Social Networking
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, February 03rd, 2010
I had a slew of old friends find and follow me on Facebook recently and its great to catch up but most of them are newbies to social media and making their first forays in these networks. In watching their actions, I thought I would craft a post giving them some pointers they should consider to maintain their safety and privacy online.
1. Use the privacy settings (in Facebook click on settings at the top right hand side of your screen then privacy) to make sure that your personal information such as date of birth, home address, email etc are not there for all the world to see – don’t want to encourage identity thieves or spammers do we?
2. Off the Wall – don’t use people’s wall to communicate personal information or communications. If it is longer than a couple of sentences take it to Facebook email.
3. Remember that the first thing recruiters do these days is to check out candidates on Facebook. If you intend on ever applying for another job you should be cogniscent of this. If you plan on getting your boobs out or boasting about your drinking prowess to the world give it some consideration first. Always do the granny test, be careful of what you post and again use the privacy settings accordingly.
4. Be authentic – upload a profile picture so that people can see that its really you – or what you look like after all these years, as the case may be.
5. Be selective about who you add. Don’t add every TD&H who invites you and remember what mother said about strangers! Seriously though, being selective about who you connect with gives you more control if safety is a concern.
6. Be respectful and don’t use profanities too much – you never know when someone’s kid is watching over there shoulder (take it from me – this happens a lot!).
7. Be true to who you are. Transeparency is key to effective social media participation. Don’t try to present yourself as something or someone you are not. Imagine how embarassing it will be when someone crawls out of the woodwork and points out the truth – to everyone.
8. My friend Marc at Amuse Consulting says if its not worth saying out loud, its not worth saying on line. This is a good mantra to bear in mind when considering your status updates.
9. Block Em – If someone is rude to you in comments or on your wall, you can block them. Again go to settings, privacy and scroll down to Block List to do so.
10. Applications – you should be aware that most of the games and applications on Facebook are from third party companies you know nothing about and are often set up for the simple purpose of collecting you marketing info. Once you add the application, they have access to your information. Be wary of which applications you add and again use the privacy settings to control this.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, February 01st, 2010
Vancouver 2010
With only 11 days to go before the Vancouver Olympics begin, the excitement is building here and I thought this would be a good time to update on our last post about the Olympics and Social Media.
Since posting over a year ago, it would appear that the Olympic organisation has embraced social media somewhat and had some hick-ups on the way.
The Olympics on Twitter
In November VANOC was chastised for their poor response on Twitter when thousands were left waiting and eventually dissed because of a glitch in their ticket ordering system: rather than using Twitter as a customer service tool to let customers know exactly what was going on, their Tweets were ambiguous and erratic.
You can enjoy “timely Tweets from the VANOC communications team” at 2010 Tweets, where the organisation continues to push out information about itself with little interaction or true community building. The same can be said for their other feeds: @followthe flame, @code2010.
The Olympics on Facebook
They do rather better on Facebook, it has to be said. Both Vancouver 2010 and The Cultural Olympics are well represented there.
Again, fans cannot contribute to posts on the site but they can and do comment – most of them being positive.
The less publicised Canada Code page though is centred around community and collaboration. The Canada Code website encourages everyone to upload photos and text sharing their Olympic experiences. If you do, you could win a pair of those red mittens everyone is trying to get their hands on (or on their hands as the case may be!) and if you are really lucky your content may be shared on public screens across Vancouver during the event. Now that is more like it VANOC! From their Facebook page:
The Olympics and Citizen Journalism
As for the Olympics embracing social media journalism, according to VANCOUVER ACCESS 2010, a collection of multi-media content; blog posts, pictures and videos covering the various winter/summer sports and cultural events, despite numerous attempts by prominent social media commentators VANOC seems to still be ignoring this vehicle:
“Over the past few years, as a group, we have spoken at various conferences and events about the impact of citizen journalism, social media and the internet on the various Olympics, IOC and “ANYâ€OC brands. We sent VANOC several letters over the past 18 months requesting to meet with them, and have a discussion about this change in culture… Without any replies.”
Seems a shame to ignore such valuable contributions.
Watch out for more on social media and the Olympics over the next month.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, January 31st, 2010
After a brief hiatus in December, our regular month end Reasons to be Cheerful post is back. Here is a compendium of cool sites I discovered over the past few weeks that might of interest or useful for you. Enjoy!
