A guide to Twitter and what to do with it and why

1. A guide for those who want to be “in the know”
MAKING SENSE OF TWITTER
Prepared by Mark A. Silver
http://twitter.com/marksilver

2. What is Twitter?
 A micro-blogging site
 The blog is 140 characters and called a “tweet”
 A real-time search engine
 A way to build relationships
 A way to find people with mutual interests
 And yes, some people will post inane
comments like their lunch menu

3. Things to consider
 Here are some things you should consider:
 Real-time search results
 Monitor something (or someone) you care about
 Build relationships
 Use it as a personal marketing tool
 Give and Get Help
 Get news updates
 Instantly communicate with friends

4. Real-time search results
 Get search results by-the-minute!
 Find out what others say on any given topic
quickly, often with Web references
 Most news searches only offer daily updates
 I use Tweet Deck as a multiple search platform
 Tweet Deck uses a desktop alert when new
search results or tweets come in

5. Monitoring
 Monitoring people is done by “following” them
 You get their “tweets”
 You know what they are doing, thinking and feeling
 You can follow topics, such as a conference, or
a research group
 Topic tweeters often use a “#” symbol followed by a
word on their topic-relevant tweets (“#GPSEG”
might be used about the GPSEG group.)

6. Build relationships
 Relationships is about what you put in,
not what you take out
 Invest in others through:
 Personal or professional insights
 Mentoring and Coaching
 Encourage others to follow a cause
 Invite followers to meet in person
 Provide inspirations
 Share your expertise by Tweeting stories
 Interact with others (it’s a very human need)

7. Personal Marketing tool
 Personal Marketing is about building an
online brand about you
 Brands are built over time using simple and
consistent messages:
 Tweeting about your favorite topic builds a
personal brand that says something about you
 For example: Tweeting consistently about
volunteer work with children “brands” you as a
particular type of person.
 Continued…

8. Personal Marketing tool
 Be consistent about your tweets: vacillating
between contrary positions weakens your
positioning statement:
 For example: Advocating for battery-operated
cars, but then saying driving a 12-cylinder gas-
powered vehicle is contradictory and no one will
know what you stand for.
 Consistent marketing helps people
understand you and what you stand for

9. Give and Get Help
 By reaching out to followers, or on special
topics, you can get, and give
 Immediate advice and input from experts
 Suggestions on where to get help
 Experience of others on the same topic
 Other considerations to help you think
“outside the box”

10. Instant News Updates
 News services now use Twitter to provide
instant topical updates
 Interpretive data available through
Tweetscoop, which highlights hot topics now
 Sometimes, Twitter is faster at getting news
out than internal PR and the traditional
media (sometime speed sacrifices quality)
 You can group newsfeeds for convenience in
Tweetdeck

11. Communicate with friends
 As family follow you, share instantly what
you are doing
 Get tweets Via SMS for selected people on
your phone, Blackberry or Smart Phone
 Tweetup with followers (a Tweetup is a live
meeting (meet up) for Twitterers
 Get instant updates on your family and
friends and organize impromptu get-
togethers

12. Thoughts to consider
 Be genuine in your communications (i.e.
don’t be contrived)
 Building a Twitter community takes time
(unless you are a celebrity)
 Tweeting is quick and doesn’t have to be a big
drain on your time or resources
 It’s fun, have fun, and don’t take it, or
yourself, too seriously! 

13. Online Case studies
 A CEO that uses Twitter
 Twitter Becomes the Life of the <snip> Party
 Twitter-enabled box alerts bakery customers to fresh bread
 Twitter Case Study %u2014 Social Media Optimization
 Twitter Case Study of a Commercial Brand – Sugarrae
 Twitter case studies - Google Search