Google+ Pirates, Photos, Foodies and More
When I first started out on Google+ to promote my Vancouver Home Staging business a few months ago, I thought, ho hum... just another social media site to have to navigate. I've always struggled with Twitter, and I find Facebook pretty mindless. Never in my wildest dreams did I think Google+ would take me on such a universal, creative and awe inspiring journey!
Things started off slowly and quietly at first. Active Rain offered a webinar about Google+ with A/R's own Eric Proulx. I had already dabbled a bit on G+, but Eric pretty much solidified and clarified what I already knew. I started to bump into chats with A/R peeps I recognized but hadn't really socialized with here on A/R. Those who come to mind are Rich Cederberg, Bill Gassett, Debbie Gartner, Melissa Marro, Michael George... oh, the list goes on and on and you know who you are (you're in my G+ soup!).
I think one of the most important people I've met so far on G+ has to be Carra Riley, also on Active Rain. Eric Proulx introduced us to Carra and the journey blasted off from there. Carra generously held a Hangout (kind of like a Skype conference), where she introduced us to the world of photography groups. The trick with G+ is you have to cast a broad net. It's no good just talking amongst yourselves in the real estate group. You need to spread out and diversify. That's what Google+ likes. Thanks to Carra, I started joining various photography groups. I now help Carra moderate the #MyCitySunday photo group, where people from all over the world post photos of their city. It's a wonderful place for Realtors® to drop photos and brag about their cities. You can just imagine the dialogue that starts there.
Along the way, I noticed Denise Hamlin and Jennifer Fivelsdal hanging out in the Foodies+ Community. Hey, I love to cook, and especially eat, so I started to hang out there, too. I discovered that Michael George, in a previous life, was a private chef - bet you didn't know that, or that he makes a mean home made mozzarella! The Foodies+ group is run by the classy, charming and world traveller, Nomad Dimitri. Anyway, after meeting some great people from all over the world, connected by a love of food, I became one of the Monitors of the Foodies+ Community group!
Through G+, I've met a crazy pirate... that would be Larry Fournillier, a private chef in Trinidad & Tobago. Larry is the Hangout King Pirate, and has videos on Carribean cuisine and much more. I'm searching for a juicer, thanks to one of Larry's hangouts, where he featured Meghna Sharma, who lives in India, give us a juicer demo and recipes. Again, thanks to Carra, I've met a wonderful Italian-born designer, now living in California, Valentina Cirasola, who literally wrote the book on the colour red, RED: A Voyage Into Colors. I've hob-nobbed with some amazing photographers from all over the world, who capture photos of heart-wrenching street scenes, beautiful landscapes, bridges, signs, you name it!
Back to business, I've created two communities, one promoting Home Staging, and the other promoting my home town, Vancouver, British Columbia. Am I hooked? You bet! Google+ is feeding my soul. The world is becoming very small, thanks to the global connections made through Google+. My advice? Come on in, the water's warm. Don't just drop your real estate related posts and run. Stay and chat, interact, ask questions, share photos and experiences. You won't regret it.
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