Screenr - easily create screencasts to post to Twitter.
Lifeforce TV – Canada’s online broadcast network.
Biddingo – an online portal that connects suppliers providing various goods and services to buyers from public and private sectors across Canada.
Xina – handy tool for checking how your SEO efforts stack up.
Entreprenuerial Woman Magazine – online journal aimed at Canadian small business.
Rollip – professional, online photo effects.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, January 21st, 2010
Social media isn’t only a great tool for networking and marketing online, companies are using these tools more and more to connect with potential employees, to attract new hires, to build brand awareness (as a great company to work for) and to research prospective employees. This is the first of 2 blogs looking at social media for recruitment.
There are a number of social media tools you can use to enhance your recruitment function – here are a few:
- Professional Networks,
- Social Networks like Facebook,
- MicroBlog platforms like Twitter,
- Blogs,
- Video
- Podcasts.
Perhaps the main social networks that support recruiting are the professional networks. To use these effectively, your company should have a presence in these forums whether it be through a company presence or through staff profiles.
Professional Networks:
LinkedIn
LinkedIn has over 47 million users in 200 countries. As a “professional social network†it is ideal as a tool to use to assist recruitment. There are a number of ways you can use LinkedIn for this:
Searching Jobs on LinkedIn – this is useful from a recruiting perspective as it allows you to search other positions in your industry that have been posted in this forum.
Find People
You can use your LinkedIn Profile to find people – LinkedIn is a free professional network but if you upgrade your LinkedIn membership you can communicate more effectively with possible candidates. Paid LinkedIn accounts start at $24.95 and run to $400.95 depending on volume (of emails, interactions etc). By using this paid LinkedIn functionality you can contact, communicate and interact more than with the vanilla version but more importantly for recruiting, you can check references.
Post a Job
Posting a job on LinkedIn costs $195 for a 30 day listing. The benefit of posting on LinkedIn is that it facilitates candidate research and allows you to identify and connect with people who can recommend and refer them.
In addition, LinkedIn also provides a service aimed solely at recruiters called LinkedIn Talent Advantage which aids in the sourcing, getting the word out about jobs.
More on social media for recruitment tomorrow.
Written by Jan, January 08th, 2010
This is a guest post from Jan Littler-Finseth.
Last night – driving home – I heard a discussion on the CBC’s ‘The Current’ about a Facebook page that has grown exponentially this week (it was set up last weekend and has grown from zero to over a hundred thousand members in a few short days). Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament is a page that provides a conduit to protest the decision by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to initiate prorogation and it is gathering steam.
Whether you supported the Conservatives or the Marijuana party in the last election or think that is wrong or okay for Parliament to be temporarily discontinued, the fact that a Facebook page is national news says something about the lengthening tentacles of Social Media.
In my car – windshield wipers working overtime – I was bemused at the number of ‘serious’ people out there who are convinced that Facebook is mostly a vacuous portal only frequented by teenagers when on the contrary, the over 35 age group is the fastest growing.
Can Social Media sites bring about democratic reformation or real-world change of any kind? That remains to be seen but the truth is, Facebook, Twitter, and the likes are ‘little’ things that can make big change happen.
Grass roots politics has long been a facet of the Canadian political landscape but now tools like Facebook allow for communication and networking, bringing geographically diverse (but likeminded) communities together to join forces, communicate their message and have more impact.
Let’s face it, however, if your group, your idea, or protest is poorly focused and unsupported – no one thing will help. Social Media is only a part of a program – changes come when we act and believe that what we do makes a difference.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, January 04th, 2010
Welcome to 2010 and our first blog post of the new year. I hope you had a great festive season and that you are raring to go in 2010.
2010 Predictions
I thought this would be a good opportunity to review our social media predictions for 2009 (to see how on the ball I was) and to make some new ones for 2010. (Clips in red are from last year’s predictions).
Social Media
2009 was the year when social media really took off, Oprah helped take Twitter to the masses and everyone and their dog started using social media tools. However, there is some disillusionment now as folks realize, after spinning their wheels for a while that, to be effective using social media, you have to have a strategy. 2010 will be the year that social media becomes an integral part of organisations’ marketing and business development strategies and not simply a stand alone tool.
