You might have heard about Google+ and Google Hangouts, they’ve been around for a few years now. But it’s not until recently that they’ve started to really make more sense for us as business owners.
5 Ways You Can Use Google Hangouts For Business
Let’s go over 5 ways that you can use Google Hangouts to improve your business, save money, and even make more money, too.
1. Google Hangouts for conference calls and team meetings
Here at Lussier Heartquarters we meet every Monday on a private Google Hangout, so we can talk about our big plans for the week and see each other’s lovely faces.
It’s pretty simple to get a Hangout going, and unlike telephone conference lines we know when someone is typing or not paying attention. It’s also a great way for us to know what’s happening, like if a kiddo or cat walks in the background we get it.
2. Google Hangouts to replace webinars
You might have explored and tried a few of the webinar software companies out there, I sure have. I love Gotowebinar, but I also appreciate that it’s a monthly expense that you might not want if you don’t run webinars on a regular basis.
That’s where Google Hangouts On Air come in – you can use the platform just like you would to run a webinar, and the bonus is that your attendees don’t need to download any extra software to attend.
Oh, and did I mention it’s free?
Your Hangout is recorded for you and you can trim the beginning and end if you don’t need the extra pre-amble in there. The video immediately gets turned into a YouTube video on your channel, which you can edit to become Unlisted or Private if you don’t want it publicly available.
Best of all, you can embed your Hangout on a page of your website so you can keep the branding consistent across the board. Plus, you can answer questions or have people share the Hangout on their Google+ pages, which in turn increases the attendees and social reach you’d naturally get.
3. Google Hangouts to host virtual summits
If you’ve ever wanted to put on a telesummit where you interview other experts and share the recordings with attendees, then hosting your guests on a live Hangout gives you major brownie points.
Here’s why.
You can have each guest join you live and the whole thing gets automatically recorded, so no editing or uploading required after the event itself. With many guests and moving pieces, anything that can save time coordinating or uploading files is a win.
You can also keep the recordings up for your desired “free access” period and then just change permissions to private when you’re ready to switch to the paid version of your summit.
Plus, when you do a live Hangout your guests can ask questions and really participate on a whole new level.
4. Google Hangouts to demonstrate software and create tutorials
I personally tested this out when we rolled out the free version of our WordPress popup plugin (PopupAlly). I just loaded up a Google Hangout, and selected my browser window to demonstrate how this WordPress plugin works in real time.
You could do similar things if you want to walk people through any technical process or even show a slide presentation.
Most Google Hangouts are videos of the presenter, but switching to your screen is an easy built-in function that’s worth exploring to keep things fresh on your Hangouts.
5. Google Hangouts to run a regular web show “live”
If you like watching these Off The Charts pre-recorded episodes, imagine if we were to run a live version of the show?
The sky is the limit when it comes to Google Hangout shows – and having a regular schedule for when you host your own show can help people connect with you more before they take you up on your paid offerings.
You can think of your web show like a set of office hours, where you answer questions and hang out with your audience. Or, you can script it and come up with topics each week. Or even invite guests on a regular basis too, like Yifat Cohen does. You can do what BakeSpace does with their ongoing baking shows.
Your turn to share…
Now I’d love to know – what’s holding you back from trying out Google Hangouts? If you’ve attended or hosted your own hangouts for your business, what did you love or hate about them? Leave a comment below and let me know!