Google Plus marketing has gone beyond search. Relationships are at the forefront and here are a series of articles that will help you build these relationships online. When you take the time to realize who you are putting in your circles, the people you are engaging with, what you're sharing, etc...all of this has an effect on your online business.

1. Relationship Marketing on G+
The Continual Saga of Building Relationships
This is a series of blog posts that I have written on my two blogs, http://www.bloggersmakemoney.com
and http://www.wadeharman.com compiled together in one resource for you to enjoy. If you are
interested in learning more about how you can use relationships to build your business, but perhaps
don’t have the time it takes to invest in building them, then you need to talk to me. Contact me at
wadeharman.com and check out my Relationship Marketing course.
Who’s In Your G+ Circles, & Why It Matters!
There's an old saying that says You are what you eat. Then there's another one that
I can't fully remember, but it goes along the lines of this: Want to find out about a
person? Look who their friends are!
This is so true. Who you run with determines what other people think about
you. What you do when you have an inner click can tell you a lot about yourself,
and Google Plus circles are no different.
I want to discuss the power of the circles on Google Plus and who is in your's and
how this can eventually lead to your success or your demise on Google Plus.
Who's In Your Google Plus Circles?
I realize that you may not be expecting to become successful on Google Plus right
away, and you shouldn't. If you're just coming into this social media powerhouse
it's going to take a little time to build up trust, authority, and relationships before
you really start seeing true results monetarily from Google Plus.
However, you can manage who is in your Google Plus circles. This is one thing
that you can control, and I think that it's an important part of the social marketing
process. The people that you choose to follow is going to be the people that will be
influencing you on this platform. The one question that you should be asking
yourself is who should I choose?

2. One thing that you need to get out of your mind from the beginning is to wipe
away what marketers have been saying for years, and that is The more followers
you have,
the better off you're going to be False. People that keep up with the scoreboard on
social media are people that are just trying to display a sense of power for their
own pleasure.
Just because this is your first day or first month on Google Plus doesn't mean that
I'm any better than you are because I have 6,000 followers. That's simply
ridiculous! You can create content that no one else can, your opinions and
viewpoints are original only to you, it's just up to you to voice them and create
your authority on this platform.
Whoever is in your circles will be impacting you for the duration of the time that's
spent on this social site so choose wisely. Granted, you need to find authority
figures in your niche that hold the same viewpoints and opinions.
How To Find Influential People
So if you're brand new to Google Plus or you've been here for awhile, you'll still
want to know who is influential and who has been interacting with you the most.
This is the most effective way to build your following on this platform. As you
know, G+ prompts interaction more than just link dumping so it's a wise choice to
build a following that is engaging.
One of the most effective tools I have found for both finding new people and the
one's that have interacted with you the most is a free tool called NOD3x.com. I am
still learning the ins and outs of this tool myself, but what I have surmised is that
you can find people that have interacted with you, granted, you can find just about
anything using this tool. There are so many things that you can do. You can narrow
your search parameters to where you're only searching for people in your niche or

3. people that are posting about the stuff you're interested in. But the main point that I
want to make for this post is to use it to find people that are both interactive and
influential. This tool will help you find these people without having to wait or find
them through someone else 3 months later. That way you can start engaging with
them and building a relationship with them right away.
Another great tool that you can use to build and organize your circles is something
called CircleCount.com. This will also show you all of the people interacting with
you and it allows you to be able to organize your circles the way you want them.
Putting friends with friends and influencer's with influencer's. Once an influencer
makes friends with you then you can move them over. It's also a great place to start
a circle share and get other people involved in learning who your influential people
are. You can also search other people's profile's and find their influential people as
well.
The Final Thought
Google Plus is a platform that is going to lead the social media industry one day.
Coupled with the monstrous search engine, Google will one day rule the internet,
and it's a good idea to be active on Google Plus. Building your circles in a way that
helps you succeed is a key priority in your strategy. You can't just circle everyone
that circles you. With the 5,000 limit, you can end up hitting the wall pretty
quickly. So make sure you treat your circle with respect and put the people that are
going to interact and influence your marketing at the top of your list.
The Rules of Engagement for G+
There are certain rules for which you are held accountable for on Google
Plus. There has been a shift in dynamics as to how these rules are applied to each
and every person that wants to build something for themselves in terms of a
successful future in the online industry. Etiquette and mannerisms are being
watched more closely and people are more responsive and are being held to a
higher standard of interaction (when one interacts). The message is simple. Be
engaging.
These are the rules for which I would like to spell out for you. Gone are the days
of "post and run". People are expecting more from you, and, if you want to
succeed, you need to heed to the rules.
The Engagement Factor

