Twitter – Social Media Marketing Tool, or Time-waster?

Don't be fooled when visiting Twitter. It's much more than chat.

by Janet Lane
Today we look at the strengths of the mini-message networking site, Twitter.  First a news flash regarding Twitter’s phenomenal growth: since last month’s numbers, Twitter has grown from 6 million unique visitors in the US to 7 million.

Why Twitter is good

● A feeling of connectedness and immediacy. A professional on a business trip was snowed in at an airport, Tweeted about it and within ten minutes had four offers of places to stay. Think of reaching millions with your emergency, instantly.

● Quick, easy postings. No need to write a lengthy post every day. Each post is 140 characters or less.  This small bullet paragraph is 135 characters, for example.

● Quick and easy responses.  Responses may come within seconds instead of hours or days.

●Filter through the noise. Say there’s a craft book you’re considering. Get several responses  about it and reach a quicker, more informed purchasing decision.

● Find groups.  Using the hashmark search, http://search.twitter.com , you can standard search for Tweets with the words editor, author, marketing in the Tweet itself, or for discussions of trending topics like #editor, #author, #marketing, precede your search with a #.

● Learn from the Twitter Giants at http://wefollow.com  There, you’ll see that cnnbrk is the #1 Tweeter at 523,000 followers and  BarackObama is #2 at 465,000.  Find areas of  interest, such as authors, media, etc. and follow the “influencers,” as they’re called.

To fellow Tweeters:  Who’s your best “follow,” and why?

Like what you see?  Please credit me.  Thanks.

Next:  How to tap Twitter’s strenth, and what you absolutely should NOT forget to include in your profile.

Twitter – Social Media Marketing Tool, or Time-waster?

Twitter-will this birdy's air stream help you fly?

Part 2 of the Twitter series by Janet Lane

(See prior post for part 1)

My survey
I surveyed eighty members of RMFW, asking (1) How long have you been Tweeting? (2) how many tweets do you generate per day? (3) How many Followers do you have? (4) Do you Tweet for just your novel writing, or do you have multiple brands/objectives? (5) What have you found to be the most helpful aspect of Tweeting? (6) Your final answer: Is Twitter a  /__/ time-waster or /__/ worthy promotional tool?

Survey says …
Out of eight author/writers, I heard from only four who have harnessed Twitter’s power to network and accomplish specific promotional goals.

The responses from non-Tweeters ranged from “never heard of it” to deep concerns that it would be a terrible time-waster.  One especially incredulous statement: “As an introvert, I’m just appalled.  Who needs to be in touch with people every moment of the day?”

What Twitter is
http://twitter.com  Twitter is an on-line networking group of over seven million people. Messages (tweets) are limited to just 140 keystrokes, so it’s what Associated Press writer Michael Liedtke calls “a potluck of pithy self-expression simmering with whimsy, narcissism, voyeurism, hucksterism, tedium, and sometimes useful information.”

Why Twitter is bad
The brevity of just 140 keystrokes severely limits your messages. The messages may never surpass mind-numbing chatter. It can be a huge time-waster, with no useful outcome. It can be a distraction from your more meaningful work and promotional activities. If you’re successful at building an interesting collection of people to Follow, you’ll never have sufficient time to listen to all of them. At the opposite end of the spectrum, you may send out a Tweet and receive absolutely no response. It’s hard to find people that you should be following. You may get obsessed with Twitter and become effectively chained to your computer or phone.  There may be negative Tweets about you or your company that may devastate.

Coming next – why Twitter is good, and how some writers have tapped this latest promotional tool’s strengths to promote their brand.

Like what you see?  Please credit me.  Thanks.

Twitter-Social Media Mktg Tool or Time-waster?

Twitter - now 7 million strong!

I first heard about Twitter at a one-night class I took last year on blogging. The instructor mentioned it as a final comment. He introduced Twitter briefly as the newest social media communication phenomenon, and showed us the “Tweet” (message) he had posted before he came to teach the class that evening. His Tweet said: “Leaving to teach a blogging class at ACC.”

I looked at my table partner, and the expression on her face – a look she might give her little brother if he took the toilet seat cover off and put it on his head – made me laugh out loud.

