What’s interesting to me is how I found my footing and how I got back on track, and so there are two items I want to share with you from this: the actual learning, and more importantly, the realization of what got me there.

Be Open to Inspiration

Humans have this way they deal with too much information. They discard tons of inputs and keep what they feel is important. This is necessary, by the way. Can you imagine how busy your brain would be if you thought all day about every single item you observed, every single sound you heard, etc? But we also have a problem with this: we narrow our attention down when we sometimes need it to be wide open, in those moments when we need an inspiration.

I was reading GQ Magazine’s cover interview article with Robert Downey Jr. It was actually a very long and inspired interview, though it touched on a lot of the same typical questions (about his messy past, and “can you believe you’re a big star now?” and all that). But in there, as often happens, Downey evaded the questions and came out with an answer that smacked me right between the eyes.

Let’s pretend that the question was “Is it hard doing what you do knowing that you were so messed up in the past? And is it hard doing what you do not knowing what the future holds?”

Downey’s answer was: “I stopped worrying about fixing things and just dealt with what was right in front of me. The bouncing ball of the moment.”

I’ll get back to that in a bit.

Inspiration Isn’t Often Where You Think It Will Be

I get all my ideas for blog topics from wandering about and finding something interesting enough that I can extrapolate into an idea that might be helpful to you. I rarely find inspiration by searching through business magazines or reading the best online sites for news. Know why? Because news reports what’s already happened. I’m looking for something we can make happen together.

I can honestly say that GQ magazine has never crossed my mind as a source of inspiration. It’s a magazine I read because I like magazines, and because sometimes they have some really interesting stuff. But life-shifting inspiration? Not what I thought.

So that’s lesson #1.

Back to What Downey Said

I extrapolated on Downey’s idea and came up with this really easy recipe for success:

1. Make sure you have great plans and actionable ideas in stock.
2. Deal with what’s right in front of you.

Sometimes, what’s right in front of you are emergencies. Most times, we are looking around wondering what we should be doing. Here’s what I did this morning (and this is what shook me out of my week+ long depression):

1.) Went to the gym. (This always helps. Fitness of any kind helps with depression.)
2.) Decided to deal with ONLY what was in front of me and stop feeling as upset about the things that are bothering me.
3.) Put amazing and important things in front of myself so that I could do better.
4.) Go!

That’s it. But it’s that two-part recipe: make important plans readily available, and then work on those. What does that mean for your business?

For mine, I have two needs: get more newsletter subscribers and sell more courses. So, that prompted me to fill my plans up with this:

1.) Publish a new episode of the podcast. – Done.
2.) Record the audio version of this Sunday’s newsletter. – Done
3.) Write the welcome letter and some new content for a course I’m relaunching. – Pending
4.) Write this blog post. – Almost Done.
5.) Record a video to replace one I broke last week. – Pending
6.) Finish a new book proposal I’ve been slacking off about. – Pending, but next.

And that’s what went onto my list. Now, instead of worrying about things, I just ask whether what’s on the list will advance my goals. That’s it. Easy. I don’t have to worry about the future. I’m working the plan.

Want to think more like that? Want to work like that? I’d recommend starting with Rob Hatch’s great course, Work Like You’re On Vacation. And, you know, be open to inspiration.

And then I walked out. And so did my money. For good. In fact, I drove to McDonalds, got some scrambled eggs and an iced coffee, and was in and out of the system within the same 7 minutes. (You can save your comments with disdain for McDonalds. If you’re a parent, you go there, unless you don’t. Either way. It’s not the point.)

Now, before you try to defend this other place, no, it wasn’t busy. Yes, at least two employees had seen me, and frankly, I don’t much care. If I had been even greeted, I would have been able to tolerate the wait. But not even a hello.

By comparison, the Ale House and the Barking Dog (both local places) have trained their entire staff to greet anyone they see walking in, and wish everyone walking out a great day. You feel warmly greeted there.

“LOCAL” DOES NOT EQUAL “GOOD.”

Local equals local. For instance, there are many coffee shops around. One of the local coffee shops invariably has a huge line, and locals know to go there only if you have some extra time. The coffee is good, but not amazing. Are they extra kind there? No. Do they greet people? No.

