Why does Google + launch new stuff when I’m on a book deadline!! The long awaited brand pages on Google + are here. I put a post out on Google + asking what nonprofits had set up pages and was able to identify 88 from all the responses and placed them in a open circle here.
I browsed through these nonprofit brand pages today, and it appears many grabbed the tip sheet Google nonprofits and set up their pages – some more fully than others.
Then the reactions:
- Ah, you can’t add more than one administrator (it’s coming). I asked what happens if someone goes on vacation, but as Frank Barry pointed out – no one who works in a nonprofit does! Robert Scoble pointed out some major problems with having only one account associated with the brand pages.
- Most of what I heard was, “I’ve got my google + brand page, now what?”
- The early adopters have jumped in and pages are set up and waiting for some SMART objectives, content strategy, and tips on engagement.
- Some say they’ll be testing, testing, and testing – throwing virtual pasta at the wall and see what sticks and how much time and effort it takes to throw that pasta.
- Others are on the hunt for good tips (Check out Heather Mansfield’s Best Practices)
- I didn’t hear a lot of chatter about what objectives and measurement – particularly how to measure to learn.
I’m trying to avoid being seduced by Shiny Object Syndrome. It makes nonprofits and individuals to adopt the latest cool social tool based on peer pressure, buzz, or a strange desire to be one of the first. It can also distract you from your priority to do list.
If I was going to create a google + brand page for a nonprofit, I would probably focus on using to cultivate a small sub-set of my community that I knew was already using Google + – perhaps use it as a focus group to learn and figure out what might make sense. Or I might set up a circle with peer organizations and use that to as a learning group to experiment and learn in real time about google +.
I’m not recommending that all nonprofits should immediately just say no (or yes) to the latest technology tool that is capturing the imagination (and time) of geeks. But, it is important to have a framework like Gartner Technology Hype Cycle to think it through. There are three choices:
Early Move: Willing to combine risk taking with an understanding that risky investments don’t always pay off.
Moderate Approach: Understand the argument for an early investment but will also insist on a sound cost/benefit analysis when new ways of doing things are not yet fully proven.
Wait for maturation? If there are too many unanswered questions about the impact of the technology platform, better to wait until others have been able to deliver tangible value.
What’s your nonprofit’s approach to setting up a brand page of Google +? Jump now or wait?
