro.

A Google+ Project: #31People #InterestingPeople

This month, I decided to select one interesting Google Plusser to feature each day during the month of December. Since there are a LOT of people to choose from on Google Plus, I put together some criteria to help narrow down my search. Most of the people I am featuring are people I already had in my circles, but I have already met a few new gems along the way.

A Google+ Project: #31People

How User Intent Impacts Google CTRs: #CatalystCTRStudy

I have been selected to participate in a paid SEO Peer Review of a recent study about Google click-through rates prepared by Catalyst; below is my review. 

How User Intent Impacts Google CTRs: #CatalystCTRStudy

I am going to assume that Catalyst made every attempt to be very thorough and it is obvious that they have put a great deal of effort into their study, so I am looking at this as an opportunity to provide constructive criticism rather than try to validate or invalidate their findings; I do not have access to the data used and my own data does not include very many Consumer Packaged Good (CPG) brand websites, so it seems that my own independent research would be like comparing apples to oranges.

My First Triberr Campaign: #CatalystCTRStudy

I have been selected to participate in an SEO Peer Review of a recent study about Google click-through rates prepared by Catalyst. I will be participating as a member of a Triberr team and this will be my first influence marketing campaign through Triberr. My blog post for this campaign is due next week; check back to learn whether I agree or disagree and why.

Dear Google: A Petition To Improve Circle Sharing

Circle sharing is getting has a bad rep - and it is only going to get worse; but it doesn't have to be this way. I would never bring a problem to your attention without offering a solution; so here is the problem as I see it, as well as a proposed solution.

Adding shared circles are one of the ways users find people to follow on Google Plus; therefore, it stands to reason that many of those who wish to gain a following would want to be included in shared circles in the hopes of increasing their following when the circles are added. As someone who has had success sharing circles, I know that getting a circle shared outside my community by as many people as possible is the key to reaching new people who are currently not following me.

Those who have 'mastered' circle sharing are generally the ones who strongly encourage or even require sharing in order to stay in - or get in - the next circle. This can promote a circle sharing frenzy by those included, as well as attract spammers attempting to get into subsequent shares. The frenzy surrounding these circles, and the fear of being spammed, causes many seasoned Google Plussers to be leery of sharing or adding circles at all. On the other hand, the frenzy entices those who are new to circle sharing - the newbies who have no clue what they are doing and often add and share every circle they are included in before finding themselves with streams filled with junk, notifications that are out of control, and circles that are a mess.

It takes time to vet a circle so it is easy to see why shortcuts are taken in order to get the next share published; many of the larger shared circles are not properly vetted and are often filled with people that even the circle creator does not know. Some of these people might not wish to be included in public circle shares, especially the ones filled with spammers, but there isn't a way to "optout" short of blocking those that include you - after you have already been included.

Even worse than taking shortcuts, some circle "creators" have built a following routinely adding circles (many will follow them back), sharing these circles as new circles with themselves included (so others will add them) and then immediately deleting the circles (so they aren't following anyone back and can continue the process without hitting their 5K limit). This is in essence flooding Google Plus with their circles, circles of people that they never "really" circled in the first place, circles of people that didn't have them circled, and that they likely never interacted with at all.

So what is the solution?

The solution is very simple. Rather than allowing a circle creator to share a circle of people they are following, only allow them to share circles of people that they are following who are also following them back. I have followed this practice of only including those who are following me rather consistently and believe this is one of the reasons I have been looked to as someone with "decent" circle shares. Don't get me wrong, there are still many who frown upon my circles, because as I said, circle sharing has a bad rep on Google Plus.

While this solution will not eliminate the circle sharing frenzy, it would certainly give people more control over who is allowed to include them in a circle share. Furthermore, limiting the pool that the circle creator has available to only those that are following them back would go a long way toward preventing spammers from creating their own circle shares; after all, if no one was following them, they wouldn't have anyone to share.

Sincerely,
+Christine DeGraff

Do you agree with this solution? 
If so, please sign the 'petition' below by saying "I agree" in the comments below or offer a better solution if you have one. If you do not think there is a problem, you are welcome to state your case.

Leagues of Influence: Is this the new Klout?

