Twitip

by John Newman from Tag Surfer (@anthroscience)

Recently a colleague of mine and I organized a very successful tweet-up here in Tallahassee. For those of you who don’t know, a tweet-up is a live meeting between fellow tweeters. It was there that I came to realize just how powerful Twitter can be as a networking tool. At the tweet-up I was able to exchange business cards with a hair stylist, a graphic design artist, an open source web host, a real estate agent, and a DJ, just to name a few.

Amazed that I had been able to organize so many resources into a single place, I decided to start watching out for some of the little things that could potentially hinder my ability to build a real life network through Twitter. Here, I would like to share with you some of my findings in the form of Twitter’s little known stereotypes.

1. The Fickle Follower

Every so often I’ll receive an email telling me @so-and-so is now following me on Twitter. Like a good neighbor, I’ll make a point to drop him an @reply every now and again, and perhaps even a DM if I have some special message to send. The thing about @so-and-so, however, is that he ignores all direct communication I send him. Then, one day, I’ll log on to Twitter and notice that I’m down a follower. Whether it’s by means of Qwitter, twitter.grader.com, or something else, I come to find out that this Fickle Follower has indeed unfollowed me.

To the Fickle Follower: Why did you follow me in the first place? Of course, there are many reasons people use Twitter and not all of them involve networking. However, if your purpose is to network, being a Fickle Follower means that you are making a few fundamental mistakes. (more…)

More and more twitter users are actually taking their Twitter interactions and meeting up in real life. In this post Steph Auteri from Freelancedom (@stephauteri) shares some tips on how to do it.

I find new excuses to create Excel worksheets. I lament the lost art of the cover letter and other forms of traditional business correspondence. I read books such as Peter Bowerman’s The Well-Fed Writer and Allison Hemming’s Work It!, which preach against lazy, Internet-based business practices.

Yet I have been thoroughly charmed by the Twitter phenomenon, and am an out-and-out evangelist in support of using it as a means to further your career.

I didn’t know quite what to do with Twitter until I read a post on Problogger that advised setting Twitter goals. My mind immediately grasped upon the possibilities for promoting my multiple blogs and, since then, I have (I hope) maintained that focus. (Just ignore those tweets that mention Xanax, wine, and my three cats…) It was a happy surprise when it became clear just how much Twitter could help my career in other ways.

Read on for tips on how to use Twitter to take networking from online to in-the-flesh.

1. Use Your Twitter Profile As You Would a Business Card:

Those cards I had done up at VistaPrint are so perfect. They include my name, title, phone number, e-mail address, and website URL and, best of all, they even match my site’s background! I love how they represent the brand I’ve created for myself. Your Twitter profile should operate in a similar manner. Pimp that URL of yours in the appropriate space. Craft a well-written professional description in the spot meant for your bio. Personalize the background also! It will help you stand out from the pack. And then include a link to your Twitter account on every last social networking site you belong to, and in your e-mail signature as well. (Bonus tip: If you want to go all out — and frighten friends and family! — order a T-shirt with your Twitter ID.)
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“Why do you use Twitter? How does Twitter Benefit You?”

I’ve been asked these questions so many times since starting TwiTip that I thought I’d write a post answering it. I hope that it’s helpful for those of you just starting out with Twitter (or considering getting involved).

Twitter has changed the way that I use the web and connect with others online in many ways. Those of you who’ve traveled with me on my Twitter journey since the beginning know that I started out very skeptical of the medium.

It always seemed like a waste of time – however once I started using it I immediately began to see its potential and some tangible benefits to me. Let me try to break some of them down:

1. Research Tool

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What if Twitter was no more? What would happen to your network? In this post Sarah Evans from PR Sarah Evans (follow her at @PRsarahevans) gives some tips on how to make sure your Twitter network never dies.

“Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?” This is Clarence the angel in It’s a Wonderful Life referring to the impact George Bailey had on the others around him.

The holidays are approaching and, for me, it is a sentimental time. As I reflect on this past year I think about my family, friends, coworkers and a newer addition to my life, my social media pals.

I began to reflect…

Even if I don’t see my family, friends, co-workers on a daily basis, I’m connected to them in a way that makes it easy to reach them. Our relationships are connected in a way which ensures we wouldn’t lose one another, even if my outlook contacts list crashed tomorrow.

Which leads me to the point of this post:

If you’re reading TwiTip, you are most likely building many relationships and connections via Twitter.

• What if Twitter went away tomorrow or the next day?
• How many of those relationships are sustainable or viable?
• If Twitter went away tomorrow, how many of your connections are “cross-medium?”

My gift to you—a few, simple tips here to ensure you never leave a hole in your network:

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