Posted by TeamCharlie on February 15, 2009 under Gabe's Twitter Gems, Social Media, Twitter | 
“Ask not what your followers can do for you. Ask what you can do for your followers!” -@KidsAreHeroes
I have recently gotten into the habit of asking the question “What can I do for you?” when I sign on to Twitter. As I was reading tweets one morning, I noticed the majority of the messages were relating back to the person who wrote them. “Please vote for me!” “Please retweet my business offer!” I wanted to throw in just a bit of the opposite to see what would happen. So I posed the question: “What can I do for you?” I actually got one response for a suggestion for a brand of hard drive for a Mac. I unfortunately do not own a Mac (yet), so I felt unqualified to answer. But I did give him the contact information of a local computer repair shop that I have confidence would willingly give him an educated answer.
So when I ask this question I am not being rhetorical. I seek out tweets that ask for specific things that I can do. It might be simply googling for something that the requester had asked for. It may be a graphics task which I can do rather easily. I even helped one lady with a quadratic equation. Now I haven’t done these since high school which was when all I had to write with were tablets and chisels, but I found a site that explained how to do it and I helped her.
So why do I do this? Because I have found it to be the fastest way to connect with people. Once I have done whatever it is that they asked for I now feel I know that person a little better and are more aware of their tweets (and hopefully they of mine). This is when Twitter becomes really fun and why I like it so much. So next time you need something, just ask or respond to my question when I ask it. I’ll do what I can to help you.
Posted by TeamCharlie on February 14, 2009 under Gabe's Twitter Gems, Social Media, Twitter |
I would guess there are thousands of posts on this subject about who you should follow on Twitter. Why not add another, I ask myself. The reason I am writing about this subject is because I feel there are no right or wrong answers to this question, only opinions. Mine has changed a bit since becoming involved with Twitter. So for me it is interesting to see how I change as I use it more. Anyway, I hate long introductions, so I will just get right down to it.
Do I “auto-follow” a person who follows me? Absolutely not. There are many spammers out there and I simply do not want to be subject to their uninteresting tweets. Since my main goal is to get exposure for KidsAreHeroes.com I seek out parents. There are several hash tags going around (i.e. #momfaves, #wiimoms, etc.) whose participants are my target demographic. So it makes sense for me to follow them. I do not follow them blindly however. I really check to see if they engage with people. Sometimes when I watch my Twitter stream I see a bunch of people performing monologues about their business or whatever it is that they are hawking. It’s almost like they are all in a room shouting at the same time and no one is listening to each other. Other times people are conversing and engaging each other. That is when I have the most fun on Twitter. When I see a period of monologues I immediately go out and try to find other people to follow so I can engage with someone. The more I use it the more I realize that Twitter is a platform that can provide real benefit as long as you are truly connecting with people. Otherwise it is a grand waste of time.
As I have mentioned before if I see a big disparity between followers and those following a person I usually do not follow them. One is just looking to beef up numbers and the other likes to hear himself talk. 99% of the time I will follow a person with a relatively equal amount of followers to followees. This person has more than likely taken a natural progression in their Twitter journey to connect with people.
I unfollow people that use excessive vulgar language. Even though I am not a prude there is a time and place for everything. Being in a crowded room is not the place to spew out vulgarity for everyone to hear.
I unfollow people that tout their wares too much. We all know why Twitter is so popular, and that is so people can reach thousands of others for free. Once I have connected with a person is the time that I am truly interested in what they do and if there is something that I can utilize myself and/or share with others. This type of marketing is a thousand fold more effective.
One tool I have found very useful in my quest to follow the right people is Friend or Follow. This tool shows you who you are following that is not following you back and vice versa. When I first looked at it there was a good number of people that did not follow me back, and also a good amount that I was not following. Since then I have reduced both numbers by weeding out people who do not follow me back, and taking another look at people who are following me. Why would I unfollow people that aren’t following me? For one simple reason – it’s much harder to engage with them. Maybe they have looked at my profile and were not interested. That’s all right by me as there are plenty of others who are. So I have found this Twitter tool to be invaluable.
So there you have it, another person’s take on who to follow and why. I hope it was helpful to you.
