Google Hangouts has an awesome set of marketing tools that almost no other platform may offer you. What we are going to show you in videos 4 through 10 is:
- Setting up and getting to know your Account
- Google Hangout Conversations
- Google Hangout Phone Calls
- Google Hangout Video Calls
- Google Hangout Apps
- Google Hangout for Mobile, and
- How to promote your Google Hangouts
Setting up and getting to know your Account
There are plenty of options in Google Hangouts. You can place a video call, call a telephone number or message other people around the globe.
First, let’s go to hangouts.google.com. Once you’re there, go to the lower part of the page to observe the three features offered by Google Hangouts.
For starters, you will encounter the Messaging section. Here you may have a one-on-one conversation or a group chat. Also, you can send emoji, photos, and maps. Your chat can be synchronized from device to device, and keep the conversation going wherever you are.
In the Video segment you have several options to choose from. You can turn any conversation into a free call with just one tap, talk one-on-one or invite friends for a group chat with up to 10 people. If you are using a desktop computer, you can have fun with Hangouts apps like Draw or Effects.
In the Voice section you can make calls from your Android, iOS, or desktop. Also, you will be able to make completely free calls to other Hangouts users, call almost any phone number in the US and Canada for free, and get super low rates on international calls.
You might as well get voice calling for Hangouts on Android with Hangouts Dialer.
Google Hangouts can be downloaded for Android and iOS from the app store. You may as well download it for your desktop computer, too.
When clicking the tab to download for Android, you will be sent to the Google Play landing page. Here you can see your current apps or buy the newest apps available.
In this section, you can observe samples of how people are using Hangouts to keep in touch. Users are allowed to message friends, start free video or voice calls, and hop on a conversation with one person or a group.
You may also read reviews or write one of your own. On the left side of the screen, there will appear similar apps to Hangouts with the option to purchase any of them.
You also can click on the iOS tab. By doing that, you will be sent to the iTunes page related to Hangouts, where you can read the description of the app, see the newest version, read customer reviews, and more.
When clicking on the desktop tab to download it for your desktop computer, you will be asked whether you would like to add the Google Hangouts app. You must select “Add app”, to start using it on your computer.
The app will now learn your email address, use your microphone and camera, and communicate with cooperating systems.
Let’s go and sign in. You will need to enter your Google account user name and password. Now you can see Google Hangouts with your name, and the image of your account.
When you click on the menu list, it will display several tabs. Among them are Contacts, Conversations, Phone Calls, and Invites.
You will also see your app downloads options. These are the same as previously mentioned: Android, iOS, Chrome, and Hangouts Dialer. There is also a tab to your account Settings and a Help tab.
Let’s click the Settings tab. You will see the following features: Status, Notifications, and Chat. They will be displayed in a list from which you can select additional features to each one of these.
You are allowed to mute notifications for 1 hour, 8 hours or 2 days. You can see your Archived Hangouts, and customize the Invite Settings and contacts list. You can make some contacts as Hidden or Blocked people.
In the Customize Invitations section, there are two settings to choose from: Recommended and Customize. With this, you are selecting whether people can contact you directly or send you invitations.
By selecting the Customized option, you can choose whether people with your phone number, your email address, or anyone else can contact you directly, send you an invitation, or if they won’t be allowed to send you invites.
Also, you can select whether your “circle” (friends, family, acquaintances and people following you) can contact you directly, send you an invitation, or if they won’t be allowed to send you invites.
Now, let’s take a look at the Hangouts Help. Here, you can find topics such as changing Hangouts settings on a computer, start a Hangout, contacts for Hangouts on Android, invite people to a video call, video call settings, and more.
For example, when choosing the Change Hangouts settings on a computer tab, you will find that you can customize settings for individual Hangouts or for all your Hangouts, like notifications and invites.
The help available in this tab is about the General Hangouts settings, Settings for a Hangout with one person, and Settings for group Hangouts.
Now, let’s go to the Contacts section. By clicking on the Contacts tab, you will see a list with all your current contacts. If you still don’t have any, you can find people by writing their name in the search box. Try to write the full name of the person for an accurate search
Another way to find someone is to, instead of the name of the person, write their email in the search box. I often realize it is the easiest way to find someone fast.