The local Dunkin Donuts is faster. They’re not much more kind (I mean, they’re not unkind, but they just do what they do with little beyond the script). Is that good? Depends on what you want.

“GOOD” IS SUBJECTIVE

I went into a running store to pick up a windbreaker kind of thingy because evidently wearing a spring jacket means I will sweat like a prisoner. The guy who runs the shop remembered selling me my shoes (almost a year ago). That feeling, of being remembered, equals good to me. But maybe not to everyone. Heck, I once took a part time job at a local bookstore simply because the manager remembered my name after meeting me once ever (great person, by the way).

ULTIMATELY, “LOCAL” BECOMES ONE OF SEVERAL CHOICES

I’m writing in the Barnes & Noble, which means they get my $4.10 for the iced coffee I bought to “rent” my table. The places that sell ice coffee near my house don’t get that money because they don’t have enough room to sit, aren’t the right environment, lack wifi, etc. All just choices. But let’s talk about that with regards to YOUR business.

If you intend to be a local business, what will push people to choose you instead of the competition?

• If you sell physical products, you don’t have to carry everything, but you have to be able to recommend everything, and be able to get it in fast.
• Any service you can add above and beyond the product becomes a reason to consider local.
• Knowledge trumps big box stores sometimes. I bought my windbreaker at the running store because I knew that the people in there knew about the product. Will someone at Target? Far less likely.
• Warm welcomes make everything better. I’d much rather give money to people who make me feel welcome and invited. I know this sounds “duh,” but pay attention next time you’re out and about. It’s a rarity to be welcomed and treated well.
• If you have a great story, sometimes that’s enough to sway one’s money towards you. There’s a farm where I like to get my vegetables and there’s usually a bit more “story” going on there in descriptions and signage and more, compared to my local grocery store.
• Being responsive and able to reply and able to offer customer service is one place where you can shine.

But it’s all a choice.

If you can add value, you can trump price or availability as a local business. It’s up to you to decide if that matters. The rest? Well, we can talk about that another time.

That question was asked to me by Pam Vitaz, and she asked it somewhat in this context (my words not hers): Vine’s interesting, but you basically just shot a funny video. Why do that?

Here’s the video she meant:

Can’t see the video? Click Here. Can’t hear sound? Hover over it and click the little sound thingy.

On the surface, it’s the kind of question you can answer with “why not?” But that’s not good enough.

Why Use These Outlier Social Media Tools?

First, it’s your call which of the social networks or tools you think of as an outlier. I was just crapping on SnapChat in a conversation with Noah Kagan and he told me that he thought it was a great way to share something that’s meant to exist only “in the moment.” (My argument was that it’s a great way to share pictures of boobies, which is evidently how folks seem to use it, according to 5,080,911 blog posts to that effect.)

Second, realize that sometimes the answer really is “why not?”

But my answer is different:

1. It’s fun.
2. It’s simple.
3. It lets me express myself in a “liner notes”/unplugged kind of way.
4. It’s yet another way to augment what you’re doing, if you want it to be (see my early thoughts on Vine).
5. It’s a bite sized way to participate, especially if you’re getting your toes in the water.

SnackBytes

A gazillion years ago, super smart Deb Schultz wrote about SnackBytes, as she called them. Snackable content. The idea being that we’re too busy for a meal, so let’s just have a content snack.

I’d even argue that long before Deb, USAToday had snackable content long before every US newspaper started copying their format of tiny bite-sized info.

What’s Pinterest or (my favorite) Gentlemint but a nod towards snackbytes?

Should YOU Use These Networks?

I get that kind of question a lot. The answer is: you don’t have to do anything. I have recommendations, of course.

But here’s what I believe: if you’re working on building your media empire, and communicating about that around the outposts (all language covered in this course), you’ll find that you might enjoy having a way to talk “off-message,” as well. Now, you can choose anywhere to do that, but I think places like Vine or Instagram or Pinterest, etc, are a great way to allow us to be more human, while not getting in the way of the larger tapestry of our efforts.

I could be wrong. What do YOU think?