I was the only one who laughed. The rest of the students just wore a similar expression that seemed to say, “Who on earth cares if this man is leaving to teach a class on blogging?” Yes, our society is shamelessly focused on such trivial topics as Paris Hilton’s dog and the late blonde bombshell Anna Nicole’s baby, but have we stooped so low that we’ll find this mundane fact interesting?

The instructor only had time to explain that we could use it to promote our business or product, and that was the end of it.

Fast forward several months. I’m investigating low-cost ways to promote my novels, my freelance writing and my small business’s products. I buy Paul Gillin’s Secrets of Social Media Marketing and Andy Wibbels’ Blog Wild, a Guide for Small Business Blogging. Twitter appears in twenty separate locations of the Secrets book, along with this sidebar testimonial to Twitter’s utility:

“Twitter’s Quirky Appeal Lara Fitton is a Twitter master, an independent consultant whose two young children create some lifestyle choices. She wants to work, but she needs to do that mainly from home. Twitter has become Fitton’s business network and support group. She has collected an entourrage of more than 3,500 followers…established relationships that have led to new business, speaking invitations, and personal friendships.”

I searched for Lara Fitton on Twitter, and there she was, wearing a garish green bow digitally pasted on her head. One of her Tweets (messages) reads:

Twitter has surpassed Google in growth

Down by the corner of the street,

Where the three roads meet,

And the feet Of the people as they pass

Go “Tweet-tweet-tweet.”

Okay, so now I’m the one wearing the astonished expression, and someone, somewhere must be laughing at me. Am I so out of the current stream that I can’t tread water, let alone swim? Is this what’s called marketing? This is how you get business and speaking engagements, writing little ditties and Tweeting about preschoolers and museums, and Pooh falling on the acorn?

“I just don’t get it!”

Economical Marketing Strategy - Tweet Rewards

This seems to be a common reaction to Twitter, and it’s what’s keeping many of us from tapping into its resources. It’s weird. It’s boring. So what if seven million people are signed up there? Just because they apparently have endless amounts of free time to chat, chat and natter, doesn’t mean I do.  How can they find these mundane postings interesting?

Coming next – I learn why, and how.  Meanwhile – do you Tweet?  Your comments are most welcome!  How’s it working for you?

Finding time for writing

Guard your writing time

In today’s tight market, authors are called upon to develop an impressive platform, a network of thousands of friends, family and associates likely to buy our books. To develop that, we promote. Following every promotional tip we’ve ever received, we lead workshops. We mail press releases and postcards. Do book signings. Stage contests on our websites. Start blogs. Make guest blog appearances. We join mySpace, Facebook and Twitter, and we distribute bookmarks with the enthusiasm of Santa on Christmas Eve.

Oh, to have our own publicist, wouldn’t that be fine? But we don’t, so we simply add all the responsibilities of a publicist on our long line of job titles, and if we’re overly zealous, get accused of being an in-your-face shameless promoter.

After two book releases and the whirlwind of activity and energy spent promoting those books, I’m trying to find balance in my life. One way is to adopt my husband’s practice of “billable time.”

Billable time is a way of life for attorneys and CPAs, consultants and other professionals who sell their services. How much time do you spend with your writing, as opposed to your promotional activities?

Put your week-at-a-glance calendar close to your computer screen. Use an internal timer on your computer or a standard cooking timer. Set it to go off at quarter-hour increments and record how you’re using your time.

Recover lost hours. Being time-accountable will give you new focus and increase your efficiency.

Reclaim your writing. That love was what inspired you to do this, in the first place.

Wishing you much joy in your writing.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

The Emerald Isle

There’s magic in the Emerald Isle. Where else could you find leprechauns and pots of gold at the end of the rainbow?  Looking past parades and green beer and hair, Ireland brings to mind whimsy and magic, marvelous optimism and charm that claims a large place in our hearts despite its diminutive size.

I’ve always been captivated by the many Irish images.  Green is my favorite color, and my latest release is even titled Emerald Silk (though it’s about the desperate pursuit of a distinctive gem and fifteenth century Gypsies).

