Google+ used to be seen as an Internet equivalent of a ghost town, with too few users to be useful as a marketing platform. But over the course of 2013, that perception slowly began to change. First, Global Web Index reported that Google+ had overtaken Twitter to become the second most actively used social network. Then the numbers started coming in: in October 2013, it was reported that Google+ had 540 million active users uploading 1.5 billion photos a week. That’s a lot of users, any way you look at it.

With the growing user base, Google+ has now become a much more viable social networking platform for brand marketing. But in a crowded market, you need more than just ideas to get the most out of Google+ marketing. You need to be able to analyse your posting habits and promotional efforts to see what works and what doesn’t. Here are 5 best tools and services that will help you do just that.

Recommended Reading: Google+: Useful Keyboard Shortcuts, Tips & Tricks

1. All My + Statistics

All My + Statistics is probably the most essential tool for Google+ marketers. It’s a free analytics tool that can provide data for any public Google+ profile or page. It can also interpret and present existing Google Takeouts data. Using All My + Statistics, you can gain an insight into, amongst others:

• Total number of posts, +1s and shares
• Total and average number of comments, +1s and reshares for your shared posts
• Whose content you share the most, and who shares your content the most
• Most popular posts on Google+

All My + Statistics also has a handy search feature that lets you search all of Google+ for particular phrases or keywords. This can be useful for tracking shares of your posts and finding other users or pages that have similar content.

2. Circloscope

Circloscope is a Chrome extension for Google+ circle management. It’s not completely free, but there is a free trial available that is only limited in terms of features. Even though the free version doesn’t have all of the features the premium version has, there’s still a lot that you can do. Some of the lists Circloscope can generate include:

• A list of your followers
• A list of the most relevant people in your circles
• A list of people who follow or don’t follow you back
• Lists of people who have shared, +1′d or commented on your posts

The premium version costs $47 a year, and adds a number of potentially useful features, including the ability to add and remove people to your circles in mass.

3. CircleCount

CircleCount is a free analytics and statistics tool focused on Google+’s circles feature. As the name suggests, it counts the circles that you are included in. CircleCount can provide you with a general report that includes information such as local and global page rank. But that’s not all that CircleCount will do, of course. You can also use CircleCount to:

• Generate a graph for follower statistics
• Search for users based on location
• Generate yearly reports
• Create a custom ranking feature to find profiles or pages

The site claims that CircleCount is "just for fun", but the metrics and data CircleCount provides should prove invaluable for marketers looking to make the most out of Google+. Just take note that to get full access to all the features, you’ll have to register.

4. Simply Measured

Simply Measured is a visual analytics service that can generate a number of different types of reports for Google+ pages. However, the only free report it can generate is a general Google+ page report, and even then this free report is limited to pages with less than 100,000 circles. The report analyses the last two weeks of a Google+ page’s performance, and includes:

• Number of +1s, comments and shares
• Top users and commenters
• Keyword analysis

If you’re willing to pay, Simply Measured can also provide you with brand page reports, competitive analysis and an analysis of multiple Google+ pages. There’s a free 14-day trial for the paid services in case you want to try them out before committing.

5. NOD3x

NOD3x is a Social Network Analysis (SNA) service that can be used to track and measure the impact of topics and keywords in social media. It’s of particular interest to Google+ users since it allows you to log in and analyse your posts on Google+ and YouTube. NOD3x is an example of semantic search, and can draw graphs (some of them real time) for information such as:

• Statistics (total posts, number of posts with links, unique authors) for search terms
• Gender analysis
• Post locations and volume
• Sentiment Analysis

There’s a lot you can do with NOD3x, and the best way to find out what it can do for you is to give it a go yourself. Note that NOD3x is still actively being developed, so there may be some bugs present, as well as features that are yet to be added.

Love is in the air! Valentine's Day is just around the corner and it’s a perfect time to share the love around with amazing freebies! What we have got for you today is a compilation of 20 Valentine’s Day icon sets you can download for free.

From hearts to teddy bears and candies to bottles of wine, you are bound to pick up some icons from the list that will fit any feel or atmosphere that you may want to achieve – all in the spirit of Valentine's Day, of course.

You may wanna use these icons to add a romantic touch to your invitations, flyers, postcards, logos, business cards, and websites. Just click on the relevant links provided to download any of them. As always, please read the licensing information (if there’s any) for each icon set before using it, especially for commercial purposes.

