Archive for the ‘Twitter’ Category
50 (of the) Best Twitter Guides, Stats, Tips and Tools of 2010 (So Far)
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010While a dwindling number of business executives still dismiss Twitter as a waste of time, recent research suggests it is one of the most valuable social networks for business. Awareness of Twitter has exploded; 87% of Americans said they were “familiar with” Twitter in a poll taken earlier this year, versus just 5% in 2008 and 26% in 2009. Although fewer Americans use Twitter than Facebook, Twitter users “are far more likely to follow Brands/ Companies than social networkers in general. 51% of active Twitter users follow companies, brands or products on social networks. Twitter users frequently exchange information about products and services.” 71% of business users now say Twitter is a useful tool, up from 59% a year ago. And 52% of journalists say they use Twitter to research stories and discover what’s hot.
So what are the best ways to use Twitter for business? How you can use it most effectively? Which tools are most helpful? You’ll find the answers to these questions and many more here in 50 of the best Twitter tools, posts, how-to guides and rants of 2010 so far.
Twitter Facts, Figures & Stats
New Data on Twitter Usage Can Strengthen Your Twitter Outreach by Search Engine Guide
Jennifer Laycock reports some fascinating statistics and insights from a HubSpot study, revealing factoids such as: the average Twitter user has about 300 followers and follows 170. Thursday is the busiest day of the week on Twitter, and the highest click through rate on tweeted links occurs between 2 and 3pm. Tweets that include links are far more likely to be retweeted than tweets without links. And much more.
The Truth About the Average Twitter User [STATS] by Mashable
Ben Parr digs into a study from Barracuda Labs demonstrating how power users rule on Twitter: “Only 26% of Twitter users had 10 followers or more by December 2009, while only 40% were following 10 people or more (in fact, a majority of Twitter users, 51%, were following less than five people)…only 21% of Twitter users are active users.”
I Tweet Therefore I Am by Brian Solis
How popular is Twitter? Who’s really using it? Brian Solis provides a wealth of statistics that answer these questions and more, e.g., 87% of Americans said they were familiar with Twitter in 2010, up from just 26% in 2009. Total volume is approaching 50 million tweets per day. Women slightly outnumber men, and one-third of Twitters are in the 25-34 year-old age bracket. 63% have at least a college degree, and roughly a quarter earn more than $75,000 per year (a figure that is likely higher, as 27% refused to answer the question).
The Ultimate List: 100+ Twitter Statistics by HubSpot
***** 5 Stars
Kipp Bodnar collects 17 Twitter infographics quantifying everything from the different categories of tweets and how Twitter compares to Facebook to the peak days for different types of tweets and the most-followed Twitter users (Ryan Seacrest beats CNN; that’s just sad).
Tracking the National Mood Through Twitter by The New York Times
Nick Bilton reports on how researchers from Northeastern University and Harvard have analyzed Twitter messages to keep tabs on the nation’s mood. Among the findings: during the work week, people are happiest in the early morning and late evening. When Twitter users get collectively upset, the most negative tweets tend to come from the central states and the East Coast. And as perhaps a hopeful sign, “the peak of happiness on Twitter is reached on Sunday mornings.”
Why should brands bother with Twitter? This table says why by Social Media Today
Dirk Singer uses data from an ExactTarget study to show that “US Twitter users in April 2010 were far more likely than general Internet users to post to forums (75% vs 25%), blog (72% vs 14%), comment on blogs (70% vs 23%) and post ratings / reviews (61% vs 20%). In other words, the 14 million odd people who regularly go on Twitter (as opposed to the 95 million that have signed up), are already active in social media, know how to make things happen and to create noise – good or bad – online, and take conversations elsewhere, be that to blogs, forums, other social networks, or even the mainstream media.”
How-To Guides and Best Practices
10 Tips to Getting More Retweets by TwiTip
Kiesha Easley shares her personal story of transition from Twitter newbie to expert and offers 10 tips for getting retweets she learned along the way including sending direct messages, tweeting others’ blog posts and responding to interesting tweets.
8 Simple Steps to Growing a Quality Twitter Following by Social Media Examiner
Cindy King supplies an excellent guide to creating a tweet plan, a strategic approach to using Twitter, though she helpfully warns “Don’t make the mistake of relying solely on the scheduled tweets in the tweet plan to connect with people and expect to build your business. You still need live tweets to engage with people.”
