What Unique Opportunities Does Google+ Hangout Offer Brick and Mortar Small Businesses?

Frank Robertson was a small business owner and entrepreneur. He was a sharp business man with years of sales and marketing experience. Still, he couldn’t see how Google+ Hangout offered unique opportunities to brick and mortar businesses.  He lacked the ability to envision them when they could give him a competitive edge. Then he found a mentor who showed him how to see and use the latest and greatest, like Google+ Hangouts with Live Stream.

As a consultant, I have worked with over 170 brick and mortar small business clients. Most small business owners I’ve met are like Frank. Outside their own areas of expertise, they find it hard to envision how to apply new technology. They stick with what they know.

If your reaction to Google+ Hangout, is something like, “Oh, my god, it’s another Google scheme. I haven’t adjusted yet to Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. How do I stay on top of all these changes and why do I need them?”, you are not alone. . Marketing experts call this marketing myopia.

In the case of Google+ Hangout, it is complicated further because brick and mortar small business owners rarely get on the Internet during business hours. If it’s not something you do all of the time, then it is hard to imagine how Google+ Hangout, free or not,  should be part of your brick and mortar small business’ marketing strategy.

To establish your small business as a leader in a marketplace of rapid change, you need to adapt and act before everyone in the herd figures out that the grass really is greener and rushes over to the other side. The surest way to figure out when and how to use new technology is to find someone with proven ability in understanding market trends and in how to use them to grown traffic, i.e. visitors to your small business’ site, and to get conversions, i.e. sales.

While I have a suggestion for you, first, here are some reasons and examples for your consideration:

Reasons to Use Google+ Hangouts with Live Streaming

• Build customer communities – Airstream, Harley Davidson and Southwest Airlines did this before Google+ Hangouts
• Reduce travel expenses
• Face-to-face meetings on the fly
• More personal engagement than an email or blog post
• Get instantaneous feedback from the ten in the Hangout and by comments from those on the Live Stream

Brick and Mortar Small Business Uses for Google+ Hangouts

• Customer feedback meetings
  • New product development ideas
  • Satisfaction feedback with new products releases
• Employee meetings with virtual assistants or remote employees
• New product announcements
• Customer training
• Expert panel discussions
• Vendor meetings with specialists
• Emergency board meetings
• Sales calls and sales demonstrations

Brick and Mortar Non-Business Uses for Google+ Hangouts

• Family meeting on holidays
• State board meetings for churches, non-profits and associations
• Book club interviews with famous writers
• Online class small group discussions
• Masterminds with people around the world

Frank broadened his horizons about the unique opportunities Google+ Hangout offers his business.  The above listed a variety of ways small businesses can apply these in a brick and mortar company. Use them to spark your imagination to benefit you. Check out the Triple Power Play Traffic & Conversions Weekend Workshop. Get the training to use Google+ Hangout and Live Streaming to make your small business a leader in your marketplace.

Building your profits through strong relationships,

        John

John R. Aberle, John R. Aberle, Aberle Enterprises

P.S.  Go now to see the Triple Power Play strategy workshop preview.

More by this author:

Triple Power Play Uses Google+ Hangout as 1/3rd of Traffic & Conversions Strategy

Other Resources:

Google Hangouts Expert Yifat Cohen Breakthrough Directions