Do you finally have a Google+ profile? Now that you have set up your profile and segmented your friends, family and colleagues into circles, now is the time to start taking advantage of Google Photos to use Google+ to your advantage. Using Google Photos allows you to use Google+ to build a personal brand or a portfolio, keep in touch with family, or use your Google+ profile as a way to amp up your personal and social life.

Personal Branding. Google+ is a great tool that allows users to develop a comprehensive profile to establish reputation, credibility, and expertise. If you’re using Google+ as part of your personal branding strategy, use Google Photos to demonstrate your presence in your niche. This means keeping the pictures of partying and laying poolside over on Facebook, while featuring conferences you have attended, pictures with other thought leaders, and a few headshots of yourself. The goal is to keep it professional while still retaining your personality. If your expertise involves design or photography, be sure to include albums specifically labeled as your portfolio, too.

Families. The inherent structure of Google+ includes several levels of privacy that make this new social network from Google ideal for communicating with family members without colleagues or strangers seeing pictures of your kids or other details of your private life. If you have set specific circles to include only family members, you can set the visibility settings of photos you upload to Google Photos in your Google+ account so only these family circles can see these photos. Keep in mind though that this doesn’t guarantee these photos won’t get into the wrong hands, as anyone can copy or take a screenshot of any photo a user uploads to Google Photos.

Friends and Dating. Google+ is a great way to find and meet new people, as we discovered here at LockerGnome. At least for now, Google+ is an easy way to set up a free profile that can be searched by apps like Find People on Plus. If you want to use Google+ to meet new people, use Google+ Photos to show off your personality and interests on a personal level. While the Google+ user using Google+ to establish their personal brand takes a more professional approach when selecting pictures, you may want to include albums showing your latest rock climbing adventure or soccer game if you’re looking to meet new people on a personal level. Since this means you’re using Google+ more openly than, say, families, you will want to leave your pictures on a public setting.

How are you using your Google+ profile? Are you choosing your Google Photos for specific purposes, or for specific people to see? Let us know your tips, tricks, and Google+ strategy in the comments.