Google_ for Business_ How Google's Social Network Changes Everything - Chris Brogan [76]
• A “behind the scenes” at your company can be fun, too. People love to see what’s not normally seen. Take them on a walk through your restaurant. Invite them to part of the company barbecue (especially if you’re hiring). Give your audience a glimpse into a different side of your business. It works wonders on relationship-building.
• Remember that Google (the search engine) can’t see what goes on inside a video. Consider putting some highlights (for keyword value) in the text of your video post above the video. This also encourages people to click and watch because they’ll better understand what they’re getting themselves into.
• You can always add links to the post where you share the video so that if you want to point people to the product page or your service offering or your book (or whatever you’re selling), you can do so. I did a video walkthrough of the various tools I use to create video, and I provided Amazon affiliate links and made quite a bit of money selling the products I mentioned in my walkthrough.
• Don’t forget that you can share and curate other people’s videos. If you’re lucky enough to have a product or service that other people have recorded videos about, and you like the videos, share them. I watched a great user-generated video by an Audi driver who wanted to take his Audi R8 into the snow to see how it would fare. The company later put part of that user’s video into an official TV commercial, but if I were an Audi dealer, I’d most definitely show that video (the original, not the commercial) as proof of why the car is a great buy.
• Some of your employees (maybe even the senior team) will do much better recording short video updates than they will with writing posts. Go with it. It’s personable and gives the company a much more human face.
Hangouts
There’s no feature inside of Google+ that is more suited for being the secret sauce of your business. From internal to external uses, the Hangout is a winner. Following are a few thoughts on getting started with Hangouts:
• Of course, you can always have a hangout just to have it. This is the easiest kind, where you turn on the camera and invite the public or your prospects or your internal colleagues to just have a conversation. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
• Customer service can offer “office hours” for your customers, such that people can get video-supported help. This is especially useful if the product is something in which visual can help. Screen sharing also can take place, which is helpful.
• You can offer classes and tutorials. Think about how much more fun it would be to use your new yo-yo, if you got lessons from a yo-yo master. (Do you sell yo-yos?)
• Michael Dell, CEO of Dell, uses hangouts to talk about interesting news related to his company and the industry at large. It’s a cool opportunity, if you’ve got the company or team that people want to know about. If you’re the best roofer in Schenectady, that might not be a great way to use a hangout.
• My favorite possible use is to connect an expert in the field you service to the people who might normally use your product. For instance, if you sell running shoes, how cool would it be to have Dean Karnazes on to talk about what it takes to run ultramarathons? If you are a publisher, why not have a quick writing lesson from Chuck Palahniuk?
• With hangouts, remember that moderation is a tricky beast. I’ve already been in a few hangouts where people have come in and caused a bit of a ruckus, so be aware that it could happen to you. I imagine Google+ will implement better moderation tools in the future.
• Hangouts in the time of important news would be interesting, too. You can have “roving reporters” at your company events. You might even