According to Compete.com visitor counts to both Twitter and Friendfeed peaked in late summer (Friendfeed seing a rather drastic decline after announcing their acquisition by Facebook in August interestingly enough). I hope that 2010 brings added functionality to Twitter (that top layer I have been dreaming about that puts all that great content to better use and makes it more accessible). Brightkite never really reached the heights I predicted but competitor Foursquare did (arriving in Vancouver in the summer).
Geo Based Networks
In 2010 geo based social networks like Foursquare will continue to grow in popularity but more importantly, these offerings will become more sophisticated allowing both business and users to benefit more from their use.
Also on the mobile front, watch out for more digital advertising. In November I blogged about The Future Of Advertising, introducing offerings like ScanLife and Kooaba. In 2010 we will see these being put to use more and the promotions will become more interactive.
Whilst smart phone sales continued to grow in 2009, I expect that the iPhone will be less dominant as the Android really takes off in 2010. I got one last month (HTC) and LOVE it!
Apps
For 2009, I didn’t predict the growth of the smart phone app: the number of iPhone apps doubled in the first six months of the year. With Android’s growth and open nature, this phenomenon will continue in 2010 and beyond. So start thinking about using apps that can help you in business, or developing apps that can help you reach your audience.
Newsletter Renaissance
In 2010 I predict we will see a newsletter renaissance as marketers realize that: a) email is still one of the best ways to reach their audience (you have their permission after all) and b) blogs don’t replace e-newsletters and are often aimed at completely different audiences. I also think that we will continue to see blogs being used in ways other than for posting articles i.e. blog outreach, blog comments and community building.
Be More Social and Less “Me” Centric
Which leads me to one wish I have for 2010 with regard to social media. So many companies and entrepreneurs are still using social media to push out information that is completely me centric ( i.e. links to their own websites and not others). Wake up and smell the roses peeps! This is not the 20th century when pushing out information was all you could do. It is time for you to realise that the key to social media is in the name itself – being social.
In 2010 please interact with others more, build networks and relationships, reach out to new peeps, but most important of all, rather than taking a me centric view, change your focus to hone in on those you want to do business with: interact with these people, find ways to connect, to answer their questions and add value. Then you will see the true benefit of using social media as part of your marketing or business development strategy.
Here’s to growth, prosperity and being social in 2010. All the very best.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, December 21st, 2009
This month we’ve invited some guest bloggers to contribute. The first is by friend and colleague Guacira Naves (Owner, The Online Strategy House):
The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts
Over a decade ago, an online marketing strategy was comprised by separate tactics that had only one concern in mind: to drive traffic to a site. The game was relatively simple: a site would be built, it’d be supported by email newsletters, advertising, maybe some traditional media, and that was all that there was to it.
Then, marketers became aware of the importance of search engine optimization, and added that component to their plan. Today, social media marketing is the new kid on the block. Not only that – its changing how the other online marketing elements interact with each other.
Below is a sample of how this interdependence plays out – and how you can combine each individual channel for the greater good:
Twitter and Google:
- Googles new real time search results mean that tweets with your brand may now appear in search results. So, a strong visibility on Twitter can very well influence your site’s exposure on Google. Thats another reason to maintain an active Twitter profile, and populate it with quality content.
Twitter and Customer Opinion:
- Not only is Twitter the most important micro-blogging network, it is increasingly used as a search tool. It is a channel where people go to find the online equivalent to “word of mouth†about a product, service, etc. On Twitter, frustrated customers often share their gripes, and loyal clients rave about their favourite brands. Heres an example:
Imagine if you were looking for reviews on Virgin Mobile and came across the two tweets above. They may very well sway your decision-making.
However, Virgin Mobile could have stepped in to have their say. Itd potentially have an impact not only on the three individuals involved in that dialogue, but Virgins update wouldve been found in searches made for that brand.
Heres a positive example of how proactive companies observe Twitter conversations, and interact with users: on December 10th, I decided to try Pearltrees. I then tweeted this update:
Minutes later, I received a reply from Pearltrees CEO, Patrice Lamothe, with this message:
That update was not only relevant to me, but to any other individual making a search query for “Pearltrees†around that time.
So, the lesson is: people are going to use Twitter’s search tool to find information on your products or services. You might as well help them find information that is as positive as possible.
