Social Media 101 discussion

Twitter is one of the premier social media sites; however, many people struggle with fitting what they want to say in 140 characters and get bogged down about how many (or few) followers they have. Make no mistake about it, Twitter can be a great tool when used effectively.

First, you need to create an account. Explore Twitter by going to www.twitter.com and consider creating an account. Once this is done, you can play with the settings for your twitter page, which includes adding photos (which everyone loves) and linking your account with other social media sites you may already have. All of this is done through the "setting function" that looks like a small gear with teeth. As an example, I have my Twitter account attached to Facebook, Linked-In, Klout, Pinterest, Goodreads, Whisper, and Four Square accounts. This is cool because when I post on Twitter, or one of these accounts, the information goes out to all the other accounts automatically :-)

Once you get the account set up, I have a few pointers:

A) Twitter works well when you search for others who have similar interests as you, then "follow" them FIRST. This will increase your followers dramatically and ensure you are connecting with real people who have similar interests as you. Real people mean real potential customers or viewers of your work!!

B) Learn what a hashtag (#) is and how it works. The folks who know about the hashtag and how to use it properly get more people to come read what it is they are writing about. For example, if you #add a #hashtag to your #writing, people who search for "Add," "hashtag," and "Writing" will see your page or twitter account come up in a list because the internet search engines singled you (and thousands of other people) out simply because you used the hashtag (#). The more hashtags you use the more possible times a search engine will grab your site and show it to the person searching.

C) In the "me" tab on Twitter, you really need to sell yourself. Adding photos of your interests, picking colorful or meaningful backgrounds, and providing links to, let's say, your blog, will increase your followers as well as send visitors to your blog (or book page, product, brand, whatever it is you want people to see). Twitter has free services for you to use or you can pay web designers to really make your twitter account pop out!

D) The @Connect tab on Twitter is very useful for you to see who is interacting with you on Twitter. People who Retweet (re-post on Twitter something you did showing you support), follow you, favorite something you said or posted, or did something associated to your account will be found here. YOU WANT TO RETURN THE FAVOR, when appropriate. These people are supporting you, so at a minimum you should support them back. Something as little as a "Retweet" will create interaction between you and another person. Followers they have and you have will see that, which in turn, will cause more interaction. Once you get this going, it will help you gain new followers and INTERACT with people on Twitter. INTERACTING with people is crucial to sell whatever it is you are selling or to get people to notice you.


TWITTER VOCABULARY:

"Tweet"- when you write something or post a link or photo.

"Retweet"- when you re-post something or a post, a link, or a photo. Get these and your account will flourish.

"Follower"- someone follows (sees) what you tweet.

"Favorite"- someone really likes what you tweeted. Get these and your account will flourish.

"#"- this is a hashtag. Use it when you tweet to get internet search engines to pull your twitter account up when producing results.

"Spam"- There is a ton of spam on twitter. There is a drop down menu (silhouette of a person with a down arrow next to it) to report accounts as spam, Twitter analytics software attempts to filter spam, but there is too much for them to get.

"DM"- Someone tells you to DM. This stands for Direct Message. There is a drop down menu (silhouette of a person with a down arrow next to it) to send someone a direct message. This is used when people don't want more private things live on the twitter feed. Like exchanging a phone number or photos or conducting business.

"Block"- This in another function, in the drop down menu (silhouette of a person with a down arrow next to it), to block users. You can use this when you find someone to be annoying or offensive. By "blocking" them, they will not be able to post on your account.

"Promoted"- This means Twitter has approved the account not to be spam and one in good standing. It does not cost anything, but can only be done by Twitter. There are millions of accounts on Twitter. Eventually you account may get the "promoted" tag attached to it (blue circle with white check mark inside). This is great because people tend to follow "Promoted" accounts more than regular accounts.


THERE is a TON more to write about Twitter. If you have questions or more to add to this discussion, PLEASE DO!!

Thanks,

Chris @clswinney

Dianne wrote: "That was a great post! Thank you. I would really like information about Google+. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated. I'm okay with twitter and facebook but I'm lost with Google+ and I underst..."

Hey Dianne. First thanks for checking out my page!

