Twitip

Have you ever been the lucky recipient of a #followfriday or #ff from a friend on Twitter?

It’s a great feeling when someone goes out of their way to recognize you as a resource for great insight and connection on Twitter. Recognition for being someone worth following is great for those trying to figure out the point of Twitter.

However, the common practice for a typical #followfriday tweet is to pack as many of your favorite followers into 140 as possible. While this strategy is great for pinging people in your network to let them know you’re thinking of them, it also can appear cheap and potentially a little off putting if the group of folks you include don’t have much in common.

Now, it’s rare that folks are actually offended by being included in a #followfriday. Most do in fact love to be included and recognized in some way by their followers. Some may even get a few new followers because of the referral.

As with most situations in life, however, #followfriday offers people the opportunity to cut through the noise with valuable tweets that create signal and meaning for folks.

The #1 Secret to Follow Friday Success
Something folks love even more than simply having their Twitter handle included in a mass #ff tweet is when someone devotes an entire tweet to something they specifically peg as a reason to follow somebody.

By taking an extra five minutes to break apart your #ff tweets and doing individual #ff tweets instead, you’re showing your followers that you value something specific about what they’re doing. It’s another level of respect you’re paying forward to the folks you value in your Twitter stream.

Rules
1) Use the entire 120 or so characters (How to Get Retweeted – The Formula) to describe something specific and amazing about the people whose tweets you value the most. For my handle (@dayneshuda) I can get away with leaving 15 characters available.

2) Include #ff

3) Include a Website (preferably the actual URL vs. a shortened version…for branding)

4) Give a specific reason for people to follow

Examples

Benefits of Going the Extra Mile
I’ve been trying to do this each Friday (although I do miss some) for some of my favorite folks on Twitter and the response has been wonderful and more than I could have imagined.

The folks that I highlight in detailed #followfridays are generally very thankful to be highlighted in a specific way. They seem to appreciate that someone takes the time to recognize their hard work in a field or for being a great friend and someone worth following because of their personality.

Sometimes in response (but never expected) folks have responded with similar, detailed tweets about me. It’s a nice little bonus for making the gesture.

What about your #ff experiences?

Do you leave detailed #ff tweets or the more popular styled #ff tweets?

What are some pros and cons of each?

Related articles on Twitip

#followfriday Revolution

Did @PhilBaumann Just Save Follow Friday?

Follow Friday; Too Much of a Good Thing?

I was asked recently about the task of managing multiple Twitter accounts and if it’s better to use your own name or an “imaginary name.”

It’s not the first time I’ve had the question asked, so I thought what better way to answer it than by sharing it with everyone here on Twitip.

Absolutes Don’t Exist

I’ll first be honest in saying that there isn’t a black and white answer, and this isn’t something that can be solved without testing. Too many people treat Twitter with black and white answers… with absolutes. (more…)

Believe or not, over the last week talking with clients I have been asked this question 4 times now by prospective clients wanting to get into the Social Media/Social Recruiting space. It wasn’t necessarily the question that shocked me (well it did but) it was more the fact that these companies had not as yet done there research and identified what benefit Twitter can bring to their business as well as to their own knowledge in the market place.

As with any new tool or fancy gadget it is imperative that you undertake all of the necessary research first to find out if it is right for you, but also what benefit you can expect from your investment in time and money. You won’t just go buy any 52″ LCD TV now will you? Social Media is no different. I myself was totally against joining Twitter when I was first introduced to it, however my skepticism of it “being a waste of time” was quickly shot down.

Here is a list of why I now value Twitter so highly:

1. Build a network of contacts within your industry that you never had access to or knew about before, not just locally, but globally. (more…)

There have been lots of negative comments in the press recently about Twitter and that’s a shame. What they don’t realise is Twitter is a not always a natural, instant thing; to get Twitter you need to hang around a little longer, pick up new followers and find people to follow. There are no set rules for how to use Twitter. If you want to Tweet about your every day tasks, then as far as I’m concerned, that’s fine. But if you really want to get the full benefit, then below are the things that work for me:

1. Tweet, often and honestly.

That doesn’t necessary mean you tell the truth it just means tweet things from the heart, things that you care about, things that amuse or entertain you or, if you must, things that will get a re-action.

(more…)

If you have spent any time around social marketing you probably know that SEO and social media go hand and hand. (Well you have at least heard about it, right?) So, how do you turn your Twitter account into a search-able masterpiece? Why is this important? Ladies and gentlemen, hold on to your hats, press on and don’t worry, I will keep this in 5 year old terms (because that is how I think). (more…)

The web is full of “naming gurus” selling names to big companies for thousands of dollars. They claim they’ve got the solution to every naming issue. The truth is that the only one who can really make up your name is… you. You can save time and money by simply understanding what is important in order to make your username effective. If you’re new in social media and want to create a Twitter account, a Facebook fan page or whatever, you can consider these very basic tips in order to create a good name, be you a personal user or a new brand. Your name should reflect your identity and your “tone”. (more…)

By Zoey Dowling. Follow her @zoeyspeak.

Twitter is a bright, shiny universe of new friends, new ideas, hilarious little snippets and occasionally even a spot of news. It’s a great way to promote your blog or your business. But if your primary purpose on twitter is promotion and not to connect with other people – abandon ship. Twitter is not for you. Ulterior motives don’t do well. They result in one action: UNFOLLOW. Mistakes are easy when you start out. After all, no-one is updating their status – they’re engaging with one another! And that’s confusing – is it private or can you join in? How do you make the most of it and have fun? Well for starters you could avoid the most irritating twitter behaviours. And before you start trawling through my twitter stream – yes I have committed most of them.

1. Gluttony (Over-Sharing)
Do not, I repeat do not over-share. Do you really want to know about someone else’s digestive problems? I didn’t think so. When you went into graphic detail about your gastric flu did you consider all the people reading your tweets while they were eating? Your followers should be wanting to know more about you, not less.
(more…)

David Wright is a direct response copywriter and marketing specialist at Ghostwriter Dad. Follow him @bloggerdad

Twitter is a lot like the wild west of social media. The venue is relatively new, many people are unfamiliar with the etiquette and an even larger number of people could care less about the few rules in place. Which is why I am quick to my trigger and hit the block or unfollow button the minute people’s poor Twitter manners cross my path.

Here are six ways to become a Twitter pariah with me (and I imagine a lot of other people): (more…)

by Robert Dwyer of The Wellesley Wine Press – Follow him @RobertDwyer

A subtly confusing aspect of Twitter, even for people who have been using the service for a while, is understanding the differences between replies, mentions and direct messages. These concepts are confusing because they’re different than E-mail and aren’t necessarily the same as on other social networks like Facebook. The goal of this piece is to help well-meaning people from inadvertently annoying others on Twitter, or worse, accidentally sharing private information publicly.

This is part 2 of a 2 part series about replies, mentions and direct messages in terms of how they’re used from the Twitter web interface (Read part one here). Today we’ll talk about mentions and direct messages. (more…)

by Robert Dwyer of The Wellesley Wine Press – Follow him @RobertDwyer

A subtly confusing aspect of Twitter, even for people who have been using the service for a while, is understanding the differences between replies, mentions and direct messages. These concepts are confusing because they’re different than E-mail and aren’t necessarily the same as on other social networks like Facebook. The goal of this piece is to help well-meaning people from inadvertently annoying others on Twitter, or worse, accidentally sharing private information publicly. (more…)