4. It's really easy to talk about what to do when you go to engage with people. There
are specific ways to engage with people to earn their trust, but what about the
people
that you need to engage with you? Some people get so caught up in social signals
and statistics for their website or Google Plus account, they'll spend all day looking
at webmaster tools and other tools, drooling over stats. Me, I have never even been
on webmaster tools except to hook it up. I could care less about the number of
people coming to my site.
However, I do care about engagement. Engagement means direction when you do
it in the right way, and you'll spend a lot less time looking at your stats and more
time looking at Paypal.
Getting readers to engage with you
Of course the writing of your article is one of the important steps that you have to
take. It's got to be thought out and well written so that when people do show up, it
has to mean something to them. The other avenue to that is actually getting people
talking about your article on Google Plus. Getting them to engage with your posts
is a bit harder to do. Now if you're just starting out in the platform you're going to
have a hard time getting engagement simply because you don't have a following.
That said, having a following doesn't guarantee you engagement anyway. I see
people with tens of thousands of followers that get few engagements altogether, so
the social count has no meaning.

5. I recommend building your reputation on Google Plus by following people that are
in your area of expertise. After that, you will start to see their posts in your stream.
Build relationships with these people by staying visible and on their radar. In other
words, instead of sharing content that you've written, save that for later and help
someone with theirs. This creates visibility with that person (and you should be
doing this with a lot of people too) and get's you on their radar.
There is actually two points to getting people to engage with you. One is for the
sheer purpose of helping you create relationships that bring your content to more
people and the other is actually creating solid bonds with influencer's as well. Both
help your content, but one establishes you as an authority. Because when someone
of influence shares something of yours it builds trust and respect for you with their
followers and also puts you in front of more people, therefore starting the whole
thing all over again.
Communication is key. Simply do this with the wrong reason behind it and people
will find you out. Have you ever had that friend that always showed up when they
learned you had money that weekend? That person is never around during the hard
times, only when they know you have something for them. Don't be like that.
People can tell when you're trying to "mooch". Creating personable relationships
with each and every one of these people will take time, but it's an investment that
you should be willing to make to bring the most out of your engagement.
Your part is essential in the engagement process. That new person isn't going to
talk to you unless you get the ball rolling on it. Slowly come in to their visibility
through the uses of comments and reshares (with Plus mentions).
#1-The Reshare
People have a tendency to do this and take a shortcut. I bet you already know what
it is too don't you? If you guessed "they never read the post", then that is correct.
It's imperative that you take enough time to read this new person's article before
you share it out to your followers. The first reason is simply because you don't
want to be sharing bad content or false advice to people. Don't think that since you
didn't write something that the blowback doesn't affect you...if it appears in your
stream, you take responsibility for it. People that DO check out the article, and see
that it's bad have a questionable opinion of you as well. The content you're sharing
tells you a lot about the person you're trying to win over. Read the post. Perhaps
their follower count pulled you toward them and you thought it would be good if I

6. could get this person to engage and share my stuff. If you read the post, you will
definitely find out what they're about.
#2-The Plus One
Don't just plus one. People that are worth creating a relationship with hate it when
you just plus one so don't do it. Take the time out and see above.
#3-The Plus Mention
There's a lot of talk about whether or not we should plus mention people in both
our posts and reshares. It goes without saying that when you share someone's
article on Google Plus that you should definitely give them credit, however, the
question bodes about mentioning that person/people when you're writing your own
update, perhaps promoting a post you wrote.
My personal opinion is this: if it's relevant to what you're sharing, then do it.
Perhaps you connected with the user and they helped you with something so you
decided to write an article about it and share it with your followers. I believe that is
fine. You're giving proper credit. Simply plus mentioning over and over can go
against you especially when you're trying to get their attention and you're doing it
all the time. Rule #1 is the best option to get on someone's radar quickly.
Engage, Engage, Engage
If you're thinking about bridging your Facebook strategy on Google Plus, then I
highly recommend against it. When in doubt, put your content aside and engage,
engage, engage! Also, when you're not in doubt, do it anyway too just to be sure.
Google Plus is full of engagement and there are certain things that you need to do
to pull that out of your followers, but the best advice that I can give you is to be
your friendly self.
People love real. They love hick accents and mistakes. Don't build yourself so high
on that pedestal, because no one will think you'll ever talk to them! We're all just
people over on Google Plus and it's a platform that will build your business but you
have to learn how to build relationships that bring engagement. When you take the
path of helping others instead of yourself, then you've took the first steps in long
term success on this social media platform.
A Personal Marketing Strategy in A Digital
World

