I sent out this month’s newsletter and in it was an article that was inspired by my twitter activity last week. I have gotten a few good comments back on it and thought it would be fun to share my story here – especially one that can show how Twitter can be effective and fun at the same time!! Here goes… (and I apologize to readers who also receive our monthly newsletter for the duplication)

A funny thing happened the other day… I posted a Tweet online with a spelling mistake and one that greatly changed a word. I actually didn’t notice it, I will fix them if I do but sometimes in our life on Twitter small mistakes are missed and I don’t fret about them. We are all fallible and typos will happen, no big deal.

So my typo the other day really changed the meaning of the word I meant to enter. When you use an ‘i’ instead of an ‘o’ in the word hockey – you get the word hickey! Yep! I tweeted about a ‘HICKEY GAME”!

Well… you can imagine what happened next… I got back from the hockey game and had all sorts of replies, comments and tweets about my ‘Hickey Game’.

It was quite amusing, notes and comments were all over facebook and twitter:
- What’s a hickey game? Sounds interesting!
- You do mean “hockey” right?
- hickey game? shocking.
- A hickey game? That sounds a little risque doesn’t it? (giggle)
- Oh, leave it to you and @timeontaskva to provide my afternoon giggles! Thanks ladies. watch for flyin’ hickey pucks too!

The reason for my story? It’s an argument to all the people starting out on Twitter, Facebook or even blogging who have the hesitation of “No one will want to listen to what I have to say”. This tends to be one of the top stumbling block for people new to social media. My argument – Yes they will! Everyone has valuable information to share and teach others.

If you use social media properly, people will in fact be listening more than you might think. Properly, meaning stay professional yet adding in your personality, write about what you know, give value to others and don’t cross the lines of ‘Too Much Information’.

So… yes I made a big typo- but look at the afternoon chuckles people had because of it. No harm, no foul and a good example of how ‘being real and being you’ online can bring positive results!

I hope this helps you if you are one of the “No one will listen to me” doubters and make sure we are connected on Twitter and Facebook, I wouldn’t want you to miss out on the next Hickey Game when it occurs. As an added benefit you will find me posting tips to help you learn more about using social media for your business.

Technorati Tags: how to use twitter, social media training

Sometimes the simplest of things can appear more complicated.  That is what I find happens when clients start using twitter, especially when you begin directly on twitter which is what I recommend.  I start clients off this way because then they develop clear understanding of how Twitter works and how others view what you post.

The Home page and Profile page difference is usually the first lesson. Your twitter homepage is what you see when you sign into Twitter – it shows all the updates from the people you follow.

The profile page (seen here to your left) is “All about YOU” This is where you find all your own updates and information and when other users click on your twitter username this is what they see – your profile.

The confusion appears when clients ask “Where is my tweet that I just did?” Well, if you follow many people the homepage will change and update with all the new posts from those you follow.  Your own updates will get pushed farther down the list.

If you are looking to check what you posted, then it is found on your profile page.

Home = All your connections

Profile = You Only

Technorati Tags: how to use twitter, social media training

Twitter has a great help topic on rules regarding all sorts of automation when it comes to posting updates on your Twitter profile. Because I manage other people’s twitter accounts I am often checking any updates and notices Twitter has to their terms of service and help menu. It keeps me on top of what my client and I can and cannot do.

Using a free platform such as Twitter, you will always want to be current with their terms in order to ensure your account does not violate any policies that will put you and your profile at risk.

Not only do you learn the ‘rules’ but you also get informed as to other aspects of using their service. There are many applications out there that allow you to automate messages, posts, @ replies and following and unfollowing users; and Twitter has some very specific info on what is allowed and not allowed when doing these types of actions. They explain how Twitter OAuth approval works as well (how the system works when you allow other applications to update your twitter profile).

If you have not read this recently – or ever – you may want to take 5 minutes today and check it out.

Technorati Tags: how to use twitter, social media training, Twitter

There are several Twitter Management systems out there – Hootsuite, Seesmic and Tweetdeck – which is my preferred system and today’s update confirmed my belief in them as the leader in their field.

Today’s release of Version 0.32 has seen them add some fabulous features to help you manage ALL your networks.

