If you are a business owner or manager looking for fresh marketing insight and ideas, following these people on Google+ will get you going!  At no cost to you!

Organizing Using Circles

Google+ allows you to organize your contacts in “circles.” This allows for easy viewing of updates and allows you to control who sees your posts. To go to circles, click this graphic in the bar at the top your Google+ screen:

To create a circle, simply drag a Page or Profile you added to your Google+ account to the circle:

Allow me to make a few introductions to the population of my Marketing Circle. 

The description to the right of their name is the short description they chose to introduce themselves to the Google+ community.  Click the name to go to their G+ profile to learn more in their words and Add them to your circles:

Jonathan Barrick:  Marketing guy, social media advocate, brand strategist.
Chris Brogan:  Helping people own their future. http://chrisbrogan.com . Recently became a Shambhala Buddhist.
Peter Cashmore:  CEO & Founder of Mashable
CC Chapman:  A modern day renaissance man who lives every day to inspire others to be their best.
Jason Falls:  Social Media Keynote Speaker, Social Media Consultant
Alejandro Fernandez-Lovo:  Google+ Blogger For The Geek Minded
Steve Garfield:  Author: Get Seen / Founder: Boston Media Makers / Host: SteveGarfield.tv
Ann Handley:  Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, co-author of “Content Rules”
Tim Hayden: Saddle up, Live+Mobile+Online
Lee Odden:  CEO of @TopRank Online Marketing – Focused on Search, Social Media & Content Marketing
Christopher Penn:  Let me help you awaken your superhero.
David Meerman Scott:  Marketing Strategist
Dharmesh Shah:  Founder and CTO of HubSpot; Author of surprisingly popular blog, OnStartups.com
Dan Schawbel:  Personal Branding Expert, Bestselling Author, Speaker & Columnist
Robert Scoble:  Searching for world-changing technology for Rackspace, world’s largest web hosting company.
Andy Sernovitz:  The Word of Mouth Marketing Guy
Mari Smith:  Passionate Social Media Leader, Facebook Marketing & Relationship Marketing Speaker and Author
Brian Solis:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Solis | www.briansolis.com | @briansolis
Frank Strong:  PR & marketing guy full-time, infantry officer part-time, Pats fan all the time, political news junkie anytime
Mike Volpe:  CMO @HubSpot – marketing, startups, entrepreneurship, SaaS, B2B, lead generation, blog, social media, SEO, analytics, VC, golf, Patriots, Red Sox
Tom Webster:  VP of Strategy, Edison Research. Consumer insights, social media data. I tell the stories of numbers.

OK – they aren’t into Google+ yet – they’ll get there …

Clara Shih: From Trish: Clara is the author of The Facebook Era – so if you cannot wait for her to join us on Google+, visit her Facebook Page.
Paul Gillin:  Speaker, writer, trainer, social media strategist
Brian Halligan, Co-founder of HubSpot

Companies worth following so you don’t miss anything!

HubSpot:  All-in-one Inbound Marketing Software
Gillis Marketing:  … integrating great marketing!
Mashable:  The latest in social media, business, tech, entertainment and world news.

Connect with me, too, at gplus.to/trishgillis.

Who do you enjoy on Google+?

As I wrote in My Brief Influential Summer: My Thoughts on Klout’s Value, when I was on vacation and had more time to post and interact on my social network, my Klout score reached 51.  Life upon my return from vacation was blissfully busy! My Klout score missed me and dipped to 47.  The freefall continued …

I determined that my “influence” from Klout’s perspective didn’t (and shouldn’t) mean much to me.

I still have a Klout application on my Twitter account that tells me the Klout score of the people that are in my Twitter stream.  I was in an account and saw a post I had made – with my Klout score. I’ve eroded to 37:On October 26th, Klout changed their algorithm.  This affected some people more than others.  Looking at the Insight graphs on my Klout dashboard, I don’t think that is what “hurt” me.  I post at a comfortable pace to not “spam” my followers.  I interact online with people I enjoy.  I choose not to use the Klout dashboard to create more lists, since I have plenty of lists (Twitter, Facebook), tags (LinkedIn) and circles (Google+).

However, I couldn’t stop myself from peeking to see the current state of my score.  Then my friends at Klout reminded me that I had decided my Klout score didn’t matter. A new Klout badge popped up and called me out:  Klout Addict.  Not only does Klout judge my “influence,” Klout judges me.

Thank you Klout for reminding me to focus on what matters. I must stop the madness.  Of course it is easier to accept when I see a NY Times bestselling author has a 38.

