Friday 23 March 2012

Tips about broadcasting your Zazzle gear on Google+

Don't!

Go on, read the post title again.

That's right, don't share post after post after post showcasing your Zazzle gear on your default G+.

It's not designed for that and it's just plain spammy and impolite. It's not what other G+ers expect and it's the fastest way to get uncircled (or never circled in the first place).

But don't panic - there's something on G+ set up specifically to let you do that - and only to the folks who want to see it.

Business Pages are the answer. More on this below.

Getting Personal

Broadly speaking, there are two types of Google Plus users / profiles - personal and business.

G+ personal is just that, it's about you on a personal level. Maybe you're a hobbyist, maybe you have lots of interests that you want to share with family, friends or acquaintances, maybe you're an expert in your field and want to share advice, hints or tips - anything that doesn't cost.

Well, use your normal G+ for that - that's what a normal G+ profile is for - it's about you.

So what about my Zazzle gear?

That's what G+ business is about. Ok, they're officially called business Pages. And they're purpose built for Zazzlers and others with something to sell.

The critical difference between them is that with G+ personal, you can circle anyone you bump into - they might circle you back, they might not. But as a business (page) you can only circle those who have circled your business page first. And that means you can only share things with them after they've shown interest. Think about it a moment - it stops spam before it can even start.

Brilliant! You're sharing with a qualified bunch of prospects!
 Find out all about business pages right from the horses mouth: http://www.google.com/+/business/

Receptive audience

Better than your personal G+, you can be sure that those who follow your business page, i.e have it in their circles, are potential or actual customers. If you're serious about your Zazzle store (or Etsy or Ebay or...) then this is a fantastic advantage. It gives you a brilliant vehicle to take your promotional material and funnel it to a receptive audience.

Used wisely, you'll be able to start gathering interested potential customers and convert them into buying customers.

I can hear you already :)  - so how do I do that?

Tactics

Well, I can't tell you how to do the final conversion - but I can suggest ways of getting them to follow your business page:
  • Be interesting on your normal G+ posts and when the chance arises - or when you manufacture one - share the link to your business page.
  • If you have an "official" website or blog devoted to your store, you can put a business page badge on it. Make one here: https://developers.google.com/+/plugins/badge/config and that way visitors there can immediately follow your business page on G+.
  • Send out emails to your existing customers...
  • ...and all the normal promotion ways that you don't need me to list, like sharing via twitter, facebook and so on

The power is in your elbow - so use it!

Happy Zazzling!

comments, likes, +1s, tweets are always welcome! :)

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