Secrets of Twitter Hashtags (For Those Still Unsure) by Interactive Insights Group
For those unsure of what hashtags are or unaware of their many uses on Twitter, Robin Broitman offers an extensive list of hashtag resources and guides.
Twitter: The 7 Rules of Business Engagement by Smedio
Douglas Idugboe advises Twitterers to keep their Twitter handle as short as possible (to help with retweets), avoid automated DM welcome messages (hate these!), be conversant, and retweet others among his best practices.
HOW TO: Make the Most of Your Twitter Profile Page by Mashable
Amy-Mae Elliott offers guidance on writing a great bio, selecting a Twitter picture, making the best use of your URL link and using lists to optimize your Twitter profile.
How to Monitor Your Brand Using Twitter Search by Pamorama
The always insightful Pam Dyer embeds and summarizes a video from John Hayden demonstrating how to create saved searches (for your brand, competitors, industry terms, etc.) in Twitter, track URL mentions, create feeds from searches and more.
Seven Habits of Highly Effective Tweets by Smedio
Jay Adams suggests that the “Twitter traits that make for effective tweets” include clarity, brevity (pretty much a requirement given the 140-character limit), and strategic use of keywords and links among other characteristics.
62 Ways to Use Twitter for Business by GigaOM
Twitter isn’t just for linking to blog posts or telling the world what you had for breakfast, as Meryl K Evans demonstrates in this extensive list of the business uses of Twitter such answering questions, providing highlights from a conference or event, getting and giving referrals, finding topic experts and tracking conversations about your brand.
The Ultimate Guide to Twitter Theme Design by 1stwebdesigner
***** 5 Stars
Anastasia Miles provides an outstanding, detailed, richly illustrated step-by-step guide to creating an attractive and effective Twitter background.
5 Secrets To Get Retweets That The Experts Won’t Tell You by Tremendous News
Am irreverent yet informative post that could have been included instead in the most-entertaining-of-the-year category, but is too helpful not to put here, on how to get more retweets. Example: “1. Focus On The Sexually Active. Think of a retweet as an STD. But one that’s not devastating. One that still retains a measure of hilarity. Crabs. Let’s do crabs. Now picture twitter as sexy college campus during the first week of school…Who is in danger of getting crabs?…Is the fat, hairy terroristy looking dude going to get crabs? Of course not. So don’t fill your followers with people like him. Focus on the sexually-liberated cool kids.”
21 Twitter Tips From Socially Savvy Companies by Fast Company
The ubiquitous Brian Solis offers tips for Twitter success based on the experience of real-world companies like Dell (special offers), Comcast (customer service), using dedicated brand channels (Ford) and developing new ideas (Starbucks).
Twitter 101 for Business: A Special Guide by Twitter
Must-reading for any business owner or executive who still doesn’t “get” Twitter – the folks actually behind the world’s most popular microblogging platform put together a detailed guide to using Twitter for business, covering everything from getting set up and learning the lingo to building relationships and measuring value.
The Ultimate Guide for Everything Twitter by Webdesigner Depot
*****5 Stars
In this ambitious, long and lavishly illustrated post, Angela West compiles a remarkable collection of Twitter tips, etiquette, jargon, tools, apps, icons, WordPress plugins and more.
50 Power Twitter Tips by Chris Brogan
Social media rock star Chris Brogan offers 50 tips for interaction, technical considerations, business, integration, and off-Twitter activities (e.g., “Think of Twitter as a guidance system to what you think is interesting. A lot of that is likely off-Twitter.”).
10 Reasons You’re Not Getting Followers on Twitter by Social Media Today
Paul Sutton lists factors that can turn off potential followers on Twitter including using your profile to sell, excessively automating your tweets and tweeting repetitive messages.
Twitter Tips – Things You Should Know by Trailblaze Social Media with Josh
Joshua Lyons provides a short but useful set of tips he believes can help “make the difference between mediocre Twitter use and excellent Twitter use.”
Twitter SEO
How to Turn Your Twitter Profile Page into an SEO Masterpiece by TwiTip
David McClellan presents an outstanding to optimizing all of the elements of your Twitter profile (name, bio, avatar, URL and feed) for search.