Recommended Reading: In The Mood For Love: 50 Wallpapers For Valentine’s Day

Free St. Valentine's Icon Set by Cuberto

Free Saint Valentine's Day Icon Set by Vitaly Friedman

20 Elegant Love and Romance Glyph Icons by Onextrapixel Team

Romantic Valentine Retro Labels And Decor Vector 02

Chocolate Hearts Icons by Double-J Design

Free Vector Icon Set for Valentine's Day by Succo Design

Free Valentine's Day Hearts & Rose Vector Icons by Zee Que

Bear by Soda

Share the Love by Daisy Binks

Valentine's Day Icon Set by Lea Botwinick

Free Vector Valentine Heart Icons by Zee Que

Love Icon Set by Melissa Renee Pohl

Set of Love Theme Icon Mix Vector 03 by rgb

Set of Love Theme Icon Mix Vector 01

Hand Drawn Valentine Icons – 6 Free PSD Heart Icons by Mariusz Zawistowicz

5 Red Hot Love Icons – A Valentine's Day Treat from YTD by Mark Geno Arguelles

Teddy Bears with Hearts by Bazaar Designs

Flat Design Icons Set Vol2 by Pixeden

More Free Valentine’s Day Icons by VectorJungle

Free eCommerce Icon Set by Katya Prokofyeva

A lot of freelance designers find themselves stuck in the same place, year after year, serving the same types of clients despite their desire to move on to bigger and better opportunities. There are any number of reasons for this, but one of the most important ones is that many designers simply don’t know what these higher quality clients really want.

They don’t understand the problems these clients have, and thus have no idea how to approach them with a solution. We’re going to explore some ways you can dive deeper into the psychology of those coveted ideal clients (whatever that is for you), and how you can present yourself as their ideal designer.

Recommended Reading: How To Become A High-Demand Designer (And Get The Good Clients)

It’s Not About You

Sorry, but I have some hard news: no one cares about you. At least not at first, before they have a chance to work with you and develop a trust in your abilities. When pitching new clients, it’s important to realize that they don’t actually give a damn how awesome a designer you are.

Don’t give me that look – it’s true. I know you might have been told in the past that potential clients are looking for you to “sell yourself” and deliver a book’s worth of superlatives about your work to anyone who will listen

But I’m telling you right now: if you do this, you’re doing it wrong. It’s not about you; it’s about what you can do for them. Using too many “I’s” and not enough “you’s” will almost certainly get you ignored.

Read Also: Designers – Do You Have Too Much Ego For Your Own Good?

Get Into Their World

All right, since it’s about them and not you, how do you convey this to a potential client? They key is to ask people in your target niche exactly how you can help them achieve the result they most desire. Be specific. Asking what some freelancers call “lifestyle questions” can provide you with a wealth of information that you can use to zero in on the perfect solution.

Lifestyle questions are not just about a client’s specific project, but about how the project impacts their business and their customer’s lives. These types of questions help you get a sense of what’s really bothering your client.

The closer your solution is to a genuine, major pain point, the more a client will value your work, and the less they will complain about paying you what you’re worth.

Read Also: Freelancers – How To Work Better With Your Clients

Assist, Don’t Sell

Every business owner appreciates it when someone takes the time to think for them, providing even more opportunities to make money and connect with their customers than they would have thought of on their own. How do your ideal clients earn most of their revenue? What can you do, using your unique skill set, that could help them make even more?

Making independent suggestions for services your clients will appreciate gets them talking about you like little else. It’s important not to actively sell new potential clients on these types of services, as that can make you seem shady and mercenary.

Rather, offer them a taste of your creative problem solving with no strings attached, whetting their appetite for even more money-making possibilities from your designer brain.

Read Also: How To Explore Design Projects Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Show, Don’t Tell

Credibility is the secret ingredient to any freelance designer’s success. Anyone can list off a string of accomplishments that sound nice, but real top performers are able to prove that they can do what they claim. In a meeting with a potential client, you should always lead with any relevant credentials or connections you have.

People don’t care about what you can do; they care about what you’ve done. They want to see hard numbers and proven results. They prefer a warm introduction from someone they know and trust over a cold, unproven contact. If you don’t have that, an impressive sheet of data proving your value is the next best thing.

Care About Caring

Finally, being genuine and forming real relationships can carry you further in your career than you may realize. Tony Sheh, the founder of Zappos.com, is frequently asked to lecture at other companies about how Zappos managed to build its unique reputation for outstanding customer service.

He’s observed that a surprising number of CEOs have no idea of how to simply reach out and care about their customers.

It seems like such a simple concept, but just taking time out to make a human connection with someone is vanishingly rare in business. It doesn’t take much; a personalized email here, a special gift for a loyal client there. Be the exception and you will stand out to your clients and anyone else who associates with you.