This week, I experienced Facebook spam. So this is how it went … and how to be on top of it should it happen to you:

I received an email that I was tagged on a photo on Facebook, so I took a peek.  I was tagged to an ad that was in a photo album of a Facebook Page.  I have never heard of the company.  Apparently they tag people on the ad, which likely triggers an email to the person driving them to the ad (like mine below). It also tells my friends that I’m tagged, driving more people to view the ad and the Facebook Page. These shenanigans broadcast their ad!  I don’t have to be a “fan’ of the Facebook Page to be tagged.

Settings: eMail Alerts When Tagged in a Photo

To be sure you receive an alert to a rogue photo tagging – go to Account Settings in the upper right hand corner:

In Account Settings, click on the Edit link to the right of Photos.  Confirm that there is a check in the box that says “Tags you in a photo.” 

If you receive an email that you are tagged in a photo on Facebook, always click the link in the email.  If you do not want to be tagged in the photo, click the Report or Remove Tag beneath the photo.

This Year’s Big Changes with the Site

To get all dolled up for the anniversary, we have undergone a website design revision and added HubSpot. I am a HubSpot Certified Professional and an Inbound Marketing Certified Professional. I drank the Kool-Aid regarding inbound marketing strategies because they work.  I am a fan of the HubSpot software because it offers tools you don’t know you need yet. You will read more about that in the next few months … so don’t miss a nugget of learning curve busting information!

Which brings me to the next change to mark these 2 years – I am returning to email updates for these blog posts.

To mark the first anniversary of this blog for DIY marketers, I disengaged the WordPress.com widget for email subscriptions.  I did not like it. I have since moved the site to WordPress.org to utilize new functionality with that interface (like changing the look and feel of my site to mark Year Two).  Subscribe to this blog to have the updates delivered directly to your inbox by typing your email address to the box a little higher up and to the right.

How Subscribing Helps You Stay Ahead of the Marketing Curve

I just concluded the “13 Days of Nuttiness,” days of total, great business chaos.  These Nutty Days included the kick off for the project I have been entrenched in for 6 weeks, attending the Inbound Marketing Summit and HubSpot User Group in Boston, and Whoopie-Pie-A-Palooza (research and co-authoring a magazine article on whoopie pies).

Throughout the 13 Days of Nuttiness, changes were happening with the social media marketing platforms.  Facebook announced the biggest changes, with the introduction of a timeline feature that is not available yet.  Facebook introduced the concept of Facebook Subscriptions and Subscribers.  This feature gives you the ability control what you see and what is seen by others.  If you have started to work with Google+, this concept is similar to that platform.

Speaking of Google+, Google opened up registration for Google+ accounts.  They reached 43 Million users, an increase of 30%, according to Mashable’s Chris Taylor’s sources.  If you have the same reaction I had when Google+ launched – “I am NOT taking on another social networking” – subscribe to this blog to learn more about this new platform’s surprising value.

Bottomline

Keep up with the fast and furious pace of social marketing and how to integrate it effectively into your brand building plans by choosing resources that keep you informed.  Learn what is a time-waster and what offers surprising value.  Subscribe to this as one resource that offers specific directions and advice on how to utilize the tools. Contact us with any questions, too.

Best Practice 1

Always click on the link for a tweet you plan to share with an RT.  Unless it is for a free iPad or to see a photo of yourself or any of the other spam-like messages.  But you wouldn’t intentionally RT those anyway.  This morning, the link went to their blog.

Best Practice 2

Read the content.  I don’t want to be judged for sharing something stupid or unhelpful.  So I read or view the video, if applicable, before RT-ing. I don’t want to waste people’s time. I was reminded of why this is a good best practice today.  The blog post I was about to share was about the advantages of blogging. Subset of Best Practice 2:  Review ALL the content before sharing.  Midway through the post, the author wrote that an advantage of having a blog is to put non-paying clients on the spot.  Wait – WHAT?!  Yes – the author recommends posting something unflattering about the client until the overdue bill is paid, then take the post down.

I don’t agree with this point of view.  I don’t want to share this content so it seems like an endorsement of this point of view.  I’m relieved that my workflow with Twitter includes reading, then retweeting.  It may seem like a no-brainer to you, if you already follow these best practices.  I felt it was worth mentioning that your credibility is influenced by what you write (tweet or post) and share.  Quality of content, not quantity, matters – right?

Initial Thought:  While I couldn’t determine the point, I thought it was pretty cool.

This summer, while I was on vacation, I tweeted often.  I checked in on Foursquare.  I posted status updates on LinkedIn.  Facebook was added to the list of platforms that Klout measures.  I reached a Klout score of 51.  I was unstoppable.

Next Thought: I still didn’t see the point.

Chris Brogan wrote a blog post that opened “Please stop worrying about your Klout score ….” This written by the man with a 79 Klout score.  The post is about Chris’ perspective of influence and marketing. For marketing mortals with <79 Klout score – the post is worth reading for validation.

