I am a great fan of Google Plus and it has been a tremendous asset to me and my business in helping me to network on a global scale and win new clients. However, it is a platform that has been described as dead or dying since it first rolled out in 2011. It is far from dead, but it is changing, and each time it does the ‘dead headlines’ return as do all the people saying it was fine as it was.
We live in a world where change is happening so fast that there is barely time to document each change without looking very out of date within days. The facts are if you run a business then you need to be able to adapt, remain agile and look for the positives in each situation.
Learning to let go
In the mid 90s I was working for a large marketing company with offices all around the world. I was in charge of the global roll out of ISO9000. Getting people to read paper manuals and follow procedures was very difficult so I came up with the idea to utilise ‘Help’ in Windows. So, with the help of a developer, we built a system where all the procedures and manuals could be accessed via any PC and could be updated in real time. I won the top award for business development that year.
Within weeks of winning the award and rolling it out the company started developing an intranet, and using browser technology soon replaced any need for programming in Windows ‘Help’. I could have seen this as the end of my idea as it became obsolete almost overnight. The fact was, the content was still relevant but the delivery system could now be far more user friendly with graphics and video.
What I learnt was the ability to let go of any specific outcome and realise in this fast changing world you cannot control anything but your own perception of an event. Had I stuck my heels in and insisted that Windows Help was the way to go, I would have been seen as a dinosaur just as quickly as I had been seen as an innovator a few weeks earlier.
The right tool for the job
The most important piece of real-estate you have for your business is your website / blog. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Plus are tools to help you spread your message and for you to reach out and connect with others with similar interests and help them. They are not the best place to set up home and put all your content. They will change, become more or less popular or suddenly not meet your business requirements.
The recent changes within Google and Google Plus I feel offer more opportunities to engage and find people with similar interests. The key thing as always is to approach change with an open mind, then the opportunities to your and your business will be easier to spot.
Phil Aston
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