I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, when it comes to serendipity and good things coming your way online there is no better platform than Google Plus. Google Plus serendipity has struck time and time but when Martin Shervington contacted me to help him out with an infographic I knew the Google Plus serendipity machine had well and truly blasted off.
Long story short, I didn’t say no to collaborating with Martin – who in their right mind would? He wanted myself and graphic designer Elena Montes to create a co-branded infographic for his ultimate Google Plus Consultant check list, with a nifty cosmic theme. Task in hand we set about creating the infographic for Martin which you can see below. Since launch the infographic has been viewed thousands of times but the question you might be asking is “Hey Rob, how or why did Martin get in touch with you?!?” – so, let me try answer that one for you.
Google Plus Serendipity – Blast Off with Martin Shervington
How did Martin know that myself and Elena produce infographics to be in a position to contact me? With the guts of 350,000 followers how did he even know I existed? Well, let’s go back to the start.
You remember my banana photo and yellow background? Or, do you remember my Google Plus K1 Challenge? Well, it was during my K1 Challenge back in December when I first crept onto Martin’s radar and we’ve been in ad hoc contact since. Avid readers of this blog (oh, and how I hope there are many!) will have noticed an uptick in infographic orientated posts over the last few months. Martin recently spotted the “How to Get Over 250 Shares on Google Plus” which then prompted him to reach out.
Based on that last paragraph I think we can make the following deductions to try increase the likelihood of Google Plus serendipity:
- Be A Pattern Interrupter – blending in is no fun, especially on social media. If you want to get noticed you have to do something that is different, that makes people do a double take and that interrupts the nice and cosy patterns that we’re all accustomed to. Needless to say you don’t want to push too hard here as you there is a thin line between being a pattern interrupter and being off the wall, where possible, avoid the latter
- Reach Out and Touch Fate – once you’ve interrupted someones pattern, or have started a relationship of some description with them, make sure to foster it. Stay in contact with that person – it doesn’t have to be daily, but as and when there is a good reason to +Mention them on a post of yours or to share some of their content do so. You have to reach out and touch fate – Google Plus power users, like Martin, with hundreds of thousands of followers can’t remember everyone, they are just human, and so if you want to benefit from some Google Plus Serendipity do what you can to increase the likelihood of it occurring. Again, it’s important to note that if you’re approaching relationships with a “me first” approach you’re just wasting your time. In the old school offline world that might have worked but online it’s all about giving something first.
- You Reap What You Sow – for the last few months, in conjunction with Elena Montes, I’ve been trying to come up with some decent infographics as the benefits of infographics are many and I also wanted to try position myself as a potential infographic provider. Some of these infographics have racked up a crazy amount of shares (by my standards anyway) and as a result it would follow that someone might approach me for infographic design/advice etc. The fact that it was Martin Shervington who got in touch, well, that’s a cherry on top, no doubt. Ultimately put out the best content you can, based on an area or topic that you’re interested in, and you’ll generate leads for relating to that topic.
Google Plus Serendipity – Blast Off with Martin Shervington
Thankfully this isn’t the first bit of Google Plus serendipity that I’ve experienced and I sure hope it won’t be the last. If you have haphazardly or randomly found this post via Google Plus (or, even if you haven’t) then do reach out and let’s see where it’ll lead us. Also, top tip at this stage is to join my mailing list below as that way you’ll be kept up to speed with any big developments and won’t miss any of my best posts.
Anyway, hope you like the infographic below and come on, reach out and touch fate!