Webfluential is hoping to become a leader at connecting advertisers with "influencers" by helping brands identify influential users that are best matched for the requirements of a particular campaign. Once selected and invited to participate in a campaign, influencers have the opportunity to earn money by blogging, tweeting and promoting the brand on their blogs and social media profiles.

The algorithms used by Webfluential are able to distinguish real followers from fake ones, factoring in web statistics and other metrics to identify each influencer's true influence per network; this is then compared to the results of others on the platform in order to classify users into dynamic "leagues of influence" which advertisers can then select from based on their budgets and campaign goals. Influencers are measured by the reach, resonance and relevance that each has on the networks and then placed in leagues with similar influencers and ranked accordingly.

Reach measures the size of an influencer's audience (following) per social media network and is relative to the most influential person listed on Webfluential for that particular network.

Resonance is a measure of how widely the content that an influencer shares reaches outside of their own community; again, this is relative to others on the platform.

Relevance is a measure of the response from the influencer's community in the form of likes, comments, retweets, etc. and is used to calculate a score for each network.

Influencers can create multiple profiles in their account; each profile consists of a blog and several social profiles (currently YouTube, Twitter and Instagram) and data is gathered for each (see below) which is then run through the algorithm to place them into leagues.

As an influencer's score approaches 100, it implies that they are nearing the top of their league. Higher leagues contain fewer but more influential people; influencers move into higher leagues by increasing their reach, resonance and relevance of their networks.

Influencers must meet Webfluential's minimum requirements to join, which includes a minimum of 1,000 legitimate Twitter followers. Webfluential offers suggested prices per blog post, tweet, photo upload, etc. based on what others with similar influence are charging; however, the ultimate price is set by the influencer.

Invite a #socialmedia #influencer to join @webfluenti_al: https://t.co/cWl7v4W4DP
— Christine DeGraff (@ChrisDeGraff) November 5, 2013

Advertisers and PR agencies are provided with access to listings of social influencers and can search by location, audience, platform, and topics to find influencers for their campaign.

Webfluential anticipates job offers going live on November 16th and opportunities for influencers in the US will be launched in the coming months. Visit http://webfluenti.al to learn more about Webfluential.

Data Gathered by Webfluential

Statistics for blogs include the number of visits, new visits, page views and time on site each month as well as averages for the prior month and a graph to track average visits, page views and time spent on the blog during the previous 6 months.

Twitter statistics show the number of followers/following, the number of tweets and account age, the number of people who retweeted and favorited and the rates for each. For example, "1 tweet gets retweeted for every 3.387 tweets posted." Month to month statistics are also tracked.

Instagram statistics include the number of followers, and an aggregate of the number of photos posted, likes and comments each month.

YouTube statistics include the number of videos uploaded, the number of subscribers, total views, total likes/dislikes, comments and favorites for the channel as well as the number of views, likes/dislikes, favorites and comments per video.

30 Day Brand Ambassador Campaign Results

I just completed a 30 day brand ambassador campaign for +SEND A TEDDY  (www.SendATeddy.net) with a specific goal of increasing engagement on Google Plus. 

Acting as a spokesperson for +SEND A TEDDY, I helped establish new relationships and strengthen existing relationships within Google Plus by introducing their product to my 30,000 followers as well as including their "Tatty Teddy" on several live hangout on air; by proactively engaging +SEND A TEDDY's community by sending them "Teddy Bear Bombs" and encouraging participation on a series of posts over the past month; by starting a "Teddy Bear & Friends" community as a way to interact with fans; by launching a thank you circle of Teddy Bear Friends which was reshared 118 times; and by using a "tagging game" in a post to promote their monthly contest.   

The results of the 30 day campaign (see graphs below) were as follows:

• 75% increase in followers
• 104% increase in page plusses
• Comments increased from an average of 0 to 41 comments per post
• Reshares increased from an average of 1 to 11 per post
• +1's increased from an average of 5 to 35 per post

+Madeleine Nicholls, owner of +SEND A TEDDY, is very pleased with the results saying it is an "awesome improvement." 

The monthly #SendATeddy contest offers visitors a chance to #WinATeddy for a friend and encourages the entrant to write a note as to why their friend should receive a free teddy. Madeleine noted that the contest entries she received so far this month as opposed to prior months are "different this time" and that she "gets goosebumps every time I read one" as the notes are much longer than usual and filled with "so much love." To enter this month's contest, visit http://www.sendateddy.net/contest.php.  

