Are you on Google+?

If you are reading this on or near December 8th, chances are pretty good that you are a Google+ user since Blogger shares automatically to my G+ page. But if it's at least 24 hours past that, you probably stumbled across this post via some other social share, or by searching for info about Google+.

For the second group, this post is for you.

So, are you on Google+? Technically speaking, you probably are. But I suspect you are not using it yet. There's a lot of confusion around G+. People aren't quite sure why they need another social network. People think it's a graveyard, there's no one there.

The Power of Face-to-Face

Today officially launched the holiday gathering hoopla that is December. I went to the first of, I'm sure, many get-togethers with friends and family over lunch.

Today's group are some of my oldest friends outside of school friends. In 2002 I saw an ad in the TV Guide (I know, right? How archaic! A print magazine about television?) for an event in Toronto called Toronto Trek. Besides advertising itself as a science fiction convention, they were also advertising that the actress Amber Benson would be there. At the time Buffy the Vampire Slayer was my favourite television show and the idea of meeting one of the actors in the show was pretty fantastic. Plus all the other geeky things I love would be represented at the event.

Starting a Twitter Account, Step One

Okay, so it might not be the first step since you need to register an account, choose a username, upload a profile picture and header photo, write a bio, add a website and change your background photo.

Those are the basics. Search "How to start a Twitter account" and you will get pages and pages and pages of these steps.

But the most important step is the next one. It is the step I make every client take and I insist on it. If they don't do it there is no reason to keep working with me, and no reason to have a Twitter account.

Who has time for all that tweeting?

Without fail, the two question I hear most often when I talk to clients about using Twitter are "Who cares what I had for lunch?" (YouTube link of me answering this question) and "Who has time to tweet all day?"

Today we are going to talk about time.

If you are using Twitter as a social NETWORKING tool, then you need to keep in mind the basics of networking - ask questions, find out about the people you meet, be interested in them

If you are using Twitter as a social NETWORKING tool the fastest advice I can give you for a posting strategy is: in order of importance, do this

1. Reply to other people's tweets
2. Retweet other people's tweets
3. Share a slice of life tweet (just like small talk in real life, the weather, the food, hump day)
4. Share a link to something related to your industry, but not your own content.
5. Talk about your business, share your own content

Numbers 4 and 5 can be planned and scheduled. I'm not going to talk about those. I'm going to talk about how to find time to do numbers 1 through 3.

I don't know about you, but I find I have lots of time where I'm just standing around, waiting for something or someone. This is the perfect time for me to take out my phone and reply to a few people.

1. In the grocery store line (doesn't your line always seem to move the slowest?)

2. Waiting for the barista to make your fancy coffee drink.

3. While your computer is trying to open Microsoft Excel (maybe it's just my computer that completely stops doing anything while it's trying to open a new program).

4. In between stirring the pot of onions, risotto or spaghetti sauce simmering on the stovetop. Or in my case, between shaking the pot of popcorn, or waiting for the microwave to reheat last night's leftovers.

5. While you are standing at the door in your hat, shoes and jacket waiting for your significant other to be ready to leave for dinner.

6. First thing in the morning when you are not quite ready to get out of bed yet, but totally awake.

7. In those few minutes while you are waiting for everyone else to show up for your meeting since you are always early for things.

If you assume each of these things will give you about 3-4 minutes of down time, in one day you've suddenly found around 20 minutes to say hello to a few new people, deepen your relationship with people you've known for a while, and maybe even learn something new about a local event.

And since we all only have 24 hours in a day, you've just re-captured 20 minutes that might have been lost to worrying about the future or regretting the past.