Twitter SEO Best Practices by SEOptimise
Tad Chef covers the best practices for SEO with Twitter: how to rank in search with your profile and tweets, get found in Twitter search, make your tweets spread virally and capitalize on Google real-time search.
Twitter Strategy
Successful Twitter Marketing Strategies by Social Media Optimization
According to a MarketingProfs study, monitoring and responding to brand mentions are ranked among the most successful Twitter marketing tactics by both B2B and B2C marketers. Driving sales directly was ranked by both groups as the least effective use of the platform.
In Social Media, Twitter is Just the Start by Social Steve’s Blog
Steve Goldner lays out a strategy for using Twitter in conjunction with other social media tools like blogs, YouTube and Flickr to optimize your social media marketing success.
7 Insanely Useful Ways to Search Twitter for Marketing by OPEN Forum
John Jantsch shows how to target Twitter users by occupation, bio or location and get the most out of Twitter by creating “some very powerful searches and alerts combining Google and Twitter.”
9 Questions for Analyzing the Tweet Stream by iMedia Connection
Frequent best-of contributor Daniel Flamberg outlines the two biggest issues facing brands on Twitter, nine questions for addressing them, and a strategy for answering those questions to “get a feel for what’s being said, understand competitive comparisons, potentially identify brand loyalists or opinion-makers worthy of extra care and attention and intervene before problems or negative comments cascade into real trouble.”
Benefits of Twitter by Boomtown Internet Group
I’m guessing English isn’t Priyo’s first language so pardon the grammar and word usage issues here, but he presents a nice list of the benefits of Twitter use for business such as for collaboration, promoting content and improving SEO.
The A-Z List: How Twitter Can Make You A Better Blogger by Ink Rebels
***** 5 Stars
Diana Adams puts together a remarkable and entertaining post, lavishly illustrated, extolling the benefits of Twitter from A (“A is for – Ask”) to Z (“Z is for – Zen”).
14 Cool Things People Do On Twitter by Penn Olson
Sarah Chong’s recommendations for Twitter use range from the common (learn, be heard) to the unusual (monitor sensors in your home, catch thieves) to the truly inspired (write poetry).
Twitter Tools and Reviews
Twitter stats and analytics tools – top 10 by Social Media Today
Chris Norton writes that “There are hundreds of twitter tools that measure different statistics out there but many can be a bit of a waste of time. I have been through most of them in the last few years and given them some kind of test” before setting out mini-reviews of his top 10 picks including TweetStats, Tweetmeme and Twitterholic.
Get rid of stale Twitter users that have stopped tweeting by Social Media Today
It’s Chris Norton again, this time providing a quick review of UnTweeps, an handy tool for culling inactive Twitter users from those you follow.
The Complete Twitter ‘Follow / Unfollow’ Toolkit by COMMS Corner
The brilliant Adam Vincenzini offers a concise but valuable list of tools and advice for managing your Twitter following.
Local Tweets: 9 Ways to Find Twitter Users in Your Town by Mashable
Josh Catone describes how to use local events and tools like Localtweeps and TwitterLocal to identify and connect with Twitter users in your local vicinity.
Busting through the Twitter noise to find a signal by {grow}
Guest author Frank Podlaha explains how to craft a search strategy and then use tools like LocalChirps, Twitscoop and Radian6 to cut through the clutter on Twitter and find exactly what you’re looking for.
Twitter ROI: Show Your Clients the Effectiveness of Twitter Campaigns by Web Analytics World
Chuckie Oliver reviews five key tools for measuring the effectiveness of Twitter activities including Twitter Analyzer, Klout and Tweet Stats.
36 Twitter Resources: Advanced Twitter Search for Business by Social Media Today
Coree Silvera compiles an outstanding list of tools for Twitter research and monitoring, directories and geolocation, along with links to articles on improving Twitter search skills.
9 Twitter Apps Worth Another Look by Web Analytics World
Manoj Jasra reviews “interesting Twitter apps” Tweetshare, ComTweets, TheCadmus and half a dozen others.
27 Twitter Tools To Help You Find And Manage Followers by 1stwebdesigner
Dainis Graveris writes brief reviews of more than two dozen Twitter follower management tools including FriendOrFollow, WeFollow, Twubble and My Tweeple.
4 Free Tools that Publish Blog Updates to Twitter by Freesourcing Blog
Mini-reviews of that use RSS to automatically publish blog posts to your social networking sites inclding Dlvr.it and RSS2Twitter.
