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• Sharing: The most powerful opportunity in Google+ is sharing. If you are fortunate, people will interact with the information you post and share it with their audiences.

Preparing Yourself for Opportunity

One of the first things I noticed when I joined Google+ is that many people didn’t do much with the About page of their profile. I learned a while back from bestselling author Marsha Collier that your Google Profile page is a kind of “secret” way to make some potential connections that might otherwise have slipped past you. The new profile options inside of Google+ really improve your ability to make potential relationships and grow your business, but only if you take the time to prepare yourself to receive opportunities.

Consider the following three main points when setting up your Google+ profile page to use it to its best advantage:

• The more people who can understand about how to work with you from what you’ve written, the more likely they’ll take the next step to connect with you.

• The more thoroughly you fill out your profile, the more opportunities you have to connect with people who see something there that matches their needs.

• The easier you make it for people to contact you via that Profile page, the more likely you can turn a browser into a prospect.

One of the best ways to move someone from “interested in what you’re sharing and posting” to “interested in what you’re selling” is to make those connections and transition points easy.

Here are a few other tips to keep in mind to prepare yourself for opportunity:

• Keep your circles well organized. This might seem like a chore at first, but the more granular you keep your circles, the better the chance you’ll see something of specific value flow by in your stream.

• Build outbound circles. Chapter 5 talks about how to build outbound circles, but different from how you organize the people you want to follow and observe, an outbound circle is a list of people you want to share specific kinds of information with. For instance, I have an outbound circle called “Press,” where I share information that reporters and other news professionals might find useful. I have another called “MKTG” for web entrepreneurs, who want some specific tactics and tips on how to use Google+ for more business. Your outbound circles might be different, but the concept is the same.

• Share links back to your main website or blog, but sparingly. People who have you in their circles want to know about you, but they also want you to be a source of other people’s good information. The more you talk about yourself, the more people tune out. It’s like a cocktail party. You can post and share relevant information as much as you’d like (though too much might get you uncircled by others, meaning they’ll stop seeing your updates), but you should consider a blend, anywhere from 5 of other people’s items to every one of yours or perhaps closer to 10 to 1.

• Build your use of Google+ into your schedule. It’s not like your day job is to interact on social networks (unless it is). Consider posting information and shares two times a day, and consider dipping in to answer comments and talk back and forth at least two times a day, as well. The more interaction you have on Google+ (beyond just posting and sharing), the more opportunity you have to find potential business relationships.

• Think up ways to use Hangouts, the live video chat feature. Aaron Manley Smith of Motorphilia uses Hangouts for virtual Bible study. You can limit attendance to a hangout to those members of a circle, or you can invite the public at large to participate in a free-for-all video chat. Both have their advantages.

The Personal Touch and Personality

Sometimes, especially when talking with larger corporations, I’m asked whether it’s a good idea to share personal information and topics that might not be germane to your primary business focus. Ask yourself this question right now: Do you prefer buying from someone pushing a sales agenda, or do you prefer buying