1. Linked In integration – add your Linked In account and keep updated of groups, status updates, Q & A’s and more!
2. ReTweet addon – Choose to Retweet as Twitter now allows you to – OR the previous method available on Tweetdeck which means you can still EDIT the tweet.  I personally like this choice as the option to add your own comment can increase the value of a Retweet .
3. Twitter List support – You can manage your lists directly in Tweetdeck, add other users to your lists and follow or unfollow other lists as well.

If you haven’t tried Tweetdeck lately as your Twitter Management System I recommend you do.  They have really changed since their first release.  One of the best features is the ability to post directly to your fanpage wall. The ability to keep up and in contact with those whose tweets you don’t want to miss is the mainstay of Tweetdeck, everything else is just icing on the cake.

Technorati Tags: Social Media, Tweetdeck, twitter management tools

Making connections on social networks should always be about more than just numbers – yes numbers are important , especially to reach the viral aspect of social networking, but you should also be making connections with a purpose.  Whether it’s a a connection in your target market, someone you would like to partner with or a role model… there should always be a purpose behind your connections.

One of the more important ones to seek out, in my mind, are role models – leaders in your industry.

Not to say you should always be aiming to be a ‘tag along’ but more from the point that these leaders have much to teach and by connecting with them you can gain valuable insight and learn more about your industry.

I follow several people I consider role models and ensure I have them in special groups so that when they ’speak’ I can hear them.  The WEB 2.0 room can be very crowded and hard to hear certain people at times. I use available functions on certain networks – like facebook or tweetdeck – to help me sort out my contacts. This sorting allows me to follow more closely those that I do not want to miss.

What system do you use to keep track of your industry leaders?  How do you sort through all the ‘noise’ on your social networks.

Or maybe you are a leader… I am curious to know if those considered leaders in fact do the same type of practice?  As an industry leader do you group out certain people to keep in better touch with them?

Technorati Tags: followers, Social Media, social networking

Value… everyone wants some great value in today’s economy. Marketing companies are all about promoting value in advertising these days. It makes sense considering how these ‘tough economic times” are hitting many people.

My family had a two week vacation this summer and a good part of the planning was ensuring we received good value for the money we were spending, whether it was a hotel, attraction or restaurant.

This same principle can be applied to what you do and say on Twitter. People are looking for value with their connections on Twitter. If you add value to your tweets, you will find yourself having more conversations and connecting with more people. Ultimately it is these connections and relationships that help you succeed on Twitter.

So… how do you add value to a 140 character tweet? Simple. You make it worthwhile for others to read. You also need to realize that everything you tweet should not always about you and your business. Big value can be had from making a post about someone or something else besides you!

Here are five tips to help you think of ways to post tweets with value: (more…)

Technorati Tags: how to use twitter, Social Media, Twitter

Tweetdeck has a new release today – version 0.31.1 – and in addition to many other addons and fixes they have added a new column for New Followers.

With the click of a button you can now have column dedicated to any new followers you have.  For people like me – ones who hate the email notifications – this is fabulous and will help me connect with many more people.  It’s not often I would click on my followers column to see who is new and what kind of people I have been attracting.  Now with one glance I can see all these new contacts and quickly say hello if I choose.

When you have the column open and the new followers are there – what is so great here is that they don’t show in the column with their last tweet- but their Twitter BIO.  Just Fabulous!! You can quickly see who this new follower is and what they are all about. Another reason why your BIO should always be very representative of who you are and what you do – I always tell my clients, Think “Elevator Speech” when thinking of what to put in your BIO.

The Tweetdeck new version downloads are now much simpler – simply exit tweetdeck, download the new version and in a minute you will have your Tweetdeck back up and running with all the new features. Some of these new features are a new notification system, some keyboard shortcuts and a bunch of fixes to help Tweetdeck rum more smoothly on your system.

For me, this New Followers column is tops! It will allow me to better reach out and say Hi to new followers – Talking on Twitter is so much better than Selling!

Technorati Tags: Social Media, Twitter, twitter management tools

SocialOomph (formerly Tweetlater) had a major announcement today – and one that probably is causing panic among many Twitter users.

