5 Tips to Safeguard your Google Plus Privacy

Google Plus is still relatively new and apparently, most of the users haven’t figured out its privacy settings like they’ve done with Facebook. That said, Google Plus settings are more transparent and simplier compared to Facebook and you don’t need to be too techie to master them. In this post, I’ll be covering the G+ essential profile privacy tips:

#1. Hide your Google Plus Profile:

Although it isn’t possible to completely hide your Google Plus profile, we’ve looked at hiding as much of your G+ profile information in this article.

#2. Hide Google Plus Circles (friends) from your Profile:

If you don’t want others to find whom your Google Plus friends are, I’d advise you to hide them from your profile by following the advice provided in this article. After hiding mutual connections, they won’t show up on your profile when others take a look.

#3. Hide Google Plus videos/Photos:

Some of us may upload personal family videos onto Google Plus which we’d want only our relatives/friends to watch. To prevent a co-worker, or your boss from peeking on them, read up our guides on hiding videos and pictures on Google Plus, as well as disabling automatic picture uploading from your smartphone.

#4. Backup your Profile with Google Takeout

As for any other online service, i would recommend to periodically download a local copy of your Google Plus account to your disk. You can do so with a nifty little tool called Google Takeout. Read our blog post regarding this to know more.

#5. Keep reading our blog.

We write tons of tips for Google Plus (not just those about Privacy). Before you leave, make sure you take a look at our popular list of Google Plus tips to get the most out of it.

5 ways to search for people in Google+

With its gaining popularity, people have started using Google+ to share their thoughts and views with their friends. But users find it difficult to search for their friends in Google+ and get connected to them. This is evident from the questions that we receive from the users. So here we list 5 easy ways to find people in Google+.

1) Google+ Search results

The easiest and simplest way to find people in Google+ is to type their name in the search bar and look for the search results. This will work all the time if you are sure about the exact name of the person.

2) “Find People” Option in Google+

Google+ provides you with an option to add your Yahoo! and Hotmail friends by linking the account with Google+. This ”Find People” option  is available in theCircles page  in Google+.

Also by uploading an address book from Outlook, Thunderbird etc , one can link people in Google+.

3) Using findpeopleonplus

With Findpeopleonplus, one can easily find people they are looking for by just entering their name. This site provides you with so many filters – you can filter people with relationship status, gender, education, occupation and location. So if you are not sure about the exact name of the person but other details about him, you can easily spot him using this site.

4)Using gpeep

gpeep.com is another search engine that finds people in Google+.  C But one interesting thing about gpeep is that you can add your profile and add tags that suits you best and people can now use the tags to find you easily.  Use your Google+ profile id to add your profile in gpeep.

One can find his Google+ id  as shown in the picture :

5)Using gglplus

Gglplus works in a similar fashion than gpeep (which we covered above). One can add his profile using his Google+ id to gglplus and select tags of his interest. Now users can find him easily using the tags. You can also search for people participating in public hangouts.

Thanks for the read. If you have any more easy ways to find people in Google+, you can share it with us in your comments.

How to set up an account for Google Plus?

With the recent launch of Google Plus, several readers have sent me a note about creating an account for the new service.

Access to the service is being carefully controlled and it is mainly available for now mainly by invitation. It seems that there are two ways to make a Google Plus login:

• Filling up a request at the Google Plus project page and be contacted by Google.
• Ask a friend with to add you to a circle, then login to Google Plus with your Google account.

I would recommend that you’ll give it a try and let us know. I will be happy to connect with our readers on Google Plus. If you want me to add you to a circle, feel free to reply to one of our mail list messages.

How to Make a Google Account

Welcome to the 'How to Make a Google Account' page, within wikiHow. Just read the steps below and get started

Steps

1. 1
   Go to the Google homepage. Click sign in.
   
   
   
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   Business Presentations

    Use Google Documents to create and collaborate on shared presentations
   www.google.com/apps/business
2. 2
   Click the red Sign Up button in the upper right corner.
   
   
   
3. 3
   Fill in the information that you are asked for. You will need to choose your username, which will be your email address. You may have to have a few backup usernames at hand, because every username must be unique.
   
   
   
4. 4
   Scroll down, and fill in the remaining information.
   
   
   
   • You will need to provide your current email address, so that Google can send you an email if it looks like someone has hacked your account, or if you forget your password. #*Fill in the captchas, and agree to the terms of service.
   • Click Next Step.
5. 5
   Add a profile photo if you would like by clicking add profile photo. If you would like to skip that step, click Next Step.
   
   
   
6. 6
   You're ready to go! Click Get Started to explore your new Google account.

10 Things Entrepreneurs Should Be Tweeting About

Apart from creating a vibrant branded Twitter account for your startup, business owners should consider creating their own personal account on Twitter. Fans and followers often want to connect with the person behind the brand.

Giving customers and prospects a glimpse into theentrepreneur's life and mindset can allow them to cultivate a deeper relationship with customers separately from the brand. The goal, of course, is to increase customers' loyalty to the brand.

Here are 10 things every entrepreneur can tweet about, which can allow your clients and prospects to see another side of you:

1. Personal news: Share the big events of your personal life -- vacations, weddings, births -- the type of info you'd share with close friends. It can help keep your followers feeling like they're "in the loop." You're also more likely to make a connection with followers who have experienced something similar.

2. Mistakes and lessons: Sharing mistakes and what you learned is a sign of growth, not weakness. Try doing a "What I learned this week" tweet and see how your followers respond.

3. Answers to questions: If someone asks a question on Twitter and you know the answer, share it. This can also be a way to develop a FAQ within your industry, which you can later point them to via a link.

