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My new post on GigCoin this week took me to Google+ where I explored the reasons why businesses have been turning to the platform and what they’ve found once they’ve landed there. For this post I heard from a number of small business contributors through HARO (Help a Reporter Out) and Kevin Purdy, author of Google+ The Missing Manual.

The post also contains reference to resources: Google+ Magazine published by Andre, suggestions from Josh Lloyd, Cindy King, and getting started on Google+ help from Kristi Hines and Zach Bulygo.

One of the personal benefits I receive from writing a post like this is getting to meet and reach out to people whose paths I may not otherwise have crossed–the purely social and fun stuff that comes from social media and blogging!

Check-out the new post in its entirety.

In a new post published today on GigCoin, I had an opportunity to reach out to a number of brands via HARO who have created presences on Pinterest to find out what has made the platform a good place for them to be. The post also includes a Q&A with Kelly Lieberman who has spent considerable time taking a look at brands and Pinterest.

Check out the full post on GigCoin.

This week I researched and wrote about restaurants and contests for a post for Gigcoin’s blog. Our goal for the post was to demonstrate some successful, unique and clever contests.

I put a query out on Help a Reporter Out (HARO) and through the query we heard from a number of businesses around the United States. We selected four to profile in the post: Ling and Louie’s Asian Bar and Grill, Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria, The Bistro Group, and Mia’s Pizza and Eats.

I was very impressed with the creativity of each of these contests and it really drove home the point that businesses need to be strategic with their social media approaches.

You can read the post on GigCoin’s blog.