Top 20 Sites to Improve Your Twitter Experience by Mashable
Vadim Lavrusik offers his list of “the top 20 third-party websites for making your Twitter experience more useful and easier to manage,” including tools for management, filtering (such as the very cool create-your-own-newspaper site Paper.li), spotting trends, making lists, finding new followers, measuring influence, sharing photos and video, conducting polls and more.
The Ultimate Collection of FREE Twitter Tools by Regillo Consulting Group
***** 5 Stars
An outstanding collection of Twitter tools for analytics, business, follower/following management, network building, information gathering, media sharing, organization, blogging and more.
Don’t want to go through the trouble of creating a coolio Twitter background from scratch? Themeleon is a cool tool that automates Twitter background theme development.
***** 5 Stars
One of the tightest Twitter tools around, Tweetake lets you export your followers and following lists to Excel for analysis, grouping, backup or any other purpose you can think of. In the words of the site, “The brainchild of Alfred Armstrong and Nikki Pilkington, Tweetake is here to allow you to back-up your followers, people you are following and Tweets with just one click.”
Sort of Swiss Army knife for Twitter, Tweasier’s functions include Twitter analytics, finding and sorting followers, email alerts, conversation tracking and more. Free and fee-based versions are offered.
Slick map-based interface lets you zoom in on any geographic area to find local Tweeps to follow.
Twitter Rants and Musings
Why Your 4,243,564 Twitter Followers Don’t Mean Jack by aimClear
Another post that would have been a great post to include in most-entertaining-of-the-year as well. We’ve all seen the buffoons on Twitter who somehow manage to amass a large following despite offering no apparent value or even seeming to have a clue as to what “social” media means. Noting that “there are also bandwagon-jumping companies and celebrity glory-whores who go at Twitter like a portly dude at a buffet. They use it as self-centered bullhorn and nothing more,” Lauren Litwinka here brilliantly categorizes these Twitter-star wannabes into archetypes such as “You have 822,780 followers. You follow two people,” “Your feed consists of status updates. And only status updates” and my favorite: “You share would-be Zen gems through a f*cking API.”
Ten Things You Need to Stop Tweeting About by The Oatmeal
Simply awesome. Anyone who’s spent any serious time will relate to this entertaining and creative list of things we’re tired of seeing people tweet about, including what they’re eating, their workouts, their pets, and the incredible (or not so) number of Twitter followers they have.
Bye Bye Birdie: Why Twitter is On the Outs by Techi
Timothy James Duffy argues that Twitter’s popularity is fleeting, it offers most users little value, and it will never make money. Agree? Disagree? Check out the 72 comments in response to this post.
44 (of the) Best Twitter Articles and Blog Posts of 2009
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010There’s no doubt that Twitter is a phenomenon. It’s now the third-largest social network (behind Facebook and MySpace), the fastest-growing, and used by 75% of b2b companies. How can you optimize your organization’s use of Twitter? What are the best ways to search on this platform? How can you measure results? What are the best tools for increasing your effectiveness and efficiency on Twitter?
Discover the answers to these questions and others in this collection of some of the best blog posts and articles about Twitter from the past year.
