Mar
19

Top 7 Favorite Twitter Bloggers of 2010

I find that the best way to succeed is by learning from those that are doing what I want to do and are very successful.

I am a big Twitter fan and blog reader, thus the reason for my Twitter list “Influential Bloggers.” I have been blogging for a few months and feel that I am becoming very proficient at it, but am always looking for ways to get better. I learn something every day from the 19 people I follow on this list, but seven of them in particular are the most inspirational and informative to me.

1. Chris Brogan was one of the first Twitter bloggers I started following. His immense knowledge on all facets of the Internet world, as well as his proficiency in video blogging is very inspiring. You can visit his site here or follow him on Twitter.

2. Problogger is a wonderful resource for blogging tips of all kinds. As his Twitter bio says, “I blog about twitter and tweet about blogging. Sometimes I blog about tweeting about blogging and tweet about blogging about twitter.” This site is my go-to site on my RSS feed every day when I am looking for inspiration, new WordPress plug-ins to use, ways to further engage my readers, etc. If you are a current blogger or looking to start blogging, definitely subscribe to this site or follow him on Twitter.

3. Steve Garfield is a nationally recognized video blogger on stevegarfield.com and has a strong presence on Twitter. I find myself very inspired by Steve’s natural way of speaking to the camera and presenting his ideas very fluidly and consistently. I have recently started reading his book Get Seen which gives excellent tips and tricks to gaining business through video blogs.

4. Brian Solis is a great blogger on social media engagement, branding, CRM, social capital and many other topics backed by great industry research. I find a lot of my blogging inspiration comes from Solis since he writes about a plethora of social media and Internet trends and utilizes great charts and statistics to back up his posts. You can subscribe to his site here or follow him on Twitter.

5. Chris Dixon is another great Twitter blogger who writes on topics including start-ups, technology, Google trends, and VC’s. As I am entrepreneurial in spirit and talk with several start-ups on a daily basis myself, I find this information very useful for me to share with others. I also find his research on Google to be very interesting since I frequently read about Google, determining what their next move (good or bad) will be. You can subscribe to his site here or follow Dixon on Twitter.

6. David Meerman Scott is a very influential writer who is the author of the New Rules of Marketing and PR (which I first read in a senior marketing class in college). He also blogs at Web Ink Now on topics including social businesses, mobile apps, new marketing trends, PR tips, and many other Internet marketing topics. He is also an avid Twitterati who is very willing to interact with followers (including me). Follow him here.

7. Hubspot is a company dedicated to providing customers and readers with the latest research topics including the State of the Twittersphere, the State of Inbound Marketing, the latest and greatest inbound marketing trends that they are using for their clients, and humorous videos and cartoons. I have been reading their blog since before I started blogging, and learned many great tips from them about blogging and how to best use Twitter. You can view their blog here or follow them on Twitter.

Because of these seven amazing bloggers, I have enhanced my blogging techniques, increased my visibility online, engaged readers, and increased traffic to my site. The best way to learn from them is by subscribing to their blog on your RSS and following them on Twitter.

What bloggers do you find inspiration from?

Mar
05

A Guide to Getting Followed on Twitter

Twitter Myths:

“If I tweet a ton, people will follow”
“If I write controversial tweets and posts, people will follow”
“If I follow a TON of people, they will follow back”

But in reality:

Most of the above myths will not work, at least not long term.

Read on…

“So, how do I get followers if none of the above work?”, you might ask.

First: BE GENUINE! Make your bio legitimate and truthful. Do not use flattery terms on yourself like “I am the best at XYZ…” or “Top notch guy…” or “Follow me and I’ll follow you back.” People can sniff out a spammy Twitter account easily if you write bios like these.

    To be genuine, make your bio legit, follow real people, engage in meaningful conversations and share great content with them, and don’t falsify yourself.

Second: Don’t just promote yourself, or people will think you spam or only care to talk about yourself. If you use Twitter for the main purpose of getting sales, period, then you will not gain many followers. People want to know that you want to get involved with them and share other meaningful content, rather than just yours. For example, if your company sells music products, aside from occasionally posting about your products, post industry articles, new music producing technologies, how to become a better musician, etc. People will find this valuable and can learn from you.