I read this facebook post by James Altucher and it really punched me in the stomach. But that’s just one punch in a series, because every time I question how I ended up somewhere, the real answer (underneath all the bull answers) is fear. It’s why most stupid things happen, why all bad things happen (when humans are involved), and is even worse than you think.

I’m afraid of a weird collection of things. I’m afraid of sharks (ever since seeing Jaws at a very young age – because I pestered my parents tirelessly til they succumbed). I’m afraid of being invisible (not like the superpower, but not being worthy of anyone’s attention). I’m afraid of bad things happening to my kids. I’m afraid of being seen as harmless (odd one, really). I could go on for a while, but you get the point).

Thinking about fear is helpful to you.

A Quick Accounting of Fear

• Fear is why we market too much and upset your prospects. – fear of failure or poverty.
• Fear is why we use big words when little ones will do. – fear of being perceived as insignificant or unimportant.
• Fear is why we cling to praise. – fear of not measuring up.
• Fear is why we stay. Fear is why we leave. – fear of the unknown, of the known, of not having enough.
• Fear is why we watch so much TV or hang out online all day. – fear of having to deal with what’s in our heads.

If you found nothing in common with any of the above, either you’re in denial or you’re about to ascend into whichever heaven you voted for in the last religion elections.

Can you Work at Being Fearless?

I think it’s impossible to be fearless, though this guy might come close:

Can’t see the video? Click Here.

(If you can stand a little cursing, this version of the above is hilarious!)

For you and me, it’s less likely that we’ll claim to be fearless. More so, we probably shouldn’t. The opposite of bravery isn’t fear. The opposite of bravery is surrender (or more accurately, settling). #tweetable.

But the real power is in the knowing. When we know we’re feeling fear, we can take a moment and sit with that, and we can acknowledge the fear. And we can choose to take an action that isn’t a pure reaction to the fear alone.

For instance, though I’m afraid of sharks, I usually swim in the ocean. I accomplish this by thinking through the odds of being the one eaten during a shark attack. Though I’m afraid of being invisible, I work on opening myself up to more experiences that aren’t designed to make me visible. Etc.

The recipe is simple:

• Realize your fear and name it.
• Acknowledge it (to yourself, not necessarily on a blog like me or James in that amazing post).
• Choose to take an action based on your own goals and intentions, taking into account the fear, but not acting purely upon it.

Repeat.

Do you work at managing your fear and seeking what matters to you? Come join over 200 of us who work on that every day, together. It’s some of the best (and most difficult) work you can do to improve your success this year.

The following is sponsored by Cloud Powered Work, which is a project with IDG, LinkedIn, and Microsoft’s Office365. Everything in this post is mine, and my opinions are my own.

I just produced an episode of my radio show from my hotel room, because I realized that an episode was due and I hadn’t done the work before I took off for the day. Last night, while I waited for my slightly delayed airplane, I cracked open SkyDrive pulled down three writing projects I had due. One I had started from my desk at work. The other I actually started in the airport parking lot a week before. The third I started in another hotel room from another business trip.

Mobile productivity isn’t a “can it work” kind of question any longer. It’s a “how can I equip my team to be productive no matter where they’re sitting” kind of question.

The Old Days of the Future

A bazillion years ago, I remember listening to then-chairman of Sun, Scott McNealy talk about this future with dumb terminals, where we’d be able to walk up to any computer in an office, slot in a special card, and the computer would create our work environment and make available our information. I remember thinking, “Whoa! This is amazing!” But then, that never quite happened the way it was expressed back then.

And now? With cloud powered work helping to make mobile productivity a reality, it not only works, it’s becoming more expected. Can you imagine telling the boss, “Oh, I’m traveling for work for a few days. I’ll get that to you when I can spend some time at my office desk in about a week. Okay?”

This Requires Discipline

The IT part of putting together mobile productivity isn’t exactly hard, though there are new challenges. People tend to lose things and break things when they take them on the road. It happens. I lost a laptop in the back of a taxi in San Francisco, and fearing it was gone forever (because seriously?), I went out and bought a new laptop. And then, a week later, the cab driver mailed me the old one with only a broken trackpad to show for it.

