Although we cannot verify whether God Twitters (yet), many of his followers at Westwinds Church in Jackson, Michigan, conduct weekend worship services in what they call Twitter Church. I would have never known this had I not spoken to internet marketing guru Dan Hollings the other day and asked about the Twitter craze. He’s one of the most entertaining people I’ve met in a long time. So much so that I wanted him to be a guest blogger and share some of his wisdom. He has insider tips that on-the-go entrepreneurs really need to know.
10 Great Ways To Twitter Your Life Away (for fun and profit) by Dan Hollings
You read a headline like this and you think, “Wait, Twitter My Life Away?” Why would I want to know 10 great ways to do that?
But, as you read on, the same headline says, “for fun and profit.” Aren’t these two ideas at opposing ends of the spectrum? The answer is: Not any more!
The whole blossoming panorama of social media and, more specifically, using social media as a part of your marketing strategy, is something everyone should be paying attention to. Especially if you’re an entrepreneur or business owner.
How do I know this? Well, I’m the guy who back in 2005-2006 orchestrated the phenomenally successful internet campaign behind the smash hit movie, The Secret. This was a pure internet launch, on a minimal budget, that tapped many strategies including pay-per-click (PPC), blogging, search engine optimization (SEO), master plot optimization (MPO), database marketing, JVs and–to no small extent–social media and social media optimization (SMO). The campaign proved beyond any doubt that there can be profit in social media marketing and–as the guy driving that secret social media Volkswagen bus–take it from me; it was a lot of fun.
Back in 2005, social media was just ratcheting up as Yahoo 360, YouTube, Bebo, Facebook and Ning took their spots on the horizon. Yes, many things came before that, all the way back to the way-ahead-of-its-time “Six Degrees” community of 1997; but in my mind it was 2005 when the social media roller coaster reached the peak of its incline and, wow, what a ride it has been since then.
All of the strategies I’ve mentioned could fill a dozen books, and over time I’d love to share my ideas and experiences on these and other topics, but today I’ve decided to focus in on a particular subset of social media known as microblogging. Yes, that’s blogging on a microscopic scale.
Twitter Is No Secret
When Twitter stepped into the social media scene in 2006 it changed blogging forever with the concept of limiting posts to 140 characters, much like posting an SMS text message–only you were blogging (thus the “micro” part of microblogging). Furthermore, because of the 140-character limit on posts, Twitter was a natural for bridging the gap between the internet and mobile.
The Twitter concept employs a “FollowMe” system whereby you elect to follow people you know or people you find interesting and, in turn, many will “follow” you–that is, if you are interesting.
Voila . . . the perfect, socially oriented, easy and portable communications system was born; and it would not take long before entrepreneurs began thinking about the “M” word: marketing.
Today I’ll be sharing some “Twitter secrets” (some marketing, some not) and I’ll focus on Twitter largely because it is the most popular platform exclusively devoted to microblogging. However, by no means is microblogging the exclusive terrain of Twitter. There are many others, such as: Spoink, Identi.ca, Pownce, Plurk, ReJaw, Blippr or Google’s Jaiku. But first . . .
Who Uses Twitter and Why?
NASA used Twitter to break the news of what appeared to be water ice found on Mars by the Phoenix Mars Lander. The Los Angeles Fire Department has put the technology to use to help communicate during California wildfires. The University of Texas at San Antonio College of Engineering is using Twitter to relay information to students.
Whether you deem Twitter as frivolous or genius largely depends on how you use it. No doubt you can twit away an entire day without accomplishing anything. Yet the rewards for exploring Twitter or any other platform for microblogging are compelling for both social and business/marketing purposes.
The new chant for socially aware marketers has evolved from subscribe, subscribe, subscribe to followme, followme, followme as lists of devoted followers are built. And the insights into a business’s niche can be greatly enhanced by scanning the collective commentary of followers and non-followers.
Twitter Secret #1
Open a Twitter account at:
http://twitter.com
Wait, don’t move too fast. You’ll be required to create a Twitter username and that username is important. It will appear at the end of your Twitter URL:
http://twitter.com/USERNAME
It should be socially acceptable and/or interesting, or it should be some variation of your name. If possible, keep it short, memorable and easy to spell. Be very careful about using a stuffy company name: This is social media, and people prefer to communicate with people. Few people would want to follow “IdahoRotoRooterLLC” - I think you’ll agree.
