This post is now out-of-date since Google shut down Google Plus. We have left the post here for historical reference.
Freelance writers, you need to get on Google Plus... now! Are you paying attention? Because this is not a sales pitch. OK, actually it is. But it won't cost you a cent. It will cost you a little of your time but as I explain in this post your investment and engagement on Google Plus could pay off big time for your writing business.
According to Anthony Kosner at Forbes, Google+ has now passed Twitter to become the 2nd largest social network in terms of active users. While they are behind Facebook remember that Google also has their YouTube network at #3 and what really matters is the type of content-sharing and engagement taking place. What matters to me is the relevance to writers.
Google+ is not the same as Facebook and Twitter, so don't expect it to be the same. Facebook has a strong leaning towards sharing stuff between family and friends. While Twitter is also good for writers there is a limit to how much you can say with 140 characters.
What's happening at Google+ is different. Check out these ten reasons why I believe freelance writers should be on Google Plus. Whatever you do, make sure you read #9 before you leave this page!
1. Millions of Users
Google Plus has 343 million active monthly users and growing! How big an audience would you like? Google Plus is going to be much bigger than this. It is still early enough to get in now with a head start.
2. Intelligent Posts, Not Written in "Txtese"
If you are tired of trying to network with people who cannot spell or even string together a sentence, then I think you'll like Google Plus. Based on my experience so far at Google+ I believe you are more likely to encounter like-minded individuals getting together, sharing intelligent posts and contributing interesting comments.
Some communities on Google Plus are even kicking people out for "link-litter". They prefer to know why you think something is valuable and worth their time reading it. This is probably one of the reasons Google Plus is turning out to be a popular social network among writers in particular.
3. Create Circles
If you are like me you have different circles of friends who don't know each other and have different topic interests. I've worked in several countries and different industries. Some of my contacts don't want to see what the others are talking about. In Google Plus its easy to organize the people you follow into different circles. You can then write appropriate content and send it only to the circles you choose.
4. Engage with Potential Clients
As a freelance writer you can use Google Plus to find potential clients and start engaging with them. There are several useful tools available for finding people on Google Plus.
5. Hangout with Clients and Partners
You can use Google hangouts for your discussions with partners, client meetings and even demonstrations. Hangouts are video chats with a group of people. Chat, share screens or watch a presentation together.
6. Share Helpful Circles
In Google Plus it is possible to share a circle of people with others. It's a great way to assist other Google Plus users by curating a circle of people around a particular theme.
Here is an example of a circle I recently shared, a selection of indie publishing experts I follow who are all on Google Plus. Once your circle is shared then other people can see who is in the circle. If they choose they can add people one by one to their own circles or even add the entire circle at once.
7. Visibility of Posts
I have seen reports that when you share something at Facebook only a tiny percentage of your friends even see it in their timeline. It's even worse for Facebook pages! At Google Plus followers can actually see your posts in their stream of content. For new users organising your circles and streams will be one of the key features you need to "get your head around" because you control what you ultimately will see.
8. +1 +1 +1 ...
No, that's not a mathematics equation. That's people clicking +1 on the content at your web site. How many times you receive a +1 has an effect on your search engine ranking at Google.
When you are engaging with people on Google Plus it makes sense that you will receive more "+1"s. After all, who is more likely to +1 you... someone coming from a post at Google+ or someone coming from another social network?
9. Google Authorship and Author Rank - Don't miss this!
Google Authorship and Author Rank will have a significant effect on your search engine rankings.
What is Google Authorship? It involves verifying your identity with Google and connecting your Google Plus profile with the content you have written all over the Internet. Writers, did you catch that? You have content all over the web, don't you?
This is your opportunity to have that content counting towards your expert status and "authority" in certain topic areas. It will also help your original articles to rank higher than sites that have scraped your content.
It also looks cool. When you set up your Google Authorship your profile image shows up beside your results at Google Search. Here is a post I wrote explaining how to set up Google Authorship with your Google+ profile.
In his upcoming book, "The New Digital Age", Google CEO Eric Schmidt spells out where Google is heading:
“Within search results, information tied to verified online profiles will be ranked higher than content without such verification, which will result in most users naturally clicking on the top (verified) results. The true cost of remaining anonymous, then, might be irrelevance.”
Even content which you have written for clients under your byline will count towards your authority providing that you set it up correctly. You may need to convince your client that it's in their interests to do this too, but it's a "win-win" situation because their article is likely to start scoring higher in search engine rankings because of you.
10. Integration with Gmail and More!
Finally you cannot ignore the beautiful way in which Google has integrated their various services: Gmail, Chrome, Photo Albums, YouTube, Google Maps and more. It is easy to use them together and quite seamless to switch between services.
You can probably tell that I am sold on Google Plus. No, they're not paying me to say this. (Google: hint, hint.) Joking aside, if you are a freelance writer, get on Google Plus now. You can find me here.
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