Will You Wait & See or Are You Riding The Google+ Bandwagon?!

Twitter has been on fire lately with posts about pending world domination because now we have Google+.  The early adopters are calling for a mass exodus from Facebook ~ even Twitter & LinkedIn. Soon these newly self-crowned Google+ "experts" will say we should pledge allegiance to the man-made deity who is all things Google.

On the other side of the camp are regular people with insights on their initial experiences and in that realm - reviews are mixed. Initial concerns from the "reals" are over duplication of content, privacy, who is able to put you in their circle, being married to a single e-mail address - the one you initially build the profile with and even that the majority of the users are tech nerdy guys. ;  )
Take this post from Jacob Morgan:Google Plus, the Best Way to Duplicate Your Content or an investor's viewpoint: Google+ vs. The World – Can Google Beat Facebook?

For those of you not interested yet in selling your soul to beg for a Google+ invitation, this is the screen you see whenever you click" +You" ~ a big fat "You're just not cool enough for us yet" rejection screen.

So I find a ton of humor in this fever that has been blanketing twitter:

@Mashable posted this humorous video link from hulu:

http://mashable.com/2011/07/13/google-plus-jimmy-fallon/

Of course you have high profile people who are exiting out of Google+'s "public view" as quickly as they hopped on board:

Wouldn't be a cool tech thing without the brutally desperate ones who get busted trolling for Google+ friends:

Plus the hot-tempered testosterone fueled signs of lack of patience over etiquette, or lack there of:

I found that @Nakia, one of my favorite artists from NBC's The Voice, is on the wagon and he says "I'm still figuring out how I want to interact on this here G+ thingy. lol"

Infinite insightful wisdom abounds, for example this virtual fortune telling moment from @garyvee:

Some of my favorite informative posts about Google+ are captured below - Check them out if you want to be an informed decision maker - not just another sheep following the herd.

From Olivier Blanchard aka @thebrandbuilder

Is Google+ really a big deal? 8+ things everyone should know about Google+

From @JasonFalls

Reality To Soon Set In On Google+

From @Mashable

Google+: The Complete Guide

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy: The Lure of Blog Comments or Converting those who say: Foursquare's NOT for Me!

Enchantment To Follow

I started reading Guy Kawasaki's Enchantment last night after buying it several months ago.  I'm making a commitment to embrace my blog again and to get back to the exercise of free flow writing. I'm awakening to find my authentic voice one more.

Life, now that I've been back working full time for a year totally distracts the writer in me. I've been so focused on where my career needs to go next & how I can continue to make steps to get there. It's so difficult to find regular moments of peace and solitude to allow the thoughts to flow through my pen to paper, but when I do it seems so much more real and engaging.

You shouldn't second guess yourself before the thoughts are fully composed and edited, I know, however I do it all the time. If I wait to do the brain dump, my thoughts wander onto the next topic and then I lose the base premise of what I intended to write about. The thought then falls into the vast repository of unfinished draft material.  I yearn so desperately to write seemingly effortlessly like Olivier Blanchard, @TheBrandBuilder, but we can't all be so gifted & French for that matter. Blogging for most is a legitimate part-time job.

My best writing is almost always inspired by a revelation, something I've observed or something profoundly identifiable I've read.  To me a great blogger has to constantly & consciously be in search of those sources of inspiration, which can be easier said than done for most working moms, but it is possible.

So while this isn't a book review yet (I've only read to pg.15 as well as the Coverphon where Guy explains how he crowd-sourced to get the inspiration for his book cover art: the origami butterfly), and my Munchkin is snuggling up to me for some Sunday morning "Mommy & Me" time, I'm feeling inspired to get "Back To Blogging" & make July a great month for posting.

Enchantment to follow...

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy: Olivier Blanchard's Social Media ROI - Part 1 of a 2-Part Review or The Lure of Blog Comments

Olivier Blanchard's Social Media ROI - Part 1 of a 2-Part Review

The wait is over.  After what seemed like an eternity, following Olivier's tweets while he labored through the process of writing "Social Media ROI - Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in your Organization" and then patiently waited for it to be edited & finally published - it is a reality. I ordered my copy back in January and was thrilled when it shipped ahead of schedule.

Let me start out by saying Blanchard's 1st book writing effort does not disappoint. If you follow his writings on, The BrandBuilder Blog, you would agree that Olivier is a master of debate, has a brilliant, fluid mind and is a purposeful communicator. He is also more than just an "Influencer" with an enviable Klout score. ;  )

However, I have to admit that finding this equaled a fun day of tweets between those that respect Olivier Blanchard & his work.

Everyone will tell you that integrating Social Media into your overall marketing initiatives is not a cookie cutter process. The architecture will be different for every business & for different sized organizations. 

The 1st half of the book deals with Social Media Program Development & Integration. Olivier lays down a structured framework for your needs analysis.  He explains why the pre-work of identifying "business goals" & turning them into "specific targets" is important.  He then provides the questions you need to ask to determine where to start "mapping the process".  It's not just about Social Media infrastructure - you need a "socialized digital communications" plan to ensure you are building your organization's efforts on solid ground.

Blanchard does not get hung up on citing specific niche tools & apps which will be here today & could very well be gone tomorrow. He gives you that homework - to research & determine which operational tools, whether off the shelf or customized are best for your specific B-B or B-C needs. He also sprinkles in analogies from his military background to illustrate his points, i.e. terms like "a force-multiplier - a tactical element that makes a given force significantly more effective than it would be without it." 

Olivier did not intend for this to be a reference guide for people who profess to be "social media experts." This book should be, however, required reading for people like me, who need an accurate baseline to jump off from & build on, as well as decision makers who need to fully understand the Social Media integration efforts they are signing up to support within their organizations and how it can help prioritize, better support & optimize multiple functional area's initiatives and overarching goals.

I will do another review after I finish reading the entire book & share how Olivier handles the second half, on Social Media Program Management & Measurement. I'm really looking forward to it.  

I give Blanchard 5 out of 5 stars : D

For more information on where you can order the book, visit: http://smroi.net/

This is a must read.  You can't afford to it leave out of your collection, so order your copy today - in paperback or digital editions.

3/29/2011 UPDATE: Yes, I now have the eBook too!

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:  The Lure of Blog Comments or Life On Both Sides of the Working/SAHM Mom Continuum