(averages over 4 week period)

Google Announces 18 New Updates

Today's "A Morning with Google+" Live HOA broadcast included an announcement of the following updates that will be available today to their 540M active users:

Google Hangout App Updates:

1. Addition of location sharing
2. Animated gifs support
3. SMS integration
4. HD full screen videos
5. Algorithms for facial recognition to improve lighting
6. Photo editing tools including spotlight features and focus effects

Google Hangout On Air Updates (Broadcasts):

1. Improved ability to plan hangouts with dedicated landing page
2. Promotional tools
3. Management tools

Photos:

1. Backup for full resolution images
2. Coming Soon: Full size backups and background sync on for IOS
3. Automatically select your "highlights" or best pictures by hiding blurry images, looking for the "important people" in your life and landmarks
4. Search for images even if the images are not tagged using "deep learning" that recognizes images for 1000 additional words added including "apple pie," "beach," "sunset," etc. You can also include searches such as "my dog at the beach."
5. Ability to search your images as well as the images shared in your friends circles per their privacy settings
6. Improved auto-enhance with more control and settings on an album by album basis
7. New HDR filter in Snapseed
8. Adding Analog Efex Pro to the Nik Collection for advanced photo editing
9. Additional "Auto Awesomes" for action sequence and eraser

Auto Awesome Action Sequence

Videos:
Too mind-blowing to talk about. You will need to watch yourself. Video starts at 0:49 minutes.

Surprisingly, no updates on Helpouts or Google Glass.

Google Helpouts Launch Seems Imminent

Update 10.29.2013 - Google Helpouts Launch Date Leaked
According to +Android Police sources launch date is set for Tuesday, November 5th
http://androidpolice.com/2013/10/29/google-helpouts-will-reportedly-launch-tuesday-november-5th/

Tomorrow's Live Hangout on Air "A Morning with Google+" during which time "the Google+ team will be sharing a few updates" seems like the perfect venue for the unveiling of Helpouts by Google. After only 5 hours, the event already has close to 8,000 "yes" responses and Google Plus communities are buzzing with rumors and speculation about what will be revealed during the broadcast.

Helpouts is a new way to connect people who need help with people who can give help, over live video, anytime, anywhere. I received an invitation code in early October and completed my listings and interview with Google just last week. My listings are still in a "Pending review" status (see screenshot below) but I have been told by several people, who were also pending just days ago, that their listings are now approved.

Although Helpouts is not yet open to the public, launch is obviously imminent. I had my first "Helpout" this past Friday, an interview with a representative from Google to review my listings, and he said "very very soon" when I inquired when the site would launch. Helpouts are really a lot like Hangouts and I expect that if you are familiar with Hangouts, you will have no problem getting used to Helpouts.  

In one of the Google communities I belong to, one of the members who has already been approved for Helpouts posted a few screenshots of the new Helpouts. He said that there were about 400 of so listings already approved and that the Helpouts homepage was automatically scrolling through the various categories and showed the top listing in each. He also reported that next to each listing is a share button that allows people to share the listing via G+, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as well as the ability to link and embed listings. I just checked my listings and I now have the "Promote" button as well (see screenshot above).

Categories for the rollout include: Art & Music, Computers & Electronics, Cooking, Education, Fashion & Beauty, Fitness & Nutrition, Health & Counseling, Home & Garden and Other. 

If you are interested in making money online by sharing your skills and knowledge via Helpouts, apply for your invitation code at https://helpouts.google.com/welcome. You might also want to follow +Helpouts on Google+ to learn more.

Have you been approved as a Helpout provider on Google Plus? If so, feel free to add your name to the list below which will be updated once Helpouts has officially launched. 

Helpouts on Google Plus

View more lists from Christine DeGraff

This Week's Upcoming Events on G+ w/Christine DeGraff

Empire Avenue Overview
Thursday, October 24, 4:00 PM EST
Join +Al Remetch and guests +Christine DeGraff, +Neil Ferree, +Mike Allton, +Jeff Beyers and +Daniel Campbell as they present a broad overview of Empire Avenue including what it is, how it works and strategies you can use to be successful.

