An elderly couple had been married for 50 years, and every Sunday, since their wedding vows, they would always jump in the truck and take a drive. Now this was an older truck that had one of those bench seats for the front seat (remember those?). One Sunday, 50 years later, the woman turned to her husband and said, Why don’t we sit next to each other anymore? Remember when we were younger and you would put your arm around me?
The man looked over at his wife who was sitting next to the passenger door and said, Well, I haven’t moved!
We have slowly moved away from what is really important on the whole social media spectrum. We have forgotten the rules of engagement because our desire for monetary gain has trumped our desire to build a solid foundation for our marketing to stand on.
If you don’t mind, I would like to take this article and help you search for your significance on the Google Plus platform and show you how you can build the bottom part, the foundation, and get it ready to support your future online.
What Makes You Significant on Google Plus?
One of my good friends on Google Plus, Troy McLaughlin, says that the road to significance is paved by making others significant. Good point, and one I agree with. When you put others first, you are definitely on the right track to finding your significance on this platform.
But let’s talk about YOU. I know you already understand that you need to uplift others, share their content, comment and engage…that’s simply the normal tasks everyone needs to do to become familiar with other people that don’t know you. When you step out of your comfort zone and allow yourself to give away things that you feel are worth something. In his book YouTility, Jay Baer unfolds these very principles in order to get us to understand that the main principle in social media is not us, but everyone else. The world is a BIG place, and it’s very easy to feel insignificant on Google Plus, as Ryan Hanley states:
What makes you significant on Google Plus is your voice. That is something that no one can steal from you. Your personality can shine when you are yourself on social media. This is something I hit on in my coaching program because people tend to act like the person they WANT to be instead of the person they really are.
While I don’t discount the fact that you’ve got to “dress for the job you want not the job you have”, when you misguide people from the very beginning, it’s going to be hard to reel that back in when the time comes. Don’t underestimate the power of the truth. People love it and it’s a refreshing change of pace in this untrustworthy internet.
Finding “You”
The sooner that the YOU emerges, the sooner people will start to recognize who you are. In a sense, the discovery happens together. You bring out the real person that people have never seen, and, at the same time, your followers get to know that person too.
Don’t try to be like me, or Jay Baer. Don’t try to write like Martin Shervington. Stop posing like you’re an SEO guru like Eric Enge (unless you really are). Just be yourself.
You’ve heard and seen the posts about “faking it ’till you make it”, but that’s a weak foundation to start a marketing platform on. If you don’t know something, it’s not the end of the world. I’m sure you know someone that does know what one of your followers is trying to find out. Being selfless and pointing them in the direction of the person that does know the information is going to help them trust you more in the future.
Martin Shervington wisely points out that everything is significant on Google Plus. Everything you do on G+, +1, commenting, etc, has a significance and points toward something which is what I want to express in this post.
Can significance start from the very beginning?
I think it can. We tend to be like animals. We flock like geese, run in packs like wolves, and therefore, it’s only necessary to expect that once we open the Google Plus platform that we connect ourselves to people of like-minded ideas and concepts. This is the very beginning of forming your own significance through others that have already been where you’re at. Understanding through their experiences is a great way to establish yourself on this platform to learn how you should conduct yourself.
That is why it’s so important to realize who is in your Google Plus circles, because eventually, we become like the people we surround ourselves with.
This choice is very important and it can literally be the start or the ending of your marketing career online.
So, in a manner of speaking, the ever evolving YOU depends a lot on your surroundings and the decisions you choose to make right from the start. For instance, a person constantly involved in circle sharing is not someone who has built up their authority from legitimacy, but through “cattle prodding”. It’s a biased authority-based concept that people feel they need to do to become significant on social media.
Numbers don’t matter, and as soon as you can figure that out the better off you’re going to be.
Finding Them
When I say “them” I mean those people that you have connected yourself to. Those people that bring out your best, no, those people that demand your best. That’s where Google+ influencers come into play in your online career. You need tutelage, counselling, and an overall understanding of where you feel like you “want” to be in six months to a year from now.
Alongside of influencer’s and people of authority you also need to find a group of people that push you to do your best in different ways the influencer can’t push you. Writing posts that appeal to people, helping them understand something is a great way to build your significance on Google Plus. These people also demand the best from you because that is another area where you will shine.
The follower is the “question” and the influencer is the “answer”. Both of these need the other to complete the equation of significance in any marketing career.
The Unfolding Road Ahead
The road to significance is paved with honesty. That’s a great strength to start building on from the start.
Finding your significance could mean many things to different people. Some think that significance means to carve out your own niche. Others believe that becoming significant means that they are able to build up repertoire and authority. However, if you can back it up even further, it always starts at honesty. Don’t start your journey on Google Plus by being dishonest with people.
Can you remember what made you significant on Google Plus or any other social network for that matter? What was the defining moment in your social marketing career that made you realize it?
Wade Harman
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