Spark into Marketing » twitter

Roundup of the Twitterverse in 2009 according to the BBC

jeanspark — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:17:49 +0000

: Image via CrunchBase

2009 seen through Twitter activity helps us to realise how communication is changing. The role of the web has been extended as twitter became more mainstream.

The 3 most striking features seem to be

twitter bystanders are ahead of the traditional “newsgatherers” even at formal political events (G20, Iran)

twitter is a place where people want to express personal emotions (death of Michael Jackson)

twitter has become much more of a political force (think of Joe McElderry caught in the crossfire.)

See the BBC roundup

Other twitter roundups:

Twitter Trends in 2009: A Retrospective (readwriteweb.com)
The Biggest Twitter Trends Of 2009 – What Was The Top Topic? (thenextweb.com)

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Twitter or not to twitter for small business marketing

jeanspark — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:05:46 +0000

Twitter is often treated as a double edged sword. It has kudos in the media for its newness, strangeness and rapid growth. These same qualities can often put off a small business owner. Many an internet-savvy marketer has confessed that they didn’t “get” it for a long time. So what is the average small business person to think? Even though Twitter is free, their most valuable currency is usually time and they want to know where the money is.

Big brands are using twitter as a lightning strike form of customer service and pouncing on complaints, magically creating confidence. If you complain about a product or service you may find the washing machine or the computer replaced, and even airline tickets available where none existed before. Banks with serious reputation issues in the past year particularly have a chance to be seen as human and helpful for a change.

Small businesses don’t have the customer service issue. Most have a good relationship with their customers and handle problems personally. So why use twitter?

The usual reasons given are about creating a community, finding out what prospects think, connecting with peers which can lead to joint ventures or collaborations, and of course being the helpful person solving the relevant problems. All of which can lead to clients and money.

In the twitter workshops I have been running for a while I have noticed that a great deal of clarity and confidence is gained by looking at the world according to twitter. By making twitter part of the plan in fact the plan gets clearer, the spark gets more sparky, and the next actions are easily identified.

The participants have learned about their business and themselves, as well as about twitter.

In a small business where one person carries out many different roles, this can provide the edge that leads to greater profitability. Unlike the lengthy soul searching that usually accompanies a business plan or marketing plan getting things right for twitter can be achieved quickly and easily. That is the first piece of return on time invested, and the second is that the follow up action is usually clear.

Once people have a handle on twitter (in every sense of the word) it becomes a really valuable tool

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Which is the real Simon Cowell – or famous star – on twitter?

jeanspark — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:05:54 +0000

“How do you know which is the real Simon Cowell on twitter? I want to follow him and there are lots to choose from.”

I was asked this question yesterday and had to confess I didn’t know. The ones that say “the real Simon Cowell” are no more likely to be right than the others.

It was easy to work out by following some of the links that they were not real. ..but it still didn’t answer the question about who is real.

Now I know the answer as it was revealed in an interview with Evan Williams who with Biz Stone and Jack Dorsey founded twitter.

Well-known people are verified on twitter and there is a blue tick / check mark to show which is the real one.

Look at Demi Moore. Looking at the Simon Cowell entries on twitter none of them have the blue verification sign. Could it be they have not verified him? Unlikely. The truth is that Simon Cowell is not on twitter at all. They are all fakes.

Shame. Some of them are quite realistic!

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London is capital of twitter says founder @ev

jeanspark — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:42:17 +0000

One of the three founders of twitter Evan Williams (@ev) says that London is the twitter capital for the second year running.

He revealed this on Newsnight interviewed by Kirsty Wark. I am a little astonished, as most of the people I meet on twitter are from the US!

I am often asked what is the point of twitter – and of course the answer is that it is just another marketing channel. It is like going to a drinks party in real life – same etiquette applies – but it is online, free and very popular. If you stand in the corner not speaking to anyone it is not a very good party, if you jump up on a table and start shouting about your services you will find people migrate to another room. If you walk in to twitter pleased to be there and find good people to talk to, and engage in conversation – it can be great.

Watch the interview as Evan Williams answers questions about why famous people are on twitter (and how do we know who they are), whether twitter replaces journalism, and whether it dehumanises people. Kirsty was working hard.

Note you can follow Newsnight on twitter

Here is the interview and more information and background courtesy of Techcrunch the well-known leader of blogs for all things technical.

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Stephen Fry on twitter – increase from 98 000 to 747 000 followers

jeanspark — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:21:07 +0000

In February when the Times published a guide to the Top 50 celebrities on twitter Stephen Fry was number one with 98,616 followers.

A moment ago when I checked he had 747,736.

The online world has grown rapidly over the last six months so it is not surprising – however the rate of the growth is amazing..

Stephen Fry’s profile at the moment begins with the words British Actor which certainly would encourage British people to follow him, but it is probably the description “Prince of Swimwear” which makes his profile difficult to leave unfollowed!

I suggest to new twitterers that Stephen Fry should be on their list of must-follows (especially if you are in the UK) Even if they are on twitter for business reasons twitter is all about being a person, and having fun. Stephen Fry is a good individual to have in your following icons, and you are likely to enjoy reading his posts!

You can watch his new series on television about endangered species, and once you and he are following each other, you can tweet and are likely to get a reply. Look at his twitter profile and you will see what I mean.

The golden rules for lesser mortals on twitter: 1. Write interesting fun or valuable information, 2. Take the time to communicate with your followers and others, 3. (A bit harder but completely achievable) Be well known.

In fact 1 and 2 can lead to 3.

Once you are well known for being the best or most popular in your field just keep on with 1 and 2.

