When Google+ first launched, the critics pounced. “Why launch another Social Network?” they said. “Google+ is just trying to be Facebook and it will never amount to anything in terms of users”. And even today, most people don’t understand the implications of the platform Google created. So here’s the news flash campers- if you are any kind of content creator (news, journalism, etc), are marketing a business, or care about your personal brand as a thought leader in your industry, you need to get on the stick and make Google+ the center of your world- now. The signs are in place that Google+ will have rapidly increasing influence on your– and your content’s– online visibility, and if you’re by the side of the road when the full impact hits, you’ll wish you had boarded the clue train a long time ago. At the center of the reason why is something called AuthorRank, and I go into detail below on what it is and why you need to start caring.
I’ve been working in marketing and advertising since 1985, online marketing since 1992, and had my first experience with the revolution that is search working with the pioneering AltaVista search engine in 1996. I’ve run $100 million TV campaigns for Fortune 500 companies and lived the wonderful, reliable era of mass advertising and long client lunches by the Four Seasons LA pool. And what I can tell you having done this for a while is the safe and predictable orbit of your marketing universe has ended. If you are a marketer, advertiser or just a business trying to get a few customers, disruption is here. All that you need to do to get done what you need to get done, is changing very quickly. Social Media, Content Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Paid Search, Analytics and Mobile Marketing are revolutionizing the way you get people to buy whatever it is you’re selling. And you either need to get on the bus and starting tooting the horn, or at the very least figure out how not to get run over. This blog is here to help you do that.