Twitter Tips & Tactics
The Twitter Guide Book by Mashable
????? 5 stars
How-To: Create a Unique Twitter Background (UPDATED) by Interactive Insights Group
Robin Broitman
Twenty-One Top Twitter Tips by Forbes
Daniel Adler
HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Twitter #Hashtags by Mashable
Ben Parr
How to score the coveted retweet by iMedia Connection
Reid Carr
Free Twitter Backgrounds: 26 Sites To Get Them by Web Resources Depot
Twitter, chat and text messaging abbreviations by SearchCRM
Find Local People on Twitter Using NearbyTweets by Flyte Blog
Rich Brooks
The Top Five Essentials for a Successful Company Twitterfeed by KaneCo conversations
Jennifer Kane
Top 10 Twitter Basics Questions Answered by Junta42
Joe Pulizzi
10 Ways To Grow Your Twitter Influence by Knowledge Enthusiast
Matthew Royse
Ten Things you Must Know before Using Twitter by Tech n’ Marketing
Hillel Fuld
9 Twitter Directories You Should Be Listed On by jasonyormark.com
Jason Yormark
????? 5 stars
Twitter Search
Twitter Search Queries You Should Know by Magicomm Blog
Twitter Search Tips For B2B Marketers by Search Engine Land
Galen DeYoung
Five More Search Tools You Should Know: Twitter Edition by Search Engine Land
Matt McGee
Twitter Metrics & Measurement
6 Ways to Measure Your Twitter Voice by iMedia Connection
Daniel Flamberg
Twitter Analytics: Five Practical, Lesser Known Free Tools for B2B Professionals by ScoopDog’s Blog
????? 5 stars
3 Ways to Track Your Rank on Twitter by ProgrammableWeb
Adam DuVander
Twitter Insights & Observations
Following on Twitter: Quality vs Quantity by Hasai
25 of the Best Designed Twitter Homepages by Design Reviver
10 Basic Rules Of Twitter (And How To Avoid Being A Twanker) by Social Media Today
Rohit Bhargava
Twitter’s hidden marketing superpowers by iMedia Connection
Madhuri Shekar
Best Practices for Corporate Twittering by Social Media Today
Tom Humbarger
10 People You Won’t See on Twitter Anymore by Mashable
Jennifer Van Grove
Visualizing Twitter Statistics x100 by Digital Buzz Blog
Aden Hepburn
The Marketing Power of the Retweet: An Interview With Dan Zarrella by Social Media Examiner
Michael Stelzner
5 Reasons to Use the New Twitter List Feature by Duct Tape Marketing
John Jantsch
The 14 Types of Twitter Personalities by Media Caffeine
Here’s Hard Data for Headlines that Spread on Twitter by Copyblogger
Dan Zarrella
6 Twitter Tips You Should Have Figured Out on Your Own by Tech n’ Marketing
Hillel Fuld
Twitter Tools
105 Twitter Applications for PR Professionals by Everything PR
Genesis Davies
101 Twitter Tools – an insane list by marcmeyer’s posterous
Marc Meyer
????? 5 stars
The Ultimate List of Twitter Tools by The Social Media Guide
Matthew Tommasi
????? 5 stars
10 essential Twitter apps for marketers by iMedia Connection
Tricia Despres
TwitBacks (tool for creating custom Twitter backgrounds)
6 Twitter Apps for Marketing Your Business by Quick Online Tips
Sourish Nath
Twitter Critiques & Skepticism
Why Twitter will soon become obsolete by iMedia Connection
Jason Clark
(Interesting that this article was written nine months ago, but this hasn’t happened yet.)
Why Twitter Needs Its Bottom Spanked by Social Media Today
Jason Baer
The Twitter Revolution For Business May Not Be Televised by MediaPost Online Media Daily
Drew Kerr
Twitter Brings Lower Quality Clicks by eLearning Technology
Tony Karrer
And Finally…
Why Twitter Will Endure by The New York Times
David Carr
All You Need to Know About Twitter You Learned from Grandma
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010This post was originally published on the WebMarketCentral blog in July 2009.
A traditional grandmother that is, not a tech-savvy one. If you have or know a mother, grandmother or great grandmother who grew up in the first part of the last century, chances are she’s passed along some folk wisdom about good old-fashioned manners. Sure, it can help to utilize the growing number of Twitter tools available as well, but if your Twitter grade isn’t as high as you’d like it to be, you may want to take some tips from grandma:
“The good Lord gave you two ears, but only one mouth.” In other words, to attract and keep followers, spend more time listening than talking. “Listening,” in Twitter terms, means answering questions, re-Tweeting interesting thoughts and links, and sending @ replies.
“Have something interesting to say.” No one really cares if you just got back from the gym, had a latte or are watching TV with your cat. They do care if you can help them solve a problem, learn something new, or at least have a laugh.
“If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” Twitter isn’t a place for arguments or feuds—unless you want to embarrass yourself and look like a jerk. There are many individuals that I admire in the online marketing space, like Paul Dunay, David Szetela, Ardath Albee and Ian Lurie. I’m happy to tweet or retweet their stuff occasionally. There are also, unfortunately, more than a few obnoxious boors in this space, but they aren’t worth mentioning.
“It’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear to be an idiot than to open your mouth and prove it.” It should be obvious, but remember that Twitter is a public space, so be careful what you say. Don’t tweet when you’re angry or in a chemically-altered state. And don’t ever do something as stupid as trying to take advantage of tragedy to send spammy sales messages, as Habitat recently did with the Iran election aftermath.
