Twitter: Serious Business. Serious Fun.

Serious Business. Serious Fun. Gary Moneysmith Interactive Strategy Director gary@cpvinc.com ial m a Soc . Hi. I’ a Critic Medi @garymoneysmith

Today’s Discussion • Introduction • What Can I Do With Twitter? • How Do I Get Started? • Jargon Alert • Time to Follow & Be Followed ATE E to H a. • What Should I Tweet About? I LOV medi social • Any Way to Make Life Easier?

My Confession... January 24, 2008 “Twitter is the most childish, self-indulgent invention on the Internet. I never need to know THAT much about your life.” gree Ic ouldn’t a more!

My Conversion... April 9, 2009 - Speaking to the Ohio University Journalism School “If I had to stop using every business tool currently at my disposal, Twitter would be the very last. It’s my outsourced brain.” er! F lopp Flip-

"It's one of the fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet." - New York Times "Twitter is a sucker's game that only serves the needs of tiny elite." - Seth Finkelstein, The Guardian (UK) "Twitter is on its way to becoming the next killer app." - TIME Magazine "Twitter, then, is the latest evidence of the Paris Hiltoning of America. Twitter is always on, always looked at, and at a 140 character limit, doesn’t have the capacity to be either deep or meaningful." ?! Helen Popkin (MSNBC)

July 14, 2009 Twitter is DEAD. Long live Twitter! Twitter as we know it now will go away. Valuable business and personal networking via social media will persist and accelerate. ll it ej ust ca ? Can w move on & dead

What can I do with Twitter?

Research Crisis Communications Customer Service Sales/Donations Brand Building Culture Sharing PR Trafﬁc Building Networking Recruiting Professional Referrals Technical Support Breaking News Promotions Education Fun

Ambient Learning/Awareness Lightweight, but meaningful conversation "Google’s coming out with an operating system?! Woohoo!" “Do we have a company meeting today or not?!” “I installed Windows 7 on myGirl Scout “I’m selling Cookies.” wife’s NetBook. Surprisingly easy. Might install myself...” cat has raised $18,000 for "A animal shelters via funny daily tweets -- weird, but cool." “Does anyone know of a good online media buying company? I need info for a proposal ASAP!” “Yah, call EnginePoint. They rock.”

Old Wine in New Barrels... “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” “...want to make people laugh at you...talk incessantly about yourself.” Originally published in 1936 15 million copies sold globally

Where do I ﬁnd the time?! rdly n ha ail!? I ca em le hand

Smoke Breaks? Take Twitter Breaks! 30-Minutes Per Day

So How Do I Get Started?

The Essentials Account Set-up

Essentials: Account Set-up 20-character limit 15-character limit 160-character limit Privacy Control

Essentials: Password Management

Essentials: Mobile Set-up

Essentials: Notice Controls

Essentials: Picture

Essentials: Background Setup

Essentials: Background Setup Offers frequently asked contact information details

Essentials: Background Setup

Essentials: Connections Summary

Essentials: Almost Ready to Go!

Jargon Alert Some Helpful Explanations... • Tweet A single Twitter post/message; up to 140 characters including spaces • RT Short for “retweet” - when someone repeats your tweet/message; usually complimentary

Jargon Alert Some Helpful Explanations... • @message Public messages directed at a speciﬁc username such as @garymoneysmith (AKA “@mentions” or “@replies) • DM (Direct Message) Private message sent to a particular person such as “d garymoneysmith” (Tip: Set DM’s to email/ text to mobile phone to ensure delivery)

Jargon Alert Hashtag (#) • Label added to a Tweet to “categorize” it • Makes conversation strings easier to ﬁnd • Often used by people live-tweeting events

Jargon Alert Favorites • Usually denoted via a little star • Stores them for future reference

Time to Follow and Be Followed!

Follow & Be Followed...

How many people should I be FOLLOWING and how many should follow me? Answer: It Depends... • Why (how) are you using Twitter? • Active vs passive engagement • Quality vs. Quantity • Reality: Your Commitment ishy- Sou nds w e. to m washy

Who should I follow? • Friends, family & associates (inc. former) • Industry superstars • Friends of friends (power of weak links) • Mass/niche media journalists • Bloggers • Professors & other subject matter experts The • Customers & business partners (members) Fo llow? y only s cener for • Leaders of community & advocacy groups es chang dog d the lea • ...anyone else that makes your day better.