Essentially, they will be discontinuing the ability to set up ‘recurring posts’ and ones with ’spinnable text’ as this helps users violate Twitter’s Terms of Service with regards to posting duplicate content over the same or multiple accounts.

Now, when I first saw this I almost had a panic attack myself, but then I took the time to read many of the comments and questions on the blog.  They included several answers back from Dewald Pretorius, the creator of SocialOomph, Tweetlater and a fellow Maritimer on Canada’s East Coast .  The answers from Mr. Pretorius made me realize that the clients I work with will not be affected as they don’t use the recurring tweets function. Panic was premature and not necessary.

Primarily my clients use SocialOomph to setup posted dated tweets – but the majority of them are unique tweets that we do not repeat.   They use SocialOomph to send an automated Direct Message to new followers – and this will not be affected by the new change either.

Looking at the comments, the change will affect people who use the system to setup updates of the same type over and over at recurring times. Some even mentioned every 5 minutes!  Wow.  Not how I use Twitter at all – nor what I recommend to my clients.  I encourage my clients to get on Twitter directly and be real and authentic and to make connections and conversations with others.  That is how you can reach more people in a way that creates a relationship.  Sending the same message over and over is never anything I recommend or like to see.

So… for now my take on this big news is… I am okay with it, since it may help keep the spammers at bay and send them elsewhere to push their wares. Anything for reducing the spam in my twitterstream is fine by me!

Technorati Tags: social media virtual assistant, Twitter

Personally I can’t wait for the spammers to tire of Twitter. It is most annoying looking at tweets that have a link and a bunch of usernames…and nothing else of value to anyone at all. Do these users really think people are that gullible? That we actually hit any of these links?

I don’t click any of these links, not even out of sheer curiosity. What do I hit though is “unfollow”.

Even worse are the followers listed under one person as many, but in reality it is the same person and even the username is the same except for some numbers attached (ie Spammer16, Spammer25, Spammer32)

Having spent a bit of time lately finding connections for my clients I was shocked at the changes I see on Twitter now compared to 6 or 8 months ago. I see usernames that are almost duplicates of each other but with a different number added to each, and lots of them. One person’s follower list I was on the other day had more than two pages of the same person. That’s more than 40 followers in their numbers but in reality it is one person. That’s a real valuable connection to have – Not!

My recommendation to anyone looking to make useful and purposeful connections on social media is to ignore all these people and tweets. Don’t click any links and unfollow them.

The fewer people they are connected to the more of a waste of time they will incur. It does take time for these users to create the tweets and profiles they do – if that investment does not pay off they will move on to another venue to try ‘hocking their wares”.

Eventually they will get the message – keeping the twitterverse clear for the rest of us who get a benefit from it whether personal or business related.

Technorati Tags: quality, Social Media, virtual assistant

Every so often Twitter runs a purge of inactive users and accounts, when it happens you will see followers drop off your profile.   Even the folks at Twitter realize that it’s okay to hit unfollow, I do it all the time.  Shocked?  Don’t be.  There is nothing wrong with clicking unfollow and in some cases even the block button is okay to hit too.

Why do I do it? Well, in most cases it is because I get no value from that person and my connection with them. Many will argue you have just removed the viral-access from their connections (you tell two friends, they tell two friends and so on – well, on Twitter that number could actually be two thousand or even more), but sometimes those people may not be connections you want to have or be associated with.

I tell all my clients the two main standards I have for not connecting with someone; naked pictures and blatant swearing… though recently I have added overzealous sales pitches and using the @reply to mention other people along with a sales link.

I use social media primarily for my business as do my clients,  but a lot of my personality comes out too. Overall I try to keep it fairly professional and would rather not be associated with certain actions I deem unprofessional.

There will be many people that disagree with me wholeheartedly on these choices and that is fine.  The difference between us comes down to our social media strategy – our reason for being on Twitter.  The point is to remember that it is okay to click the unfollow button when you want. It is your choice and no harm can come from doing this; in fact in some cases it can free up space so you can see your more valuable connections more often.

Technorati Tags: online networking, Twitter, virtual assistant