7. Something we're lacking in this day and age is the art of the handshake. The whole
world has gone digital. People have their heads stuck in their phone's when their
out
in public, or they're lost on the computer when their at home. The digital age has
torn us away from being personal with people. We are spoiled. We can go to a
drive through and get a full meal in less than 5 minutes, we can microwave a pizza
in 3 minutes, send text messages across the country in seconds. We have forgotten
what it's like to wait on things. We want stuff when we want it, and we want it
now!
This has affected our marketing techniques on Google Plus and any other social
platform, for that matter. Being personal actually takes time and since we're
impatient, it's not something that's on the top of our to-do list. Even influential
people have been known to be guilty of this from time to time. On Jan 8th, I
politely called out Jay Baer on an update that he wrote. He tells his followers to
simply “Check this out”.
Even the best of us can be subject to time. There's just not enough of it, however,
in order to create a personality that people will trust online, you have to learn how
to make time to be personal.
It all falls down to the Golden Rule of Google Plus. What are you doing to
personalize your social media?
How You Can Make It Personal

8. All people are thinking about is the digital side of the marketing. While
understanding your stats and different measures is still an important feature, I think
that most of us have gotten caught up in the numbers and not the people that are
actually creating those numbers for us! I'll admit, I've never been one for
researching numbers. Stephan Hovnanian would disown me if he heard me say that
probably, but I've always been about the people that make the success happen.
Your authority means nothing without the people that give it to you. You do not
claim the authority for yourself, it is given. Sure you do the work, but there is a
strategy to getting this title from people which I will discuss in a bit.
Be Visible to People
You're not being personal if you're not engaging. You know, you hear that word a
lot. Engaging. However, do you know what it actually means? Simply put, it
means to be charming and attractive. There are actually three things that you need
to be to create a more personal communication with people and they are:
1. Engaging- to be charming and attractive
2. Interactive- (of two people or things) influencing or having an effect on each
other.
3. Connect- bring together or into contact so that a real or notional link is
established.
Each of these brings a personal value to the table that will make people closer to
you. I want to try to talk about each one of these and how you can use them to
build your authority on social media.
Engaging:
While manners on social media are a key element, you not only need those, but
also need to appeal to people. This makes for a responsive following and that is
what you're trying to achieve. As in my State of the Google Plus Address, a
responsive following will hand you your authority faster than anything. So in order
to create this, appeal needs to be made within your group of followers.
Engaging is the first step in creating a personal appearance on social media. Be
charming. This goes without saying. Everyone knows how to do this. For some
people it's easier to do than others, however, we all need to take the time to charm
the pants off people. Be attractive: Understanding how to make yourself attractive
falls into a couple of categories. You can do this through your social media profile

9. by telling everything you can about yourself and what you do. The people that you
want to target will come to you when you make yourself visible in the charming
aspect of this arena.
Be Interactive:
Interaction takes two. Don't get me wrong when I say to interact with people and
think that it means to respond to someone's post in the comments with "Great
post!". That's not interaction, that's just you telling people, "Hey! Look at me!".
You get what this is already, but I'll narrow it down for you. When you truly
interact with someone, you're encouraging, you're giving your opinion, helping out
other people, and basically, like the definition says, you're affecting others and
influencing them on a personal level.
Interaction doesn't have to solely be on someone else's post. It can be done on your
own personal update. After Jay was "called out" by me, he went and re-wrote the
post per my suggestion.
The result was a more engaged audience, more interaction on the post, and more
plus one’s and reshares for him. You see, when you take the time to speak to
people, they will respond.
Interaction is influencing people to take action for themselves in some area of their
life, strategy, or otherwise. Always be interactive with people because that sticks in
people's brains. They remember those that have helped them in the past and are
more decisive to hand over that authority trophy quicker when they do remember.
Google Plus Etiquette For Success
Google Plus is a social platform that has changed the way marketing is done on
social media. In any social media site, there are certain rules that you need to
follow

