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• Walkthroughs can be fun if you do a mobile hangout or if you use a laptop and Wi-Fi. Imagine taking someone on a tour of your restaurant in real time. It’s not the kind of thing that fits neatly into a repeatable strategy, but it most definitely would leave a lasting impression from time to time.

• Finally, and somewhat related to my “pairing experts with your community” opportunity, it could be fun to pay for some sponsored conversations. For instance, as mentioned in the business pages chapter, if Forbes invited in Warren Buffett for a talk, and people could join the hangout, that would make for some compelling content (and potentially a premium revenue stream for Forbes).

Photos

Sharing photos on Google+ is a powerful tool. Many experiences start around a simple photo share. Following are some tips for photo sharing:

• If you have products, by all means, post a few photos into Google+. People will find them interesting. If there are concept sketches, share those, too. Everyone loves the back story.

• One interesting point about sharing photos when considering your business objectives is that pictures with people can warm up your story. Put a photo of a happy buyer (not stock photography) on your page and share a testimonial. It will get more engagement every time.

• Put a photo with any post of text that you do, no matter what. People engage more with posts that contain a photo. Don’t believe this? It’s simple to test. Post something with a photo and post something without to see how many comments, pluses, and shares you get on each. It will almost invariably be the piece with a photo that gets shared and interacted with more.

Commenting

Commenting is an important (and often overlooked) part of using any social network, including Google+. If you’re not commenting, you’re missing the chance to take an interaction beyond the eye-batting and into the “get ready for a kiss” stage (to paraphrase Carrie Wilkerson). Following are some tips for commenting:

• Be the #1 contributor to the comments on your pages (your user account and/or your business page). If someone spends time talking with you, do your best to comment back. Don’t methodically answer every comment that comes in, but try to add something when people comment. It makes them feel seen and heard. (True story: As I wrote this part of the post, I realized that I hadn’t walked this talk today, so I stopped writing this part of the book, ran back to my Google+ account, and started commenting back on what people had shared with me.)

• One of the best ways to find more people who want to circle you is to comment in meaningful (and never spammy) ways on other people’s posts. If you find posts that would be of interest to your community, share something useful that isn’t self-promoting, and you’ll likely pick up new followers who will add you to their circle. Commenting is usually where I find new people to circle these days.

• Comments are a great way to add more flavor to an initial post. Start by posting, then see what people say initially, and flavor the rest of the conversation by adding comments and supporting material.

• Remember that this is the same as in sales conversations, education on a product, or anything else you might do in person or over the phone. Just also remember that this is “in public” and if you’re working to resolve a customer service issue, it might be best to take it offline, so you can interact better and resolve the problem together.

• Negative comments are a blessing. Spam is one thing. Push the spam button. But do not delete negative comments, if they are reasonable. Censorship based on sentiment is never a good policy. Swearing, sure, delete those. Is a comment not related to the conversation and content? Fine, delete it. But do not delete comments simply because they are negative or critical of your company. Respond. Do your best to turn the situation around. Never fight, but also don’t kowtow. A whole book could