Monday, December 27, 2010

Does Twitter Nation Have a Heart?

This morning I would like to share  a few Twitter facts from Ben Lorica | @dliman.  Please keep in mind these numbers are now 8 months old....but it will give you  a pretty good idea:

1. # of registered users: 105,779,710 (1,500% growth over the last three years.)

2. # of new sign-ups per day: ~ 300,000 (More recently, 60% of new accounts were from outside the U.S.)

3. # of new tweets per day: 55 million

4. # of unique daily visitors to the site twitter.com: ~ 180 million. (That's actually dwarfed by the traffic that flows through twitter's API -- 75% of traffic is through the API.)

5. # of API requests per day: 3 billion

6. # of registered apps: 100,000 (from 50,000 in Dec/2009)

7. # of search queries per day: 600 million

8. Twitter's instance, of their recently open-sourced graph database (FlockDB), has 300 13 billion edges and handles 100,000 reads per second.

9. # of servers1: "... in the hundreds"

10. Blackberry's just released twitter app accounted for 7% of new sign-ups over the last few days

11. A NY Times story gets tweeted every 4 seconds.

In a sense, Twitter is larger than most nations in the the world.  What could be accoplished if we all learned to work together for the  benefit of others?   Let me give you an example:   In the above situation, let's say half of those numbers were from Bots.  That still leaves approximately 52,500,000.   If each of these people would contribute $1 to help their fellow man.....$52,500,000.  Now pause for a sec and  consider this; what if Twitter became the Social Media with a heart and all these people gave $1 each month to help others.  You are now looking at a total of $630,000,000 / yr.....that is the potential of Twitter!  

Although I enjoy Twitter very much, I challenge you with these thoughts.  Twitter is a fantastic social media...but imagine what could be accomplished if the Tweeters ever started working together.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

I don't have time to Tweet!

I  have heard that comment many times and I certainly understand!  You may work at a job, take care of kids, cook, clean, do yard work,  attend church activities, and much more!  With a schedule like that...where are you supposed to find time to do Twitter?  Sometimes in life, we all need an assistant.  Wouldn't it be nice to have a nanny for the kids, a gardener for the lawn and a chef for the meals?  These people would do some of your everyday chores, giving you more time to spend as you wish.  Unfortunately, most of us cannot afford that many personal assistants, but you can get one to help with your Twittering activities.  Yes, I know, you enjoy Twitter.   Well you might enjoy  gardening or cooking too...but wouldn't it be nice to have some help...with the freedom to still do what you enjoy?

There are many different types of Twitter software on the market, but I have found Tweet Adder to be the best Twitter software.  Determining which is best for you depends on your needs.   It is nice to be able to write a weeks worth of informational tweets and schedule them at a certain time interval.   I strongly suggest using personal tweets and replies mixed in with this.....show that you are a real person.     

Another way to provide useful information to your Twitter followers is through an RSS feed.   Let's say you are selling widgets to the manufacturing industry...and have carefully built a a targeted following.  In that case you might want to have a manufacturing RSS feed posted to your twitter account 2-5 times a day.  This Twitter software will manage your RSS feeds...all you have to do is a little research on Google.  In this case I would search for "rss manufacturing feed".  When I found one that I liked, I would simply copy that address to the rss section of the twitter software.  Now your assistant is providing educational information for your targeted followers on a timely basis.


Do I believe in a total robot driven account...absolutely not!   As I mentioned earlier...use some aspects of the software to help you save time...while still interacting and enjoying other areas.  We use assistants all the time in our everyday lives:  a microwave is an assistant that takes less time than an oven, a dishwasher saves time doing dishes, a clothes dryer saves time over using a clothesline.  If you use these assistants, why not use another that will help you and your business get the targeted followers?

Monday, December 20, 2010

Sex on Twitter

By now you may have noticed that you have a few followers that you were not necessarily seeking.  The online sex industry has invaded Twitter in a major way...and they are following everyone possible....trying to drum up business. 


What can you do about these people who are  invading your Twitter world? Well...on the on hand I might say to let them be and just continue what you are doing.   On the other hand, if their picture or content is too offensive, that is what the BLOCK button is used for.  To do this you simply need to click on the person's Twitter name, then  under the profile info, click on the gear shaped icon and finally click on BLOCK.  Do not let these people  upset you...just deal with them or use the Block.




A final note regarding having followers from the world's oldest profession on Twitter.....they've been around for thousands of years, only the technology has changed.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

What the Tweet Should I Say?

So you have a Twitter account and you are  working on attracting followers....Now What?  Well, keep in mind that you want to tweet things that you think your audience would appreciate.   Sometimes this is much easier said than done.....lol.



I myself have taken to tweeting quotes about philosophy, life,  motivation and things to make people think.  I have had people cuss me and block me for the quotes I offer...but as I said in an earlier post....not everyone will like you.   I have also had many people tell me I knew nothing about Twitter...and I do not do it correctly.   I beg to differ.....Twitter is what you make it...and that variety is what makes it wonderful!  In addition to the quotes, I also put in information about SEO, Web 2.0 and the internet.  I know that some of my followers will appreciate free info on making their websites attract more people. 