You are only permitted to use letters, numbers and ‘_’
Twitter Secret #2
Think of your Twitter username (and URL) almost like a domain name, and if there are variations of your name that you feel are important, secure those by establishing secondary accounts. For example, I suggest people follow me at: http://twitter.com/dhollings but I also have http://twitter.com/danhollings which redirects people to my primary account.
You’ll also note that you can have public or private Twitter accounts, so you can use separate accounts on Twitter for various private or public purposes. Don’t go nutty, but it typically makes sense to establish at least two accounts. As you expand your understanding of Twitter uses, you can add more if you like.
Twitter Secret #3
Invest 15 minutes and skim through the Twitter Help and FAQ area.
http://help.twitter.com/
This is important. In fact, many people ask me how I learn all this “marketing stuff” since I rarely attend seminars of any kind. Here’s the secret:
Whenever you engage in any new tool or system, head quickly to the help, tutorial or FAQ area. Look around, click around, explore, read, think and absorb.
The next step in this secret is to visit a dozen or so users of the system. As you do, observe carefully what they are doing and think how you can do it better.
This might not sound like a secret, but I have a theory that if people did this, most seminar givers would be out of business today.
Twitter Secret #4
Within your Twitter account settings, you are allowed to add a web address. The setting form says “Have a homepage or a blog?” Caution, don’t think this is unimportant. Yes, add a URL here, but it does not have to be your “homepage or a blog”.
What URL should you link to? Answer: The URL that links to the most interesting page related to you that you have. If it’s your homepage or blog, OK, but you might consider creating a special page dedicated to your goal. A page that confirms in the visitor’s mind: “Yes, this is a person I’d like to follow!” Link to a page that illustrates in some way that you are interesting. That’s the secret.
Regardless of which page you use for this URL, make sure your page clearly provides a way for the visitor to get back to Twitter so he or she can click your follow button.
If your Twitter account is a secondary account, then add the URL to your primary Twitter page.
Twitter Secret #5
Definitely spend some time thinking about your one-line Twitter bio. This is a 160-character line (it can include a URL) that appears in the upper right corner of your Twitter home page.
When people discover your Twitter page, they will likely read your micro-bio, and wording it well can make all the difference in getting them to follow you or not.
Twitter Bio Secret: Make it real, make it fun, make it interesting, make it you. Literally make your bio Twitter “follow bait.” You are fishing for followers, and the better the bait, the more followers you’ll catch.
Twitter Secret #6
Try to keep your Twitter “Following/Follower” ratio balanced. If a potential follower sees you are following 1,532 people and only 32 are following you–rightfully or wrong, some people make assumptions about what’s going on.
You can prune your Followers and Followings easily within your Twitter account or, if your numbers get big, services like “Less Friends” http://lessfriends.com/ can be helpful. (”Less Friends” - ha! You gotta love that name.)
Twitter Secret #7
Make your personal picture (icon) good and, if possible, upload a really interesting background image under the “Design” tab. A quick search on Google for “Twitter Backgrounds” “Twitter Wallpaper” or “Twitter Templates” will likely help.
A compelling background I designed for the eccentric marketing entrepreneur, Joe Polish, can be seen here: http://twitter.com/jpolish Joe has significant rea-life followers in the offline world, but converting those to online followers is a new process he’s just begun. What do you think? Does this background convey a big message that Joe might be someone worthy of following on Twitter?
Twitter Secret #8
What do you post? Ah, that’s the magical part. Now, granted, what you post depends largely on your goals and purpose with Twitter, but in general this is easy: Post interesting stuff, preferably related in some way to what you do, who you are, what you are interested in, etc. Twitter is not a micro-advertising billboard.
Secondly. Engage in conversation with others and reference who you’re talking to or about in your post by adding their Twitter username in this format: @dhollings
Add links to interesting stuff (the links will be shortened automatically by Twitter) or you can use redirect services like:
http://is.gd (very short)
http://go2468.com (allows custom URLs)
http://tweetburner.com/ (gives you click-thru stats)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
About now many Twitter folks are thinking, geez Dan,
good stuff but I’m way beyond the basics. Throw some
really cool stuff at me. I want to take my Twittering to a
new level.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Twitter Secret #9
One challenge with Twitter is that when you link out to other websites from any given post, and your visitor is not yet a follower, he or she may click away and be gone forever.
In addition, if you are marketing something and want an opportunity to display a banner or additional content to your Twitter traffic, there is little opportunity to do this within Twitter.
TwitterSplit.com goes a long way toward solving this by literally putting you on top of the page you link out to. It’s a simple script that requires you place it on your server, but once installed you can frame unlimited links very creatively.