But what made that experience okay (besides blowing some money I didn’t need to spend) was that all my data was in the cloud. I didn’t lose anything when I lost the device, and more importantly, no one would be able to use my data for their nefarious causes.

Years ago, I used to work with this guy who was head of product development for our corporation. He lost not one but two laptops full of company data. Two laptops full of our secrets and plans and financials and whatever. And people could just take them because they were on the laptops. Oh, and nearly none of that was backed up anywhere.

So what’s the difference? If we store our work in the cloud, then it’s easy to switch between machines. If we store our work in the cloud, it’s secure. Yes, it’s important to keep a personal backup somewhere and never put our eggs in that one basket. But with the sync capabilities and all the other ways we can harness mobile-minded tech like Office365 and other products, there’s a lot of benefit to how we do what we do.

I’ve gotta jump off this laptop and onto my nifty little Dell XPS tablet. But that’s okay. All my stuff’s there, too. It’s wherever I need it to be, and that’s what matters.

Swing by Cloud Powered Work for some resources.

My son, Harold, has never cared about a toy in his life. For maybe the first few minutes, it’s interesting, and then, it floats away to the discard pile. The same is true of most of the video games he plays. Though he loves the lore of Mario, he could care less after acquiring the game whether he plays it all that often. And then there’s Minecraft.

Harold plays the adventure game Minecraft (so do I, so does his sister). And recently, he used a tool called Skin Creator for Minecraft to rebuild a model of a character he made in the game, and then send away to have that character printed onto a plastic toy via (loosely) 3D printing.

What came in the mail is this:

Can’t see the video? Click Here.

He hasn’t stopped holding it more than a few times, and those times, the toy has been in his pocket, or in his direct line of site.

How Do You Keep People Engaged?

Ownership. Give them ownership.

My children both teach me this. My daughter likes various cartoons that she watches on YouTube or Netflix, but when she breaks out the sketchpad and starts creating her own characters for the stories, that’s when there’s something there.

In one of the courses I launched, Brave New Year, the community has come to do a lot more than what I originally started with, and every bit of it has been glorious. Tania Dakka has done many wonderful things, including stepping in to organize an ebook of advice written by the other bravelings in the community. Yvonne Fitzgerald is creating a Brave Day event (more on that when we get more details). Mike Davenport creates all kinds of great graphics on the fly. Greg MacDonald created little Brave avatars for us ( see mine on my facebook profile).

They own the experience. I started it, but it’s theirs.

Give People Ownership And They Will Stay Engaged

I’m experimenting with other ways to do this. For instance, I’m about to relaunch my blogging and content creation course, Blog Topics: The Master Class, and I’ve asked the graduates of previous classes to consider being adjunct professors. My thought is that as people have evolved and learned in the process of the experience, they have more to offer those up and coming. But more so, those graduates will learn even more from the experience because now they’ll have their teaching hats on, which will deepen the learning, expand the connections, and give them a connection to new people, thus promoting the potential for new opportunities.

This isn’t hard to do.

Engagement For Bosses

Let the employees own as much of the experience as possible. Southwest Air allow their flight attendants to create their own preflight announcements, provided the federally-required bits get worked in there in some way. And that’s probably the key, too. There are requirements that are part of any system. I imagine the “sandwich artists” at Subway have a lot of requirements as to how they go about measuring or doing various parts of their business, but I’m also certain that they can customize their processes at some point in the game, too.

Engagement in Selling

The classic experience of car sales is “what color best suits you?” But with people like Mini and Scion (and seemingly all small-shaped cars), this has gone beyond that into a kind of now-market (instead of aftermarket) experience of customization. Microsoft does that with their Windows Phone marketing, asking people what they’re about and showing just how customizable their device is to bring that experience to life.

Engagement in Content Creation

If you let people own the experience here, instead of having “readers” or “fans” or whatever term you want to make people feel lesser, then there’s a great success that can happen. Companies like Hubub and Flipboard and Medium all know this, and so I’m wondering when a “real” mainstream magazine will learn and break open their boundaries and let others create on a peer level such that the readers become the owners.