Follower/Following Tips Ratio (Follower/Following) • High Follow few, but has many followers. Person is discriminating who they follow, but is popular/inﬂuential to others • Low Follow many, but few follow back. Person who wants to broadcast to many, but isn’t popular enough to be followed back Also consider # of updates - too much? Too little?

How do I ﬁnd people? 1) Search for people you know by name: http://twitter.com/invitations/ﬁnd_on_twitter

How do I ﬁnd people? 2) Find friends based on your stored email addresses: http://twitter.com/invitations/ﬁnd_on_other_networks

How do I ﬁnd people? 3) Keyword Search: search.twitter.com

How do I ﬁnd people? 3) Keyword Search - Example Results Potential Person to follow Link to Online Articles RT = Valued Opinion Hashtags for More Info

How do I ﬁnd people? 3) Advanced Keyword Search

Search Tips Ask yourself, what keywords interest you when you overhear a conversation? • Your name/username (“vanity search”) • Your company, brand and products • Competitor names/products • Industry terms • Conference names • Geographic locations • Acronyms n the • Commonly know publication names l’ ﬂy o The o ick, eh? wall tr Read the tweets returned, then follow the conversation strings between people.

What Should I Tweet About?

You’ve got 140-characters Use them wisely! • Observations on industry happenings • Comments on current events • Links to interesting online articles/resources • Answer questions asked by others • Post a link to your blog and invite • Ask questions to instigate conversation s like • Thank someone else for a great Tweet Sound tting re cha you’ d... with a frien

You’ve got 140-characters Use them wisely! • Link to a speciﬁc Tweet (or RT it) • Share a funny idea or photo • Live Tweet an event • OH: “Overheard” Share something you overhear ness Is this busi ? asure or ple

Photo Uploads

But what about Tweeting on behalf of my company? On Brand... and on spirit! • Ask yourself, “What makes my organization unique? Why do I exist?” The answers will guide how you should utilize Twitter. • Behave within the spirit of your brand. • Be authentic, genuine and human. • Be conversational & share useful info; don’t try tail ock direct sales. Don’t be that guy. A vi rtual c ed a r - I ne mixe drink!

But what about Tweeting on behalf of my company? On Brand... and on spirit! • How can you help your customers, business partners, employees? • What “fun facts” help people understand you? • What “behind the scenes” info would people ﬁnd interesting? • What material could you share that doesn’t ﬁt into press releases, web pages or white papers?

Can multiple people run our Twitter account? Yes, but... • Explain the “tag team” approach in the bio area • Identify Tweets with the person’s initials • Reply to as many “@” or direct messages possible • Everyone needs to stay appraised of updates to avoid unecessary/uncoordinated repeat messages • Establish a tone or personality for Tweets, no matter who posts/writes them • Add photos/info for each team member in the background graphic

Example: Multi-Author Posts

Any way to make life easier? • Contacts Manager • 3rd Party Applications • Link Shorteners/Reporting • Keyword Alerts • Cross Posting to Facebook • Mobile Accessibility

http://dossy.org/twitter/karma/ Manage Contacts

Example 3rd Party Application - Tweetdeck

Other 3rd Party Applications Helpful Hint If you delete a Tweet via the Twitter website, it might not get deleted in 3rd party apps which “cache” (store) info longer. Trust me on this one.

Link Shorteners Copy shortened link into your Tweet...

Link Reporting

Keyword Alerts Email notiﬁcations delivered when your keywords are tweeted by others.

Example 3rd Party Application Tweetdeck - Facebook Posting & Link Shortening Cross posts to your Facebook status updates.

Mobile Accessiblitiy MANY ways/options... • Tweetie • Twitterifﬁc • Tweetdeck Mobile • TwitterFon • Twitterberry

Things To Remember • Be VERY careful when sending DM’s via a phone • Address reasonable negative comments; offer to discuss in a non-Twitter forum (email, telephone, etc.) • Remember, ANYONE can read your comments; post freely, but consider possible misinterpretations.

Questions? Thank you! Gary Moneysmith Interactive Strategy Director gary@cpvinc.com ’ll Ma ybe I OK. t a try... i give @garymoneysmith

Twitter: Serious Business. Serious Fun.

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