Book Review: What the Plus! Google+ for the Rest of Us

What the Plus! Google+ for the Rest of Us

By Guy Kawasaki

Amazon Digital Services

March 4, 2012

About the Author

Guy Kawasaki is the author of Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions. He is also the co-founder of Alltop.com, an "online magazine rack" of popular topics on the web, and a founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures.

Why Should You Use Google+?

Google+ is still fairly new but Guy Kawasaki predicts that it will exceed Facebook and Twitter in popularity and use! The author states that his goal is to help you derive as much joy and value from Google+ as he does.

Mr. Kawasaki begins the book with an interesting comparison between Twitter, Facebook and Google+. He states that Twitter is best for real-time perspectives. Facebook is for people. It is great for keeping up with people you already know (friends, relatives and colleagues). Google+ is for passions. It enables you to pursue your passions with people you don't know.

Mr. Kawasaki provides a very helpful tutorial on how to get started on Google+. He explains exactly how to set-up your account and find people to include in your circles. The author believes that your Google+ profile is very important and offers an entire chapter on "how to make an enchanting profile". He provides detailed instructions for designing a photo scrapbook for your profile page.

This book provides helpful hints for leaving comments, responding to comments and sharing posts. There is a chapter on how to "hang out" using the feature that allows you to conduct a live video conference with up to ten people. Hangouts can reach more people if you "broadcast and record" them. This enables people to watch and listen to hangouts but not participate.

Peg Fitzpatrick wrote a guest chapter entitled "Fish in a Big Pond." She provides tips for "ordinary" people to use when getting started on Google+. Lynette Young wrote a guest chapter entitled "How to Thrive in the All-Boys' Club". This chapter explains how women on Google+ can survive and thrive.

My Thoughts

I purchased this book to help me get started on Google+. I am active on Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, Pinterest....I just had not taken the time to set up a profile on Google+.

I found this book to be everything I needed to get started on Google+. This book is precise, understandable and complete. I will go back and re-read different portions of this book as I become more familiar with Google+. This is an excellent resource for both beginners and experienced Google+ uses. Highly recommended!

My Rating:  5 Stars Out Of 5

FYI ~ I purchased a digital copy of this book from Amazon.Com with my own funds.

Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.



I Am Enchanted

I am enchanted. "Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions", by Guy Kawasaki, is about influence and persuasion. The author defines "enchantment" as the process of delighting people with a product, service, organization, or idea. The outcome of enchantment is voluntary and long-lasting support that is mutually beneficial.
The greater your goals, the more you'll need to change people's hearts, minds, and actions. This is especially true if you have few resources and big competitors. Enchantment is a process, not an event. You want your efforts to endure, and this requires that people internalize your cause, reciprocate, and fulfill their commitments. Enchantment transforms situations and relationships. It converts hostility into civility. It changes skeptics and cynics into believers. When you enchant people, your goal is not to make money from them or to get them to do what you want, but to fill them with delight. This book is about touching hearts, building relationships and changing the world.

This Book Filled Me With Delight
Guy Kawasaki stated that he studied twenty books on the subjects of influence and persuasion before he wrote "Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions". He listed these books in a bibliography at the end of this book. I believe the research that Mr. Kawasaki did for this book was outstanding. He gleaned the best information from these books and then added many stories from personal experiences that prove his research true. The following chapters are included in the book;

• Why Enchantment?
• How To Achieve Likability
• How To Achieve Trustworthiness
• How To Prepare
• How To Launch
• How To Overcome Resistance
• How To Make Enchantment Endure
• How To Use Push Technology
• How To Use Pull Technology
• How To Enchant Your Employees
• How To Enchant Your Boss
• How To Resist Enchantment

As you can see, most of the chapter headings begin with the words "How To". This book provides specific instructions and real-life stories about how to use "enchantment" to improve your business and your life. The principles in this book can be applied to all aspects of your life. It is time to change our focus from "what can I get from this?" to "how can I fill you with delight?" I believe this is one of the hottest books on the market today. Yes, I am enchanted!

Please let me know what you think in the comments below.