YouTube and Search Engine Optimization:
- YouTube videos are prominently represented in Google’s search engine results.You do have a YouTube channel, don’t you? Then, make sure that, among other things, your videos titles and tags are optimized. And guess what – this will help your presence in search engines, too.
YouTube and other Social Networks:
- YouTube also gives viewers the option to share a video via Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, orkut and StumbleUpon, directly from the videos YouTube page. You can also embed a video into your blog, and invite readers to share it – either by embedding into their own blogs, by adding it to Facebook, or inviting them to share it through social bookmarking sites like Reddit. Earlier today, I embedded this third-party YouTube video about Hewlett-Packard into my own Facebook profile:
I wasnt the only one. According to the video statistics, it was watched an additional 279 times as a result of links from Facebook. Reddit, a popular content-sharing site, had also generated 1,317 views.
Blogs and Search Engine Optimization:
- By frequently adding fresh, relevant content to your company’s blog, not only will you improve your brand’s presence and clout in the blogosphere, but you will help your site become more appealing in Googles eyes. That is because Google naturally gives more importance to sites that are updated on a regular basis.
Blogs and Twitter:
- Blogs can easily be set up to automatically promote a new post, as soon as it is published. You will be not only be driving traffic to the blog itself, but will also help to keep your Twitter profile active with new, original material.
I could go on and on. This just scratches the surface, but gives you an idea of how, nowadays, online marketing elements are so interdependent. When planned accordingly and executed in an orchestrated manner, these tactics will make the whole stronger than the sum of its parts.
About the author: Guacira Naves is an online marketing strategist who has 18 years of Internet experience. Her company, The Online Strategy House, develops and executes holistic online marketing strategies to help clients achieve their short, medium and long-term goals.
Thanks to Guacira for this. If you are interested in contributing a post – give us a shout!
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, December 14th, 2009
The question has come up a few times lately as to how to import your blog so that it appears on Facebook. With all the apps, tools and functionality Facebook provides, its difficult to know the right approach.
The best way is to use Facebook Notes to publish your blog RSS feed to your Page or Profile. Here are 5 easy steps that will help you to easily do this:
Import your Blog to Facebook
Step 1 – Go to your Facebook Page or Profile,
Step 2 – Click “Edit Page” right below your profile picture, your Page editor screen will appear,
Step 3 – Scroll down the applications on your page until you see Notes – click to edit,
Step 4 – On the right hand sidebar you will see the option to “Import a Blog” – click on this,
Step 5 – Where prompted, add the web or RSS feed URL of your blog then click the permission check to begin importing your blog.
If you have done this right, your blog will automatically post to your Profile or Page and to the feeds of your friends or fans. Good luck!
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, December 10th, 2009
Glenn Hilton from Imagex Media has kindly allowed me to share his recent blog post How To Gain Followers and Influence Tweeple with you – enjoy!
How To Gain Followers and Influence Tweeple
Contrary to some early nay-sayers, Twitter has proved itself to be more than a flash-in-the-pan trend. As more and more people are realizing, Twitter can be enormously useful and enriching. And as it continues to mature, the strategies for using it to its maximum potential are becoming stronger and more defined. I can tell you from experience that its paid significant dividends both personally and professionally for me. But this didnt come without effort on my part – Ive spent countless hours researching, testing and finding the most successful ways to benefit from it. In order to save you some blood, sweat and tears (or a good chunk of your free time), Ive compiled a list of what Ive discovered are the some of the best ways to grow your following and influence on Twitter.
But first, a couple of disclaimers. You dont have to have a large following to be successful on Twitter. You could actually have a quite a small following but still experience great benefit if you properly target your users and engage them in meaningful ways.
Another disclaimer: this isnt about rigging the system or using underhand tricks to magically have 20,000 new followers in a week – or about constantly going on about how you need x amount of followers to reach your next goal. Most normal people dont do this kind of thing offline, so why do it online?
Twitter shouldnt be about numbers – its about the people behind those numbers. So a word to the wise: dont try to garner new followers unless youre up for the challenge of treating them like the people they are. This means interacting with them, getting to know them and writing your tweets with them in mind.