Posted by TeamCharlie on January 30, 2009 under Gabe's Twitter Gems, Social Media, Twitter |
Can someone please stop me from blogging about Twitter? (Actually that sounds like a great idea for a new blog. ) Anyway I digress. I thought I would stop at 10 Twitter gems just because that is a good number. Then I discovered something else – the “hashtag”.
Twitter Gem #11 – Use the Hash Tag
Since I’m slow it took me a bit to understand what the hash tag on Twitter is all about until someone explained it to me (thanks @kmartone). You will notice many tweets that include the number or pound sign (#) followed by an acronym of some sort somewhere in the tweet. That is called a “hash tag”. It serves a very simple but useful purpose on Twitter. It allows everyone to see a “conversation” about the same subject regardless of whom you follow. If you click Search (located at the bottom of your Twitter page) and search for the hash tag you will find all tweets related to that subject. Makes sense, right? Well if you have an idea to start a conversation like this, how do you know if the hash tag hasn’t been used for something else? Or how can you see a list of hash tags in use? The list of hash tags can be found at http://hashtags.org . You can also see if the tag you want to use is available there through their search engine. So, say you’ve found that the hash tag you want to use is available, what next? Simple. Follow @hashtags and then use your tag. @hashtags will follow you back automatically and index your tag.
Ok now that we know how hash tags work, let’s discover how they can really benefit us. Last Friday I had maybe 80 some followers on my KidsAreHeroes identity and had been creeping up on a daily basis very slowly. I received maybe 2 new followers a day. All of a sudden I discovered that I was getting all these followers. I thought it was because of my wonderful tweets, or because I followed a few “big-hitters” on the advice of a friend. Again, I am slow so it took a few days for me to discover that someone had included me in their #followfriday list. (Thanks @DaveWebb!) If you include this hash tag along with “tweople” that you like to follow, it will be seen by everyone who searches this list. I made it well over 100 that day and was pleasantly surprised. (I sure hope someone puts @KidsAreHeroes and @MM4Animals on their #followfriday list today. Hmmm…;) You can also “flatter” someone by putting them on your list. I recommend doing this every week.
The other way to add benefit is to participate in the conversations. There were a couple going around yesterday, one was #IMHO and the other #WhoAmI. For the first, you simply gave a random opinion on something with the hashtag embedded in the tweet. The latter tag urged you to explain a bit more about yourself. I participated in both conversations and plan on doing more. This way you get more exposure than you normally would, plus it supports the person who started the conversation. However I will only join in the ones that reach out to me. This way my tweets won’t be bland and contrived.
Last blog I promised I would send something from a more experienced tweeter. Not wanting to disappoint I have found some interesting tidbits on http://www.twitip.com
Update: March 7th – Defining and Learning Definitions of Hash Tags
What if you create a hash tag and you want other people to know its definition? Or what if you simply want to know the meaning of a hash tag? At the time of this writing this information did not appear on the hashtags.org web site. However, there is a way to do this. There is an entity on twitter called @tagalus. You can tweet to both define and request information about hash tags. To define a hash tag, simply tweet: “@tagalus define <hashtag> as <description>.” Example: “@tagalus define #kah as anything Kids Are Heroes related.” To get the meaning of a hash tag it’s even simpler. Just tweet: “@tagalus define <hashtag>” I tested this and received a prompt reply.
Update: December 11, 2009 As you know this is an older post and some of it is a bit outdated. Although @tagulus and hashtags.org, the important stuff, are still valid. I must admit I do not use hash tags that much, other than #followfriday, even to this day. The other night I bucked that trend by creating a search column in Tweetdeck using the hash tag #topchef. This is related to the TV show, “Top Chef Las Vegas”, in which a local chef was vying for the top prize. This column had comments from everyone who was watching the show and tweeting simultaneously — even Bryan himself who eventually took second place. Anyway this was fun, but be warned that you are seeing “unfiltered” results. When you do a search like this you will see tweets from everyone regardless of whether you follow them or not. I have a thing about profanity and/or vulgarity in a public forum and I was treated to a few unsavory gems.
You can get new followers this way. If someone who is doing the same thing sees your tweet and enjoys it, they may follow you. I think this is a personality thing for me. I may try it again but do not typically use Twitter this way.
Enjoy!