Around the same time, Tom Webster wrote a blog post on Brand Savant entitled Should Klout Scores be Stickier? that explained a perceived value to Klout.  People that don’t know anything about social media may use it to determine a marketer’s value.  Over 30 = good score.

Tom (Klout score:62) lamented that when he went on vacation, his score dropped.  Unlike my vacation style that ramped up on the social media interaction, Tom’s throttled down and he lost points.

I realized my 51 may be more precious than I thought.

I returned from vacation and got busy.  The great-fun-working-with-amazing-clients-who-get-it kind of busy.

Current Thought: A month later, my 51 is a 47.  I’m at a loss of what more I can do for the care and feeding of my Klout score.  Better than that, I no longer care.  I partner with people to market and communicate their business’ value.  When I tweeted that my Klout score dropped, the very talented Mike Ciolino of Verve Creative responded:

Find your own Klout score with our “how” post.  Let me know what you think …

UPDATE On 9.9.11:  Alison Kenney tweeted a great blog post about Klout from Norman Birnbach.  He includes Paul Gillin’s call for measurement with these marketing platforms, but Norman brings up some concerns that Klout isn’t ready to be the standard.  Steve Cole seems to agree – his topics of influence on Klout:  sheep and Mickey Mouse!

With this blog, we show you the how and the why.  Unsure about the why right now, as I wrote in My Brief Influential Summer: My Thoughts on Klout’s Value.  But the how is easy.

To check out Klout score, visit www.klout.com.  Sign in using your Twitter account. You will have an opportunity to add your Facebook for Klout credit with that social platform after you login the first time.

Klout will tell you your score!  Done!  Want to stack the deck and add your other social media accounts to Klout – click on them and login in when prompted.

Let me know what you thing when you see your score. 

The red flag was a strange one. I don’t accept everyone that asks on LinkedIn, as I wrote on the post Open Networking on LinkedIn: Choosing to Connect with Everyone. I noticed something was off because the request came from <Insert Name of Tragic Murder Victim> and the headline stated she was an accountant.  I remembered this victim was also an accountant. Apparently this spammer has a sick sense of humor. I thought it may be a coincidence – and a bummer for this person. But the profile photo was not the head shot most people use on LinkedIn. I opened the profile and found only one job listed. I chose to ignore the invitation.

Yesterday I received another request to connect – different name, same profile photo. This request came through a LinkedIn Group with over 12,000 members, including me.  Like the previous profile, only one job is mentioned under Experience and she had only a few connections.

This time I reported it as Spam. When you look at the list of pending invitations, LinkedIn has added a button that allows you to identify an invitation as spam:

Recommendations

• Don’t accept invitations from people you don’t know with the gold button on emails. Wait until you are at your computer to click on the profile. If the profile lists few jobs with no detail, no additional information and very few connections – stop before you accept.  It may be someone who has not completed their profile or it may be a spam invitation. Decide if you would like to include the person in your LinkedIn network.

• If the profile does not look complete, but it is someone you would like to have in your network, click on the right arrow next to Accept and click Reply (don’t accept yet).  Send a quick note explaining you don’t normally accept invitations to connect from people you don’t know so you want to introduce yourself. Wait for a response before you accept the invitation.

• If the invitation is from someone you don’t see a value to connecting with – don’t connect.  Remember that once you connect, they will see your connections and your email address. Click the Ignore button.  If there are any indicators that it may be spam (like seeing the same profile photo multiple times), consider hitting the Report Spam button.

So you are not mistaken as a spammer on LinkedIn, develop your LinkedIn profile.  Helpful tips to complete your profile:

Setting up the Ultimate LinkedIn Profile – Part 1

Setting up the Ultimate LinkedIn Profile – Part 2

I had to share the what Vera Bradley did this time!  They Vera Bradley’d the QR Code!

Learn more about QR Codes from our post, QR Codes: What are those Funky Boxes?

Inside Vera Bradley’s recent catalog, I found this page:

The beautiful QR code in the lower right hand corner works!  Catalog recipients check the QR Code to reveal a cute video promoting a  fantastic price on one of their products.  I am so impressed – I could not keep it to myself!

FREE!

According to Google, 97% of consumers search online for businesses. Google launched Google Places in April, 2010 to offer local businesses a FREE platform to present their business to prospective customers.  Google’s mission is to provide people the best search results possible.  By providing the business owner an opportunity to provide information on a Google Places profile, the business owner helps Google fulfill their mission.

How to Claim and Maximize Google Places for Your Business

Visit Google Places for Businesses.  On the right, you may either:

1. Login to an existing Google Account.  If you use Google Analytics, you may find it helpful to use the same Google Account login.
2. Create a Google Account.  You do not need a @gmail.com (Google’s email) account.  You may use the email address you use most often for your business.  Complete the provided form.

Basic Information