It takes time to built up a solid following and use Twitter as the unparalleled networking tool it is. Believe me, it takes A LOT of time. But if youre willing to put the effort into it, it wont be long before youre reaping the rewards. Heres just a few to consider:
- gain respect, credibility & recognition
- share your talents and get discovered
- strengthen your personal and professional brand
- find jobs or solid hires
- uncover great leads for new clients
- develop strategic partnerships
- gain support for your cause
- make new friends with common interests
There are many reasons why you may want to grow your following. Now lets talk about how…
1. Follow People
The Law of Reciprocity is one of those universal truths that make the world go around. Bluntly put: you scratch my back, Ill scratch yours. If you want to be followed, start following. Most people will follow you back, especially if theyre trying to retain you, the follower. There are a number of ways to find people to follow:
- From the public timeline (but youll have to sift through an inordinate amount of noise to find relevant content).
- From someone elses followers page .
- From recommendations from friends through practices such as #FollowFriday or by adding people you come across in others retweets.
- Using Twitter search to find people conversing on subjects of interest to you.
- Using 3rd party applications such as PeopleBrowsr to find new people to follow and join interest groups.
- Using an auto-follow program* such as Twollo. Apps like this search the Twitter timeline for you and follow individuals who tweet any of the specific keywords or phrases you choose.
- Using Twitter lists can be quite useful especially because you dont have to follow people right away. Instead, you can follow a list of interest and choose to only follow individuals you find a connection with. Listorious is a good place to visit to find a directory of the top lists on Twitter. If you find a Twitter list you like, you can use an app like TweepML to follow the entire list with a single click.
To increase your chances of getting a followback, RT a persons tweets or engage with him or her before clicking the “follow†button. This shows youve noticed the person and take interest in what he or she are tweeting about and arent just following people en masse.
* NOTE: You need to know that if you start following large numbers of people at a single time or auto-follow programs that youll definitely be taking your chances. Aggressive followers can have their accounts suspended if theyre using any kind of auto-follow or unfollow tools (unless its auto-following someone who followed you first), so be sure to read up on Twitters TOS. Additionally auto-following is considered a black hat tactic in the Twitter community at large and is frowned upon. Many of those who employ such tactics are considered fake followers who have no interest in ever reading the tweets of the mass majority of those they follow.
2. Present Yourself Well
First impressions are everything. When were designing websites for our clients at ImageX Media, we let them know the average internet searcher spends 5-7 seconds on a website and the most clicked button is the back button on the browser. If a site isnt giving you the right signals, is slow loading, visually unappealing or confusing, youre out of there and on to the next link, right? The same concept applies to your Twitter profile. If someone is considering whether or not to follow you, theyre only going to give you – via your profile – a few seconds to prove that youre someone legit and follow-worthy.
Unfortunately, one of the things that increases the scrutiny of users is the huge amount of automated and spam accounts that are now on the Twittersphere. As of August 2009, 24% of tweets sent on Twitter are from bots. So one of the most important things you have to prove is that you are a real person.
Consider what kind of message your profile is sending to those deciding whether or not to follow you. Does your account look like it could be a spammer or bot? Or does it immediately give a genuine and positive impression? Lets have a quick look at Exhibit A – what NOT to do – and go through your profile section by section, asking the same questions potential followers will be asking when they visit your profile.
1. Background – Is it a standard Twitter template or a custom background? Though it may be fast and easy to use one of the Twitter templates, going the extra mile to add a custom Twitter background helps you to stand out, defines your niche and makes it less likely youll be mistaken for a bot.
2. Avatar – Is your image professional looking (but NOT a stock photo)? Does the image enlarge when you click on it? If it stays an avatar size, that indicates it may have been grabbed from somewhere else on the internet which is a common tactic of fake accounts. If youre serious about building your personal brand, consider having your avatar photo taken professionally.
3. Follower ratio – Your follower ratio can raise a number of questions in the minds of those looking to follow you. Do you follow significantly more than follow you? If so, why are people not following you back? Do you follow everyone who follows you, or only a fraction of them? If its the latter, you could risk being perceived as being too good for everyone else. Is your follower ratio slightly more than your following? Maybe you are following large amounts of people and then mass unfollowing those who dont reciprocate. There are a number of ways to read into the follower ratio, and none of them can lead to bulletproof conclusions – but they will definitely lead to strong impressions of how you view yourself and others on Twitter.
4. Listing – The number of lists youre on can give another impression. If youre not listed then someone might get the impression that your tweets arent valued by others. Be sure to have some of your own lists too, as this will help others see your interests when deciding whether or not to follow you.