You can send people a message or start a video call. If the person you want to chat with is not your contact at the moment, you can send them an invite. Just click on the Send Invite tab.
The message that the other person will receive in their inbox will be something like “(Your name) wants to chat on Hangouts”. Once your invitation has been accepted, you will be able to chat with that person.
Now that you better understand your Google Hangouts account, you are good to go.
Google Hangout Conversations
With its many highly useful features, Hangouts is a platform of instant messaging, completely free and available for smartphones, tablets and computers.
To access this very popular tool, go to the Google Hangouts page: hangouts.google.com
On the home page, you will see icons displayed for a video call, phone call and message, which are the main options offered by Google Hangouts.
Let’s go to the top left of the page and click on the Contacts tab.
The contacts list will be broken down and all the contacts added to your account will appear. Let’s select one of them.
By doing so, a different window will pop up, this is for starting a conversation with the selected contact. In this window, you will notice several tabs that come into view. Let’s find out what they do.
At the upper right of the window is the setup tab, when clicking on it, the available options for setting your conversation window will appear.
These options are: “Notifications” “Hangout history”, “Unarchive “, “Delete”, “Block” and in the bottom of the window there are “Save” and “Cancel”.
In the upper left of the window there is the video call icon. By clicking on it, you’ll see the video chat window and it will automatically start making a video call to your contact.
With a video call you can watch and talk to any of your contacts, whenever you want.
At the right of the video call icon is the window for searching people. Here you can look for people you know, whether by inserting their name or their email address, and Google hangouts will look for it.
With this window you can add contacts to your conversation, just click on “Create group” and the contact will be added to the chat window.
For example, let’s type the phrase “Hello world” in the writing box. The phrase appears in the conversation window and will be seen by your contacts in the current conversation.
In the lower left of the conversation window, there is the emoticon icon. By clicking on it, all the available emoticons will be displayed, ready to be used in your conversation.
There are various types of emoticons available: cartoons, animals, expressions, aliens, Christmas, love related and more.
Let’s select one of them, and press the enter key. It will be shown in the conversation for other contacts to see.
There is an icon for attaching photos. When clicking on it, a window will be opened for you to choose and add a photo or image to your conversation.
In this window you will see several tabs, the first is “Upload Photos”, where you can upload photos directly from your computer to your conversation.
In the second one is “Auto Backup”. This is responsible for making a backup for all your uploaded images and conversations, whether on your smartphone or computer.
Then, you have the “Photos” tab, which are those images that have been previously saved in your Google Hangouts account. Let’s select one of the images by clicking on it.
After clicking on “Select”, the image is loaded into the conversation window. Before sending it, you will see that in the upper right corner of the image there is an icon. This is to edit your image.
When you click on it, some options for editing will be shown. You can change the color in your image, or write some text on it.
After making any changes or writing something on the image, press the enter key or click on “send”. Then you click on the image and it will be automatically sent to the conversation.
Let’s go back to the attaching photos section and the “Albums” tab. Here, all the pictures you have shared and received during the conversations are saved. Below each image will appear the date and name of the contact who sent you the picture.
Next to the “Photos” tab, you will see the “Video Search” tab.
When clicking on this tab, a google search box will pop up, where you can enter the name or topic of the videos you want to find and share. The google search engine will search and show you all the options found. After that, just choose the most suitable or appropriate one.
In order to do this, you have to write the name of the video you need and click on “Search” in the right side of the search box, or simply press the enter key. Then, all available videos related to the word, phrase or name you entered in the search box will be displayed.
If you click on a video, it will begin playing. You can view its content to make sure it has what you want. Otherwise you can take a look at the other videos.
If one of the videos is what you are looking for, just click on it and then click “Select”. When it is displayed in the conversation window, press the enter key and the video will be shared.
Let’s go back to the attaching photos section. Next to the “Video search” tab is the “Web camera” tab.
You can use this for video conferencing and video calls. When using it, a dialog box will pop up asking you whether you want to allow Google to access your camera and microphone.
