10 MUST HAVE Twitter Tips

A beautiful thing about Twitter is the wealth of useful information that flows. (if you're following cool tweeps!) But if you're a newbie to Twitter, you can easily make mishaps if you don't know the "twetiquette". I've compiled a TOP 10 List of MUST HAVE Tips to help you out. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

Twitter Tips

1. Be yourself, but be aware. Yes, you can say whatever you feel like saying, but remember that whatever you write will exist in the world wide web forever! Proceed with extreme caution. The place to vent about your boss, company or co-workers is NOT here.

2. Engage and Interact with others. If you like something they say, reply by clicking the little grey arrow that appears when you hover over one of their tweets. (If you're using Tweet Deck, simply hit the @reply tool) You can also simply type in @username (replacing "username" with whatever their username happens to be on Twitter). This is the way you speak to someone on Twitter. Even BETTER than the @reply is the RT, or Re-Tweet. Tweeple (twitter people) are MORE likely to read a RT because if you thought it was cool enough to send to YOUR followers, then possibly they will to. It's a great little trick for getting followers.

3. Follow celebrities. They may never interact with you, but at least you can interact with them. It's no longer a question of who is on Twitter -- but who ISN'T on Twitter. Common interests build relationships. Celebrities and/or those who follow them are no different.

4. Third Party Applications Are A MUST! If you're Tweeting from the twitter home page, you're behind the times. Did you know that you can Twitter from your desktop, your iphone or blackberry? Twitter allows programmers to create tools to make using Twitter a better experience for us all. There's Twitterrific, TweetDeck, and Twhirl -- just to name a few. My personal preference is Tweet Deck.

5. Follow New People Daily Don't know who to follow? A quick search for some of your favorite things on search.twitter.com will quickly reveal who you should be following on Twitter. Maybe they'll follow you back! You can also use Twello (it's like the yellow pages of Twitter) I don't recommend "auto follow" apps because it defeats the purpose of Twitter: transparency and authenticity.

6. Follow government officials. Check to see if your elected officials are Tweeting. http://tweetcongress.org Regardless of what political views you have, you have to admit that the Obama campaign dominated social media--especially Twitter.

7. Ask the Twitterverse Twitter is all about giving FIRST--especially helpful information. If you have a need, a question or need a resource, ask the Twitterverse. News and information travels at the speed of light there!

8. Tweetups I've successfully connected OFFLINE with Twitter connections that started online. Not only have I made friends but I've developed strategic business alliances and gained new clients. ALL FOR FREE using Twitter. Simply put, a Tweetup is a gathering of fellow Twitter users in your local community. If you don't have one in your area, start one!

9. NO AUTOMATIC Follower Getters! I know it SOUNDS tempting when you read the ads. "Get 15,000 followers in 30 days." But ask yourself this, how are you REALISTICALLY going to interact with all those people? And are they REALLY listening to you? Probably not. Choose who you follow (and unfollow) YOURSELF. You'll thank me for it as you develop REAL connections.

10. Use Twetiquette! The same courtesies you give offline also apply online. DON'T BE THAT GUY OR GIRL! What I mean is this: Don't send people links to buy your stuff UNTIL they ask for it! Twitter is a NETWORKING tool, not a sales tool. The sales part comes AFTER you develop and cultivate your new relationships. Ask people being to know, like and trust you you will find they are more open to learning about your product or service.

Can Social Media Efforts Be Measured?

I was recently asked if social media efforts can be measured. In fact a client of mine shared that she feels as though she's been "spinning her wheels" simply because she hasn't yet seen what she deems a fruitful relationship (i.e. new sales partner) develop from her efforts.

My client feels this sense of what I call "The Treadmill Effect"(where you are contstantly running, but never seem to arrive anywhere) because her efforts are not entirely targeted or purposeful. Therefore, she has not accomplished her goal. Simply stated, it is because she did not start with the end in mind.

To really "dig" into the processes that can be measured, I came across this great article today. This quote gets to the heart of the matter:

"I’m going to take the last bit of this mammoth post to say something critically important. Every single metric above - every single one - is tied to something else that doesn’t have it’s own metric. It’s the strength of the relationships between people. That’s nearly impossible to put on any kind of yardstick, but it’s the underpinning of ALL of these things. Better relationships drive better business, period. You may not be able to measure the relationships themselves, but all of the metrics above are indications - the results, if you will - of how well you’ve cultivated those relationships on a human level."

Get A Yardstick, Mar 2009
Read the entire article. You will thank me!

Let's Get It Started!

Lately, I've met with clients who are overwhelmed by the sheer number of networks available online. So WHERE do you start? My humble suggestion is to start with the following networks to get in the game: Twitter and LinkedIn. Understand that each has its own culture and language but each can be highly effective when used properly.