5. Link - Linking to a credible outside website is one of the strongest ways to prove youre not a bot and also give potential followers a chance to get to know you more in-depth. You can link to your personal or corporate blog, your website, your LinkedIn profile, or any other legitimate site that proves you are who you say you are. On my profile, I link to a Twitter landing page I created especially for new followers or those checking me out. From this page visitors can link to my blog and my company website. Theres not a whole lotta space in your Twitter bio to give people an accurate picture of who you and and what you have to offer, so linking to another site can go a long way in proving your authenticity and building trust.
6. Bio – The bio is one of the first places most people will look when visiting your profile, and youve got to make those 160 characters count. Your bio should sound professional and yet approachable and include your interests – and, equally important, the interests of those you are trying to attract. If your bio sounds desperate, arrogant, uninterested – or if there isnt one at all – this flags you, at the very least, as someone they wont want showing up in their timeline.
7. Favourites – How many tweets have you favourited? What kinds of tweets? Most likely bot accounts wont have any favourites, so if you want to give the impression that youre a human, use this Twitter feature and make sure some favourites show up on your profile.
8. Tweet Count - How many tweets have you put out? Are you an active Twitter user or just trying to get a follow back in order to push your wares? Some bots and spammers can put out a lot of tweets, but many of them just have enough to fill a page. If this is the case, its an immediate red flag that theyre not using Twitter to interact with others, but obviously have other intentions.
9. Mini avatars – Visitors will also look at the mini avatars of the last 36 people youve followed to see if there are any patterns (ie. you just followed one of their lists, the avatars look like spam accounts, etc). Bots tend to follow bots, so just because they have some followers doesnt necessarily mean theyre legit.
10. Tweets – Do you tweet original stuff? All RTs? All Quotes? Are there any signs that you engage with others? Personally, if I dont see any @replies in the timeline, Im going to assume the account is just all about pushing out their message and most likely wont follow the account. If you want to make a good first impression then make sure youre tweeting quality stuff. Take a hard look at your own account. Review your last 25-30 tweets… Would you follow you?
11. Location - Where are you tweeting from? If every tweet on a profile is coming from the API it looks suspiciously like bot activity. Real people tweet from various locations and using different apps (ie. from web, from Tweetdeck, from Tweetie, etc), and this should show up on your profile.
Granted, very few people will ever take the time to scrutinize you at all of these levels and to this depth. However, if youre serious about making Twitter work for you, you need to put serious thought and effort into making sure you have a good first impression – and that means considering every aspect of your profile to make sure it represents you as accurately and positively as possible.
3. Tweet Quality Content
This is huge. One of the main reasons people use Twitter is to learn. If you can provide content that others are interested in, youll definitely get followed. However, if you pump out loads of fluff or drivel, people will start ignoring your tweets and youll be marginalized to the back of their accounts or just unfollowed. The key thing you want to do is to train peoples eyes to see your stuff so that when they get something from you, theyre anticipating it will be good because of their past experience with you. To do this you need to find good content that is of interest to your target audience but isnt already tweeted to death. Because of the vast sea of good content now available on Twitter, Top 40 tweeting can get tired fast. When you find excellent content about which few are tweeting, then youre on to something. To do this you need spend a lot of time reading online, keeping up with sites on your RSS feeder, and following people who write or share good content regularly. Some of the most popular sites on which to find decent content are Favstar.fm, Tweetmeme, Retweetfeed, Listorious, Popurls, Alltop, and Posterous.
4. Create Original Content
Retweeting others content is important, but it doesnt really show your opinion. Ever read one of those “Wheres Waldo?†books? No one wants to be a Waldo, lost in a mass of people who look just like you. You need to be tweeting relevant AND original content if you want to stand out. People who want to get to know you are interested in what you think. Good original content will gain respect much faster than just sourcing what others have done. This is even more true if you create original content elsewhere (ie. on your personal or corporate blog, on blogging platforms such as Posterous, Tumblr, or video platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, etc). Sometimes this can seem a bit daunting when you stop and think about how much good content is already out there. What new innovative, creative or revolutionary ideas could you share that others havent already? But before you throw in the towel, you need to know that you dont always have to come up with something brand new. There are a lot of ways you can present content and add your own twist to it. The more you hone your writing skills and improve your content the more attention youll attract.