Related: 5 Tips for Using Social Media as a Customer Service Tool

4. Links to articles: They key to sharing articles is to also include your unique opinion. Let others know why you liked or didn't like an article.

Just remember that your opinion paints a public image, which means you should be cautious about which opinions you choose to share -- ideally only those which are congruent with your market. Keep the rest to yourself.

5. Pictures of unusual things you see: If something catches your attention, it's probably going to catch the attention of others, too. So why not share it? This includes visually impressive products, food and architecture.

6. Wisdom from the book you're reading: When you hit a "golden nugget" of wisdom in a book, share it. It not only shows that you're well read, but that you value wisdom. Those are two things that can only help your reputation.

7. Interesting advertising: When a billboard or any other advertising catches your attention, take a picture and tweet it. Everyone can benefit from seeing smart marketing.

Related: Want Better Twitter Results? Try These Effective Types of Tweets

8. Fun purchases: Sharing your recent purchases, such as music, video games or sports equipment can stir up comments and conversations from others that have bought similar items and enjoy the same kind of entertainment.

9. Share wisdom from outside the world of business: Quotes from sports heroes, military leaders and artists can teach us about innovation and leadership, which are essential to business success.

10. Your work: The greatest links you can share are links to your personal work, but don't limit that to what you do professionally only. If you have a hobby or passion for something creative, share it.

Salary Negotiation Lessons From the NHL.

image credit: Bunow

Hockey fans have been out of luck so far this season with the National Hockey League (NHL) locked out since September due to a labor dispute between team owners and players. NHL team owners want the players' revenue share reduced from 57 percent to 50 percent under a new collective bargaining agreement.

The lockout is also concerning to many business owners, especially sports bars and restaurants, that rely on the NHL season to fuel their revenues during the winter months.  

For most business owners -- sports team owners included -- the primary objective is to increase revenues. But when it comes to paying your staff, the rules can sometimes change.

As the NHL labor dispute drags on it can offer a few lessons about negotiating salaries with employees. Here's a look at five:

Related: 3 Ways to Lead Your Business Like a Baseball Manager

1. Consider the economic conditions. As an employer, you not only have to know the current economic position of your own company, you need to be aware of the state of the economy as a whole when putting together budgets. Consider how a deal you agree to today -- a salary contract or any other type of financial agreement -- might affect your business five years from now.

2. Understand the market value of your employees. As an employer, find benchmarks in your industry in order to understand whether your employees salary demands are realistic. If your competitors are offering more money for a similar role, you better be willing to step up or have something to offer that would make that employee want to stay with you.

3. Be willing to part with replaceable employees. Can the business run without the employee or is he or she critical to your success? Are you willing to lose the employee over salary demands? Perhaps you have other candidates or current employees with similar skill sets and experience that can fill the role. These are all factors to keep in mind when negotiating salaries.

4. Know your limits. Even if you're convinced that an employee is invaluable to your organization, you have to set a budget and stick to it. If you lose the employee because you're unable to meet his or her demands, you can save yourself years of unrealistic and perhaps unsustainable costs by hiring someone for a more reasonable salary.

How to Drive Sales Through Social Media

In this special feature of 'Ask Entrepreneur,' Facebook fan Amy Clark Braden from Austin, Texas, asks: Which social network is better for converting followers into customers? So far we haven't had much luck with Facebook. What about Twitter or Google+?

Converting customers through social channels is not as cut-and-dried as most business owners think it should be. Put yourself in your customer's shoes and ask, "Why would I engage with this brand on Facebook?" Often, the answer is not, "So I can buy stuff from them."

Perhaps a better question to ask is, "Where would I buy things from a brand?" Chances are, Facebook is not going to be the first answer for many.

Your Chance to 'Ask Entrepreneur'

We enlisted our Facebook fans to ask their most pressing questions about starting and running a business. Over the next several weeks, our special panel of experts will offer their answers and discuss more in online chats. Mark your calendar and stay tuned for details on these future events:

•  Nov. 16: Gary Vaynerchuk on Connecting with Customers
•  Nov. 20: Jason Falls on Social media
•  Dec. 5: Grant Cardone on Sales
•  Dec. 19: Angela Jia Kim on Growing a Business

Consumers see the social layer around a brand as one that supports their buying decision in providing engagement and information pre-purchase, then supports them after the purchase when they have questions.

There's a disconnect when brands say, "We want to use Facebook to engage our audience," but then expect the result to be purchases. It's also misleading to think that your Facebook fans are the same type of captive, opt-in audience that you might find in, say, your email marketing list. They clicked a like button. It's a virtual high-five. The barrier to entry there isn't much of an obstacle.

This doesn't mean you can't drive conversions or build a customer base using social media, but that you have to first understand that's not what customers are turning to many social networks for. Secondly, approach your social channel with a strategic plan and purpose to drive business.

My guess is, for a business that says its Facebook fans don't convert, it isn't providing content that attracts likely customers or asking them to convert. Sometimes you have to present a call-to-action and give them a compelling reason to click, download or buy.

One social network that seems to get the most nods when I ask, "Are you driving business there?" is LinkedIn. This makes sense because it's mostly used by business people for business purposes. Networking with sales in mind is more natural on LinkedIn. On Facebook? Not so much. But if you've approached your Facebook strategy with the conversion in mind, you'll see much greater traction than if you just "engage" and cross your fingers.

Still, it's not the channel that is often to blame, but the strategy at play. If you want to convert fans on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest or any other social channel, you have to drive likely prospects and customers there with promotions or compelling content. Then you have to give them the opportunity and reason to convert. If you've attracted the right audience with the right messages in the right place and the right time, they will.