Running a business is difficult; running a profitable business even more so. I know. I started my home cleaning business 35 years ago. There were lots of ups and downs in those early years, and no clear model to follow. Eventually, sales surpassed the $1 million mark and today my company is closing in on $2 million in revenue.

Google's social network, Google+, has been criticized for being a “ghost town,” lacking the activity of other social sites. Its growth in recent months, though, tells a different story. With more than 343 million users, Google+ is now the second largest network and growing fast. Google+ isn’t actually a traditional social network; rather it’s a “social blanket” overlaying all of Google’s products – Search, Drive, YouTube, Google Local and Gmail. The importance of this distinction cannot be overstated, especially where search marketing is concerned. When people search for your business on Google, they can get information from your Google+ page. When your followers search, content you’ve shared may appear in their results.