Aligned Marketing Blog

Part 2 of 2

On Monday we learned that About.com forecast Twitter to reach 26 million users (15.5% of adult internet users) by 2010, taught you how open your own Twitter account and discussed being a good Twitizen. Today you’ll learn how to:

How can you locate the right people to Follow? Here are some tools:

• Wefollow (http://wefollow.com) lists the Twitter people –Tweeps, Twits or Tweople – with the most Followers by tag usage. Think of a tag as a subject, such as music or news.Follow the people with the most Followers in the subjects that matter to you.
  
• Twellow (http://www.twellow.com) is “a search directory of people by area of expertise, profession or other attribute listed in personal profiles. Use the same Follow tactic here as you did with Wefollow.
  
• Nearby Tweets (http://nearbytweets.com) is a very cool tool because it lets you find other Twits in your, or some other, geography. Personal note: I walked into an event in my home town and the first person I introduced myself to said, “Oh, I know you, I Follow you on Twitter.” It was cool. We both started laughing. The lesson: Follow people close to your home or work.
  
• Twitter Search (http://search.twitter.com) allows you to search the Twittersphere for keywords or topics and is an excellent way to find like-minded people, potential clients or business partners to Follow.
• Listorious (http://www.listorious.com) was explained in detail in my November 4 post (http://tinyurl.com/yal4ay5) so just let me say, it’s a super directory of lists on Twitter and I highly recommend you use it to locate people to Follow.

How you get people to Follow you:

• The first tip is a no-brainer: Provide good content. Post (Tweet) content that is interesting, useful and/or entertaining and your followship will grow.
• The second tip is to make sure your profile is well written, your page design is well executed and, in general, you treat your Twitter account as a marketing tool. Most people prefer to know the people they Follow and your online presence is your introduction, the beginning of knowing you.
• List your Twitter account on your website, blog, all of your social media accounts, email signature and printed materials, if you have them, and provide a link to your Twitter account whenever possible.
• Pick a tweet-niche and stick to it since it is, in effect, your online brand. Most of my tweets are about business communication and using technology in digital marketing. However, I also throw in a few posts about current events, sports and fun stuff, such videos, to show the lighter side of my personality.
• Since most of the people you Follow will Follow you in return, using the previously mentioned tools will drive your Follower number up is a great way to increase Followers.
• Retweet (RT) the people you want following you. Most Twitters review their list of RT’s and if you are helping them spread their message it’s likely they will Follow you out of courtesy/reciprocity.

How you can locate topics to Tweet and Retweet:

• Follow your passions. If, like me, you enjoy social media, current events and fun-stuff, then post about those topics.
• Visit websites that have great content and either comment (tweet) about what you read or RT articles, posts and videos.
• Here are the sites I visit often for content.
  • Google (http://www.google.com) is my #1 source. When a topic strikes my fancy, I Google it to learn more and that often spurs a post.
  • The Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/home-page). WSJ is right in my wheelhouse as far as business reporting, quality writing and politics. I think the online subscriptions is, like, $69.00 a year.
  • YouTube (http://www.youtube.com) is my #2 source. I’m always amazed at what is available on YouTube. There’s a video on almost every subject imaginable and a lot of them are either hysterical or surprisingly informative.
• For information about technology and what technology marvel is coming next I visit:
  • Fast Company (http://www.fastcompany.com)
  • CNET (http://www.cnet.com)
  • TechCrunch (http://www.techcrunch.com)
  • Alltop (http://alltop.com) is an online magazine rack where you can pick up great information, current thinking, well-written articles and post about almost any subject.
  • There are a lot of great blogs and blogger directories online. Here are the ones I use the most:
    • Mashable (http://www.mashable.com) is a blog dedicated to social networking news and events.
    • Copyblogger (http://www.copyblogger.com) promotes itself as a site for “copywriting tips for online success” and, in my view, it delivers.
    • Problogger (www.problogger.net) helps “bloggers add income streams to their blogs.”
    • The Bloggers’ Bulletin (http://www.thebloggersbulletin.org) is an excellent source for “Tips, Tools and News on Blogging!” (Yes, this is shameless self-promotion since I’m a contributor. So sue me. Check it out, I think you’ll agree that the team is producing good content and helping a lot of people get started blogging.)

Final thought on behalf of all bloggers, most of us put a lot of time and energy into our blogs. We take this stuff seriously. So tell us how we’re doing? Is this information useful? What else would you like us to report on, discuss or teach? If you’re not comfortable making public comments, send me an email at shartkopf@aligned-marketing.com. I’d really like to hear from you.

It’s Wednesday, the only one this week. Do something remarkable!

Steve

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About.com projects Twitter will have 26 million users (15.5% of adult internet users) in 2010. That’s a lot of folks. If you haven’t joined the Twitter-train yet, it’s time you got onboard.

Here are the basics as well as some guidelines for being a good Twitizen, assuming that’s one of your goals.

Opening your account:

• Visit: http://www.twitter.com

• Create your account. You’ll need to create a unique username (see next bullet) and password, and have to enter your email address. These can all be changed.

• Unless you’re a major corporation, if this account will be used to promote your business I highly recommend using some form of your name since the Twittersphere is social media – an online conversation amongst people.

• Create your fill-in-the-blanks Bio. Give this some thought, especially if you’re using this account for business.

• You can upload your picture, or a picture/image, which I highly recommend.  Note, the file can’t be larger than 700k and since the default window is square, a square image works best, at least in my opinion.

• There is a Default background, or you can create your own. There are several free templates online. (Short commercial: Contact me at shartkopf@aligned-marketing.com if you want my design team to develop a custom page for you or your business.)

Twitter terms you should know:

• Tweep or Twit is someone who uses Twitter.

• Tweet is a message. Messages must be shorter than 140 characters, which is why many refer to twitter as a micro-blogging tool.

• Follower is a person (tweep) who has chosen to track (follow) your tweets.

• Short URL refers to one of the many tools you can use to shorten long urls and, thereby, tweet them without exceeding the 140-character limit. I use the “TinyURL Generator” Add-on for Firefox.

• Re-Tweet or RT means resending another twit’s tweet. As you can imagine, this is huge in the Twittersphere because it is a form of viral marketing.

• DM is short for direct message. A DM is a private tweet to a specific twit. (Okay, even I have to admit, that sounded weird.)

• If you want to send a tweep to a specific person simply insert “@” before that person’s Twitter name and it will be sent directly to them. Note, it will be visible to all so, as with anything in the ether, be careful what you say.

How to be a good Twitizen:

• Be friendly and open to others.

• Don’t be put off by all the spam, let it roll off your back.

• Similarly, don’t spam or sell constantly, it’s a form of harassment.

• Limit your tweets (I tweet 5-10 a day) and pause between tweets.

• Be funny but understand one person’s joke can be another’s insult.

• Mix your business/cause tweets with pleasant, fun or interesting tweets.

• ReTweet often but only if you genuinely think the tweets merits recycling.

On Wednesday’s post we’ll teach you:

• How you can find people to Follow.

• How to find people to Follow you.

• How to locate tweet topics and items to retweet.

Remember, this is the only Monday you’ll get this week so enjoy it and do something remarkable!

Steve

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