SocialPMChick's Internet Marketing Blog

Posts tagged as:

twitter

I recently attended a Social Media seminar hosted by a local Chamber of Commerce.  My goal for this first part in a 3 part series was to make sure I wasn’t missing the mark on any major social media networks I have been using.   By no means do I consider myself to be a ‘guru’ in social media, but what I found interesting was the number of business professionals who were not using what I consider the 3 major social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn).

It was a reminder to me that the small business owners I represent each day in my role as their eyes and ears on the internet is that most of them don’t have a clear understanding of what social media is or, or what it can mean to them.  I have to think of my clients as those of the 50 or so professional folks in that room who were not yet on Twitter and barely have a LinkedIn profile, let alone how those things will help them.

After the meeting I got talking with a few folks, two of which admitted they were on Twitter, but just not ‘tweeting’ yet out of fear of not having anything interesting to say.   Questions immediately started running through my head about how to pull out information from these folks about what was tweet-worthy info, or what their respective communities may be interested.  What would I want to know about if I were in their follower base?  Here were a few questions I had:

  • what is your line of work
  • who are your first line customers
  • what questions are you frequently asked
  • what problems or concerns do your customers or audience typically have
  • what praises do your customers or audience typically have

So a municipality might tweet about leaf pickup, plowing policy and village or town events.  A manufacturer might tweet about supply and demand, industry news, or product innovations.  A politician might tweet about the issues that are pressing to his/her constituents.  A student might tweet about what’s going on in school or look for input on that thesis they’ve been working on.

As for a social media enthusiast like myself?  Well I just tweet about any and all of it.  I find watching what others are doing to be the most interesting.  I am intrigued by how much people value their relationships in the twitterverse and it’s evident in their tweets that they do.  (which I think is just about the coolest thing).

Twitter has also brought the world together during crisis – look at this past week with the earthquake in Chili and the predicted tsunami.  The waves turned out to be smaller than expected, but if you watched the Twitter stream in the hours prior, everyone was working together to get the word out – in concern for the well-being to those at risk.

Still not sure you have anything interesting to say?  Start spending a few minutes here or there watching your followers – as someone tweets something you find interesting – send a reply – open a dialog.  You might be surprised to see a new relationship unfold with the conversations that follow, and the folks that end up following along as a result.

Good luck and happy tweeting!

{ 1 comment }

What a horrible image!  Makes you think doesn't it?

What a horrible image! Makes you think doesn't it?

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 I woke up and said to myself, “I don’t feel like smoking anymore!”  It wasn’t something I planned or thought much about in advance.  I have talked about quitting smoking but always told myself that I had other things to fix in my life before I gave up the tobacco.  Here was my list:

  • Get my spending/bad money habits under control (working on this!)
  • Lose 40-50 lbs (already did that)
  • Wait for my significant other to be ready to quit (he’s just not ready)
  • New Year’s (or this date or that date – like ‘after my birthday’)
  • When I move into my new place (that didn’t happen)

Excuses, excuses – and sometimes the spontaneous things we do in life are the most effective.  So with Tuesday morning’s revelation, I just gave it to God and decided to run with it.  I should note, I’ve been on a spiritual recovery journey these last 2 years anyway, and have overcome a gambling addiction, and have vastly improved my unhealthy relationship with money.  The foundation for my recovery has come from Celebrate Recovery and the work I’m doing there has allowed me to gather up the tools I need to get my life in order.  This time around, the quitting smoking is entirely different for me because I’m viewing it as an act of worship that is pleasing to God.

Some days, this is how I feel.

Some days, this is how I feel.

So what brought this on?  I’m not 100% sure, but I know it’s a God thing.  This past weekend in church a very wise young pastor talked about the importance of community – he shared statistics that stated that a person who is totally healthy and totally lonely will typically not live as long as the person who smokes and drinks but is actively involved in community.  The by-line was something to the effect of – it’s better to eat a twinkie with friends than to eat an apple alone. (Remember this is all a paraphrase, but the message was profound).  So, since I am actively involved in community, I thought it would be even better to get healthy AND be in community – so I can live to be 120!  (I’m sure my kids will love that!)