Third: Network outside of Twitter to meet some of these people. For example, last week, I attended the #SoxUp by Fenway in Boston. Prior to the event, I networked through Twitter to locate others who were attending as well, and made a point to meet them in person there. In addition, I met several other people that I did not know beforehand, and I still keep in contact with them via Twitter.

    By meeting people in person and then continuing the conversation on Twitter, relationships can be enhanced by at least two-fold!

Fourth: Keep track of your content. For example, make sure your Twitter posts on the first page are varied and interesting. By this, I mean if someone visits your Twitter page, show them that you 1. Talk with others, 2. Post valuable content, 3. Know what you’re talking about and 4. Have credibility in your field of ‘expertise.’ This will make them much more likely to follow you.

Last, make sure you thank each of your new followers for following you. A simple direct message saying “Thank you for following me [name]” is fine. It shows that there is a person behind your Twitter name and that you appreciate them following you and wanting to learn more about you through your tweets. I have seen this simple effort go a long way, and further conversations can even be generated just by doing this.

By simply following the above tips, you should be seen as a credible, interesting and conversation-worthy person on Twitter, and you should soon be followed by the right people that you want to get in contact with.

    The BIGGEST takeaway from this is to not use Twitter for the sole purpose of promoting yourself or your business. People don’t care about YOU, they care about what they can get out of doing business with you or speaking with you, so give them that information. From there, they may be interested in your needs.

If you want to check out how you rank on Twitter after implementing these simple steps, visit Twitter Grader.

Good luck!

Mar
03

Twitter: What is it even for?

Yesterday, @Cait_Downey tweeted out this post, and from there we had a quick conversation:

@Cait_Downey What’s your main reason for Twitter? to socialize? entertain? inform? build awareness?

@KristinEDziadul @Cait_Downey I think it’s for whatever you want to make of it

@Cait_Downey @KristinEDziadul I agree w/ you! I think its best when it’s a mix of everything too.

This conversation got me thinking: does Twitter have a true purpose? One central theme to its usage is that you can meet people that you may not have otherwise by sharing articles, pictures, blogs, and comments. However, Twitter has different purposes based on the user.

Businesses:
PR tactic
Networking
B2C connections
Sharing industry articles
Reaching out to advertisers
Conveying the brand image
Networking with partnering companies
Advertising blogs, events, job openings, etc.

Employees:
Connect with other co-workers
Find out about industry trends to learn more
Support their employer’s statements (i.e. blogs, research, events)
Develop their own online brand as a part of their larger employer’s brand

Individuals:
Find a job
Meet friends
Meet potential employers
Find networking events to go to
Share videos, articles, research, etc.
Follow celebrities or favorite brands

Celebrities:
Tweet photos of themselves
PR device if they have a mishap
Make followers feel connected to them
Promote their albums, movies, clothing lines, etc.
Tell fans where they are, what they are doing, what they like, etc.

As I said in the conversation above with Cait, Twitter can be used for whatever you want. I think Twitter is so basic for a reason: users can have free range in what they do with it. Twitter applications are developed to enhance particular aspects of it if users need them. Personally, I use it for individual purposes as a part of building my online branding and networking with others.

Please leave your comments on how/why you or your company use Twitter or how you would like to use it!

Feb
28

#SoxUp Recap

soxup Boston, MA event

(Picture courtesy of Derek Wilmont on Flickr)

First of all, it was great to meet each and every one of you on Thursday night (February 25th) at the Boston, MA Soxup event at Fenway Park Absolute Clubhouse hosted by Awareness. It was really neat to watch the ‘Twitterverse’ come to life during an event like this. Going into the event, I only had met three people that I knew were going to be there, and left having met about eight more.

The environment on Twitter before the event almost mocked the types of conversations going on during the event. Before the SoxUp, all attendees, including me, were using the hashtag #soxup to locate others who were going as well, so as to ‘meet’ them beforehand. After I did this, I then engaged in conversations on Twitter with several people whom I connected with via the hashtag.

