C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m

See all my books at AllThatChazz.com.

07/11/2010 • 9:34 AM 0

Marketing Through Twitter

I’m over 40 so I don’t make new friends. At least that was true until my wife got me an IPod for my birthday. Through Twitterific app, I kind of fell into marketing through Twitter. First I was curious what Bill Maher had to say. He hardly ever tweets, but then I was curious who he followed. I began following celebrities, particularly comedians and writers.

Then I hit the mother lode: freelance writers and editors like me. Then I hit the “Nearby” tab on Twitterific to find such people in my city. Then I linked my tweets to my blog so the blog has fresh content throughout the day whether I have time to sit down and blog or not!

And now I’m addicted, but enjoying it. I won’t be signing up for a 12-step program any time soon. Do you Twitter? You know what they say. The only people who don’t like Twitter are those who haven’t tried it.

Filed under: Publicity & Promotion, Twitter, Twitter

07/08/2010 • 9:02 AM 0

Twitter Followers versus Facebook Friends

A guy had hundreds of Facebook friends and decided to throw a Facebook party. One person showed up and that was a stranger. Facebook friends don’t equate to real friends. Real friends don’t tell you they might show up to your party even though you’re in Toronto and they are in Vancouver.

Facebook is useful, but, just like your regular friends, not all of them are such good friends they will help you move. Your posts to Facebook are like posts to a message board. Twitter, by contrast, is a conversation. You can have Facebook friends and never visit their home pages. On Twitter, your followers get your 140-character messages pushed on their Tweet deck. Eyes are on you as opposed to Facebook’s Friend ’em and Forget ’em.

But from a purely marketing perspective, quantity isn’t really important. It’s about the quality of your friends and followers. Do your interests dovetail? If you’re marketing a book, your business or service, what’s your ROI? (ROI stands for Return on Investment.)

That’s what many businesses miss: a cost/benefit analysis. Are you spending too much time on your blog and not enough time writing? What time and money efficiencies can you find? Do you need to revamp your approach to social media marketing? Do you need to bring in a guest blogger or refocus your content and search engine optimization to get eyes on your page?

Think of your social media approaches as pipes that lead people back to your website. Your web presence is a package. Twitter is a conversation in which you can sell your services after you sell yourself. Facebook has more personality, but first you sell yourself before your services. Your blog isn’t a diary. It’s a magazine.

On your website, the pitch is still somewhat buried in that your provide value and interesting stuff first. Your call to action has to be there if you’re trying to sell something, but don’t come on too strong because people may find you through your website first. For special promotions or straight ads, consider a mini-website (one page dedicated to your hard pitch or a linking to a separate business website for more of the straight dope on your services and products.)

For instance, my separate (business) website is at the click of the happy pic at www.chazzwrites.vpweb.ca.

Filed under: Publicity & Promotion, Social Media, Twitter, Facebook, promotion, selling, Twitter

06/09/2010 • 1:51 AM 0

I’m All @Twitter @ Connection

I’m following 92 people at the moment. Some highlights:

@funnyordie (obvious reasons)

@KMWeiland (good stuff on writing)

@5rivers (ditto plus indie pub stuff)

@mental-floss (for the weird facts)

@pattonoswalt (hilarious comic with a fine eye for the absurd)

@Noni_Writes (great quotes from writers etc.,…)

@pennjillette (because he’s Penn Jillette)

@PikeCraig (could be funny professionally)

@RandyTayler (ditto)

@ThatKevinSmith (because he’s Kevin Smith and is funny professionally)

I follow many others, but some don’t tweet enough and a couple tweet too often. I enjoy certain celebrities (like Bill Maher who’s too busy to Tweet much, I guess) but it’s also interesting to see who is following whom. I catch the latest news on Twitter, so that’s useful, too.

To access Twitter from my IPod, I use Twitterific. The interface is easier to bounce around so I can see who has mentioned me, retweet and mark entries I want to return to easily. I’ve set up my Twitter account so posts go to this blog as well. That way, there is always something new on my website and more reasons for visitors to come by more often. The official blog posts are more important, but my Twitter updates through the day add a lot of changing content to this blog, so double plus good.

BONUS About Connection:

Celebrities are cool and all, but it’s the nearby tweetaholics who have more relevance to me and my business in the long-term. Twitter is entertainment first, but it’s useful to know who is doing what in your area. I’ve already run into a couple of people through Twitter who I’d want to talk to if I had a tech problem. As the social interaction grows connections, I hope they’ll be more aware of me and what I do so I can be useful to them in the future as well.

Twitter is fun. It’s also potentially a fun business tool (besides setting your phone to vibrate and tucking it in your underwear.) The key here, as with all networking, is to reach out as the helpful spirit moves you. Be fun, be funny, be you (as long as you isn’t as asshole.) If, in your networking efforts you come across as a greedy selfish clod who’s only out for him or herself, forget it. You’re putting bad energy out there. But if people interest you, that will come across as a positive thing that can pay dividends downstream.

Now go sign up for @pattonoswalt tweets and laugh.