Hello DealerElite Community,

I am kind of new here. I consider myself more of an observer than an engager. With that said from my time observing, I know that this community has some of the most forward thinking, progressive minds that serve the auto industry.

I have been on google + since early July and have been following it closely. Most dealerships are thinking G+ is just another Facebook or Twitter and once they open it up to brands that they will need to maintain, engage, react and all the other standards that apply to effective Social media marketing. I can't really argue with that. They will. 

Right now Larry Page says there is 40 million worldwide users G+? What they won't tell is is how many are daily active users. I figure the active number is in the 8-10 million range. Out of the 8-10 million how many are in the United States?  3-5 million? I have an automotive circle and although it is not all-encompassing, it does serve as my barometer to see how those in and around our industry are using G+.

To that point, I will say this, when I switch to my Automotive Stream.... It crawls. However, if I pop over to twitter is it off the charts quick. Content generation, sharing, retweeting, etc is the staple of a good twitter stream for our peers in this industry. Google plans on integrating Plus into every product they offer and once they do it will be like the Field of Dreams, " If you build it, they will come. " G+ is so new that most cannot get their heads around how to use it at a personal level, let alone a business or networking level.  

I have had more rewarding engagement with my G+ stream than I have in any other space. Period. I am on linkedin, twitter and facebook of course. They each serve a unique purpose. I personally feel that G+ embodies all of them rolled into one. The flow of information and rich experiences dwarf what I have seen in the other sites. I may not have fully embraced twitter, I don't claim to be a Social savant or anything and therefore perhaps undervalue the benefit of taking my time to build those relationships. For one reason or another at least with me, G+ was different.

The networking and quality interactions I am experiencing now will translate very well as many consumers slowly migrate to G+. Having an effective presence beyond what we may currently be doing with Twitter and Facebook will be vital. As we know +1's, shares, followers all have value. In the future as google shifts from standard SEO that we all are familiar with to more of peer influenced search model understanding, using, and embracing G+ will be paramount in my opinion.

G+ is not Facebook. Some of my friends have tried it  and, " don't get it. " They may not now. But they will. The Automotive E-Commerce community is no different. Just like when Myspace was on top of the world and people were saying Facebook is just for college kids.  "Myspace is where I connect with Friends and LinkedIn is where in connect with colleagues and professionals. I don't have time for another social site... " 800 Million worldwide users later Facebook is a beast, myspace is all but gone and LinkedIn may have lost a little of its identity. 

With all that said, the best thing going for G+ in my opinion is hangouts. It took me a while jump into the pool but once I did, I didn't want to get out. As a a collaboration tool hangouts with Extras allows for screen sharing and document sharing.

In my opinion hangouts are the strongest interpersonal communication tool I have seen. From the desktop you can create and join or from a droid or iphone you can join a hangout. I believe in the future if hangouts were to be used as a call to action to answer questions post delivery, conduct new car clinics, engage a customer a new and exciting way and deliver a " WOW " experience, you will build a better rapport, and as result deliver a better experience and better CSI, referral rates and more! 

I would like to invite active G+ users of the dealerelite.net community to join me at my first Automotive E-Commerce hangout that I set up through http://gphangouts.com. Tomorrow  at 11:15am EST will be my first one. I am considering it a test of sorts. Truthfully, I am planning for a light turnout but stranger things have happened. Here is the link Daniel Fontaine Hangout. Even if you can only join for a  few minutes, I would love to have you. Hangouts can only fit 10 people at a time. It is first come first serve. If you want to join from your mobile please circle me so you can be notified via your stream, it is the only way you can join from mobile at this point.

If you are interested in checking out hangouts other than mine you should get the Chrome extension from the folks at Hangout Canopy it is very useful tool for finding active hangouts. 

If you want to circle me on G+, here is my link http://gplus.to/danfontaine.

Thank you!