Empire Avenue is a social networking "game" where the players invest in people - similar to investing in the stock market. The game uses virtual currency called "eaves" and dividends are paid based on social media performance. Sign up using this link (www.EmpireAvenue.com) and receive 10,000 eaves to invest in your favorite people! (e)CHRISDEGRAFF is Christine's ticker.

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Circle of Legal Trust presents Christine DeGraff

Friday, October 25, 11:00 AM EST

Join +Michael Ehline from the +Circle of Legal Trust for a free seminar with +Christine DeGraff to learn why it is important for lawyers (or anyone for that matter) to engage with potential clients rather than only fellow attorneys. This should be a fun event and a great way to learn how to build relationships and trust using social media.

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My Music Hangout
Sunday, October 27, 7:00 PM EST
This is going to be my first ever music hangout and in fact, my first time hosting a hangout, so things may not be perfect, but it will be fun! Because we will be listening to music, it will not be live and seating will be limited; however, we will let as many people jump in as possible! This is a chance to meet some of the peeps you have interacted with on Google+. The playlist will be posted before the event.

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How to Master Google Plus: Live Training

Wednesday, October 30, 9:00 PM EST

Join +Christine DeGraff and +Johnny Wood for a free webinar where you will learn: 

• How to quickly grow a MASSIVE following on Google+
• Ideas for MONETIZING your Google Plus presence
• Secret Strategies to MULTIPLY your success 
• and much more!

Seating is limited. Click here to register for this free event.

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The Online Money Show Halloween Edition

Thursday, October 31, 1:00 PM EST

Join +David Oldenburg and +Nicole Flannery live and in costume along with guests +Mia Voss, +Christine DeGraff, +Logan Lynn Roberts and several other guests (TBA) for a special Halloween show. Link and more details coming soon.

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The Mia Connect: Social Media Power Chat
Friday, November 1, 12:00 Noon EST
Get #BatCrapCrazy with a dose of #GirlPower as +Mia Voss "dishes" with guests +Christine DeGraff and +Krithika Rangarajan to talk about -  you guessed it - social media - in our pajamas! A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT ON THIS WEEKS SHOW! Don't miss it!
Click here to RSVP!

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About Christine DeGraff
Christine DeGraff has 15 years experience in web development, SEO and marketing and is currently taking the social media world by storm; most recently with her recent guest appearances on the Live Hangouts on Air circuit on Google+. She is ranked in the Top 350 women in the United States on Google Plus and scores in the Top 1% on Klout and Kred. She was honored as one of NJ's Best 50 Women in Business and her web design company earned a finalist position as one of NJ's Emerging Businesses of the Year.

5 Top Google Plus Circles to Add/Share

I have had incredible success with circle sharing on Google Plus; in fact, every large circle I have shared has become the top shared circle of the week. I attribute my success to the great people that were included in these shares. Here are a few of the most recent shared circles...

Here's the real fun part... when people find out they have been added to one of my circles because "Mr. Jingles" won't stop going off...

Hello World!!! A Journey Into VLogging Begins!

Update 10/11: I added a 4th vLog to this list. You can also check it on my YouTube Channel at http://bit.ly/1fcjwlW

Well I did it! For years I have known that I needed to have a presence on YouTube or at the very least, become comfortable in front of a camera. Last week, I did a guest appearance on The Online Money Show with +David Oldenburg and +Nicole Flannery (LIVE I might add) and I have four additional HOA to do over the next few weeks (also LIVE), so I figured it is "now or never" and I am jumping right in!

YouTube is so integrated with Google+ (and Google Search) that I really feel it is important for anyone who is serious about marketing themselves or their business online to create a channel and to start producing content. I am hoping that over the coming weeks I will start to look and sound more confident and develop my "voice" and a following in the video world as I have on Google+. Even though these early videos are rough, perhaps they will inspire others to give it a try as well.

I would love your feedback (I already plan to get a backdrop - too busy in the background) and I hope you will follow my vLog journey by subscribing to my YouTube Channel at http://bit.ly/1fcjwlW - and of course, please come visit me on Google Plus at http://gplus.to/chrisdegraff.

Enjoy!!!

+Christine DeGraff 

Mastering Circles: The Key to Success on Google+

Updated: August 9th, 2014

Understanding Google+ circles and how to use them to begin building an active, engaged audience continues to be the holy grail that new users, especially businesses, are trying to achieve. Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about circles as well as additional resources with more information to help you learn to master Google Plus circles.

