- Using a social network with global reach means you must acknwledge this fact and act accordingly (i.e. being U.S. centric is a mistake). As well, spending too much time tweeting may be detrimental to getting another sale and your marriage.
This post explains how you can avoid making mistake 13 and mistake 14 when using Twitter or any other social network such as Facebook.
This is number five of a series of posts that address the ropes to skip in case you want to use Twitter more effectively. Put simply, it means avoiding making some of the most obvious mistakes, such as:
- Mistake 1 – let us wait
Mistake 2 – NOT moderating the aggregate Twitter feed,
Mistake 3 – focusing on absolute number of followers
we explained this here: social media – ropes to skip – Twitter – FAQ #1
- Mistake 4 – believing everybody’s mother tongue is English
Mistake 5 – forgetting that behaviors speak louder than words:
Mistake 6 – telling me that you are going out with a client to have lunch
we explained this here: social media – ropes to skip – Twitter – FAQ #2
- Mistake 7 – biz tweets are the same as those from individuals
Mistake 8 – Europeans tweet as much as North Americans
Mistake 9 – response rate to your tweets asking questions is high
we explained this here: social media – ropes to skip – Twitter – FAQ #3 why should I join and use Twitter?
- Mistake 10 – believing Twitter is scalable
Mistake 11 – believing that people focus on real content instead of chatter
Mistake 12 – establish a Twitter account for your conference or workshop and you will make a mark with your quality tweets -NOT necessarily
we explained this here: social media – ropes to skip – Twitter – FAQ #4
So here come to more mistakes that you should try to avoid if you want to cut down on wasting the limited time you have.
M Globalisation and the U.S. presidential debate
Recently I came across a tweet announcing that 2008-09-26 (Friday) during the debate between Obama and McCain live tweets would be used. I thought wonderful. But I changed my mind after I read about the hashtag (allows one to search tweets from many Twitter user by searching for this hastag):
Example: A proper tweet is: “Mccain +3 for great line: “It’s the economy stupid” #tweetdebate”
The above allows you to find other armchair analysts’ opinions about the presidential debate with domestic policy focus, at the University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS this Friday. All you have to do is use the above hashtag, allowing others to search four your tweets about the debate and others.
Mistake 13 – using a medium with global reach but acting U.S. centric. Other countries have important elections as well. So why not use a hashtag such as #presdeb08USA
It makes it easier for people outside the U.S. to find the material and how about a #PMdebate08IL – for Israel. If Tzipni Livni fails to navigate treacherous waters successfully, she might have to call an early election.
The advantage of using hashtags is clear. However, successful use of hashtags requires acknowledging technology’s global reach. By using hashtags that acknowledge the world beyond New Jersey makes it easier for people to find these comments years from now. Search engines make it possible.
So be smart and think globally when using Twitter by applying your ‘globalised’ hashtags.
N effective participation might mean limiting yourself to 15 minutes on Twitter each day
Somebody once said that when people use Twitter during a conference it can be interesting for those followers not attending. In turn, the delegate writes tweets to be able to distribute his or her thoughts. Unfortunately, often people are not interested in reading more analytic wrap-ups that reflect on what happened at the conference. People care abut sound bytes, the 10 second commercial or tweets.
Nevertheless, providing interesting stuff means sharing and giving away to your Twitter followers.
4byoung: 1 in 4 online users visit social networking sites. #WWJT http://is.gd/BFD- (expand
)
So providing tweets that give your followers links to interesting data, stories and so forth is a viable strategy indeed. But how much time should you spend providing quality to your followers every day. Remember time is limited.
Mistake 14 – Spending more than 15 minutes most days on Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook, LinkedIn, instead of pressing the flesh of real customers. Typically, you won’t meet too many customers on Twitter.
Or, as the saying goes, “Let a hundred flowers blossom” to determine who “gets” your tweets. Admittedly, the challenge is to find a cost-effective way to do enough tweeting for keeping your followers happy, while keeping the cash register ring :-).
So if you tweet instead of watching a soap that might be fine. Nevertheless, tweeting at night instead of talking to your partner is not that smart. Tweeting too much, instead of writing another tender, finishing a job or visiting a client might be detrimental to the survival of your business.
Incidentally, giving yourself 15 minutes with Twitter or Friendfeed is likely gonna mean you spend 30 minutes, time flies when you have fun.
Pingback: Urs E. Gattiker
Pingback: Naijand Inc