This then allowed me to locate these people immediately at the event, either by facial recognition or by their Twitter username printed on their name tag. I was then able to immediately engage in a conversation with these people, as we had already ‘met’ on Twitter. This saved the time of introducing myself, working the room, and making small talk. Instead, the time was used more efficiently by engaging in meaningful conversations regarding the Internet marketing industry, social media, or the event itself.

Sites like Twitter have truly revolutionized the networking environment to make it more open via the Internet, and more efficient in person.

Overall, I think the event was fabulous. Awareness’s Christine Major did an excellent job facilitating the welcoming speech, introducing featured guest Steve Garfield, and interacting with everyone there. The environment was a great place to meet with everyone (and it kept us out of the rain!). I look forward to keeping in touch with everyone I met there on Twitter and at future events!

How do you find that Twitter is a valuable networking facilitator?

Feb
24

Are You Socially Active?

Ready to jump onto the social media bandwagon?!

Do you consider yourself technologically savvy or very socially connected? Make sure you are using the below social media sites, and using them correctly!

1. Facebook: If you are a business, create an informative but not overwhelming Fan Page. Connect with others in your demographic market and geographic location, interact with them, and post valuable and meaningful information for fans to read. If you are an individual marketing yourself online, ensure to clean up your profile, i.e. no bad pictures, create appropriate status updates, and watch what pages you become fans of and what groups you join. Then, start networking with professionals and professional groups through Facebook.

2. Twitter: If you are a business, develop an original background that conveys the image and look and feel of your company. Interact with others in your industry, thought leaders, key consumers, and proponents of your brand. This will help you disseminate your information in the most direct way, and those people will be more receptive to it. Make sure you do not over-promote yourself, or followers will be turned off. Post valuable information about your industry in general, and make sure to interact with people! If you are an individual, create an original background that conveys your personal brand online, connect with friends, co-workers, favorite brands, and even those in your industry that you want to network with. Search for topics or industries in the search box to get involved with people doing involved with that on Twitter.

3. LinkedIn: If you are a business, create a strong description of your company and join all relevant groups to your industry/product/brand, etc. Post your blogs to those groups and ask others for their feedback. In the same way, respond to others and interact to be seen as a thought-leader and a ‘socialite’ on LinkedIn. If you are an individual, create a strong description of what you do or what you hope to achieve by networking with others. Get involved with groups that are relevant to your area of interest or speciality, post your blogs, and respond to others as well. The more active you are on here, the more recognized you will be, and you may even land a job offer!

4: Blog: Today, blogging is more important than ever for everyone to be doing. Blogging allows you to be seen as a thought leader or expert in your field. For blogging success, read Chris Brogan’s blog titled 40 Ways to Deliver Killer Blog Content.” Tell Facebook friends about your posts, Tweet it out to the Twitterverse, post it to your groups on LinkedIn, and even make them into video blogs to post them on YouTube for additional exposure!

5. Commenting on Blogs: You know it feels good to see that someone has commented on your blog, so as common courtesy, comment on other blogs as well. They appreciate it as much as you do. By reading other blogs, you can learn more, learn about different perspectives on issues, interact with new people, share that information with others, and get your name out there.

6. Pictures/Videos: Giving a visual representation of your daily activities or thoughts is a great way for a reader/viewer to interact with you and learn more about you. For example, if you are traveling into Boston for the day and want to take a video of you recapping the conference, people will want to see your video blog review if they were not able to attend. Also, if you are at a really cool restaurant, saw a neat car, etc. you can take a picture and upload it to TwitPic or Flickr to share with all! Visual representation of what you are doing is more powerful than you may think!

For those of you starting off in social media engagement, take these steps slow and carefully so you develop your content in a planned out and effective manner. It does take time, so don’t rush it. To monitor your online presence, occasionally search Google for your own name to see how much content is on the web about you. If you are getting involved with Internet technologies for a career, future employers may be Googling you more than looking into your resume.

For those social media gurus reading this, any other suggestions to add?

Feb
19

How I Spend my Time in Social Media

This is my first of many video blogs where I discuss what I have been doing each week in regards to blogging, social media advancement, guest blogging opportunities, freelance work, people I have met, etc.

