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If you've pondered using Twitter but aren't sure how to use it effectively or if you've been on Twitter for a while and aren't sure if you're maximizing it as you should be, here are some quick tips to give you some great twittering-ideas:
• Teach stuff - teach a little mini-lesson on Twitter. Delve into your area of expertise or just talk about book publishing and how to get published.
• Share sites or blogs that your followers would be interested in. Be their "filter" to new and exciting information.
• Use Tweetlater.com to post tweets to your account for later posting so you don't have to be sitting on top of Twitter every minute of the day.
• Use Twitter as a news source: you can easily announce news both from your world (as long as it relates to your topic) and from the world of your expertise. So for example I've done tweets on book industry stuff, breaking news, etc.
• Widen your network - follow other Twitter folk, this will not only give you some ideas for your own "tweets" but it's a great way to network with other writers or professionals.
• Offer advice: use Tweetdeck.com or Twitter Search (search.twitter.com) to see who's asking for info on your area of expertise and then offer them some help/insight. This is a great way to build relationships.
• It's ok to market yourself but be careful about pimping your stuff too much.
• Be Original, useful and helpful.
• If you're on tour with your book or doing an event, tweet on that and invite your local followers to attend.
• Tweet any good reviews your book gets, it' always fun to share the good stuff!
• Every Tweet counts (don't tell people you're washing your cat) don't just tweet on useless stuff or you'll lose followers
• It's not all about you (again, back to the cat) people want to know useful stuff, I know, it's getting repetitive but there's a reason: it's important
• Promote your Twitter account in your email signature line and on your blog
• Network: don't expect your followers to grow if you're not following other people. Network, search for others in your area and follow them.
• Personal is ok. Even though I said not to post useless information it's still not a bad idea to (from time to time) post a personal Tweet or two. Provide value and twitter-followers will beat a path to your door.
• Follow everyone who follows you. You can use sites like Socialtoo.com and Tweetlater.com to autofollow everyone who follows you. These services can also send a nice welcome message to your new followers.
• There is a lot of noise on Twitter, the sooner you get comfortable with that the better. It's like being at one massive cocktail party, you have to find ways to filter out the noise. Sites like Tweetlater can help you do that.
• Imbed a link or some other sign up in your welcome message, this is another great way to capture emails for your newsletter (assuming you have one).
• Use sites like Tweetlater or Twitter Search to see who's talking about you and then follow them too or comment on their tweet.
• It's ok to repeat your tweets. With the volume of messages people get your followers will often miss some of your posts.
• Feed your blog through Twitter using Twitterfeed.com.
• Join Help a Reporter out @skydiver for tweets on media leads (it's a great service!).
• Don't feel like you have to respond to every tweet but I generally try to respond to all tweets that are replies to mine (you can find these under @replies on your Twitter home page).
• Want to stay on top of your market and find stuff to Tweet about? Then go to Alltop.com and search for your category. There are thousands of them up there. Here are a few to consider: socialmedia.alltop.com, twitter.alltop.com and publishing.alltop.com.
• Review a product or book on Twitter
• Follow big names in your market on Twitter: this will often bring in their followers too and you want to see what the "big guys" are up to.
• Get a good picture: don't leave your avatar blank. Personalize your page if you can but a good Twitter picture is a must.
• Tweetbeep.com is a lot like Google alerts. You can plug in your keywords and you're pinged each time they are used.
• Are you ready to add pictures to your Tweets? Then head on over to Twitpic.com, this site will let you upload pictures and tweet to them.
• Videos can also be shared on Twitter and 12seconds.tv is a great way to record a video (12 seconds long, hence the name) and share it with your followers.
• Music on Twitter is also possible thanks to TwittyTunes (http://www.foxytunes.com/twittytunes/) this site is great for sharing music and it has a simple Firefox add-in that lets you Twitter on music you're currently listening to!
• Keep Twittering, followers will come if you keep updating your Twitter account
More on Twitter
Twitter, the little micro-blogging site that could has seen an enormous growth lately. Traffic to the site has nearly doubled in the last two months, seeing 1.2 million unique visitors per month. If you're not on Twitter you might want to consider it. Twittering or micro-blogging (as it's commonly referred to) is getting bigger each day as applications for this form of promotion continue to grow. Don't believe me?
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/05/16/traffic-to-twitter-nearly-doubles-in-two-months
Fun Twitter Stuff
If you’re still confused about what Twitter is, check out this easy-to-understand YouTube video:
Twitter in Plain English: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o
Ready for more fun Twitter applications?
TwitterMail: http://twittermail.com/ - supplies you with a personal email address. If you send an email to that address it will be posted to Twitter.
Is Twitter a popularity contest? Yes, without a doubt. Find out how you rank in the grand scheme of Twitter fame: Twitter Quotient http://web.forret.com/tools/twitter-tq.asp Find out if you're a Twitter hero or BIG zero
Addicted to Twitter? You're not the only one. Check out the most popular micro-blogs on Twitter: http://www.twitterholic.com/
Ready to update Twitter from your phone? Check out Twitter Fone: http://www.twitterfone.com/
Ready to follow some other Twitters but not sure who you should be following? Head on over to Who Should I Follow (http://www.whoshouldifollow.com/), plug in your Twitter user name and it'll pop up results appropriate to your Tweets.
And if that's now enough, try following @mrtweet, when you do this service will send you back a list of people who are top in your category that you should follow. Tres cool!
Ready to make some quick cash? Twitter me this (http://www.twittermethis.com/) is a site that will ask a random question, if you're the first one to answer you win $5. Just enough for a latte. Not bad. I haven't won anything yet but I'm still hopeful.
If the Twitter-language has you confused check this out, it's every possible Twitter-term you'd ever want to know (and maybe a few you don't):
http://www.sitemasher.com/smblog2/2008/10/my-twittonary-every-twitter-term-and.html
Compliments of Author Marketing Experts, Inc.
http://amarketingexpert.com/
info@amarketingexpert.com
(858) 560-0121
4 comments:
Wow... This is a super comprehensive twitter post.
I use TweetLater and TweetDeck but have to try the others.
Thanks Penny and Tony for sharing this. : )
Cheers
Freya
All this is very good stuff for the brand building and messaging side of the equation, but in my opinion, that's only half of the Twitter story.
None of this good stuff matters if nobody's "listening" to you, nor is it effective if you're not "listening" to identify your target connections.
Twitter holds a wealth of marketing data and business development opportunities, but only when you "listen" well for the connections in the social web who will help an author move the book or their platform forward.
Point well taken, Don, But as with almost all blog post, you can't get everything crammed into a single post. That's why an article writer often narrows the focus. Many authors even take multiple posts on a subject and create a book or e-book.
It sounds like you have some great ideas about the other "half of the Twitter story." I would be happy to invite you to guest blog to share that half with my readers.
In my experience, even these "two halves" are still a small portion of what could be written on the Twitter story. But this blog has a lot of authors sharing a lot about this huge tool that authors, or any business professional, can use to help market their brand and their books.
Thanks for the comment.
It's amazing how over 75% of Tweets now come from third-party apps and not from the actual Twitter site. I wonder if this hurts Twitter's business valuation. What are your thoughts?
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