This is necessary so that Google Hangouts will be able to activate these devices in order to start a video call or video conference.
Google Hangout Phone Calls
As you might expect, you also have the ability to make phone calls with Google Hangouts.
Google Hangouts has ample opportunities for communicating with anyone you want, no matter where you are. It is available for Android and iOS smartphone devices, laptops and desktop computers, so you can use it from anywhere.
With this service, you can call for free anywhere in the world to others who are using Hangouts, for a very low cost to fixed and mobile phones, and for free to Canada and the USA.
Sometimes you only need to give short instructions or communicate with someone who doesn’t have the app, just have a phone. Considering this, your reach is unlimited when it comes to communicating.
Can you imagine calling a landline phone from your computer? You could do it from your office. In order to do this, you need to have speakers and a microphone in your computer.
To call from a Smartphone, you only need to install Hangouts Dialer. Within this application, you will have a dial pad like any other smartphone.
You can also start a phone call to the person you are chatting with by pressing the Phone Call tab. You must be connected to a Wi-Fi service or use a 3G network or higher.
Despite the practical use of this service, it should not be used for emergency calls. You can direct all other phone calls to be made through this application.
In all cases, you must have a Google account which you can associate to this service. You can make these phone calls using almost any browser, whether Firefox, Safari or Chrome. For the last one, there are very practical extensions.
In hangouts.google.com, in the upper left corner of the main window there are some tabs, arrayed vertically. The first of which is the Contacts tab, the second is the Conversations tab, and the third is the Phone Calls tab.
Let’s click on the Phone Calls tab. A window will pop up. At the top of the window, you will find an image showing the country code and a box for typing the name or phone number of the person you want to call.
When you click on the country code image (a little flag), a list of international codes will be displayed. Then, in the box located on the right, enter the phone number you want to call.
If you have already entered the number, click on “Call”. In doing so, you will see some instructions and conditions that must be met in order to make phone calls.
After that, click on “I accept”. You will see a dialog box thanking you for subscribing. Now, click on “Proceed” which is located at the bottom of the window.
When clicking on “Proceed”, a dialog box will be shown indicating that you do not have enough credits to make that call, but that is certainly not a problem and can be fixed. Just click on “Buy credits”.
You will be sent to your Google account; to the Google Voice Settings section. Here you will find various options and a record of your calls in Hangouts, as well as some options for smartphones.
There are 3 tabs there, which are: “Phones”, “Billing” and “Account”. Let’s take a look at each of them.
Phones: Here you can see the phone numbers which are available and their source, whether it’s your email or your Google+ account.
Billing: With this tab, you’ll see the balance you have for making calls via Google Hangouts. Also, in this window you can buy credit to make calls and see your billing history.
Account: This tab is for setting up your account. Here, you can choose the language, time zone, and even change your password.
In the “Billing” tab, you can purchase credit to make your calls. For this example, let’s click on “Add $10.00 credit”.
In doing so, a window will appear, that specifies what you are paying for.
You must enter your data in each indicated field in order to process the purchase properly. The required data are the country of residence, name, and address, among others.
Then, you must choose your payment method (debit or credit), after which you click on “Accept and Continue”.
Now you have the necessary credit to make calls and enjoy this spectacular service of Google Hangouts.
Google Hangout Video Calls
In addition to instant messaging and phone calls, you can also make video calls. Let’s go over to the Google Hangouts home page again.
The first step you need to do is click on the “Video Call” icon. It is an icon with a little camera on it.
It will display a series of options that will allow you to communicate through a camera with people close to you, from work environment or business, with friends, colleagues and family members, in a professional, safe and fun way.
You can make the best and most entertaining video calls from your computer by adding sound effects and images.
With the video calling application, you can watch videos in a group. You can also capture an important family moment with a photo or share spreadsheets, statistics, and graphs, whatever you want to share with your contacts.
With Google Hangouts, remember that you can share a link through Gmail or through Google+.
Enter the full name or Gmail address of the person you want to invite to the video call.
By clicking on the “Video Call” tab, you can also enable phone calls. Your contacts will receive an invitation to your video call no matter what kind of device they are using at the time.
