Twitter Tips

I set up a Twitter account a few weeks ago to test it out.

At first it seemed pretty cool to have all those people following me, but then I realized that the system sends out an overwhelming amount of junk. A message sent out to an infinite number of people that do not read it has no value. So I have been trying to filter the junk out of Twitter.

I am Following people. Ideally these are people that have a message that I am interested in. I am constantly reducing this amount to keep the messages manageable. Twitter will automatically attach people to my Following list, even though I personally did not request them. Watch this list, as it grows you will be overwhelmed by the junk messages.

People are Followers of me. They have either selected or were attached automatically to my Tweets. I broadcast out a message to these people. My thoughts are that the messages I send out are going out from One person (me) to Many people (my Followers). Just like an advertisement in other medium such as TV or Radio.

Settings and Controls

Twitter has options to allow you to select who Follows you. I found this option after about two weeks of uncontrolled expansion. Select Settings at the top of the page and then at the bottom of the Account Tab, there is a check box to "Protect my updates". Check this box and hit save. When someone wants to Follow you, you will get a notice on the right of your home page. When opened you can select who Follows you, and in turn who you are Following.

As I am reading the Tweets that come in and I notice a junk Tweet, I right click on the name of the person sending the Tweet, and select open in a new tab. I then click on that tab on my browser to open the unwanted Tweet Sender's page. On that new page there is information about the Tweet Sender, which I review to see if I really want to follow this person. For the Junk Tweet Sender I then click on the Following box on the left and select Remove. I also click on the block selection on the right, just under Actions. This one is hard to see, so you need to look for it. A new page will open asking if you are sure that you want to block that Tweet Sender, I select OK and close the tab on the browser.

By using this process, I have noticed a dramatic drop in the Junk Tweets I am receiving.

My goal is to use Twitter as a marketing and communications tool to send out messages to a target audience, by controlling my followers I am selecting the target of my message. By controlling the people I am following, I filter out the junk messages. This allows me to focus on the messages coming in from the people who I choose.

I hope that the use of Bold has made the Following and Followers clearer. Please let me know if this helps you.

Linked In tips

I set up a Linked In account about a year ago as a way to connect with companies. In the last two months I have ramped up my efforts to make connections with people around the world. My goal is to find new clients to work with, set up a sales team for those clients, and then manage and grow their businesses. I have done this on a consulting basis for about 1o years now with great success.

Here are some tips for using Linked In to expand you network:

1. Fill in all the info that Linked In asks for. It makes your profile look professional and complete. Post a photo of you in a professional setting.
   
2. Ask people that you work with for Recommendations.
   
3. Join 50 groups the maximum that Linked In allows. I select two classes of groups; one for me to look for new target clients, and the second to reach out to new sales agents for my existing clients. Select the groups that help you achieve your goals.
   
4. Start Discussions. Ask the group questions in a way that will help you achieve your goals.
   
5. Reply to Discussions. Each time you post your info is listed on Linked In and it will be found by the search engines.
   
6. Once you are a member of a group, you can invite other members to join you Linked In network. Some groups post open forums for people that are looking to expand their network.
   
7. On the Profile page there is a section under your name where you can put any message that you want. This is the message people see when they view your profile. Think of this as you short marketing message.
   
8. One of the most useful features is the blank box on your home page. Seth is..... This is a free bill board that delivers your marketing message to the connections in your network for free!
9. Put a link to your web site in the status message or in the box under you name to drive traffic to your site.

Next up: Using Twitter to expand my network and generate Buzz.