I hope you’ve enjoyed my series on improving your luck.  Here’s wishing you a Happy St. Patrick’s Day with much good luck for today and the rest of your days!

4 secrets to improve luck, get published

Change Your Luck by R. Wiseman

… continued from previous post

In his book, Change Your Luck, the Scientific Way to Improve Your Life, Dr. Richard Wiseman’s research took several years and involved interviews with hundreds of exceptionally lucky and unlucky people.

In one study, Wiseman used television to announce that he would track the success rate of lucky and unlucky people who played the Canadian Lottery.  Questionnaires were completed and Wiseman had his list of Have- and Have-No-Luck People.  They picked their numbers, and the results were compiled: out of 700 participants, only 36 won any money at all.  These were evenly split between lucky and unlucky people.  Just two people matched four numbers, winning £58 each.  One had been previously classified as “lucky.”  The other one was “unlucky.”

This is great news for us!  It means we can improve our luck in life by focusing on these four areas:
1.  Maximize your chance opportunities.
2.  Listen to your lucky hunches.
3.  Expect good fortune.
4.  Turn bad luck into good.

Space does not allow me to go into more detail here, but I highly recommend the book.  It takes principles we’re all familiar with and presents them in a new, enlightening order that makes complete sense.
Did reading this book change my luck?  I don’t think so.  Did it improve it?  I think so.  The gem I gleaned from this book is that luck doesn’t happen in a vacuum.  Through our actions we can boost the good-luck factor in our lives.
So, good luck to you in your writing.  Take it, fortify it with hard work, magnify it with good instincts and a positive attitude, and keep following your dreams.  It will happen!

Get lucky to get published

Precious Heart by Lorelei

Part two
… continued from yesterday’s post

In his book, Change Your Luck, the Scientific Way to Improve Your Life, Wiseman’s research took several years and involved interviews with hundreds of exceptionally lucky and unlucky people.

He discovered a significantly new way of looking at luck and the role it plays in our lives.

People are not “born” lucky.  Without realizing it, “lucky” people employ four powerful principles to create good fortune in their lives.  In the book, Wiseman asks us to complete a Luck Profile, which addresses some of our habits in life – do we socialize or keep to ourselves; do we worry about new experiences or welcome them in our lives; do we have and/or trust our intuition.  The author has us examine significant past experiences in our lives – how we met our life partner, how we came to know our closest friend(s), how we chose our career, and one very positive event in our lives.  Then he asks that we think about those events, and how good luck played a part in them, how good luck changed our lives.

If you think you’re unlucky, it will be illuminating for you to read about some of the truly unlucky people Wiseman interviews during his research.  You would not want to play “Ain’t It Awful?” with these guys!  One woman, as a child, split her head open on a rock while picking daisies and later was hit on the head by a board that fell from a building.  As an adult her blind date didn’t show up because he broke both legs in a motorcycle accident while driving to meet her.  Her next date broke his nose when he walked into a glass door.

The church where she was to be married was burned down by arsonists two days before her wedding.  In a separate incident she broke her arm.  In another, she broke a leg.  In another disaster, she crashed through a brick wall during her driving test.  And her car wasn’t insured.

On the flip side, he offers some good-luck stories that make you want to stomp your foot at the inequities, or wish to hang out with that person and hope some of the good luck rubs off on you.
Wiseman discovered four basic differences between lucky and unlucky people:
* Lucky people constantly encounter chance opportunities, bumping into people accidentally who drastically improve their luck or even lives.
* Lucky people make good decisions without really knowing why.  They have good instincts.
* Lucky people’s dreams come true.
* Lucky people can turn bad luck into good.

Up next:
- how we can improve our luck in life.

Get Lucky! Improve your odds, get published

Courtesy zwani.com

There’s nothing worse than being surrounded by success when you’re not there yet.  Not so long ago I was at that point, trying desperately to get published and not succeeding.  The term “ambivalent” so fits struggling writers who just heard their best friend was offered her first contract.  How else can you experience such happiness (for her) and such melancholy (for you)?

The words whisper then scream in our heads:  “When will it be my turn?”  And, “How did she finally get lucky?”