Posted by TeamCharlie on January 29, 2009 under Gabe's Twitter Gems, Social Media, Twitter |
Twitter Gem #6 Let’s Keep it Clean
As always, I might be faced with arguments on this one. But after all, isn’t that what discussion and debate is all about? Twitter is a very public place. It is similar to being in a VERY crowded ampitheater. The only difference is when we speak, EVERYONE cam hear us if they choose to. So, if you are at a networking party, would you stand up on a table and yell out profanities? In my mind it is the same if you utter them on Twitter. If your goal is to cultivate business relationships (let’s face it – most of us on Twitter are attempting to do just that) then act like it. I am no prude, but I certainly don’t use vulgar or offensive language at networking parties with people I just met. So please keep that in mind. Also think about my daughter who comes in my office regularly and has a 10-year-old’s curiosity as to what’s on my screen each time she visits. It’s just about being civil and polite.
Twitter Gem #7 – Don’t Be Political
If you are trying to cultivate a business relationship with someone, the worst thing you can do is crack an Obama or Bush joke. You have a 50/50 chance of losing that relationship. Why anyone would cut out half their potential network base is beyond me. There is a store in our local town that is quite popular. He has just brought his store online so that now the masses can purchase his goods. He has a blog of his attached to the store’s site that rants on Bush and uses quite a bit of profanity. This makes absolutely no sense to me.
Twitter Gem #8 Retweets are Great but Only if they are Meaningful
You will hear over and over again from experienced “Twitterers” that the best way to “share the love” is to retweet someone else’s anecdote. I retweet things that reach out to me. They might be quotations, humorous quips or tidbits of good infromation but I do not retweet because I was simply asked to. That gives my tweets more credibility in my eyes.
Twitter Gem #9 Not Everyone is Into You
There are several Twitter tools out there to show you what causes you to be “unfollowed”. Which tweet was it that offended or bored someone so much that they unfollowed you? I use none of these tools. I notice sometimes that I have a bunch of new followers, then a few moments later half of them are gone. Part of the reason for this is because Twitter will not allow the number of followers to be that much lower than the number the person follows. This supposedly cuts down on spam. What the spammers do is follow someone with the hopes of an automatic or quick follow. Then they unfollow so they can follow someone else. I could care less about these “followers”. Other people might not care about what you have to say <period>. Shocking isn’t it? But certainly nothing to worry about. Twitter is about making connections with people who do care about what you have to say, and vice versa.
Twitter Gem #10 Brand Yourself
This one is really interesting to me. I’ve heard many people say not to hide your persona on Twitter. A very well respected source has said she would rather see a person’s face as an image as opposed to a logo. I agree with this in most cases, except for mine. Not that I’m hard to look at or anything, as a matter of fact in my day I was quite the catch with the ladies. ;) It’s just that I have branded myself with my dog’s image for years. Although I am still quite a handsome guy, he’s better looking than me and attracts more people. So my @TeamCharlie account uses him. I think this is a way of showcasing that part of my personality first. My @KidsAreHeroes identity uses the picture my daughter drew of herself on the globe – it is part of the Kids Are Heroes logo. I think it conveys better what this Twitter account is trying to promote. Now I make no effort to hide my real name in any way and I believe this is important. When people click on my blog links they will indeed see the “full monty” as it were (although I assure you I am always fully clothed.) I think arguments could be made both ways, so think about what is best for you.
In my next session about Twitter I will try and bring you opinions only of those that have more experience than I. Happy Tweeting!!
Posted by TeamCharlie on January 27, 2009 under Gabe's Twitter Gems, Twitter, Twitter for Beginners |
Twitter Gem #3 – Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day
As one starts to see the value of Twitter one imagines what would happen if an “uber Twitterer” (one with TONS of followers) liked one’s message and “retweeted” it. One would think that’s the ticket to more followers, more business than one can handle, etc. This is not necessarily true. For my @KidsAreHeroes identity I have been chasing those uber-twits since the beginning. At the moment the KidsAreHeroes identity is trying to promote the Kids Are Heroes web site as well as MaryMargaret’s Music for Life program. We have quite a bit of funds to raise, so we have to get creative. I always imagined that one “tweet” from an uber-twit and that would be it – we would get many more followers and raise quite a bit of money in a very short time. Well we got our “uber-tweet” but the results were a bit different.