In case they are not in front of the computer, their phone will ring, so they can easily join you. You can even add people to an ongoing video call from a mobile device.
Most calls to the USA and Canada are for free, and you can make international calls with excellent fares.
By clicking “I accept”, you understand and agree that Google Voice is a call management enhanced application and does not allow you to make or receive emergency calls. It is important to read all the service terms.
Before you start a video call, it is necessary that you become more familiar with some options which are very useful during a call on Google Hangouts.
On the upper part of the page, you will observe a toolbar that will be useful to:
Invite people
Mute the microphone: Click on the microphone button at the top of the window to mute the microphone. When the microphone is muted, the button will turn red. To turn the sound back on, click on the button again and it will turn gray, that way, the other participants will know that they can already hear you.
Turn camera off: If you don’t want people to see you, you can turn off your camera by clicking on the video camera button. When your camera is turned off, the other person using Hangouts will not be able to see you. To turn the video back on, click on the video camera button, and the other person will see you.
Adjust bandwidth usage: If you’re having problems getting a good video or audio quality on your Hangout, perhaps it is because of a bad Internet connection or that your computer speed is rather slow. Adjusting the bandwidth usage can help. For changing the bandwidth usage, click the bandwidth button at the top of the video call window and you will increase the level of quality.
Settings: By clicking on “Settings”, you can run sound tests, enable speakers, adjust your camera and send additional diagnostic reports to help improve Hangouts.
Leave call: use it to end the call.
By moving the pointer to the top left of the window, you will see some options displayed vertically.
When you click on “Chat”, the first blue icon, you will find the option to invite more people to be in touch with you. You could also share the permanent link, bookmark it and come back at any anytime.
“Share Screen” is the second icon displayed located in the upper left, it is a green icon.
This option is excellent for video conferences or for any training you want to have with your employees. It also allows you to share information, spreadsheets and graphics
You just need to select “Share Screen” and click on “Share”. If you want, you can invite more people and click on “Present to everyone”.
To end the screen sharing, you have to click on “Stop” at the top of the window, and select the “Stop presenting”.
Now let’s click on “Invite people”
Enter the name or the Gmail address of the person you are looking for and invite them to a video call by clicking on “Invite”.
From that moment on, you can have conversations with up to 10 people! Basically, invite anyone you want to share information with in a fast and easy way.
When using any of the explained options, you will have excellent flow of information when it comes to sharing it with your contacts.
Another, but no less important option is the Apps. Click on the Ellipsis icon (…), and then on Add Apps.
If you want to use any of them, you only have to download the service you want. They will be added immediately to the control panel located on the left side of the screen.
Video calls can be more productive or fun if you add apps to create documents, play games and add fun effects.
Remember that you need a Google+ profile if you want to add apps
Google Hangout Apps
Besides being able to make video calls with several people, Google Hangouts also offers you highly helpful tools which will help you get the MOST out of the service for your business.
Google Hangout has a variety of free applications, which will help you in different ways when making video calls.
First, let’s go to the video calls area by clicking on “video call”
In the upper left corner, there is an icon with three dots. “…” Click on it. Then, click on “+ Add apps” and see all the amazing applications Hangouts offers.
If you want to start using them, just install them to your video call application. The icons are then added to the Control Panel and you will see them listed on the left side of the main screen, where all participants in the video call can see them as well.
In “Recent” you will able to see what applications you have already added.
In “Developer” you will have the opportunity to learn how to create your own apps, you can click on “Build one!”, for more information about it.
The Hangouts API enables you to develop collaborative apps that run inside of a Google+ Hangout. You can write your app as either a hangout application or extension.
Here you can find all necessary information on how to create Google Hangout Apps, which should be fun.
Returning to the “video call” area, click on “featured” to see the available applications.
The first one we see is called Draw, which is a tool to draw on each other inside of a hangout.
Ringcentral for hangouts allows Rincentral users and google hangouts users to bridge to a single conference call.
With Flat, you can create music scores online and in real-time with all the participants of your video hangout.
Soundation studio is an app for creating music with your friends in a hangout.
Sporcle, is a mentally stimulating diversion you can play with friends.
