How Twitter works in theory

So, here are my top Twitter applications.

Twhirl (for my Mac)
TweetDeck seems to be the choice of Twitter power users everywhere; I am not a power user.

After trying out a few different apps for my Mac (including TweetDeck), I finally chose Twhirl. Twhirl has all that I need in a nice clean interface. Twhirl allows me to have multiple accounts up at the same time so I can easily follow what is happening in my personal and business tweetstreams. I also like the Growl notifications, which allow me to follow along without having to to constantly switch over to see new tweets.

BirdFeed (for my iPhone)
I have tried five or six different Twitter apps for the iPhone. A while ago I read about BirdFeed on TechCrunch. They spoke highly about the new app so I thought I might give it a chance. I have been using Birdfeed ever since.

Birdfeed has a simple and clean interface, it allows me to easily see mentions/replies, and it provides easy access to retweeting or replying to other people’s tweets. Birdfeed also bookmarks my Twitter time line so I can easily refer back to a recent tweet I want to see. Finally, I like how the interface looks similar to the iPhone texting (or iChat conversations) interface.

Flickr (for sharing photos)
Flickr was a little late to the Twitter-picture game, but I am glad they are here. Facebook and Flickr are the two places I share my photos with the world. Since I am already adding my photos to Flickr, it makes things easy for me to reference my “photo” tweets through them instead of worrying about another website.

FriendOrFollow (for a bird’s eye view of my Twitter community)
FriendOrFollow easily allows me to keep track of my Twitter community. On their website, I have three options. I can see who is following me (with no love in return), who I am following (without reciprocation), and who are my friends (those who follow me and I follow back).

The benefit of using FriendOrFollow is that I have a better idea of who I am actually engaging with on Twitter. The information is used (in conjunction with other criteria) to allow me to make more informed decisions on who I should continue following.

Your Favs
There are my favorite Twitter apps, but I am more interested in you. What are your favorites?

Be Ready For That Day
While I do not believe Twitter will be shutting down any time soon, I do believe it is good to be prepared for the future. A case in point: AOL has recently been shutting down a couple of its services. About five years ago, who would have thought AOL would be struggling like it currently is? So, here are a few suggestions on how you can back up your Twitter data.

Tweetake
Tweetake is simple.

1. Enter your Twitter name and password.
2. Choose what you want to back up. Your six options are followers, friends, favorites, your tweets, direct messages, everything.
3. Click “get ‘em.”
4. Wait about 20 to 30 seconds (or more for you power-Twitter users)
5. Download the supplied CSV file.

That’s it. You now have backed up your Twitter account.

I am a bit leery of giving my login information to anyone. So, whenever I use this service I temporarily change my password, use Tweetake, and then change my password back. You can never be too safe and this way I know my information stays with me.

Thanks to The World Wide Web Blog for recommending the Tweetake tool. It was one of the sites that helped convince me that Tweetake is a reputable service and worthy of consideration.

The Manual Method
If you are not trusting or daring enough to give out your user name and password, then here is a manual method for backing up your followers and friends. Thanks to Tweetcrunch for teaching me this technique.

1. Put http://twitter.com/statuses/followers.xml in your address bar of your browser
2. Save this page in your browser and read it as an XML file, with for example excel. If you have a lot of followers then use http://twitter.com/statuses/followers.xml?page=2 and so on.
3. For your friends use the same process with this link http://twitter.com/statuses/friends.xml

Reference to backing up your Twitter information.

Hopefully, these methods will give you a good idea of how to back up your Twitter data and prevent the cloud from keeping it.

Well you see Jonathan, Twitter allows you to tell people what you are doing. It is in a similar vein to Facebook’s status update, but it is so much more than that. Through these frequent back-and-forth updates, Twitter allows you to really engage in conversations with other people. All of this helps to build a solid online community of friends and peers.

That explanation adequately describes Twitter and how it operates, but it occurred to me that you cannot truly understand what Twitter is until you dive in.

I Feel A Little Stupid
I was listening to a great web developer podcast a few weeks ago when I heard the following conversation. The conversation reinforces my aforementioned thought. The excerpt from the podcast is when two of the co-hosts were talking about President Obama using Twitter during his campaign.

Brad Williams:

Now, you can’t tell me that he [President Obama] didn’t think Twitter was a little stupid when he first heard what exactly it was.

I think everyone that signs up on Twitter has to question what they are doing when they first sign up.