Yesterday I read a request from a gentleman that asked for someone who was capable with graphics to superimpose his head on another’s body as a joke for one of his blogs. In return he would give a free gift of some sort. I looked at this guy’s profile and saw he had over 15,000 followers! That was my ticket. I told him I wasn’t a graphic artist but I felt I could do it, so he gave me the opportunity. He liked the result and asked what I wanted in return. The almighty tweet of course was what I was looking for. He gladly obliged. Here is the text of the tweet: PLEASE RETWEET – HELP KIDS WITH CANCER http://tinyurl.com/bfcb34 (for more info >> @KidsAreHeroes) He actually did this twice.
The link points to a web page where people can “tip” us money and all of that goes to the program. We suggest small amounts to make it easy for people because we want a lot of people to donate just $2.00. With that tweet from a guy with over 15,000 followers one would think that would be a home run – wouldn’t you? I counted and a total of 58 people retweeted this tweet with a grand total following of just over 58,000 people! I was one of the top three people to be retweeted at that time according to RetweetRadar which is quite an accomplishment based on the total size of Twitter. Since that happened (which was last night) I have gotten a handful of new followers (no more than I would have gotten anyway really) and the total donation count from that session was $19.00. One would think that would be discouraging but it wasn’t. Twitter, at least to me, is not a platform of instant gratification although it surely appears to be. This just underlines my original feeling that it takes time to develop relationships and build up a following of people that care about what you have to say. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
This also illustrates another gem:
Twitter Gem #4 – Twitter is a Platform Where we All Help Each Other
I’ve heard it said, “You have to give something to get something” which is basically the same thing. But I would rather think of it a bit differently. If you see a need and you can fill it, do it. This is regardless of what you may get in return. If you see an opportunity and you can help that person, jump to it, regardless of the number of followers they have. This is the way I intend to link with people. Just by having done that one thing for that “uber-twit” he now knows me rather well, at least comparatively. He has sent me another task which I gladly did. You never know who is the next person that will help you achieve something.
Twitter Gem #5 – Seek out Experienced Twitterers for More Info
One could argue (and rightfully so) that why should I listen to someone who has less than 200 followers and has only been “twittering” for one month? That is up to you whether or not you agree with my postings or feel that they have any merit. I have read many other blogs about how to get more followers on Twitter. None of those in my mind were worth repeating until I found one yesterday. Kevin Rose is an amazingly successful young man with over 90,000 followers on Twitter. He founded Digg.com and Pownce among others. It is not this reason alone why I recommend listening to him. It is because what he says makes sense to me. Here are some practical tips on how to gain more exposure on Twitter. I plan to utilize them myself. Enjoy.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/25/kevin-rose-10-ways-to-increase-your-twitter-followers/
Posted by TeamCharlie on January 25, 2009 under Gabe's Twitter Gems, Twitter, Twitter for Beginners |
This is the first in a series of posts that will include my take on how to best leverage the use of Twitter. In the interest of full disclosure, I have three Twitter “identities” so far. One is @TeamCharlie, which is my outlet for all things related to Wags for Hope, dogs, and anything else I would like to tweet about. My second personality is @KidsAreHeroes, which I usually post all things related to the Kids Are Heroes web site. The Kids Are Heroes identity is also trying to raise funds for MaryMargaret’s Music for Life program, so it was suggested to create a separate ID for that which is @mmsmusicforlife.
Now among all three identities as of this writing I have a total following of 249 followers, some of which admittedly are duplicates. So with that relatively small number of followers why should I be considered an expert on the subject? I probably shouldn’t. I have seen my KidsAreHeroes identity almost double from 82 to 154 in just the last few days, however. (I will discuss how that happened in a later gem.) I have discovered in my relatively short but intense relationship with Twitter that there are many people with lots more followers than I that claim to be experts but they are not either. If you search the web you will find thousands of tips about Twitter and how to get more followers. What I have also figured out is there are no definitive answers. You need to decide on your own what is the best course of action when planning your Twitter Empire, based on the experiences and ideas of others AND your own.