Engagement Is About Ownership

Are you an employee? Do you work for someone else? Tell me I’m wrong: a lot of your apathy relates to the fact that you technically don’t own much of the experience besides the headaches.

Business is personal, and as someone keenly passionate about equipping the personal business revolution, I aim to help make many more owners successful. Even if you start by owning your cubicle and owning your intentions, I will help you find that ownership that keeps you engaged. I promise.

My #1 spot for engagement?

I’m glad you asked.

And thanks so much for your support.

–Chris…

It took a long time to realize that I should invest in myself, that I should put my own mask on first, etc. Too long. To that end, I wanted to share some thoughts with you.

When I was in my 20s, I flirted with college over and over again. My parents paid the first time around. Then, different employers would foot the bill and I’d march off to some other university or another. (There are over 20 in Boston). For any number of reasons, college didn’t do much for me. I found the learning to be too boring, too outdated, and rarely applicable to what I thought would happen next. So I didn’t bother.

I have only the smallest of regrets. I wish I had a degree in law and a degree in journalism, not because I want to practice either as a profession, but because what I’d have learned from those degrees would have been helpful to me. But that’s only a smallish regret. You know, if I had a chance to do it over, etc.

I spent the next bunch of years not really caring about much, not getting far, being an employee. It was a paycheck, and then a couch, and a TV, and whatever passed for excuses for why I wasn’t especially creative.

What Changed It All

I can tell you the exact moment I started caring. I was watching a PBS funds drive (you know, when the public television stations need your loot so they bring out all the good shows?), and Les Brown came on. He had a speech and a book called LIVE YOUR DREAMS, about how he went from being classified as “educable mentally retarded” to becoming a DJ, then a motivational speaker, and then to hold public office and then some. That was probably the first time I glimpsed the realization that I didn’t have to fit into the labels I’d let other people give me.

What followed was picking up books by Anthony Robbins ( and later meeting him), and books by Dr. Stephen R. Covey, and learning more and more. And then realizing that I could write my own story. What I learned, however, was that this meant choosing a pretty difficult path.

Put Your Own Mask On First

When you fly, the safety briefing points out that we must secure our own masks first. What they mean is simple: you can’t really help anyone else unless you get yourself squared away so that you won’t pass out in the middle of trying to be helpful. Covey would call this “sharpening the saw.” And sometimes we get this. Other times, we think of ourselves as selfish. But is an investment in ourselves really selfish?

Where Do You Invest Right Now?

Every time I say “invest” in this post, I’m talking about your time and your money and the investments I mean are in your day-to-day living, and not any abstract stock market. That’s important as a starting point. But now? Let’s get a little bit into this.

I invest in myself in the following areas:

• Fitness and health. Have switched to a mostly plant-powered diet. Lots of vegetables, very little (almost no) grain or sugar, almost no meat. I’m working out. I do yoga.
• Mindfulness. I’m meditating daily and practicing mindfulness and my head-setting mantras (thanks to Jacq).
• Education. I spend money on books and courses for my own development and the betterment of my ability to serve others.
• Time with my kids. I have chosen different paths lately so that I can have more time with my kids. This is most definitely an investment and one I’m glad to make.
• Longer term projects. By keeping myself focused on the larger plans of my business (and for me), I have to say no to some things now, but am investing in a better “soon.”

I’m curious where you invest. And more so, I’m curious where we both have the opportunity to trim some of our expenses so that we can invest even more.

Trim Out “Expenses”

In 2009, I prided myself on flying every couple of days for conferences, for sleeping four hours or less a night, for having a hectic lifestyle. That turns out to be quite a bunch of withdrawals from various “accounts.” My kids were seeing less of me. I was getting run down. The frantic pace “felt” like business, and there was some revenue being made, but I was also burning more and more money to try and keep this all flowing.

Where are our other expenses? Television. Do you really get something back for your investment in television? Rarely. That’s an expense. Surfing needlessly? Same. We spend time as if it’s not valuable. Now, that doesn’t mean that we have to be hard at work all the time. But instead, it means we have to be mindful of where we choose to invest. Are you spending far too much of your time volunteering? Yes, volunteer. It’s VITAL for doing good. But if you’re OVER-doing it, that’s not helping everyone. That’s not putting your own mask on first.

