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The Beginners Guide to Google+

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The Beginners Guide to Google+ From setting up an account to advanced tips and tricks Annette Gardner Grove Digital Marketing Specialist Contents Who we are 3 What we do 4 What is Google+? 5 Set up your Google+ account 7 The interface 9 How do you ‘Google+’? 10 Circles 12 Hangouts 15 Google+ Events 17 Ripples 19 Google+ for business 21 Company pages 23 Advanced tips & tricks 26 2 www.groveis.com | [email protected] Who we are of Exper Grove is a leading Cloud Service provider that specialises in eam ts the implementation of cloud solutions. We help businesses T to define, implement and develop their cloud strategies, providing the bridge between their on-premise and cloud- based IT solutions. By adopting leading edge technologies, our clients can drive value and benefit into their organisations which enables business agility, flexibility and mobility - delivering competitive advantage. Grove is a leading Google Apps Premier Partner and Reseller and our highly skilled team of Google Apps Deployment Specialists and 24/7 Global Network Operations Centre (GNOC) give our customers peace of mind that, through us, their cloud services are deployed and supported to the highest of standards. Established in 2005 with offices in the UK, USA and South Africa we support: 400,000 end-users globally, and our Superior Service Delivery has resulted in a 98% Retention rate of our Clients & Partners www.groveis.com | [email protected] 3 What we do Google+ Apps Devices Platform Geo Search Discovery & Planning 24/7/365 GNOC Support Design & Configuration Project Management Product Training Change Management Email Hosted Penetration ClearFormat Single Sign-on Email Ingestion Continuity Web Security Testing Email Branding Contact Us Google+ has piqued your interest and you’d like to know more about it and the Google Apps for Business product suite. Contact me Ask us to give you a call back. Our Team of Specialists are available to: Answer questions, One of our Cloud specialists will give you a call back and answer any conduct a Demo or provide questions you have and arrange a personal demo of the solution. expert advice. Click Here Contact Grove Group SA on [email protected] 021 466 9400 The District, 41 Sir Lowry Rd Woodstock, Cape Town www.groveis.com Click to Connect with us: 4 www.groveis.com | [email protected] What is Google+? Launched in June 2011, Google+ is Google’s Social Network - it is ‘the social spine that underpins everything Google does’. We’ll explain how it does that a little further on, but for now - let’s see what all the hoo-ha is about. The difference between Google+ and other social networks is that Google+ makes sharing on the web more like sharing in the real world. What do we mean? Well, in the real world you wouldn’t necessarily talk to your colleagues about the same things as you would your close family or friends. You also don’t necessarily want to share the same photos or personal thoughts with your entire social network - especially if you’re connected to your colleagues, Mom and kids right? Well, with Google+ you don’t have to. Your Google+ connections are like the real world - you only share what you want, with who you want. Posts, photos, links and comments - all shared with either a specific group of people, or the general public, it’s totally up to you. Your Google+ connections are divided up into ‘Circles’. You decide how many Circles you have, what you call them and who goes into them, then you can decide to share with everyone or just a specific circle. Maybe you’ve got a circle called ‘Family’ that has your kids, spouse, parents, aunt, uncles etc; so when you’ve got a beautiful new photo to share of your kids Christmas play, you can just share it with your ‘Family’ circle - keeping it private to that network. Google+ features & functionality Google+ is packed with a wide rage range of features that include video calling (Hangouts) and games that you can play without leaving the network (Angry Birds for example). Also integrated with the network is Google Talk. Below is a breakdown of the features and functionality offered by Google+, each of these tabs is available to you through the navigation on the left-hand side of your screen. You can customise the order the tabs are shown in by clicking and dragging them to where you want. Your Profile This is your home on Google+. It’s what everyone sees when they visit your page and it’s where you can see everything you’ve posted. From here you can edit your profile, see what you’ve +1’d and view the photos and videos you’ve uploaded. Pages As in other social networks, businesses and brands can set up their own pages to grow their networks and engage with followers. From the Pages tab you can set up and manage up to 20 Google+ Pages. Local This is a feature available through the network that allows you to search for, find, and review places, businesses and restaurants in your local (or international) area. This is highly integrated with Google Maps so you can rest assured that finding the places that strike your fancy will be easy. On the Local page you can see all the venues your friends have recommended as well as what is highest raked in your local area. www.groveis.com | [email protected] 5 Explore This tab displays content which is popular on Google+ but which isn’t posted by people you’re already connected to. You can also view topics that are trending on Google+ with the hashtags shown on the right of the screen (similar to Twitter) as well as with searches you’ve previously run. Events Google+ Events allows you to set up events, sent out invitations, monitor responses, and allow users to comment on the event and add their own photos. From the Events tab you can set up and manage these events, view the events you’re scheduled to attend and search for events you may like to sign up to. Hangouts Hangouts is the free web-based video conference feature offered by Google+. You can chat to up to 14 other people at the same time, in either a public or private forum. Use the Hangouts tab to start a Hangout and view recordings of other Hangouts that took place ‘On Air’, Photos Images and photographs are a massive part of Google+. From this tab you can upload photos, tag people, add comments and share with your circles. Use the tab to see the photos you’ve uploaded and the ones you’ve been tagged in. Circles Build and manage your Circles. Anyone can belong to any Circle and the same person can belong to multiple Circles. From the Circles tab you see your Circles and easily drag and drop people between them. Home The Home tab takes you to your feed where you can post a new update and see what those you are connected to have posted. Games Games can be played within Google+, meaning you never have to leave. Visit the Games tab to search for games and play them. 6 www.groveis.com | [email protected] Set up your Google+ account How you set up your Google+ account depends on whether or not you have an existing Gmail account. This is because all of Google’s products and services are inter-connected and by setting up a Gmail account you automatically get access to the plethora of free services that Google offer, including Google+, Google Drive, Google Docs, YouTube, Maps, Play, Calendar and so much more. So - a Google+ account already gives you more than you think.... If you already have a Gmail account If you already have a Gmail account you’re 80% of the way there. To set up your Google+ account, log in to your Gmail account and click on the +You in the top left-hand corner of your screen. Step 1: Upgrade Create your profile by adding your details and uploading a photo of yourself. Click Continue. Step 2: Add people The next step is to add people you may know to begin building your network. The list shown is automatically populated by people already on Google+ from your Gmail account. To add people you want to connect with, click on Add next to their avatar and specify which circle you want them in from the dropdown list available. You can add new Circle by clicking ‘add a new circle’. What happens when you add someone to a circle? • You can share with them and see what they’re sharing with you • You can chat with anyone in your circles who also has you in their circles • They’ll be notified and can add you to their own circles, but they’ll never see the names of the circles you’ve added them to • They’ll appear on your public profile You can search for people on Google+ by scrolling down and entering their name in the ‘Search for people on Google+’ bar and you invite people to join you on Google+ by clicking further down the list. Click Continue when you’re done. The next tab allows you to choose which interesting people or pages you might like to follow. Suggestions are broken up into various categories here for you to browse according to your interests. Select which categories you want to follow by clicking Follow. Once you’re done, click Continue. Step 3: Be Awesome Here you can add an updated photo of yourself for your avatar and choose to include a few more personal details.
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