1) What are Google+ circles?
Circles are the way you group the people you follow on Google+. The default circles for profiles are "Friends, Family, Acquaintances and Following," and the default circles for pages are "Following, Customers, VIPs and Team members," but you can delete them or rename them if you prefer, and you can add additional circles and name them as you see fit. There is no right or wrong way to set up your circles, so the best way is the way that works best for you.

Example of how I have one of my pages circles set up.

Hint: Determining your main goals for your Google+ profile or page(s) is a good strategy to help you organize your circles. Ex: Create prospects, leads and customers circles for your business page.

2) What happens when you "circle" someone?
Similar to following people on Twitter, you follow people on G+ by adding them to your circles. When you add someone to your circles, you will see the content they choose to share with you. If someone adds you to their circles, they will see the content you choose to share with them. The diagrams below depict an overly simplified version of what content is seen when you follow someone that does not follow you back; when someone follows you when you don't follow back; and when you follow someone that is also following you.

"Amber" follows "Bob" but Bob doesn't follow Amber.

The posts that Bob chooses to share publicly will appear in Amber's stream.*

Bob will not see Amber's public posts unless he visits her profile page.**

Bob follows Amber but Amber doesn't follow Bob.

The posts that Amber chooses to share publicly will appear in Bob's home stream.*

Amber will not see Bob's public posts unless she visits his profile page.**

Amber and Bob both follow each other.

Amber's public posts will appear in Bob's home stream.*

Bob's public posts will appear in Amber's home stream.*

*Note that settings can be adjusted per circle to turn off posts to home stream. In that case, the way to see them is to view the circle.

**Note that if someone shares to extended circles or if someone in your circle has recommended a post by giving it a +1, you may see someone's post in your streams even if you do not have them circled.

A lot of people who are new to G+ tend to think that they need to "follow back" everyone that circles them; however, since the limit on the number of people you can circle is 5,000, you may as well forget that strategy as it can only work until you reach that limit. The best advice I can give you is to circle people that you want to follow and don't play the follow/unfollow game or you will likely end up with lots of followers, but little engagement.

3) How do I find people to circle?
There are several ways to find people to circle on Google+. You can follow people that are on the SUL (suggested users list); you can add shared public circles; you can perform searches and find people based on the results; you can click hashtags to see others who have used them; you can join communities to meet people with similar interests; you can find people through post comments; you can find people who attend events/hangouts on air, etc. You can also use +NOD3x (www.NOD3x.com) to find popular posts in your niche. There is no wrong way to find people to circle; however, if you are business, you will likely want to try to target those that are most likely to be interested in your product or service.

4) How do people find me on Google+?
While it is not hard to find people to circle, getting found by others is a little more difficult! First of all, you are likely not going to be on the SUL at first (in fact, the majority of users will never be on the SUL) so that takes away that option. You are probably not going to be included in very many shared public circles at first... another option gone. That means you are basically relying on getting found by people searching (and showing up high in the results) and getting added by people you engage with in communities and on posts - and that can take time - a LONG time!

There is another option to grow your following and that is to proactively add people to your circles that are likely to add you back. You can do this by adding people one at a time on a case-by-case basis; by adding shared public circles on a regular basis; or by adding people in bulk using +Circloscope. Remember that whenever you add people to your circles, you will want to take the time to "vet" your circles to decide who to move into more permanent circles and who to remove. Vetting a circle basically means viewing the stream to look for people you might be interested in getting to know (read their about us, look over their posts, etc.) and then moving them to one of your "keep" circles and eventually deleting the rest. The key is that not only does this help you find people, it will allow people to "discover" you because (see #2) - many people will follow you back.

You will also help people find you by engaging on other people's posts, being active in communities, displaying your Google+ badge or link on your blog, website, etc. AND of course by posting good quality content. That all goes without saying; however, it is not the focus of this post.

5) Isn't what you just described, adding circles, keeping a few and then deleting the rest the same thing as the follow/unfollow game - like on Twitter?
No, I don't think it is. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to decide who to follow without viewing someone's stream, which may or may not be shown to the public (and there aren't any "circle viewers" at the current moment - hint hint +CircleCount - we need to talk) so the only way to really decide whose content interests you when you add a shared circle is to view the stream. I recommend giving it a few days or even a week before you delete the circle to give people a chance - just because someone posts a #caturday post once a week (or #goaturday - shout out to +Michael Chase) doesn't mean that they don't share anything that might interest you the rest of the week.

