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John Herman: The Hangout Entertainer

I’ve known and admired John Herman as an artist and creator since 2007. I met him through Steve Garfield when he was in and around the PodCamp scene, like a lot of the people I know. John uses Google+ to create live video hangouts about all kinds of topics, including game shows, creative jams, and more.

Following is a recent example from John:

“Join me tonight in a zany Google+ Hangout: Can you draw, dance, juggle, or sing? What else can you do? I will be in +Matthew Carano’s hangout tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET for the Google+ Hangouts Talent Show. It is a blast! Past winners of the GOLDEN GUITAR PIC have included a Theremin performer from New Hampshire and a balladeer from Wisconsin. Winners also get an original song composed and performed about them.

Please note: If you join, then you may be expected to perform for approximately two minutes. Others are selected as judges. I am hosting. I’ll be the one in the tuxedo. See you tonight!”

Following is another example from John:

“TONIGHT: Who wants to hangout surf with me (and win a bow tie)? In honor of National Bow Tie Day (yesterday), Smith Brand Bow Ties of San Francisco is providing tonight’s Google+ Hangouts Game Show winner with a custom made bow tie by +Ian Smith himself. We are playing sometime after 8 p.m. (hint, hint). The first nine to jump into the hangout compete for the bow tie by answering trivia questions and completing physical challenges. I’ll be hosting in a tuxedo. After the game show, I am jumping right over to +Matthew Carano’s Cover of the Week hangout, where he will be teaching In the Aeroplane over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel. Double fun!”

Notice how John actually has sponsors already. In a month of doing Hangouts, which by their nature can host only around eight people live, John draws enough attention to get prize sponsors for his events. The power move is realizing that people appreciate entertainment and that you can use Google+ as a channel to entertain your prospects and partners through the use of Hangouts, video, text, photos, and even just commenting on posts.

If you sell a not-exactly-interesting product, what kind of “show” could you develop to make it more interesting to get that product in front of other people? Or who else is hosting an interesting show that you can find a way to partner with to distribute your products as gifts? There are many ways to think about this one, obviously, but why not start with such a creative idea? Be a huge fan of “why not?” as a business decision-parsing question.

Michael Dell: The Wide Open CEO

I’ve written about Michael Dell quite a few times in this book. Michael is perhaps the most active large-company CEO who has embraced Google+, so he is an interesting example. Michael uses Google+ in many ways, including bringing the company’s storyline directly to the people. He’s active in pointing out corporate news day in and day out, which isn’t typically my recommendation, but in Michael’s case, he gets a “pass” because he’s so passionate. Dell is his life, or a significant part of it.

The power moves you can learn from Michael Dell are twofold: He uses Hangouts and uses conversations in and around his corporate news.

In a recent Hangout, Michael Dell lured Google co-founder Sergey Brin into a conversation. Imagine the power of this for a moment. If you’re at all interested in business and technology, you suddenly have live video access to two huge company leaders, and you can ask whatever questions you want. (They might not answer, but the opportunity to seek a response from a top CEO is there.) In other Hangouts, Michael has answered questions about his position relative to HP’s news about potentially moving out of the personal computing world.

There’s a power to Michael Dell using video as well as text. On one level, when he’s writing in text, there’s a little worry that you’re not getting the real Michael but a functionary or PR professional.