Making Killer Google+ Profiles

by Evo Terra

Evo Terra doesn’t just write books for dummies. He writes guidebooks that help authors understand the complexity of indie publishing.

If privacy issues, scammers, toilet humor, and pictures of burritos have kept you away from social media; here’s some good Social has grown up. And it managed to do so without becoming boring.

Google+ is the perfect place for an indie author to find and connect with readers, other authors, publishers, editors, and valuable experts, boosting their career. This book shows indie authors how to craft a Google+ profile the right way, how to fill it with remarkable content, and how to keep their growing fan base deeply engaged. Moreover, it shows authors how to turn “social time” into “productive time,” so they’ll never again feel guilty for the minutes or hours spent with social media.

This book teaches the modern indie author a path to success on Google+. It’s filled with techniques authors can implement right away, examples of other authors doing it right, and lists of tools authors can use to create a clear path to success on the fastest growing social network.

And best of all, it’s presented in a concise, easy-to-follow format so authors can quickly get back to writing--and selling--more books!

56 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 13, 2013

About the author

Evo Terra has led innovative and disruptive strategies for 20 years. In business, he's launched and managed enterprise-level commerce platforms and directed international agency teams. As an educator, he's hosted nationally syndicated radio programs, authored many instructional books, and is a nationally known speaker. As an entrepreneur, he’s launched many viable companies, such as Podiobooks.com, ePublish Unum, and Scribl.com. Through it all, Evo stays focused on emerging trends, the impact of science on on society, and the importance of critical thinking.

Reviews

[Mike]

Disclaimers first. I've internet-known Evo Terra for some years, because he runs podiobooks.com and I'm an author there. Evo was the reason that I (and most of the other Podiobooks authors) joined Google+, and by encouraging us to join en masse he also got us off to a good start of having people to connect with.

Also, he mentions me positively in this book, as someone who's doing G+ well (in his opinion), and, consequently, he gave me a free copy.

I'll leave it to you to decide whether you think any of this influenced my rating, but I will also lay out for you what the book does so you can decide if it's for you.

This is a book primarily aimed at authors who are Google+ newbies. If you are an author and haven't yet joined Google+, a) please do, and b) get this book and do everything it says. Likewise if you've only joined recently, or joined a while ago but haven't been active because you're not sure how it works or how it will benefit you to be on there.

If you're not an author, it may still help you. Some parts are author-specific, but a lot of it is good advice for anyone who's joining Google+, particularly if you have something you want to promote. (The advice includes being a human, not a spam-machine, in case you're worried about that.)

If you've been on Google+ for a while, it isn't going to tell you too much that you don't know, but you still might learn something. I did. I've made tweaks to my profile and added a couple of Chrome extensions that I think will be helpful.

It's a short, easy read, written in the friendly, cheerful style of a For Dummies book, though it manages not to talk down to the reader too much. There's nothing fake about that, either; I've known Evo long enough to know that this is his genuine personality, though he usually swears more.

It's well-edited by a mutual Google+ acquaintance. I did spot a few simple typos (usually short words like "to" that are missing) and passed them on to Evo to correct, but you won't be yanked up short on every page by some egregious grammatical error.

Definitely worthwhile for authors who are about to try Google+, and might well help other people too.

[John Ward]

I joined Google+ in August of 2011. Shortly after joining, I started following Evo Terra. Google+ was still in beta at the time and it was common to see people making posts about the best way to use what was then a new social network. Evo's posts resonated with me because they were simple common sense steps that were obvious once you stopped to consider them. Every time Evo would write about how he was using Google+, I would adopt and implement those same techniques as my own.

It's been almost two years. Google+ has introduced me to new friends, connections, and mentors. I love the platform and the relationships that I have built there, but none of that would not have been possible had it not for Evo's advice in those early days. I'm very happy to see that Evo has decided to gather all of his knowledge and insights into this book. I've read the book. I can't recommend it strongly enough. If you want to use Google+ to its full potential, you need this book.

[Amy]

Many people find Google+ to be a daunting social network. I've been there for 2 years and have discovered many of the tips in Evo's book by trial-and-error. If you're an author wanting to develop a platform, I recommend picking up this book. Evo details just about everything to do to create a profile that works. How well does it work? I follow 6 of the 8 authors he mentions in the "Examples We Love" chapter, and have purchased books from 5 of them. Almost all of my book purchases in 2013 were from indie authors on Google+.

If you're new to Google+ or are not gaining the followers you'd like, I recommend checking out this great introduction to the site.