Hangout toolbox provides several apps to improve your hangout experience.
Warlinght is a customizable strategy game where you compete with your friends to conquer the world.
With Google art project, you can join friends on a tour around inspiring artworks using the google art project.
Symphonical can make it fun to get things done together!
The game Panoramio consists of a multiplayer game in which the players guess where the panoramio photos are taken.
With the YouTube App, you can watch YouTube videos together on the video call.
With Google Effects, you can insert Silly hats and more.
Scoot & Doodle lets you share and play in a fun new way!
Cacoo is a user friendly online drawing tool. Multiple users editing the same diagram means real-time collaboration.
UberConference, gets you a free phone number that participants can call to access your hangouts from their phone.
Let’s install an App so you can see how easy it is.
Let’s click on “Cacoo for hangouts”
As you install the app, you will need to make decisions to allow the app to do certain things.
The first one says: “This app is requesting permission to associate you with your Google Public profile.”
The second one says: “View a list of participants in your Hangouts and Their public profile information.”
And the third one says: ‘View and manage your audio and video feeds to this video call’ (for example, microphone and video mute settings, video and audio effects)
Finally, click on “Allow”.
Now, you’ll see your app listed and ready to use in your video calls.
Google Hangout for Mobile
A very practical way to use the Google Hangouts service is through your mobile device. This way you can use all of its features in a portable form.
The first thing to do is download the software onto your device and configure it for your Smartphone using your Google account.
Downloading and using this application is very straightforward. After logging into your Google account, you can access the Play Store to download or upgrade it to the last version.
Go to the App Store, and in the search box enter “Hangouts”. You’ll see 2 apps, both related to this service.
The first is hangouts Dialer – Phone Call, select the icon with 3 dots arrayed vertically. One of the options listed is to install or update. Select that and wait for the process to take place.
Another way is by clicking on the app icon directly. In doing so, you can install both Hangouts apps.
Once it is installed, you can open it from the application itself or find it among your Smartphone apps. Just click on the icon, and it will begin running.
The first time you run the app, it will ask if you want to integrate or associate this device phone number to the Hangouts service. You can decide whether to enable it or not.
The menu is in the upper left, represented with three horizontal bars. Here, you will find several options such as Change user, Change status, Stop notifications, Contacts, Invites, Archived, Blocked people, Settings and Help & Feedback.
Switch User: This has two options. One is about adding more accounts, in which you can attach additional accounts. The other is about administrating your accounts. Here, you can view the added accounts to the profile in your device.
Status: Here, you can write the way you are feeling, what you are thinking or any other information you want all your contacts to see. After adding your plans, how you feel or whatever you want, remember to update your status.
Stop Notification: This option is to keep your device from showing any notifications. You can choose between not showing any notification at all, or to go 1, 2, 4, 8, 24, and 72 hours without notifications.
Contacts: Here you can view all your contacts. You can see the ones you previously added to your device, those using google+, and everyone else who uses Hangouts. You could select any of them for starting a communication.
Invitations: Here you will see invitations sent to you from other users.
Archived: Here you can view all the files that have been sent to you and also the ones you have sent to others.
Blocked people: Here you will see all the contacts you have blocked.
Settings: Here you can select the option of viewing your SMS directly in the Hangouts app.
You have the option of setting features related to your SMS in your mobile devices, such as ringtones, group messages, delete old messages, delivery reports, and more. Here you can also adjust and add new accounts associated with Google.
Here you can view a variety of help topics that you may need at any time.
On the app home page, you will see three more options. The first has an image representing a conversation, the second has a phone speaker showing that it is for making calls, and the third, in the lower right, has a circle with a plus symbol.
With these options, you can choose between continuing a previous conversation, to make a video call or create a new group, or to start a new conversation by selecting a new contact from the contacts list.
As to conversations, you have the option of starting a video call by clicking on the icon with the image of a camera or starting a call without using a camera by clicking on the phone icon.
There are other features you can adjust such as: people and options, new group conversation, disable recording, written conversations, save or delete received and sent files, and help.
At the lower part of the application, you’ll see other features such as emoticons, send images, send a picture directly, and send shapes.