Twitter is a micro-blogging community. That’s a fancy way of saying it’s an online version of a cocktail party. And truly, it is as conversational as that. You build your network by ‘following’ others and getting others to ‘follow’ you. In the Twitter world, this means that anything you enter will appear on the timeline for your followers to view and vice versa. You can simply begin by setting up a free profile and then LISTEN to what the buzz is all about. To listen, you simply read. Read what, you ask? TWEETS, of course!

A tweet is the slang used for any single message posted at the site. Each tweet is limited to 140 characters, so you must be brief and to the point. You can tweet as little or as much as you like. There are applications that can be managed from your desktop and even your mobile phone device—but we will discuss that another day.

Just have fun and remember, it’s supposed to be less formal than what you’re used to encountering in the work place. That’s the brilliance of it. It allows your clients, colleagues and customers to see behind the curtain, so to speak. Your personality shines through and that is why they will clamor to do business with you!

LinkedIn is considered the “professional’s” social network, although Facebook is beginning to challenge that. LinkedIn allows you to list your educational background, work history and even connect with past colleagues, co-workers and classmates.

It is not for the faint of heart, as the language can often seem as though you’re reading a resume how to guide. Don’t let this deter you, as everyone isn’t impressed by the jargon nor is it required. In fact, the lingo associated with this site had me so paralyzed with fear that I completely ignored this side in my own marketing efforts.

However, through my use of other social media communities, I too realized that there WAS a place for me (the work-at-home-mom-business-owner) on LinkedIn. So, I’ve been busy building MY professional network there. After all, I have to walk the talk!

So you see, you and I are similar..,we ALL need to start somewhere. Each time a new network emerges that adds value to my online presence; I will need to begin anew. It’s ever changing and evolving.

Want to test your skills? Set up a profile on Twitter. Follow me and I will follow you back. Let's also get LinkedIn together!

Tweet you later!

This Ain't Your Momma's Networking!

What IS social media? Wikipedia defines Social media as: primarily Internet- and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings.

If you thought that social media was only for teenagers or single people trying to find love, you thought wrong! It’s here to stay and taking the internet by storm. There’s no time like the present to jump in, join the crowd, engage in conversation and if truth be told have fun while building your business.

Social media is quite literally a “virtual” word-of-mouth marketing network. Just how important are social media conversations about you and/or your business? Check out the following statistics:

• More than 1 in 8 viewers make a purchase after watching a video ad online – eMarketer
• Facebook has 150,000 new users sign up every single day – Time Magazine
• As of October 2006, about 100,000 new blogs were created every day – Technorati
• LinkedIn has a 137% growth year over year bringing its visitors to about 8 million per month - compete.com

Small business owners are beginning to realize the need to leverage social media to grow their businesses. However, it has been my recent experience that many do not know where to start, or worse--how to get the most out of their social media efforts.

I attended a networking event for women business owners and decided to conduct my own case study. I posed a seemingly simple question to each lady I encountered. “Are you incorporating social media in the growth strategy for your business?” One of two things occurred. Either the look of a “deer-caught-in-the-headlights” appeared on their face, followed by a blank stare, followed by the inevitable response of “HUH?! Social WHO?” or I received an overwhelmingly confident “I have a profile on LinkedIn!” Obviously, the latter was given in an effort to imply THAT was all they needed. How would you respond? Wait…don’t answer that!

Whether you realize it or not, the only person who is going to drive your business and our economy forward is YOU. It’s time to put a new plan into effect and it is crucial that social media networking be included in that plan. People aren’t just wasting time on social networking sites anymore. Savvy and growing businesses are utilizing these tools to build new relationships with those that can bring them new business. Even more impressive are those “BIG” businesses (E.g., Jet Blue, Dell, Whole Foods, Apple) using social media tools, such as Twitter, to improve customer retention and satisfaction by adding a “human” element to their brand—thus driving sales.

For the record, social media is NOT a sales tool. It is a relationship building tool that will drive sales, if done properly. Utilizing social media is a lot like networking offline, meaning that it’s easier to get and give business with people you know on a personal level. Your goal is to let them see the authentic you in order to build relationships. Once that is done you’ll have a captive audience ready to give back to you!(Hint: that’s where the SALES part comes into play.)

It’s not so much the method that you choose (whether LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, etc.) but what you do WITHIN that community that matters most. Having 10 profiles in 10 different networks only to never return again will do LESS for you than having 2 or 3 profiles in communities where you are an active participant.

Bottom line: You better put your “big girl” panties on and just do it, because your competition is!