By Nathan Hangen, follow him @nhangen.
I know, it sounds strange in theory. But think about it like this: you spend a lot of time building a network on Twitter, engaging with your followers, and creating powerful partnerships, but what would happen if this single asset went belly up? You don’t put all of your cash into a single stock, so why should you invest all of your social capital in a single service?
Don’t get me wrong, I like Twitter, but I want to be prepared in the event that something kills my favorite social tool. I’ve never invested this much time in any other platform, nor have I met so many great people all over the world. Twitter excels at connecting people and helping them share ideas, but it can’t be the only way to connect, especially if your business or personal brand depends on it.
Diversify
Since we’re going to be treating Twitter as an investment, it is time to start talking about diversifying your capital (social in this instance). The type of friends and associates I have on Twitter generally fall into on of several categories:
• Real life friend
• Business partners
• Hobbyist
• Someone I support or admire
• Blog readers, customers, and supporters
• People I’d like to know more about
I usually group them as such within Twitter using TweetDeck, but there are other places I’d like to interact with these groups too, so I start diverting them to other sites or properties of mine. Some I’ll send to Facebook, some I’ll send to a business platform, like LinkedIn, and some I’ll send to my newsletter opt-in. Others, I’ll simply follow where I can.
For instance, obviously you probably already connect with your friends on Facebook, but consider meeting up with fellow hobbyists there as well. As a Triathlete, I take part in many bulletin boards and forums, where I’ll often find others to connect with on Twitter. However, I don’t stop there. Over time, I’ll connect with them on Facebook and if all goes well, ask them to check out my Triathlon Training Blog. The goal is to move from an asset that I don’t own, to one that I do. In the event that the forums close down or Twitter disappears for a while, I can still connect with them on Facebook or on my blog.
If the relationship is one of a business nature, I’ll make sure to connect with them on LinkedIn and either ask for or offer a recommendation. The power of LinkedIn lies in its ability to connect powerful businesses with powerful business minds, but for some reason many people don’t find the time to hang out over there. I think that is a mistake. The networking within that community is intense and making sure to invest some capital in that site will do wonders for your portfolio.
As a way to stay in contact with your fans, supporters, and readers, consider creating a Facebook Fan Page or at a minimum, making sure they know about your email list. Send blog readers to follow you on Twitter and Twitter readers to follow you on your blog. You should be constantly redirecting people to as many parts of your web portfolio as possible. This is the only way to ensure that the hard work you’ve done on Twitter won’t disappear in the future.
Integrate
All of my social sites, at least the ones that allow me to, have a badge, icon, or link that tells people how they can find me on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook. From those sites, I send people to internet property that I own. Fairly simple concept really, but it is one that people often overlook. In the past, I set up auto-DM’s to let people know how to find my blog and Facebook profile, but the anti-auto-DM lobbyists convinced me otherwise. Still, from time to time I’ll send out a Tweet to make sure that people know where to find me outside of Twitter.
Use the left side of your Twitter background to your advantage and offer links there. If you have a blog or website, consider crafting your links like this:
• myblog.com/twitter
• myblog.com/facebook
• myblog.com/youtube
• myblog.com/linkedin
What I’m getting at here is not that people are nothing more than property or an investment, but that you need to make sure your relationships are safeguarded in the event of a Twitter catastrophe. If you read my post about Why Twitter isn’t Going Anywhere, you’ll know that I don’t expect this to happen, but after last week’s DDoS attacks you can never be too sure. I’ve met more exceptional people on Twitter in the past year than I’d met in the previous 20 and if the past is any indication of the future, then I expect this trend to continue.
[image: monojussi]
Well said and I agree. The categories you listed are pretty much as the as mine
I think this is why Tweet-ups are good too. You straighten in real like the bond created in Twitter. Aloha!
Liza
@TwitCenter
What about simply getting in touch… per e-mail ? When a partnership becomes important, it often shifts to e-mail anyway. The 140 chars in Twitter are nice to get in touch but cant’s sustain real e-mail exchanges.
Birdie
@blackgirlsrun
Great article! I find it difficult to keep all of my friends, running and fitness friends, co-workers, professional acquaintances and associates separate when it comes to social media. I think of twitter as a way to build a brand and connect with friends. I don’t want to mix the two, but it seems impossible not to.
@nhangen
Tweet ups are definitely a great way to interact with Twitter friends. They can be difficult to plan, but they are very fun!
@Musa23
I love your idea of spreading your ability to interact or keep updated with the ppl you network with. It’s as if spreading your ability to serve or learn through others in multiple ways. That twitter hiccup also gave me a wake up call, with me ending up promoting myself via facebook and was alarmed at how I had fewer social networking buddies there than I had on twitter.
Oh well, thank you for the update or like fb says “Musawenkosi likes this!”
@tweeminence
My blog is all about promoting blogs using twitter, and one of the biggest things I write about on a regular basis is the need to get your twitter followers to interact with you through other mediums. I tend to focus more on making sure your followers become readers of your blog and subscribers to your email list, but getting in contact with them on other social networks is also a great way to go!
@BODDPR
Cross-referencing your network of friends and followers is a great idea. It also makes the brand of what you’re promoting (yourself, a blog, a book, etc) that much stronger when stretched across different social networking platforms. Being able to contact people multiple ways makes you more accessible to those that support what your brand and what you’re doing.
@RobnTGould
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. You shared some good things to consider as we all try maximize our use of these different social media outlets.
By the way, tweetdeck.com is on the blitz this evening. I thought it would be a good tool to use but it won’t get implemented if I cannot access the website. Do you know the difference between tweetdeck.com and what Adobe is offering because it appears to be the same thing, but why are they offering it too?
@josephgelb
This article makes a strong case for using the full spectrum of social media in perhaps a more dynamic way than most people have been doing. That is really why I love Twitter because it led me back to blogging and video unlike and social media too ever created. It made people rethink information and networking. So keeping this power safe is deffinitely a great idea.
Nicely written! Social networking will soon become the most effective way of building your professional career and creating a personal brand. However, one will have to invest time in learning the effectiveness of these sites and ways to use them properly.
By the way, I am new to LinkedIn too and have found this resource quite useful. It is a new book called “How to REALLY use LinkedIn” by networking expert Jan Vermeiren. Check it out, you can find a free lite version at http://www.how-to-really-use-linkedin.com/
@codytorgerson
What is the importance of setting a page for each social media site that I am on (e.g., myblog.com/facebook)?
Cody
@carlarose
I have yet to attend a TweetUp. I actually did once, but was too shy to say anything to anyone so I hid in the corner! I have social phobia and the venue was pretty packed at the time. I guess I will have to start small.
@nhangen
Cody – Mostly it helps you maintain control of your own linking structure and although you don’t get SEO credit for it, you are still making it easier for people to remember who you are and how to find you.
@nandakishorkn
yes, Concept is simple after reading this blog post. Earlier I didn’t thought about it and thanks for enlightening us!!!