EXAMPLE:
Let’s say I wanted to share with my Twitter readers a cool little tool called “Tweet 2 Tweet.” Something I found that lets you read both sides of a Twitter conversation, and I think my followers would benefit from it.
I could link to it direct, like this:
http://www.tweet2tweet.com
-OR-
Using TwitterSplit I could link like below
(note: look what’s on top of page–my banner for TwitterSplit):
http://twurl.nl/kr8exc
You may get TwitterSplit here:
http://twittersplit.com
Twitter Secret #10
Honestly, I could continue for days with these Twitter tips, but here is my final Twitter Tip Secret. And this is a Twitter Gold Nugget.
Getting Twitter followers is all about getting traffic to your Twitter page and compelling them to follow you because you are “Follow Worthy.”
Once your Twitter account is set up and you have a healthy smattering of posts, the key is to start integrating “Follow Me on Twitter” messages and links to your Twitter page everywhere.
Every profile you have online (FaceBook, Google Local, Amazon.com, Your Blog, LinkedIn, MySpace, ReJaw, MerchantCircle, Ecademy, Pownce, Bebo, Tumblr etc etc) should include your Follow Me message and a link to your Twitter page or a web page dedicated to your Twitter activities.
Don’t think online only. Add a “Follow Me” message on your business card, on fliers, on bus benches, bumper stickers and let’s not forget mobile. You can send SMS text messages with your Twitter link as easily as e-mails. Just do it.
And for those of you that are SEO savvy, try a Google search for “Dan Hollings” and examine the top listing (not to mention others).
There’s a “Google Site Link” that says: “Follow Dan on Twitter.” How cool is that?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Dan+Hollings&btnG=Google+Search
I gotta stop here and get back to Twittering my life away! I need more fun; I like more profit!
Yearning for more? Guess what you must do?
You got it!
Follow Dan Hollings on Twitter
http://twitter.com/dhollings
11 Responses to “Does God Twitter?”
Leave a Reply
August 25th, 2008 at 6:40 am
Thanks for the great article. I haven’t tried Twitter yet, but I definitely plan to. I was just wondering if it can be used with other software, like glyphius, which I currently use with adwords.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Twitter really is a great tool and those that use is well really get a lot out of it. I worked with westwinds to get their twitter feeds on their web site. It has really connected many of the people in the church and is a great way to stay in touch thought the week. It has been hard to incorporate it during the church services but we are starting to find out how to use twitter best.
What I think is great about twitter is that there is very little barrier to becoming an active participant. You create your account and start to post short messages. It is simple and easy to understand.
This was a great article and I think we may start directing people here to catch them up to speed with how to get the most out of twitter.
August 30th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Great article! I’m totally addicted to micro-blogs like Twitter and Plurk. Plurk makes following and participating in particular threads easier and more fun than Twitter but it takes a while to get use to.
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Terrific post on how to leverage the power of Twitter. I know the benefits of it for entrepreneurs who are seeking to infuse a bit of Web 2.0 in their marketing, but I’m still having trouble selling my non-entrepreneur pals to join the Twitter bandwagon. They don’t quite understand why they should tweet, and neither do I really. Ideas?
September 12th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Great post will definately take a look into Twitter. Thank you so much…
February 26th, 2009 at 7:12 am
[…] “Does God Twitter?” In addition, he has 10 great Twitter Tips in an article published in Entrepreneur Magazines’ Weekend Entrepreneur Blog entitled “Does God Twitter?” […]
March 8th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Great post will definitely take a look into Twitter… Thanks
March 8th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Great post will definitely take a look into Twitter… Thanks
March 13th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Great article informative to the point..
Thanx
Terence Michael Louw
http://twitter.com/Tmax007
April 18th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
I am a person who may have seen God. It is for you to decide and not for me to declare. Many say that they speak for God, but few are willing to say that they have seen Him in his Glory and His Love. Those who command help many, but create much strife. I only invite. If it is true that I am His friend, then as it says above, I know what He doeth.
There there is that about my friendship with God which leads me to share what my experiences with anyone who wants to listen. You can look for me on Twitter. An appropriately lighthearted medium. For God, I believe, is lighthearted.
Please forward this to believers, agnostics and anyone who you think might benefit from words of Love.
My Twitter name is godpal
Warmest regards,
A Friend of God
May 20th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Yes, heaven has discovered Twitter:
www.twitter.com/WWGT (What would God tweet)
http://Notthelatimes.com/twitterbible.html