In the first few weeks, the hangouts were a bit lonely according to Seth, but he slowly gained fame among business owners. His hangouts are now a good example for other companies: become a thought leader in your market by making smart use of Google+ hangouts. Not only can you gain more exposure among potential customers, but you can also strengthen the bond with your customer: you offer something that others do not (yet) do.
Weekly hangout tips:
Set a set day/time and stick to that schedule. If you want your clients to become regulars, you need to be regular yourself.
Keep it interactive . Let your participants ask questions, introduce themselves, show something, etc. A hangout is not a presentation, but an interactive session.
Use the director options . As the organizer, you can choose who is on screen at what time. You can decide whether to show a YouTube video or a document. And if a participant's audio is too distracting, you can mute that person's microphone.
As your popularity increases, you can ask your participants to join the hangout for a maximum of 5 minutes , for example . Since only 10 people can join a hangout and other viewers may have questions, you can ask the participants to make room for someone else after their question.
Cadbury Google+ Hangouts: Q&A
You can also start a Q&A on Google+ Hangouts. belgium telegram data Chocolate maker Cadbury is hosting the “Triple Chocolate Tasting on Air Hangout.” Participants can ask questions about chocolate, like: do you still use milk in chocolate products and where is it actually made? Opening yourself up for a Q&A session is something that almost any business or brand can do, regardless of your market or customer base.
Google+ Q&A tips:
A few days before the session, ask your Facebook fans, Twitter followers, and Google+ followers if they have any questions .
Gather the questions (and answers) for the hangout session. This way you have some material before the session starts.
If you don't know the answer to a question, leave it blank and answer the question later when you're editing the video. You can then tell participants that the answer will be shown in the video.
Google+ live demonstrations: Chefhangout cooking sessions
You can also use Google+ hangouts for live demonstrations. Especially many chefs use Google+ to hold cooking sessions. ChefHangout.com is a perfect example of this. On this website you can take digital cooking lessons with a private chef. This way you get a private cooking lesson live, you can invite your friends and take cooking lessons together, all from your own kitchen, in your own home! It doesn't matter where you live: Drachten, Deventer or Dallas. This concept could of course work for all kinds of companies or brands.
Google+ live demo tips:
The organizer can determine who is in the picture at what time. Make use of this. Live demonstrations also lend themselves perfectly to the option of using multiple cameras for your own feed . Make sure you have 1 camera further away (long shot) and a camera close to the 'action' (close-up) and switch between these two, or multiple cameras. This way you really give the participants the feeling that they are there.
Hangouts can be automatically live streamed to YouTube . Make sure your YouTube account is linked to your Google+ page and click the live stream option at the start of the session.
Once you're live on YouTube, it's also useful to tweet that link and post it on Facebook/Google+/your website.
After the (live) recording, your video can be automatically uploaded to YouTube or you can choose to download an .MP4 video file to your computer to edit the video (and then possibly put it on YouTube).
Behind the scenes with hangouts
A hangout is also very suitable for a look behind the scenes of your company. The White House in the United States is a good example. On the Google+ page of the White House there are regular hangouts with officials, staff and even with the president himself.
Google+ behind the scenes tips:
Make sure you announce the livestream in time
A recurring event (weekly, monthly) can provide a growing audience
Ask yourself in advance: 'Why would anyone want to participate in this?' And come up with a good solution.
Keep it interactive. Engage viewers by asking questions, giving away prizes, playing a game, etc.
Virtual meetings/brainstorming via Google+ Hangouts
Google+ Hangouts are also great for virtual meetings and brainstorming sessions. The organizer can share a Google Drive document and show it to all participants, participants can brainstorm in a drawing document, and participants can watch a video at the same time.
Google+ tips?
Do you have a good Google+ tip? Let us know by leaving a comment on the video or below this article of course. Tips are always welcome: so tweet me @pelpina, or the editor of this video: @eelcomartens. And do n't forget to add Frankwatching to your Google+ circles !
Want to watch our videos every week? Subscribe to the Frankwatching YouTube channel . See you next Wednesday! Furthermore, Google+ hangouts are very useful for recording live webinars (with or without a live audience), livestreaming them to your own YouTube channel and with the right settings, Google+ will ensure that the webinar video will automatically end up on your YouTube channel afterwards.