Twitter Gem #1 – Don’t Get “False” Followers
I listened to a gentleman speak about how he got over 1000 new followers to a new account in just two days. His solution was rather simple – follow as many people as you can. Twitter has an upward bound of 2000 followers – you apparently cannot follow more than 2000 people above the amount that are following you. This is their effort to prevent “Twitter Spammers”. So his way was to simply follow as many people as he could in hopes that they would follow him back automatically. Although this effort was successful for the gentleman who did it, I will not use that advice. When I see a distinct difference in followers to “followees” with the heavy part being on either side I do not follow them. The first scenario is when someone has many more followers than those he is following. Here is a guy who thinks he cannot benefit from the ideas of others. I don’t follow him because he is someone who obviously likes hearing himself talk. Then there is the opposite case – a person who has way more people that he follows than those that follow him. This is a person who is looking to beef up his following without making the relationships first. I don’t follow them either, because I call the people that would follow this person back “false followers”. Just because someone follows you doesn’t mean they care about what you have to say. I would rather have one person follow me who is listening that a thousand who aren’t. I like to get followers by building relationships. These people (usually) care what I have to say. If they care enough they will “retweet” or even suggest to their followers that they follow me which has happened to me a few times already. The people I follow usually have a reasonable ratio of followers to followees, regardless if the number is 25 or 25,000. These are the people that engage with others. I look at their profile first. If I see that we have any interests in common, or if they seem interesting I will follow them.
Twitter Gem #2 – Don’t Follow Everyone Who Follows You
I have read blogs that say just the opposite – that it is courteous and/or fruitful to follow everyone who follows you. The argument was something along the lines of “Hey – they think you are cool enough to be followed, so why not follow them back?” When someone follows me I look at their profile. I use the same logic I just spoke of if their following ratio is not relatively even. If I see that they engage with others then I will follow them if I think they are interesting. This turns out to be most of the people that follow me, but not all of them. If I see that they have very few updates and are following a lot more people then that really raises a red flag. Their few updates usually relate to the item they are trying to hawk. Sorry, not interested.
(To be continued…)
Ok that’s my two cents. What’s yours?
Posted by TeamCharlie on January 14, 2009 under Gabe's Twitter Gems, Social Media, Twitter, Twitter for Beginners |
I have yet to realize the full potential of Twitter, but at least I can see that there is a lot to be gained, if it is used correctly. There are A LOT of blogs about “How to Get Recognized”, “How Not to be Ignored” and “Proper Use of Twitter” – all you need do is search for social media on Twitter and you’ll find many experts that will give out helpful information. It all makes sense, but doesn’t really ring true until you experience it for yourself. Now as you might know from my (lack of) followers that I am new to Twitter. But I am learning more and more every day. I just had a notice in my email that someone new was following me. At this point that is an exciting event, since my following hasn’t even hit 100 yet. My immediate reaction is to see who this person is, so I click on their link to see if I want to follow them. Every single post was self promotion. Even though it is a non-profit and the cause is good, this was a big turnoff for me. They even capitalized their last entry which makes things worse. Believe me if you think that is how to gain friends on Twitter you will be in for a big disappointment.
When I started I read many of the blogs about etiquette and getting noticed. Many suggest that you comment on other people’s blog and “retweet” which simply means to repeat interesting entries from other people. For example, if you see a tweet from me that says something like “I hate goat cheese”, to retweet that you could write something like: “RT @TeamCharlie I hate goat cheese.” Now I don’t know if I’ve even had goat cheese before and I’m sure you wouldn’t retweet that anyway because who cares – but I trust you get the point. So anyway I commented on one person’s blog who had over 4700 followers. I mentioned Kids Are Heroes because it was appropriate for the conversation. He tweeted “Wow everyone should check out KidsAreHeroes.com!” (Thanks @KyNamDoan). Now I thought that was the coolest thing ever – now I was going to get hundreds more followers instantly! <cricket sounds>
It doesn’t work like that either. My experience with Twitter tells me that it is just like anything else. If you do not have celebrity going for you, then it takes time to develop followers. Focus on the relationships and the followers will come.
Oh and for all you real newbies that have followed me recently, check your @Replies folder. I have sent you stuff and haven’t heard back. To reply to someone preface the tweet with @UserName. i.e . @Team Charlie I hate goat cheese too! It doesn’t work if you simply put their “handle” in the text of the tweet. When people do that to you it ends up in your @Replies folder.
Happy tweeting!!