“If don’t ask for exactly what you want, you won’t get it.” Obviously, you’d never walk into a crowded restaurant, announce to no one in particular that you’re hungry for a cheeseburger, and hope that the person who’ll be waiting on your table happens to hear you. Twitter is a busy place. Not all of your followers will see everything you tweet. In fact, most of your followers will miss most of your tweets. So if you want something specific—an answer, a retweet, an opinion on something you’ve written—from someone specific, use an @ reply to ask for it.
“Say ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’” Following from the item immediately above, others are more likely to do the things you ask if you ask politely, and more likely to continue doing them if you also thank them. Publicly. Which makes them look helpful. Of course, it’s also important to reciprocate.
“Clean up your place before inviting friends over.” In Twitter terms, this means making sure you’ve optimized all the elements of your Twitter presence: name (your real one), linked page (your website, blog, or for the really advanced: a customized Twitter landing page like @pistachio has), bio (make the most of the limited space), picture (preferably your real one, NEVER the Twitter default image), and background (yeah, mine needs work I know—shoemaker’s children kind of thing). Here’s an example of a nicely done Twitter background from @Tony_Mandarich.
“Birds of a feather flock together.” Other than using the block feature, you have no control over who follows you on Twitter—but you have absolute control over who you choose to follow back, and the entire Twittersphere can see your list. Granted, it’s generally good Twitter etiquette to follow back when someone follows you, but it isn’t always necessary, particularly when a person doesn’t use his or her real name and real picture, or doesn’t provide any real value. Spammers, scammers and strippers abound on Twitter, and they are all best to avoid when following.
Who knew grandma was a Twitter expert? She may be more hip than you think.
10 Reasons I Won’t Follow You on Twitter
Monday, February 22nd, 2010Before I start this rant, let me make it clear that I love gaining new followers on Twitter and I’m honored by (almost) every one—I’m grateful that you want to hear what I have to say! Also, as indicated by my high ratio of following to followers (currently 87%), my default rule is to follow back. Twitter is social media, not a broadcast platform; if you’ve taken an interest in what I tweet, I want to read yours as well, and hopefully we can learn from each other.
But, all of that said, there are only so many hours in a day, and not all tweet streams are worth following. Here are some indicators in your last 20-40 tweets that may prevent me (and others) from hitting that “follow back” button.
1. There are no RT’s in your tweet stream. Really—you follow 5,000 people, and not one of them has posted anything worth retweeting over the last several days? How sad.
2. Your tweets are a series of blatant sales pitches. Okay, we all need to eat, and there’s nothing wrong with occasionally promoting your content, product or service on Twitter. However, if that’s all you are doing, it’s boring. It’s like fast-forwarding through a TV show on TiVo and watching only the commercials.
3. Your tweets are obviously automated. If the time stamps on your tweets are 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 10:00…, it’s clear you aren’t actually interacting on Twitter, you’re just broadcasting. It’s unlikely you’ll ever even see my tweets (or those of others you are following), so why should I bother?
4. Your posts are completely off topic from my interests. My posts are primarily focused on b2b marketing, but I’m not one-dimensional; I have a variety of interests including politics, football, faith, local (Minnesota) news, technology, American Idol (only because my kids watch it, of course), economics and more. But if all of your posts are about vitamins, the real estate market in Massachusetts, the antics of your cat, or some other topic I’ve never tweeted about, sorry, I have only so much attention to give, and grateful as I am for your attention, I’m not sure why you chose to follow me first.
5. Your profile is blank. If you want others to follow you, it’s best to reveal a little bit about yourself. Following others while not disclosing your location, providing any info in Twitter’s 160-character bio field, or linking to an online profile, landing page, website, blog, or anything else you consider important, is a little creepy.
6. You’re promoting the latest “get rich quick” scheme. There is no “secret” to success: find out what you’re really good at, develop your talent, and then work your tail off—for a long time. The only people who make any money on get-rich-quick scams are those selling them (and even many who try that route fail). If these schemes really worked, we’d all be rich and poverty would be eradicated. But such schemes have been investigated over and over, and they accomplish nothing other than the transfer of wealth from the gullible to the dishonest.