Now, to Google +. Yes, this social site is growing and is one of the best out right now. 650 people in your circle (s) is awesome. You can add photos to your profile on your "profile" page. Are you able to find that? If you are there, there is a little camera icon you can click on to upload photos. You can also link your cell phone to your google + account and upload photos from the handheld device to your web account.

You can also link sites, like you tube, yahoo, linked-in, and others to your google + account. Very important!

Go to my google plus account to see what I mean. I can walk you through the process if you's like!

Hi, I've just joined the group - and already I'm learning! I have a Google+ account but am not sure how best to utilise it. One thing I found useful with regard to Twitter is to also use Tweepi.com and bufferapp.com
Tweepi is great for block following people and also for an overview of who is following you and who isn't. Buffer is good for managing your tweets and sending them out at regular intervals. I have a blog, twitter account, gmail, tumblr but am not very good at maximising their potential. Hopefully, we can all help each other out to get the best out of social media.

Looking forward to learning from everyone.

- David

David wrote: "Hi, I've just joined the group - and already I'm learning! I have a Google+ account but am not sure how best to utilise it. One thing I found useful with regard to Twitter is to also use Tweepi.com..."

Welcome David! Those are great suggestions and cool apps to help manage twitter! I use Buffer so I can regularly promote my brand (writing). Thanks for joining the group and participating!!!

Google + is a hot topic right now and a GREAT social media site. The best way to utilize Google + is to link it to all your other sites and post updates regularly. Linking you youtube account to it is also fun. What kind of things would you like to know or get advise on?? I'll help the best I can.

Chris

So THATS what it is! Now I have a clue!

Totally dumb question, I know, but what am I supposed to DO/SAY with my Twitter account? Especially if I havent got any followers? Im still pretty clueless about Facebook, but Twitter... its beyond me!

Thanks for the summary.

Andy wrote: "So THATS what it is! Now I have a clue!

Totally dumb question, I know, but what am I supposed to DO/SAY with my Twitter account? Especially if I havent got any followers? Im still pretty clueless ..."

No dumb questions here!! The beauty of Twitter is you can say whatever you want (as long as it fits in 140 characters!!).

As it pertains to promoting something, you can use Twitter, but the key is NOT DOING IT ALL THE TIME!! Support others then occasionally drop a link or comment about what it is you want to promote.

Does this help?

Chris

C.L. wrote: "David wrote: "Hi, I've just joined the group - and already I'm learning! I have a Google+ account but am not sure how best to utilise it. One thing I found useful with regard to Twitter is to also ..."

Hi Chris,

I'm the author of two books and a few more on the way. I also write a blog - historywithatwist.wordpress.com - Can I post my blog to Google+ or forward my Amazon reviews to Google+? I won't bombard you with questions because I don't think that's fare, but if you could answer those questions that would be a help.
With regard to tweets, I generally tweet the odd plug for my books but mostly tweet articles from my blog as well as thank people for any retweets they are kind enough to do for me.

You can post your blog to your google+ account by typing the blog URL www.historywithatwist.wordpress.com into the "share what's new" section. Google+ will populate a photo and link to your blog after that. or, you can add a link to your profile to your blog. Do this by clicking on the chain link button, say something like, "Hey I just did a new blog! check it out! then in the link box below what you just said, type in the URL to your blog.

Try it and let me know if it works!

Chris

C.L. wrote: "You can post your blog to your google+ account by typing the blog URL www.historywithatwist.wordpress.com into the "share what's new" section. Google+ will populate a photo and link to your blog a..."

Check out my google+ account at c.l. swinney and you can see I just posted your blog on my account!

Chris

Dianne wrote: "Dumb question. How di I get to your account or anyone's on Google +?"

Not a dumb question!

Log into your account. On the left hand side of the screen will be a blue circle with a person in it that says "profile." Hover over this with your pointer and you will see a drop down menu. In the menu you will see "people." Click on that and your friends and acquaintances should pop up. Also, you can search for people here by typing their name in the box. I did this for you earlier and I think I found you :-)

Chris

C.L. wrote: "C.L. wrote: "You can post your blog to your google+ account by typing the blog URL www.historywithatwist.wordpress.com into the "share what's new" section. Google+ will populate a photo and link ..."