There is also a unique feature for mobile devices to send points of a location to other people or to a group. It will take you to Google Maps and will use the GPS to indicate where your device is located.
There are two ways for you to buy credit for making calls. The first one is at the upper right, it is a white circle with a cross. It indicates the amount of credit you have at that moment and how to buy new credit.
The other option is by directly making a call. You can type the name of the contact. If it is already saved in your address book, an option for making the call will pop up. You can also type the phone number at the bottom of the screen.
If you type the number and there is not enough credits in your account, you will be sent to a website to purchase more credit.
You buy credit by selecting the first option there. Then you must provide the data of your credit card, in case it is not associated to your account.
After that, you will be able to start using this service. You can call anywhere in the world, whether it be a landline or a cell phone with this app, for a low cost or for free. You only need to be connected to a Wi-Fi network or have a 3G or higher data connection.
How to promote your Google Hangouts
Use Google Hangouts On Air
Google Hangouts On Air is a simulcast on your Google+ website and YouTube channel. Both, Hangouts and Hangouts On Air, are video conferencing tools.
The main difference is that the Hangouts calls are private. Only people who have been invited know about them and there can be up to ten people on the call. Hangouts On Air calls are public and broadcasted live on YouTube.
You can use this tool to reach a much wider audience, because there is no limit. Google Hangouts On Air is the best choice for you to reach more people.
Google Hangouts On Air works with both, Google+ and YouTube accounts. You must set up your accounts so that both accounts are connected.
If you have several profiles, choose the one that suits you best for using it, because once you have set it up, it will be difficult to disassociate.
Invite People through social media.
Social networks are an effective tool when it comes to delivering information to a large number of people, or to a specific community.
Facebook is a very successful website. It is in high demand, being one of the most used social networks. Many of its users, check their page daily. Therefore, you could share your information with your friends by placing your link there. Facebook has different advertising tools such as posts, pages, groups, ads, etc.
Another option is Twitter. You can tweet your link or create a Google Hangouts related trend on Twitter. There, you might find other Twitter users which are part of the Google Hangouts community. This way you can establish new circles.
This will surely shock you, but you can even stream Google Hangouts On Air to Twitter and Facebook. It is something certainly worth learning.
Other widely used social networks that can be used for sharing your Google Hangouts link are Instagram, hi5, and Myspace, among others.
Share it with your circles
Google+ enables you to have unlimited circles. Share Hangouts with various circles, not only the current ones, but always look for more. Let all your circles know about coming events that may be of interest to them.
After making a couple of Hangouts, go back to the first ones. Create a circle with those who attended your first events and give them preferential notice. Perhaps in the future they will be proactive about your events.
Remember to consider all of your circles or at least those which are responding. Always let them know of any coming events you decide to perform.
If you possess various accounts, you can only choose one when using Google Hangouts. Share this selected account with your other accounts, in case you decide to use another for any reason.
Always try to reach more people. To achieve this, your message should be relevant and attention-grabbing.
Your message can be about anything you want, but be careful when promoting it. You must emphasize its main purpose for the message to be well understood.
Embed it in your blog
By creating a blog, you can publish the dates for your talks or lectures you wish to perform on your specialized subject.
One of the great advantages of a blog is that people can subscribe to your blog feed. Whenever there is a new post they will instantly be able to see it.
You can set up your blog, with an introduction about yourself, so they will know with whom they are interacting. You can also talk about your purpose on the issue you are going to address.
As your blog grows, you will have more followers. That way you are getting more people in Google Hangouts to share with.
Invite your Niche Email Contact List
You can use email as a strategy, inviting people to share with you in Google Hangouts. This is very effective because you are making a direct contact, which will go into in their inbox.
In doing so, they could respond to you, give you their opinion about your work, tell you if they are interested in the topic you are going to address and whether they want to participate in your talk or conference.
It is extremely important to create lists of people who are interested in your work and segment them by the topic they are interested in.
For example, you can have a list of people interested in weight loss. Other lists may be interested in controlling diabetes, and others in online marketing.
Once you get your new Hangouts, you can start inviting the appropriate list based on the subject you are going to address.