Ask yourself this question often: “Is this the best use of my time?” I have that conversation with myself all the time. I also ask Rob about it, too. He is really getting into InfusionSoft, our email service provider. But as COO, that’s not really where I need him to focus most of his attention. Me? I go off on tangents all the time. I have the question taped to my monitor.

Whose Celebration Is This?

I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing the Sakyong Mipham, head of the Shambhala lineage of Buddhism> One of my favorite parts of his new book, The Shambhala Principle: Discovering Humanity’s Hidden Treasure (affiliate link) was this concept of being a lot more mindful of where we invest our time and energy. “Whose celebration is this?” That was the question. It essentially was meant to point out that we tend to get caught up in other people’s rituals and moments. For instance, worrying about one’s Klout score, or worrying about what the other parents at the PTA say because you stopped coming to the meetings, or trying to keep up with the Joneses, or wanting to watch every episode of every TV show so that you know what to say at parties.

We invest so much energy and time and money into those areas of our lives.

But do we invest in ourselves?

Commit to Investing

I have some very simple commitments right now that help me invest in myself:

• In bed by 8:30pm
• Meditate daily (thanks, Jacq!) Pray for others.
• Eat healthy and delicious food
• Fitness daily
• Read and study courses daily
• Connect great people together
• Ask questions and learn
• Love myself as if my life depended on it, and then love others even more.
• Dare to explore

I want you to commit to investing in your development, in your growth, and your intentions to build a better community around you. How will you do it? Which paths will you take? And will you choose this over just snacking on whatever’s around?

Will you put your own mask on first?

You’ve heard that using social networks like Twitter and Facebook will improve your sales, but that’s not working quite the way you expected. Someone else told you to blog. Another mentioned YouTube. And what about good old fashioned email?

If you’re a practicing real estate professional, you are invited to a FREE webinar entitled MASTERING THE DIGITAL CHANNEL FOR REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS. Hosted by marketing and publishing veteran Chris Brogan, you will learn the following:

* Best practices for setting up your online profile.
* How to make your blog work better for your goals.
* Beyond the WalkThrough: what to do with YouTube.
* Google+ for Real Estate Professionals.
* The Three Stage Recipe for Mastering the Digital Channel.

This FREE webinar WILL be recorded. Simply register and you’ll receive a copy of the recording of the show.

Want to watch it live? Register now and watch on Tuesday, April 23rd, at 2PM Eastern Time.

Either way, here’s how you save your seat:

(can’t see anything? CLICK HERE).

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I can help.

Getting Started with Google+

Personal Vs Professional Vs Business Page

First question first: should you have a personal page, a professional page, and/or also a business page?

My experience thus far has been that a personal page seems to do more for most people than separating out a professional page. People are enjoying connecting with all your interests and not just your business interests. If you want to keep it a bit more professional than personal, fine. Share the personal stuff on Facebook. But what I’ve found is that the “blended” approach (some business content and some not-business content) has served quite well.

A Local business or a business with a physical location should most definitely set up a Places listing, which now ties nicely into Google+ business pages. Want to create your Google+ business page? Do that here.

Want to see some examples of businesses around you who have done this? Check out Google Local.

So, my starting recommendations: build a personal/professional hybrid account for sure and possibly a Google+ business page (much more yes, if you run a location-specific business).

Get More from Your About Page

People seem reluctant to create any useful information on their about pages. MOST people seem to have very little on theirs. If you want to see mine live, click here. But I have some thoughts for you.

Create a simple explanation of what you do for others in the “tagline” section of the Story part of your About page. After that, in the introduction, expand that just a bit so that people understand why they would want to contact you. Make it even easier, if you’d like, by linking to your own contact page (instead of hoping people navigate Google+ to find you).

A Nifty Little Hack

Still on your about page, but in your Occupation area, not only do I list where I work, but I list what I do for people. Thus, when you look at my profile when I comment on someone’s work, you’ll see my tagline and the occupation area do something to entice people to connect.

