How to save your Google+ community, and other social networks audiences

Author: Mike Allton / Source: Business 2 Community

The powers-that-be have decided that one of the social networks I spent time building an audience and creating a community on, is no longer worth their investment of time and money. They’ve pulled the plug, and that means my community there is about to flatline.

Now, you know I’m talking about Google+, but I could just as easily be talking about Vine or Meerkat or Blab or MySpace or Posterous.

Listen to me now… I could also just as easily be talking one of the networks that you’re using right now. Right this moment, I could cite 5 reasons why Snapchat or Tumblr or Twitter or WhatsApp could be the next network to vanish, or at least change in such a significant way as to be no longer viable for you and your business.

Remember that social networks are companies. They have to earn a profit to exist. They have to remain relevant to remain afloat. They have to grow in order to survive.

This fact is so critical and elemental to the existence of these platforms – and how they impact our lives and businesses – I actually started tracking monthly usage to try and envision future potential.

While it might be hard for most businesses to avoid social media marketing altogether – that’s usually not competitively feasible – you can certainly mitigate risk. As a business owner you can make sure that you have at least 2 social networks that you’re focused on, making sure that Facebook is one of them. If an important network to you goes away (or even if it’s just your own page or profile that disappears for any reason), you still have a backup option that’s not starting from scratch.

But let’s bring this back to me and my problem.

Just a few years ago, when people still used Google+ every day, I sported a quarter million followers.

250,000 followers isn’t too shabby for a non-celebrity, and back then, that network drove significant traffic and business my way. But obviously those days…

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