6) What can I do to make myself more likely to get followed?
Here are just a few suggestions to make yourself more likely to get circled by others on Google+.

• Upload a profile photo - people do not like to circle "blueheads." I will not even consider following someone who does not have a profile photo and would never put them in a shared circle... with one exception... 
• Complete and optimize your "about" section; using keywords can help you get found in searches and many people do read your bio before adding you to their circles. Hovering over someone's name will bring up their "hovercard" and although there is very limited information available, it is important that you have a cover photo and have set your location. In fact, +Stephan Hovnanian has an awesome post showing 19 (and counting) places that display your hovercard across Google - go ahead, hover over him and then circle him!
• Create a free profile (or update yours if it is already indexed) on www.circlecount.com and add some tags (keywords) as well. +CircleCount is free and provides stats to help you better understand Google+. This is also where you can see whether or not you have been included in any shared circles.

7) What are "shared" circles?
A shared circle is simply a circle that is shared. If you share the circle publicly to your stream, anyone who comes across it can add it. Anyone can share a circle on Google+; however, if no one adds these circles, they won't do the people included much good - and the way to reach more people to add the circles is by encouraging those included to share it.

In my opinion, there are "levels" of shared circles and I think it is important to understand the difference:

1. The first is a small, curated ("cherry picked") circle share - a very desirable circle to be included in; although it may not get many shares, it will likely be added by many of the person's followers and can bring those included some very targeted connections. Being included in a circle like this is basically being recommended as someone to follow. These circles can usually be added without much "vetting" as they have already been selected and are people known to the person sharing.
2. The second is a niche circle that is likely larger and less carefully curated that could be shared by anyone, but would likely be shared by someone in the niche. Doing a search for "real estate circle" or "lawyers circle" for example might bring up a few of these types of circles. When you add these circles, you would expect that many of the posts in the stream will be ones that someone in the niche would be interested in reading.
3. The third is an interest based circle - such as a photography circle. These circles are usually larger and get more shares. You would generally want to "vet" these by adding them to a "sort" circle and looking through the stream.
4. The fourth is what +Dustin W. Stout has coined a "chain letter" circle. Basically, it is a circle that strongly encourages sharing or even requires it. While these circles usually get the most shares and lots of adds, they are frowned upon (hated) by many here on Google+. They are usually "all types of people" rather than niche or interest based. One thing I would like to point out is that one of the reasons that circle curators use the "you must share" requirement is because many who build these circles use +Circloscope to help build them and the only way someone will be detected if building a circle of sharers is if they have shared the circle. 

The bottom line is that whether the person creating a large shared circle tried to create a "good" circle or not, these circles really contain all kinds of people and need to be vetted. If you add these by creating new circles and naming them with the name of the person who created the circle, you will soon figure out which ones made the effort and which ones did not. I have added dozens of these circles by people that I consider "good" circle creators - the only ones that you will see me share - and I have met tons of great people and get incredible engagement.

You can also use +Circloscope to combine shared circles and filter them to remove those that are inactive (haven't posted in awhile), that do not have profile photos, that are already following you, etc. Watch the video below to learn more.

8) You have over 80,000 people in your circles - how do you manage that many followers?
Actually, I have less than 5,000 IN my circle, just like everyone else; 80,000 people have me in their circles. There is a big difference though between having 500 people in your circles and 5000, so be sure to understand how to control your notifications and "adjust the volume" before adding too many or you will be in notification hell. I am still tweaking mine. As far as managing circles, such as un-following people that I have not engaged with or that become inactive, I use +Circloscope.

If you are new to Google+, come visit me and say hi at http://gplus.to/chrisdegraff. Don't be afraid to leave comments on my posts - and let me know that you are "new" to Google Plus so I can help point you in the right direction!

To truly master the art and science of circles on Google+, I highly recommend that you circle +martin shervington and watch his video tutorials. You can learn more on his website www.martinshervington.com.

Disclaimer: I am now one of the co-founders at +Circloscope.