Use a Nice Personal Picture

It’s amazing how few people put up a decent avatar photo of themselves. You don’t have to use the same one for every account on the Internet, but definitely, take some time to pick out a human picture of you that will let someone know who they’re speaking with, and maybe even a little about you.

Google+ also has a space for a ginormous background “cover” photo. Feel free to post a photo of your neck of the woods, or look at how companies like Red Bull and Lifehacker and PBS use their cover photo area.

Find People to Circle

Google+ has built a little area called Find People and it’s a pretty good place to start, but I have more ideas. Use third party site, Find People on Plus and search by whichever demographics matter to you. Also, when you do find people that you like, check to see who they have circled, and whether they’re of interest to you.

I also follow a lot more search topics on Google+ instead of just following people. For instance, here’s a search I did for email marketing. Sometimes it’s useful, and other times, depressing.

Take Advantage of Communities

One of two awesome secret weapons inside Google+ are its communities. I’m using a bunch of these in a private mode for my various courses, but I’ve also launched a public community about health and fitness. You can create your own, or more simply join someone else’s. There are so many opportunities to connect up with people already passionately talking about items you might find of interest.

From there, you can obviously also find people you might wish to circle and stay even more connected with, so that’s even another way to use the platform.

Connect With Hangouts

Another super secret weapon of Google+ are hangouts, which are live video conferences with either 9 other people privately or an unlimited amount of people watching (and up to 10 actively on camera) with the Hangout on Air feature.

You can use these for quick impromptu meetings with friends or colleagues (though when I want really professional meeting technology, I use GoToMeeting, who are sometimes a client). And the Hangout on Air function allows for large crowds for things like presentations (though I use GoToWebinar, especially so I can reach out to people via email after such an event).

There are many business functions of Hangouts that I cover in Google+ For Business, but I won’t get into those here.

Some Quick Tidbits to Help You Even More

To access all your settings, click here. Consider throttling back notifications a lot so that you don’t get a full inbox or worse while using this app. I have mine almost entirely off.

To organize the people you follow, put them into a circle (like a list). The names of your circles aren’t public, so it’s okay if you put me in the “loudmouth” circle. I find that organizing these early helps you decide where you want to focus your attention, and sometimes, lets you send info to a limited list of people (though as a marketer, I rarely want to limit my posts to a small amount of people.)

Post to “Public” anything you want to share with the world at large, and/or anything you want Google (the search engine) to index.

A “plus” works nothing like a “like” in Facebook. If you plus something, it doesn’t share with your community. It just shows that you plussed it. To share, click share.

Follow people like Mark Traphagen and Jesse Stay and Thomas Power and Mike Elgan to get some unique takes on the platform and even more ideas.

And maybe, if you’ve got Google+ questions and/or ideas, feel free to share them in the comments section. That’d really be excellent!

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This letter is written be me, Chris Brogan. If you hit reply, the reply goes to me. I respond as soon as I can. Most people can’t believe how fast, but don’t let me get your hopes up. Sometimes, it takes a few days. But if you hit reply, I’m there.

If I intend to sell you something (and I do that, sometimes), it’ll be very clear. Somewhat comically so.

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Join us for free and get valuable insights that you’ll end up eagerly awaiting. This is a community pretending to be a newsletter. You are why I write it.

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–Chris…

At our New York ImpactNEXT event, we were lucky enough to have our friends at GoToMeeting sponsor “GoToLUNCH!” I’ve worked with Citrix Online (now, I guess, just Citrix) for a really long time, now. Why? Because:

1.) I like what they sell (the work anywhere lifestyle).
2.) I love the humans there (Lisa Horner and Justin Levy especially, but Beth and Scott and tons more people).
3.) They support the kinds of communities that matter to me.
4.) They support me. (Selfish, I guess.)

I’m saying thank you with this post, but I’m also saying that the reason they sponsored my event, from my side, is that I like what they do and endorse their stuff.

Check out Podio for project management.
Check out GoToMeeting, especially now that they have HD Faces.
Check out GoToWebinar, which I use for my live online educational events.

And check out the people behind the company. You’ll fall in love. I sure did.

Thanks, GoToMeeting et al for sponsoring “GoToLUNCH” at my NYC event. Meant the world to me.