I’ve suspected for awhile that since the launch of Google Plus Communities three months ago, I am not receiving the same level of engagement as I did in the past. My analysis does confirm my suspicions. I now have to work harder to receive the same overall level of engagement as in the past. More over, the quality of that engagement is declining.

Whereas these results reflect my experience, they might not necessarily be applicable to all users and may not be as meaningful when applied across the entire Google Plus ecosystem. There are some power users, or more accurately G+ attractors — people who attract massive followings — for whom the quantity and quality of engagement is most likely constant or even increasing. However I do believe that for the majority of Google Plus users, these results most likely apply. Read more »

I’m working on several startups concurrently. One which will hard launch later this year is in the epublishing space. The second one is in the biotech space. This startup is in its nascent stages as my partner and I are still building out the founding team and working on the business model. The third, and newest concept, is an ecommerce startup in the health and fitness space.

The last mentioned opportunity is actually not a startup yet as I am in the information-gathering stage. Whether I decide to promote it to a viable startup depends on the results of what I call my startup due diligence process.

Red Flags A Waving

As I’m going about the process of due diligence with this concept — determining whether or not this opportunity makes business sense — a big potential red flag has become apparent. This year or next, there might very well be a massive headache with respect to collecting online sales tax from out-of-state customers. Read more »