EBook – Gaining Value from Twitter

Posted by Gabe on July 2, 2010 under Twitter | Be the First to Comment

Yes, after a year and a half I have joined the fray of authors who have written a “how-to” book about Twitter. I simply felt that I had a lot of material since I have been basically recording my Twitter journey since the beginning. Many of the posts have elicited numerous comments and retweets so I thought I would compile them all into a package that would be suitable for beginners and journeymen alike. But it’s not about regurgitating my blog posts into a book. I went through each one individually and updated and expanded the content where I saw fit, and added many new thoughts to fill in the gaps.

So why did I do this? For one I am very passionate about Twitter. I should rephrase and say that I’m passionate about making connections on Twitter. One way of doing that is to offer value which I feel I have in the book. Another reason is to gain more exposure (and yes donations) for Kids Are Heroes, the nonprofit I write about when I’m not writing about Twitter. I ask that if you read it and it really helps you, then a more than fair “payment” is a $25 donation to our cause.

I have already discovered that I can add a lot of little things to it that in and of themselves don’t merit a full blog post. Since its first release on Wednesday it has enjoyed over 450 clicks which is awesome. That gives me energy to keep updating it which I already have done once, just this morning. So keep in mind that you will always be able to download the latest copy of it from the sidebar of this blog. Each version comes with a number and a date it was published. So whether or not you are a Twitter fan, or a Kids Are Heroes fan, please send this book out to all you feel may benefit from it.

Here’s a peek of a unique post that is in the book:

Who Should be Tweeting?

I have a company I work with who uses a person off site to update their Facebook page. This is a fairly big company and they have a fair amount of fans. In my eyes this is a wasted effort. People can tell they are “phoning it in”. They might as well not do it. I have another company I deal with who does it wonderfully. The marketing managers handle the updates. They are fun, update it often and although they promote their wares they do not “overdo” it. These folks are actual sponsors of ours. When they put on an event that involved us and one of our heroes (see this post: http://www.justgabe.com/2010/05/27/a-heroic-opportunity/) all three parties involved vigorously cross-promoted it which is THE WAY to get a marketing “frenzy” going. It was awesome!

The beauty of Twitter is that everyone is at the same level. It makes people and companies very accessible in a way that is unique. So people want to know that if they are responding to someone in a company or a non-profit that they are reaching someone of significance within the organization. Hiring an intern to tweet for your non-profit or your company is a mistake.

I have a friend who uses a service to tweet for him. What’s worse is that the service’s motto is “out of sight, out of mind” so they send out an automated tweet every fifteen minutes. If I were not his friend I would have unfollowed him a long time ago. I was talking with him recently and he told me he changed services and was happier because the newer service got him more followers much faster. I suggested he look at the followers the new service was bringing him. Are they engaging with his “service”? Are they people he could see himself building a connection or relationship with? I personally see no value in using another person or service to stand in for what you are passionate about. There is no way that passion can be transferred through a service. I have mentioned before that it is rather easy to get followers by just following random people. The problem is that most of these people will prove to be of no value to you. You will also be found out by the people who are of value when they look at your follower list. They will see that you are not trying to connect.

The bottom line is that in order to gain the most benefit from social media you must be the one who is active in it. People want to connect with you, not your intern or your service.