10. in order to be accepted socially by other people. Yes, some social psychology is
needed in order to attain the trust and attention of people before they will interact
with you.
Google Plus is no different, and if you're not living by the G+ etiquette code, then
you're missing your opportunity to be influential on this platform.
Google Plus is a little different from the other social sites because it can be used as
a micro-blogging platform as well. That's why I can't understand why people will
share something, and in the description say, "Check this out", and publish the
update for the world to see. You can literally choose to say anything you want in
the description of your social update on Google Plus, and when you choose the
three words of death, you're basically committing social suicide.
Etiquette simply means being mannerly and acting a certain way that is accepted.
This is what I want to discuss for the Google Plus platform.
Interaction Marketing on G+
This is an important one. When you surf the G+ platform you need to understand
the importance of interaction and how it can affect your marketing strategy. In all
honesty, this is the way influence comes. It comes in a number of different ways,
however, this is one of the ways that people remember who you are.
Interacting with other people is what it's going to take to build your repertoire on
G+. I know that the pressure to get more followers and bring in more visitors to
your site is overwhelming, but interaction marketing takes time.

11. Interaction comes in different forms
When you think about interaction, most people think that it's simply engaging with
someone's update in the comment section on Google Plus. While this is still true,
and you should be doing it, most people miss another important aspect when
interacting on someone else's post. Here's some of the key features to interaction:

Interacting on updates

Interacting on communities

Interacting on shares
This is just a small list, but I wanted to show you some of the things that you have
probably already thought of, and then show you something that you may not have
thought of either. Found someone's post that you feel is worthy of a
share? Great! Now interact with both that person, and your followers.
You may be scratching your head on this one, but what I mean is to sell the article
or video that you are sharing to your followers. When you share someone else's
post, simply pretend that it is your post you are promoting. In other words, create
a call to action update on G+ just as you would for your own post for the person
you are sharing for. Remember to tag the people of interest in the post. Here's an
example of a share that I did the other day for some influential people.
See how that works? It's not much different than you should be doing in your
regular posting on Google Plus for yourself. Here's another post that I did that
promoted something of myself.
Interaction marketing is a very important part of the process of social media.
Understanding what makes you stand out to someone as a person that is not
worried about sending traffic their way can really help you climb the ladder of
social marketing. Plus, it's good manners to share something to the best of your
ability for someone on social media.
Being Helpful
Your first priority on Google Plus should always be trying to help someone else.
Although the importance of traffic may sound like a good idea at the time, it's
really not top priority here. When you can help someone learn something, meet

12. someone, or direct them to a better understanding of whatever it is they need help
with, then you should complete that goal.
Don't know what to help people with? Do what I did, and do your research and find
all of the important articles in your niche that you know can be of help to some
people and write it down where all they will have to do is come back to your list
and read. If they are really interested in it, they will share it to their stream, proving
that you have been of some help. I try to do one helpful list post a week on Google
Plus, that keeps all of the important articles of the week on one update for
everyone to keep up with. This allows them structure and they don't have to go
searching for it.
Always be of some help. This can be done through communities as well. Google
Plus marketing takes a lot of time, and you need to always be searching out people
that have questions that perhaps you can answer for them. If you can't, let them
know that, but you may be able to find someone that can help them. Being helpful
gets people to rely on your expertise on a certain subject. Always try to lend a
helping hand. This is having good etiquette on Google Plus.
Relationship Marketing
Recently, I wrote a post about Relationship Marketing & How To Make It Strong
on Google Plus and it basically lines out everything you need to do to build that
perfect relationship with someone on the platform.
Relationships are a positive of etiquette
There's always repercussions when you do something. Even when it's good, good
things come back to you. Having good manners on G+ will cultivate interaction
which in turn stirs engagement. Engagement will breed relationships, and
relationships lead to opportunities. Relationship marketing is the end result of a
well mannered individual on Google Plus. People like to see someone that is well
versed in their niche, can understand all the points, and not only that, but they can
also see you trying to share their posts, and actually wanting to drive traffic for
them. They will see it in communities and in comments. Stay consistent at this and
they will start to build relationships with you.
There is nothing more important than a relationship on any social network. You
will never go anywhere by yourself. It's the people around you that lift you up and

13. encourage you that make you influential and popular on this network. There are
leaders and there are followers, and every leader can always name a bunch of
friends that have helped them out along the way.
The Final Thought
This is your livelihood, your business. Don't just throw caution to the wind because
you will reap the whirlwind. Remember, every action that you take has a
consequence, whether good or bad. So let's all make the right decision and
remember our manners just like mom taught us. Google Plus is not your personal
playground and we don't follow your rules. It's a social setting governed by the
influential people that make it what it is...because after all, Google Plus is nothing
without them.