In April of 2001, I devoted my column to the topic of luck in getting published.  Since St. Patrick’s Day and the Luck ‘o the Irish is almost upon us — the topic merits re-visiting.

First, a quick review of my earlier column.  I outlined some outrageous “good luck” stories, one about a couple of guys who gathered over thirty rejections for their collection of upbeat stories, then contacted a small publisher who thought their book was just what America needed, and Chicken Soup for the Soul launched a new era in publishing history.

Included in my list was Diana Gabaldon’s story of how she posted incomplete chapters of her work in progress in an on-line chat room and caught the eye of an agent who secured a lucrative contract for Outlander, which became a New York Times best-seller.  Then there’s J. K. Rowling with her Harry Potter series, who graduated from writing on paper napkins to becoming richer than the Queen of England!

It’s no small wonder I wanted to study the concept of luck back then.  At the time, I’d received a string of rejections, hadn’t finaled in a contest for over a year, and my last contest score before writing that column was one point shy of making it to the second round.  I needed to learn about luck!

The newly published RMFW authors I interviewed held widely divergent views of how large a part luck played in their receiving “the call.”
* 30% said, “Luck played a large part.”
* 50% said, “Luck played a small part.”
* 20% said, “Luck played no part at all.”

Since writing that column I discovered a fascinating book, Change Your Luck, The Scientific Way to Improve Your Life, by Dr. Richard Wiseman.  Wiseman’s research took several years and involved interviews with hundreds of exceptionally lucky and unlucky people.
He discovered a significantly new way of looking at luck and the role it plays in our lives.

Tomorrow: de-bunking the myths about luck.

Get your Rocky Mtn News on-line!

...go to iwantmyrocky.com to learn more about the new, on-line Rocky Mtn News subscription!

AN UPDATE – 3/16/09 – If you’d like to receive the Rocky Mountain News on-line, go to iwantmyrocky.com A group of reporters, photographers and editors from The Rocky are trying to Save the Rocky and offer it on-line!  Great news!

–Janet

Okay, I’m a loyal fan of the Rocky Mountain News, and I’m in mourning that this great newspaper printed its last issue … last hardcopy issue.  I’m an eager customer who WANTS MY ROCKY, in whatever form I can get it which, if the current buzz is accurate, will be on-line.

I’ve heard rumblings that The Rocky will be available on-line, and I’ve been asking around, but no one knows anything.

From an Associated Press story on Truthout, it was mentioned that Scripps said it will retain ownership, and still offer to sell, the Rocky Mountain News name and the newspaper’s archives and Web site.

That article continued with info from Ed Atorino, a newspaper industry analyst at The Benchmark Co., who said that the News could become an online-only venture at some point.

“Online newspapers seem to be doing pretty well,” he said. “It’s a very low-cost business.”

So, to Scripps, to the writers and editors of The Rocky Mountain News, I say, “PLEASE!  Tell me where to send my money because I want my Rocky!

Get this venture going while we’re all still assembled and wanting our favorite news back!  If you want YOUR Rocky, too, go to iwantmyrock.com and leave a comment.

Fire! High stakes ignite your story

Photo courtesy thedenverchannel.com

Returning from the mountains yesterday, my husband and I saw an alarmingly large column of smoke.  It first became visible around Genesee, where the skyline of Denver and its sprawling suburbs spill onto the plains. Judging by its distance on the horizon, the black smoke appeared to be about twenty stories tall, the size of a signifcant high-rise building. Curiosity tugged – had it not been so distant, we might have driven by to learn more.

However, had the smoke been furling out of an area close to our homes, we would probably have started speeding to get there.

This concept can help us when planning our Outer Stories, the compelling action segment of our plot lines.  It’s what Donald Maass talks about when he discusses raising the stakes of our stories.  When creating premise and stakes, ask yourself: is the main story question compelling enough that you would notice it from thirty miles away?  Would it dominate the horizon?  If yes, it may be sufficiently compelling.

It’s the next question, however, that will prove its strength: would you risk a speeding ticket to learn more? My husband and I would have if it held personal interest to us. Had it been in our area of the metro area, we would have floored the accelerator.

Wishing you much “fire” and high stakes in your story!