So in line with that, I am leaning on my community to hold me accountable.  I currently co-lead a women’s 12-step study at my church to help others through their journey to let go of life’s hurts, habits and hang-ups, but I’m also realizing that I need far more than that small group to hold me accountable. That’s where Social Media comes in.

The rough math – in my real “in person” life, I probably have about 20 people who I would look to keep me in check and hold me accountable to not smoke – but knowing myself and my lack of will power I decided to take it to the masses.  If I add up my current online social networks – just including Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn, the numbers amount to about 3,300 connections.  To some that number may seems small in the world of social networking, but for me that’s over 3,000 that can hold me accountable to not smoke.

I hadn’t intended to use my online connections for this purpose, but one Tweet and one Facebook status update (both which fed to my LinkedIn status) amassed many many comments in just mere moments, and the comments and praise continue to come.

The kinds words from all of my Social Media “friends” and “tweeps” and “connections” are truly helping to keep me motivated.  The only one I’m truly accountable to is God, but the “You Go Girl!”, “You can do it!” (and my personal favorite) “Just think about how much money you will save!” are really helping me to stay motivated.  Here are my other 3 reasons for quitting:

my_babies

So for those that don’t want to hear about it – sorry, but I will continue to tweet and post until I feel I’m free and clear – and to those who are taking the 30 seconds to leave an encouraging word – I AM TRULY GRATEFUL!

If you would like to join my accountability team and watch my progress, please send me a friend request, or catch up on Twitter!  Not only do I already feel better… but I smell better too!  :)

Please Re-Tweet this post! Maybe we can get just one more person the encouragement they need to quit smoking too!  We can do this!

{ 10 comments }

Skittles Goes Social!

April 23, 2009

Skittles/Mars takes the giant leap into the Social Media arena with a bold new web presence that fully utilizes social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Wikipedia, Flickr, YouTube and more.
Don’t be suprised when you visit this edgy new site – if have to second guess whether you’ve landed on the right page or not. [...]

Read the full article →

Kids ARE Heroes!

April 21, 2009

Today I connected with a new friend on Twitter and Facebook Gabe O’Neill.  It did not take me long to realize there was something truly special about this guy.  He and his daughter embarked on a journey together and created a website called Kids Are Heroes.  This site promotes the great things that kids do [...]

Read the full article →

Social Media – Right Here! Right Now!

April 2, 2009

I just read a post from @sheconomy titled “Market To Women with Social Media – Become A Leader”.  A great post – but what got me was the 5 minute video – which I will now pass along to you all.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the phrase “my customers are not [...]

Read the full article →

Tweet It Forward

March 26, 2009

I recently wrote a blog post that got a lot of attention titled Pay it Forward. The post, inspired by a tv commercial, was very meaningful to me because I truly believe that the simplest of gestures can change someone’s life. The movie that came out years ago was truly an inspiration to [...]

Read the full article →

What’s That You Tweet?

March 26, 2009

In recent weeks I’ve gotten more serious about my relationships on Twitter – who I follow and why. For whatever reason (and I’m truly humbled), I’ve gained a few hundred new followers in the past few weeks, and that number continues to grow.
What’s daunting to me about that is that I take my followers [...]

Read the full article →

Random Thoughts on Social Media

March 26, 2009

I am getting old… As confirmed by a friend of mine today. I had the perfect idea for a blog post, and from the time I went to bed last night – I cannot remember what it was about. So I’m left with random thoughts which I will share. Random thoughts on [...]

Read the full article →

Getting to Know Your Networks

March 26, 2009

Facebook Connections
So I recently created a page on Facebook dedicated to Artichokes and in just a week, I have over 100 followers of this page. At first I felt it was just an experiment to see how many people would find it if I worked it through various channels on Facebook, Twitter and yes [...]

Read the full article →

Professionally Passionate

March 25, 2009

Have you ever encountered a person (or people) in your career that just seemed too happy to be working? Or perhaps worked for a company that seemed just too good to be true (or so you thought)? As I’ve unlocked my passion I have discovered the perfect job does exist! 
It used to be when I [...]

Read the full article →