December 2009
1 post
Personal insight on Twitter: Chat with my...
Manny: believe it or not, my dad is on g-chat - this is sooo weird
Robert: Wow
That is great
Manny: i know
he is moving up - he is on facebook too now
next we will get him on twitter - not sure he would use it, but that is the next steps
Robert: Depends on if he likes information or not
Manny: true
Robert: If he likes information and is willing to take a little time to get it set up than he will use it
Manny: very true, the only problem is that i don't know if most of the people he would want to follow and stuff are on twitter - so it would not be a great vehicle for him
Robert: Like who?
What info does he like, I guarantee someone is talking about it
Manny: all of his brothers and sisters, friend etc
oh, i am talking about his family and friends, most of them don't use a computer
they are all old school or just plain illiterate
to the new world
Robert: I think you have yet to find that use of twitter my friend
Manny: oh def not, not that invested yet
don't really care to yet either
Robert: Following friends and family is only about 25% of my twitter use
Manny: ah i c
well, i don't necessarily utilize it for what it is, b/c i have no interest yet
or things i need to investigate yet
Robert: Tell me what you care about more than anything
Manny: God and my wife
Robert: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23marriage
Robert: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23god
So basically I used hashtags (#) to find things I care about
#marriage
#god
Manny: i c
Robert: and I get all the tweets going out about those things.
Manny: but this information is not vetted
Robert: I can look through those and find people I want to follow. people I think will help me grow, people that will help me learn, etc
You're right its not vetted which makes it all the better
Manny: i am used to vetted information
Robert: It is candid, I would much rather read people's candid thoughts than something that is edited
Manny: i guess
well, i see where you're going
Robert: That is the power of twitter. It maximizes your information sources. You are left to do fact finding yourself if you don't think it is true
Manny: ok, so Scott and i are trying to get 2+2=5 off the ground to do consulting
Robert: ok
and?
Manny: we are trying to bring constant traffic through twitter etc to our blog and then going to take that to the next level
but we want to have a following before we go out in the market with the consultation product we have
Robert: ok
So are you asking how to go about doing that?
Manny: so how do we do that?
yes, so how do we do that?
Robert: What you have to realize is that Twitter is not like other marketing channels
You don't "sell" your product by saying how great you are and what you can do for people
Manny: ok, that makes sense
Robert: The most successful "Twitterers" rarely talk about themselves
Manny: you just bring them information they want
focus on them in other words
Robert: Exactly. You have to talk about things they are interested in. Once they see you are a viable option for the information then they will use you
Manny: ok
Robert: Twitter is completely user driven
The things people care about are the things that are important
Manny: however, how do you get the basis - do you just go out and follow people with the same interests and hope for the best?
how do we get the traffic to follow us?
Robert: If what you have to say is uninteresting or if it is old and "Common sense" you don't stand a chance
You get the traffic two ways...Follow people that are interested in the same things you are...So, do twitter searches just like I did and follow people that are talking about or asking questions about the things you are talking about
Second is just to talk about those things regularly because others are doing twitter searches and doing the same thing you are
Manny: so in other words, you don't tweet once a day - you make it a full time business
Robert: Pretty much
But it doesn't really have to be that much
Manny: so if you're not giving real time all the time feedback etc
people have no interest in following you
Robert: Exactly
That is the key
Manny: ok, this could be interesting
Robert: You have to RT people that say good stuff and you gain respect
You have to @reply to people that talk to you
Manny: ok
@reply?
Robert: Make it a communication tool between you and other people that you don't know
@reply is responding to someone. When I say "@manueljc what are you doing this weekend" That is an @reply
a mention is also what it is called
Manny: ok, a mention
i knew what that was, but not @reply
you started confusing me
Robert: @reply was what it was called initially because it was mostly used to reply to people but now you do it in the middle of the sentence to "mention" people so they changed what it is called
Manny: so, the book Scott wrote, we should start taking quotes from there and tweeting them every 10-15 min
Robert: I don't know that there is a magic bullet on how often
Manny: or other interesting things to get people interested in what we can do for them
Robert: In my opinion 10-15 minutes is too often
Manny: ok, i have seen people do that and it drives me crazy, but if that's what it takes, then that's what it takes
lol
what would you say is the optimal number of tweets to be interesting, but effective?
has anyone done a study on that?
Robert: No, but I think the key is not to set a defined number because then you come off as a bot. You have to come off as a real person with real thoughts, not an automated system programmed to send tweets every 15-30 minutes
Manny: got it
so in other words, think out loud
let the sky be the limit - this is your opportunity to share your thoughts and ideas and hope everyone else things they're good too?
Robert: Exactly.
Manny: alright, now i am starting to see more of a usability to the whole twitter things
Robert: Good. That is the piece that people fail to realize when others talk about twitter. They think it is just telling what you are doing or where you are etc, but it is so much more powerful than that
Manny: now i see where this can go
that's interesting