5. Be Consistent
If youre inconsistent in your tweeting habits it will affect the amount of exposure you will get. Personally, Ive noticed that when I take a break from my consistent tweeting schedule my new follower numbers drop significantly. When I start again it takes awhile before I see the same amount of retweets I was getting before I stopped. Retweets are key for getting more followers, and the number of retweets often depends on when you can get the most eyes on your tweets. If you tend to tweet at the same times each day youll provide consistency for your followers – theyll be watching for you. Ideally youll want to try and tweet at optimal times, keeping in mind the timezones your target audience is located in.
6. Engage and Respond
Do your best to respond to all @replies and personal DMs. If someone reaches out to you and you dont respond, it shows youre not interested in that person. If you keep it up, youll most likely get unfollowed, negative vibes and a reputation. Interact with others in conversations and connect with your followers wherever you can. Not only will this strengthen your relationships with your existing followers, it will make them more likely to recommend you to others.
7. Add Yourself to Directories
There are many directories available that you can add yourself to as a way to get more exposure. Ideally, youll want to tag yourself under specific categories so you can be easily be found by those with similar interests. Some of the top ones are We Follow, Twellow, Just Tweet It, and Twibes. Other good places to join are specific LinkedIn groups related to Twitter, social media or niche areas of focus, niche communities (such as the League of Kickass Business People) and Tweetup sites (ie. VancouverTweetup.com). The important thing to remember with these communities is to not just add yourself to the groups, but to actually interact on those sites and get to know the people there.
8. Recommend and Retweet
Recommending others using the #FollowFriday or #FF hashtags or through @MrTweet can also be helpful in gaining followers. Its the Rule of Reciprocity again. A lot of people will follow people their friends recommend. But remember, recommendations are only helpful to people if they actually mean something – long lists of recommendations can easily be construed as insincere and self-serving. Additionally they can create A LOT of noise on Twitter which can work against you. A better way to recommend is to share just one or two people at a time and give reasons why people should consider following them.
9. Promote Your Twitter Account Elsewhere
Many people will discover you through your interactions on Twitter but many more will find you elsewhere. Here are a few of the ways you can promote your twitter account:
* On your email signature (share tools)
* On your website/blog
* On other social networking sites
* On your comments on other blogs
* On online bios
* On your business cards
* On your car (maybe not a good idea if you have a habit of cutting people off)
Obviously there are many more possibilities, and youll know youre a true Twitter addict if you start wearing clothing, nametags or get a custom license plate to sport your Twitter handle.
10. Use #Hashtags
Using #hashtags can help attract new followers based on the subject matter of your tweets – they label your tweets and make them searchable, enabling non-followers to find you. Not everyone is fond of #hashtags, as some people tend to overuse them. Others find them a bit confusing or overwhelming when first encountered. Theres definitely a learning curve when it comes to determining the appropriate terms to use. On top of that, it can be a challenge to remember to consistently add them to your tweets. However, for those who make it a habit, #hashtags are definitely useful for connecting with people of like mind. Heres a comprehensive guide of how to best use hashtags on Twitter.
11. Get listed
Twitter lists are a fairly new phenomenon and list strategies are still in infant phases of development. However, its quite clear thus far that being added to others Twitter lists is a great way to increase your exposure, because people who dont follow you will see your tweets as they observe your followers lists. Whats also clear is that its not something you can directly control – it comes back to the issue of value. To get added to Twitter lists you really need to provide value, and whats valuable to one person may not be valuable to another. Thats why you need to know your niche, be an expert in your field and try to relate to as many people as possible.
12. Take Your Online Offline
Twitter is an awesome tool for learning, observing and interacting, but its a painstakingly slow process if youre hoping to develop some depth to your relationships through 140-character information blips. One way to speed up the timeline is to pick up the phone and call someone or arrange to get together for a lunch or coffee. As great as technology is, theres nothing that compares to the level of interaction that can be experienced over over a burger or beer. Taking the initiative in this regard is huge for building trust and showing people that they matter to you. Attending meetups & tweetups and conferences are also great ways to get to know the people with whom youre connecting. Using tools such as Foursquare in conjunction with Twitter to connect you with your friends offline can also help take your relationships to new levels. The deeper your relationships, the stronger the trust will be with your friends and your interactions and out coming recommendations will show it.