7. You quote Jim Rohn. Before you flame me, I mean no disrespect to the recently departed; I know that Jim Rohn was an inspirational and widely admired speaker and writer with a compelling life story. And I’m not suggesting that everyone who quotes him is pushing the latest scam (see #6 above) or other questionable business enterprise, only that there seems to be a high correlation. There are obvious exceptions to this rule, such as @jonrognerud, a smart, helpful and worthwhile Twitterer who, via Twitter, respectfully acknowledged Rohn’s death, without in any way diminishing his legacy. But this is often a strong indicator of spam.
8. Your tweet stream contains nothing retweetable. I hope that those who follow me find my tweets occasionally worth retweeting, and I like to find links to great content from those I’m following that I can in turn retweet. But if there’s nothing in your most recent 20 or 40 tweets that appears worthy of sharing (“just got back from the gym”…”I’m at the coffee shop at 4th and Main”…”Get 1,000s of Twitter followers instantly!”…), I probably won’t bother following.
9. You’ve protected your tweets. WTF?
10. You’re inviting me to “look at my naughty pictures online.” This often leads to malware or phishing scams, and never to anything good. No thanks.
Am I wrong? Leave a comment and tell me why.
7 Reasons Every Business Needs to be on Twitter
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
This post was originally published on the WebMarketCentral blog in January 2010.
Despite the fact that Twitter has more than 32 million users, has received massive publicity from both celebrities and government, and produced remarkable results for companies like Dell and Zappos, many business executives still don’t “get” Twitter. Granted, there is an awful lot of noise (“Just got back from the gym…eating pizza again for lunch…watch a Seinfeld rerun”), self-promotion and spam-like content on the world’s most popular microblogging service—and to newbies it can seem like a bizarre online cocktail party where everyone is shouting and no one is listening—but for those who understand and learn to use it effectively, Twitter can be a powerful business tool.
Here are seven reasons every business needs to be on Twitter.
To Interact with Customers
For most business, it’s far easier and more profitable to generate continued or new business from existing customers than it is to acquire new ones. Growing existing customer business requires ongoing communication. Staying in touch with customers on Twitter is not only more real-time than many other techniques, it’s also far more cost-effective than direct mail, attending trade shows, picking up the phone, or even maintaining a customer newsletter. It’s not that Twitter can replace other touchpoints completely of course, but it can reduce the required cost and frequency of high-touch interactions.
To Interact with Prospects
Just as many of your customers are probably on Twitter, so are your prospects. They care far less about your advertising than about what your customers are saying about you, and how you respond. An active Twitter presence enables you to demonstrate strong customer service, rather than just claiming you offer it (after all, who advertises poor customer service?).
To Influence the Influencers
Industry analysts, journalists, bloggers and other influencers from most sectors of the economy are well-represented on Twitter. Tweeting content of your own that will interest them (i.e. not just your marketing materials), retweeting content they post, and engaging in dialog is a great way to get these people talking, and writing, about your company. It’s less formal, more “social” and usually more effective than “cold” outreach.
To Gain Market Intelligence
The fact that customers, prospects and industry thought leaders are all using Twitter make it a valuable tool for monitoring the topics and concerns being discussed. This is a great potential source of new product/service enhancement ideas as well as topics for blog posts, white papers or other content.
To Become a Resource
Prospects don’t care about your products or services—they care about solving their problems. Demonstrating your knowledge of their industry and their challenges, for example by tweeting your thought-leadership blog posts and white papers, makes you a resource they can go to for helpful information. That gives you the opportunity to explain how your products or services can help them, in a consultative fashion.
To Give the Business a Personality
Business websites are, necessarily, one-to-many communication. No matter how compellingly your site presents your value proposition, it’s still formal and impersonal. Twitter is a much more casual and conversational. Again using the example of Zappos, CEO Tony Hsieh has been successful on Twitter by sharing his personality. Unlike a company website, Twitter is immediate, informal and personal.
To Be Part of the Conversation
As noted above, your customers, prospects and key influencers are already having conversations about your industry, your competition—and quite possibly your company—on Twitter. If you aren’t participating in that conversion, you’re missing valuable intelligence, business opportunities, and possibly even the opportunity to prevent damage to your firm’s reputation.
Twitter is far more than a 140-character soapbox for celebrities, spammy “Internet marketers” and the incorrigibly obnoxious. Savvy business tweeters can filter out the cacophony and create valuable dialogs with key participants in their marketplace.