Kevin Yank

Step one of Twitter: acceptance.

And there it is:

• You will probably feel stupid as you sign up for Twitter.
• You will definitely wonder what use you will ever get out of Twitter.
• You may think how it will probably be a waste of time.

Join the Crazy Community
However, once you accept that you are just as crazy as the millions of other Twitter users then you will find a vibrant, exciting community. And from a web marketing perspective, this community is important to help build your brand, reputation, and relationships. All of which are necessary components of an ongoing web marketing campaign.

The Twitter icons are courtesy of Smashing Magazine and Mirjami Manninen.

Updated (February 15, 2011): Removed Twitter icon image because of the continuous hotlinking to the image.

A Classic Example
I came across this blog article discussing a “conversation” on Twitter between a reporter and a marketing expert. I am not going to provide my opinion on who is right and who is wrong. The important lesson to take away from this conversation is that your words and actions can haunt you.

Be careful that you do not get into a tirade on Twitter. Beware of bashing someone on your blog. Watch out for saying something offensive on Facebook. You should always be strategic with your words, but on the Internet this is even more important. Choose your words carefully because you never know who is watching.

Quick Tips
Here are a few tips on how to lessen the chances of writing those words you will regret:
1. Count to 10… or 100… or 1,000. Regardless of the duration of time, take a break and step away from the computer. This is a classic rule to follow, but it does work.
2. Check your ego at the keyboard. Remember that the social web is all about relationships. As a result, you run the risk of getting your feelings hurt once in a while. That is a reality; accept it, deal with it, and be prepared.
3. If you need, take the conversation offline. If it is something that is really important to discuss, talk with the other person on the phone or in person.

Your Thoughts
What other techniques do you use to reduce the chances of having a major blowout online? Have you ever done this?

The photo is courtesy of Arturo J. Paniagua on Flickr.

Used Car Dealership

What really caught my eye in John’s blog article was his last sentence: “Do as you please. [But] if I do see an advertisement, expect the email [letting you know I stopped following you on Twitter]. Expect it.” Do you think John is the only person who feels this way? Nope.

I have heard this saying a lot: “social media communities (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube) are remarkably skilled at ratting out advertisers and inauthentic participation, so this approach is likely to backfire and cause harm to a brand and the user. (Paraphrased from the free ebook The New Rules of Viral Marketing by David Meerman Scott)

The lesson here is simple: the quickest way to lose friends and alienate yourself amongst the social-side of the web is to just go out and sell, sell, sell. This warning goes for people who just want to earn a little cash on the side by tweeting advertisements. It also goes out to people who only use blogs, Facebook, Digg, etc. to sell themselves.

Rather, go out and participate in social media sites. Your passion should shine through your honesty and transparency when participating. If you write a business blog then publish content that is helpful, useful, or fun for readers and avoid the temptation to simply use it as a giant, wordy billboard. Be passionate about what you write and how you participate, but please, please, please leave the constant sales pitches to your local used car dealership.

Photo courtesy of SqueakyMarmot

Puzzle Pieces in Web Marketing

You see, NCIS just started its sixth season. The show has been on for five years airing in prime time on CBS and I never even saw one episode. NCIS then airs on a cable network channel in the middle of a Sunday and I become a fan. CBS and NCIS utilized an important marketing concept: do not rely on just one area of marketing to advertise yourself and attract new viewers (or clients/customers).

Recently, I had a client ask me why he should use Twitter. My answer to his question was based on the same concept of why I began watching NCIS: reach. Relying on one source of marketing to drive traffic to your website limits your exposure to newer audiences. As a result, you limit the amount of potential customers that come to your website.

Twitter by itself is not the solution to web marketing, but it does serve as a valuable piece in your web marketing package. There are potential clients who will find you on Twitter that will not find you through Facebook. Additionally, there are people using Twitter who will not find you because you simply write blog articles. Similarly, you may bring people to your website from social news sites (e.g. Digg, Mixx or StumbleUpon) that you will not get from using Twitter alone.

Web marketing is a giant puzzle. Every piece is essential to making the whole marketing puzzle work. Remove any one piece and you will have a hole in your project. If you ignore various elements that make up a solid web marketing package you will discover that your gaping holes prevent potential customers from finding your website. That lack of exposure is something none of us wants.

If this is your first introduction to Twitter, check out this video:

Want to find me on Twitter? Here is my info: twitter.com/triunedesigns

Happy twittering!

Photo courtesy of CarolinaJG