13. Be Humorous
Maybe youre not George Carlin, but if you have a sense of humour, let it out! Being funny makes you more likeable, relatable and approachable, which makes it more likely that people will want to follow you. If its not your leading grace then retweet some humourous (but tasteful) tweets at times. Keep in mind the purposes of your account and ensure whatever youre doing with humour is increasing your standing with your target audience and not detracting. Some forms of humor, such as sarcasm, arent for everyone and can lose you more followers than you gain if youre not careful. Personally, I created a separate account dedicated to sarcastic amusement as I wanted a place to let loose without confusing my followers who arent accustomed or attracted to that form of humor.
14. Be Helpful
Helping others can go a long way in terms of gaining respect, building trust and earning your stripes. What do you have that others are looking for? What have you learned recently that you could share? What tools, apps, tricks or secrets have you discovered that you could give to others? What questions are people asking that you could answer? What challenges or problems are people facing that you could help with? As you see needs that you can meet, act on them. It takes time to be helpful, but people definitely remember it. One practical way you can help people is to use a 3rd party Twitter client like Tweetdeck to filter your timelines for tweets that contain a question mark so that way youll only see tweets of questions you can answer.
15. Be Kind and Appreciative
Being kind goes a long way. People take notice when you consistently do the little things to show others you appreciate them. Try to encourage others and look for opportunities to catch people doing something good and acknowledge them for it. Take the time to thank people when they do something thats helpful to you. You may want to say a public thank you for a #FollowFriday recommendation or a retweet. Some prefer not to create additional noise and choose to send a private DM. At times it can be difficult to keep track of all the people youd like to appreciate. One way you can remember these people and provide value at the same time is to create and add them to your own #FollowFriday or Top-Retweeters list so you can observe their tweets and return the favour.
16. Be Humble and Authentic
Sometimes you might be wrong, sometimes you might screw up. Own up to it. Be transparent. If someones criticizing you, dont get too defensive. Try and hear things from his or her perspective before reacting, even if it seems out of line. Maybe theres some truth in what he or she is saying that you can glean and grow from. Being humble can disarm people who may be envious of you, were turned off by you, or just havent taken the time to get to know you. None of us are perfect, but most of us are fairly adverse to pretense. You may have everything together, but if youre full of yourself people probably wont be following you for long and certainly wont be recommending you.
Conclusion
If you put all – or even a few – of these suggestions into practice, you should have no problem in growing your following and getting closer to your goals on Twitter. It all comes down to being proactive and involved, and trying to make the Twittersphere the best place it can be by putting out quality content and positive vibes. If you do this consistently, you should see some great results. Ive tried to put all of these tips into practice and its been worth all the effort for the amazing people Ive had a chance to get to know and the many other benefits Ive received. Now its your turn to share from your experience – what have you found successful in your efforts to make Twitter work for you?
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, November 26th, 2009
There have been a slew of changes to Facebook recently and there are more coming. I wanted to document the most notable of them from a business use perspective.
Competitions
The first is the new rules regarding competitions. Earlier this month Facebook announced that you could no longer run any kind of competition on Facebook without getting prior consent from the company to do so (and good luck trying to get that). For more on that check out Mari Smith’s post – thanks Mari! Also check out Facebook Promotions Guide.
Page Updates
Wondering where the update fans link went to? Up until a couple of days ago if you wanted to send an update to fans you would click on the link just below the image on your Facebook page. Now its gone but the capability is still there, you just need to look in another place to find it.
Click to edit your Facebook page. In the admin screen look on the right hand side bar then scroll to find the promote your page heading then click on “send an update to fans” there. The process is the same from there.
Privacy
Changes are also ongoing in the form of privacy settings. The goals is to make them easier to understand. Here is some more info taken from the Facebook blog:
* Most of you liked that we removed more complicated technical and legal terms and replaced them with simpler language that everyone can understand.
* You preferred the structure of the new document, which provides key points at the beginning and easy links to jump to the different sections.
* A few of you asked for a redline version so you could compare the proposed revision to our current policy and see exactly what’s changed. We weren’t able to provide one this time because the policy was completely rewritten, but we think it’s a great idea and are committed to doing it for future proposed changes to our governing documents.