An important thing to consider is to not polarize half of the followers you just gained.  An example would be if you were building a list of possible buyers for your widgets and you start passionately tweeting Politics.  In this situation, you would probably lose many of your followers because their views do not agree with yours and they get tired of hearing it constantly.

Another area that can be very polarizing is Religion. I think anyone who reads my tweets realizes I am a Christian who believes in God and prays for my friends.  However, I have Twitter followers all over the world...many of whom are not Christian.  I will never be ashamed of what I am...but I will try to be sensitive to our differences.  Bigotry has no place in our modern society...and it certainly has not place on Twitter!

Remember to consider why you are tweeting when you are writing tweets.  Are you tweeting to visit with friends and family, are you trying to expand your business, are you wanting to make new contacts?  The real answer is probably all of the above...but one of those categories should be a little more dominant.   Maybe you  want to tell your followers something positive that happened every day.  Another idea is to furnish info that would be educational for their industry...such as the Internet/seo tweets I mentioned earlier.

We are all guilty of sometimes typing without thinking, but please keep in mind that some things shared on Twitter are simply Too Much Information!  Many people would not say these same things face to face...but they have lost their fears online.  I know I will get slammed for writing this...but Twitter is a big neighborhood...let's keep it friendly so all can enjoy.  Learning how to Twitter can be fun....just take it one step at a time!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Targeted Followers....part 2

A simple way for beginners to target people can be found on the Twitter site under the heading "Find People".  You will then see a tab for "browse interests".  Click on this and you will see about 20 different topics to find people to follow.  The problem with this is it is way too general.  If you want to really reach Targeted Followers....you need much better tools than that.

I have used a software with 6 laser targeted search options.  I can find people to follow based on profile data (keywords, # of followers, location, and more),  keywords in tweets, geographic location, followers of another user, followed by another user and Twitter lists.


Why is this an important tool?  Let's pretend that your company sells widgets to Civil Engineers.  They only market this product within 500 miles.  You could search profiles for "civil engineers within 500 miles" to get an entire list of names to follow.  You might also search Tweets for competitor's products...and follow these people too.  Let's say you found out that John Doe was a competitor of yours...and he had a follower list that was mostly Civil Engineers....you could follow determine which people you want to follow on his list.  Click  here to see the software  that helps you target followers.    Warning....this software is like a Ferrari....it is very powerful.   In this analogy, I might have a car that can do 200mph...but that does not mean I have to drive it that fast.  The same can be said for this software.....Learn to use it slowly...do not get yourself in trouble on Twitter.


As we discussed earlier, everyone you follow will not follow you back.  I have ranged from 10% to 50% on this...with the average being close to 20%.  In the above example, let's say you were able to follow 5,000 targeted people over a period of time.....and 20% followed you back.  You now have a Targeted list of 1,000 people!  These are people that are interested in what you are selling.   Can you start to see the value of having Targeted Followers?

Are your followers targeted?

I have visited with many business people who have proudly shown me their Twitter accounts.  Although they may have hundreds….or even thousands of followers; there is a common problem…their followers were not targeted.   They are following anybody…and hoping that somehow, someway people will follow them back.   These people have an assortment of followers ranging from internet marketers to porn to chemical engineers.

Imagine for a minute that you have a company that sells the best baby stroller in the world.  You would much rather reach young mothers than the assortment I listed above.   Now, how valuable would it be to you to have 2,000 or 10,000 young mothers all following your baby stroller company on Twitter?   The value of that is priceless…because these are the people that are interested in what you are saying and selling.

Not Everyone Likes Me : (

Very early in your time with Twitter you are going to realize that:

1. Not everyone likes (follows) you

2. Some of the people whom you thought liked you are going to dump you

I recall my early days on Twitter, trying so hard to get a few followers.  I would follow people….but the far majority would not follow me back.  That’s a lot of people that did not like me!  lol  Well actually, those people just did not see a good reason to follow me.  Maybe the link to my web pg was not working, or my profile info was  less than descriptive or they were not impressed with the Tweets I had sent out recently.   The bottom line, make sure your profile, tweets and web site all look good to a stranger who is considering following you.  You also need to make sure you are targeting people who might be interested in what you are saying.   I will share more on targeted followers soon.

Another huge shock for me in my early days of Twitter was when I lost 25 people in a day!  How could they leave me?  No explanation….I was dumped!   Well, that was a learning experience.  You need to realize that people are going to unfollow you.   Even the most popular people in the world get unfollowed on Twitter.  What is the the solution to this – always be adding targeted people to your followers to make up for those that left you.

Friday, December 17, 2010

To Tweet or not to Tweet

Should you be on Twitter for your business or personal interests? That all depends on what you want to accomplish with it. My name is Steve (steveb2u on Twitter) and I want to share what I have learned about Twitter with you. I currently have over 75,000 followers and that is growing every day. Do I know everything about Twitter…..absolutely not! I do not think anyone….including Twitter…..understands every aspect of this particular Social Media. I do understand enough to help you avoid some of the challenges I have faced along the way…..and that is the purpose of this blog.

I have worked with a number of clients on this topic and most of the comments I hear are: I do not understand Twitter, Isn’t Twitter just for kids, How can I get a large number of followers, and How is Twitter good for my business?

These questions and more will be answered in this blog, so please check back often to get more Twitter tips!