I hope you enjoy!

Feb
12

Don’t Just Tweet to Tweet

About how many tweets on Twitter do you find truly valuable each day?

For one, it is hard to get noticed on Twitter because everyone is sending out updates all day long so messages can quickly get hidden. One thing I have noticed many businesses and individuals do is send out useless tweets. Now, everyone is guilty of this at one point or another, but if you send out several and risk losing valuable followers, then there is a problem. I came to think about this issue after reading Tom Davenport’s post titled, “Let’s Tweet About Something Important”. He discussed top 2009 tweets, which ones truly had value, or were just lost in the clutter.

We don’t want to hear about your current mood or your dog’s name or what your wife is doing. A report by Huffington Post collected the top topics on Twitter of 2009, including Harry Potter, the Swine Flu, Michael Jackson, Tiger Woods, American Idol, Superbowl, and Google Wave. If you can teach me something by posting about any of these topics or other topics of interest to your most valued followers, then that is good. If not, don’t bother tweeting at all.

Social media sites are getting more and more cluttered as people are joining at lightening fast speed, so making your message stand out is key, especially for a business trying to gain valuable customer relationships.

What are some of the best and worst tweets you have seen?

Feb
10

Google Buzz and Non-Twitter Users

As I reported in earlier blog posts, Generation Y consumers are not using social media sites as much as would be expected. This is because they are not huge content creators, but they do enjoy sharing information via the Internet. This provides the perfect opportunity for Google Buzz to capitalize on this market.

About 5.7 million people have Gmail accounts. Since Google Buzz allows current Gmail users to use Buzz right from their inbox, there is no sign-up necessary. This would make it very easy for a Gmail user to investigate and start using Buzz. Many Gen Y consumers are skeptical of the uses of Twitter, calling it ‘stupid’ or not knowing its true value. However, those who use Gmail are loyal to Google’s products, and would therefore be more likely to start using Buzz.

Buzz also gives users more sharing capabilities than Twitter, Facebook, and other major social media sites. It also seems to integrate many sharing tools that have not yet been combined. Users can share pictures and videos right from their desktop into the conversation without logging onto Facebook photo, Flickr, or TwitPics. I predict that those who do not use Twitter will quickly adopt Google Buzz as their social outlet, and I foresee some Twitter users converting to Buzz, or at least joining it as well. Is Google going to change the social media realm? It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

It will be interesting to see how Facebook and Twitter react to Google’s new and integrated social aspect. Already, Facebook redesigned their layout to make social search at the top and most prominent. How will Twitter react to its new rival?

Jan
31

The Changing Web Communications Environment


Since traditional advertising techniques are on the downturn, and developing more Internet content that is both relevant and engaging is highly popular, the move towards Internet-based marketing is rapidly occurring.

Corporations are moving their communication tactics to the employee-level so that communication is no longer the primary job of a public relations or marketing department. For example, IBM decided to merge their marketing, public relations, and corporate responsibility functions into one department. IBM saw this as a move which would combine the company culture with the brand, with IBM values at the core of both.

One-way communications from company to consumer no longer works, and even large, more traditional corporations are realizing this. “The web is blurring the distinctions between corporate communications and individual employee communications with customers and stakeholders now” (Debruyn).

The most important way that companies can engage in two-way communications with consumers is by utilizing social networking sites. Social sites now have extensive search capabilities that may even revolutionize searching habits. Steve Rubel from Edleman said, “Social networks are going to start to make it easier for you to search content at point of information” (Convertiv).

What does this mean for Google? Even though Google embraces social sites being on the uprise, they are terrified of what it may mean for the new age of searching. Twitter allows users to search for any topic, person, business, etc., and shows real-time results of what is being talked about. While Google will still dominate searches for years to come, with over 37% search domination, they do fear what social searches will bring (Convertiv).

I think that Google must quickly develop a competing strategy so that they can stay on top of their search dominance on the web. With the rise of social media searches, Google must make a first mover advantage in the search engine industry to keep social searches less used than Google.

What do you think Google should do? Should they allow social searches to rise, or should they do something to keep their dominance of searches worldwide?

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