Go now!

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Tulips or twitter?

jeanspark — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:27:49 +0000

Tulips are on show this week in London at the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show which set me thinking.

Were tulips more exciting than twitter?

What is the difference between tulips and twitter?

Twitter is the subject du jour for the press. People are joining twitter in their thousands and this is creating publicity which in turn boosts twitter.

It has become a craze.

I am sure that new tulip varieties create a lot of publicity at Chelsea. But in seventeenth century Holland there was a craze for tulip bulbs even more intense than all the twitter talk. Sometimes tulips changed hands for the value of a real bricks and mortar house. You can bet that in the market squares and polite society the subject of tulips was on everyone’s lips.

What’s the message for us marketing our businesses?

1. If your customers are talking about twitter .. that creates an opportunity for you to connect. Whether you love it or loathe it is less important.

Get on board, have some stories, know what you are talking about. Know your tulips, know your twitter. Join in the conversation.

2. Decide on a strategy. Before the tulip crash some would have made money and some people would have been hanging around hoping money would come their way.

There were tulip deals to be had, and there are twitter relationships to be made and nurtured. But it is easy to to squander resources. Whether it is time or money you have to spend use it with focus.

3. Refine your message. Your customers’ experience is changing and this makes a difference. It is all about the context of your relationship.

Are you the black tulip expert in the year when black tulips come on to the market? Or are you the white tulip expert saying that black tulips look better planted next to white tulips?

If twitter connects to your blog which connects to your Linked In profile does that make a difference in what you say or how you say it?

twitter is a great opportunity if you are using it, and it is still an opportunity even if you are not.

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Happy 1 month blog birthday

jeanspark — Sun, 10 May 2009 09:16:27 +0000

My Wordpress blog is four weeks old. Having had a few miscarriages of communication with previous blogs my idea this time was simply to behave as a real parent. My entirely new domain felt like a new domain in every sense.

My blogging aims for the first month were:

To provide the best care I could
To enjoy our time together
Not get phased by other blogs that were more developed, or behaved better.

Provide the best care
A well-cared for blog grows, looks healthy and appears to be thriving.
Having just looked again at my four week hosting stats I see that 377 visitors have come calling over a thousand time and each has visited us on 2. 7 ocasions. (Actually take 33 visitors off because, strictly speaking they are from today).

I am not entirely sure about the other metrics. 23,000 pages, 27,000 hits and about 88MB. 88 MB does it mean that the blog will smile early or is putting on the correct weight? Like an anxious parent I watch signs of progress simply for reassurance, and in times of uncertainty have taken confidence in the fact that these numbers are growing healthily.

Best care? I have had advice and help for technical things like FTP (Paul Saunders thanks) and uploading my own designs, and have dipped in and out of Darren Rowse’s excellent 31DBB31 days to build a better blog.

Posting regularly
Regular feeding. I made a commitment to post every working day. This did slip a little in the third week to twice but I am back on track now.

Enjoy our time together.
This is the real measure of achievement, and I am delighted to say it has been a real pleasure. I have found it very freeing having easy access to writing on the web. Unlike a more formal web site, or a sales letter page the opportunity to be more personal has been an unexpected joy! As in real life the initial exhilaration did leave me and there were a few days of blues (blog blues?) when I wasn’t so motivated. In its place has come a more thoughtful approach, and a clearer sense of my purpose.

Other blogs which are more developed
I deliberately chose to focus on my blog to start with. There is only so much energy and time, and I wanted to make sure we were happy together. The online world is very seductive and I thought if I were not careful I would always be wanting the next thing, whereas the real satisfaction lies in being happy where I am.

As a new mum I did consciously make the decision to not engage in baby competition, or in having the latest accessory or fashion item. Taking the time to love the baby worked in real life. Having started a blog before and stoppped because nobody visited it made me clearer about the way forward this time.

In fact it has been a real revelation to see the lovely people out there! Any comments that have come my way have been wonderful, and I am looking forward to giving back.

Twitter
At the same time I have been on twitter. Again in a straightforward way.. learning the etiquette. Haven’t touched any of the million apps to make your twitter life more productive, but just see what it was all about. I have 380 followers as of a moment ago. Satisfying, and I don’t feel that I have played a game… or wasted too much time. I am beginning to see where it is all leading.

So now I am off to get some bells, whistles (and rattles) to shake because we are at the next blog stage!

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Social media marketing plan – path made by robots!

jeanspark — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:54:44 +0000

Great day yesterday! I am starting to link my sites so that there are paths from one to another and getting a bit of robot power to make the way easier.

This blog is now my twitter website link, and I have put a link back from my site Creative Spark Communications to this blog. Joy of joy when I checked my link traffic this morning I have had 35 robots moving boulders and finding the best path so that people can come that way easily later. All while I was asleep! If I had hosted this blog on my home site the rankings there would have been boosted and there would already be a flat four lane highway between the two. Hey I prefer a bit of adventure!

I also got my first two comments yesterday.. all very exciting. So thank you to Paul Saunders – all round really helpful person, and video expert with a great free ebook about video on Youtube and Squigglemum who I contacted on twitter as she has a nice visual link to twitter from her blog – and I was intrigued to see Mum not Mom – as so many Americans are on twitter and they are moms! Although all my four children are now grown up I like to stand up for Mums and Moms whenever I can!

Inspired by Squigglemum I searched over at twitter and found the design widget which shows the last twitter posts which is now on my site at Contact. Not perfect and it seems to need a click to spark into life…but progress!
When it all starts to come together it is a great boost of energy and most inspiring!

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