Thanks Chris, I just checked your page and also shared my blog details. I also added you as a friend. Thanks for all your help. Bedtime for me now. Cheers, David

David wrote: "C.L. wrote: "C.L. wrote: "You can post your blog to your google+ account by typing the blog URL www.historywithatwist.wordpress.com into the "share what's new" section. Google+ will populate a p..."

You bet!

Chris

Wow, this was perfect! Thank you so much!

Katie wrote: "Wow, this was perfect! Thank you so much!"

You are welcome. I'm going to do one of these discussions for all the social media sites so stay tuned :-)

Chris

I actually created a series of blog posts on how to get the most out of Twitter. Talks about using lists, twitter limits, hashtags, Twitter jail, and much more.

http://www.rileybanks.net/3/category/...

Like many, I now want to learn how to maximise Google+ which is being way under-utilized in my marketing campaign.

Riley wrote: "I actually created a series of blog posts on how to get the most out of Twitter. Talks about using lists, twitter limits, hashtags, Twitter jail, and much more.

http://www.rileybanks.net/3/catego..."

Hey Riley,

I'm working on a piece for Google+ and will try to get it up tonight. I hope it helps.

Thanks,

Chris

Thanks Chris. Look forward to it.

Just posted it!! Let me know what kind of things you need answered and I'll do my best to get the answer for you!

Thanks,

Chris

Hi, great group!

Here is a list of 5 things to Tweet about:

1. Something interesting you or your organisation is doing, or an event in your lives.

2. A blog post, Facebook page or other post you have created. Provide a link. Shorten it with bufferapp.com

3. A reply to an interesting post, mention or retweet that someone else created.

4. Something funny, a quote, a joke, a comment.

5. Something serious, a quote, a saying, a comment.

Laurence wrote: "Hi, great group!

Here is a list of 5 things to Tweet about:

1. Something interesting you or your organisation is doing, or an event in your lives.

2. A blog post, Facebook page or other post you..."

Laurence,

Very good ideas and well said!! These are exactly what you should tweet about! Thanks for stopping by and for adding to the discussion!

Chris

I think it's hard to measure the effectiveness of Twitter, but I do find whenever I tweet about a blog post, page views go up.
Thank you for setting up this group - lots of great advice and info!

Katheryn wrote: "I think it's hard to measure the effectiveness of Twitter, but I do find whenever I tweet about a blog post, page views go up.
Thank you for setting up this group - lots of great advice and info!"

Hello Katheryn,

I think one could totally get lost and never be effective on Twitter that's for sure. However, if you create lists of people with similar interests as you and follow people with similar interests as you, your tweets will be read and hopefully you will begin to promote whatever it is you want to promote. Thanks for being a part of this discussion!

Chris :-)

Thanks Chris, OMG I never knew about the hastag or about that twitter promotions WOW!

There are #so #many #tricks that you just have to play with to get things going :-) Hope this helped a little! Thanks for stopping
By.

Chris

It helps me with my upcoming promotion. This one is very important 7 years of research behind this so I really need to know how to promote.
Thanks again

Ann wrote: "It helps me with my upcoming promotion. This one is very important 7 years of research behind this so I really need to know how to promote.
Thanks again"

Yeah, you want to nail it!!! You got this :-)

Shot questions my way and I'll do my best to answer them, or get them answered.

Chris

Thanks, Chris. Lots of great information here - info that will help us all improve our social media skills.

James R. wrote: "Thanks, Chris. Lots of great information here - info that will help us all improve our social media skills."

Hey Jim! Thanks for stopping by! Hope I can help folks here! And I hope u r well!

Chris

Hello group, I am new at this but I am going to work hard and I am so glad that I found this group I will keep you all updated. I must say that this is the first day and I am so nervous. Here is the link, if you like it please tweet, email etc.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/3...

Ann wrote: "Hello group, I am new at this but I am going to work hard and I am so glad that I found this group I will keep you all updated. I must say that this is the first day and I am so nervous. Here is t..."

WOO HOO CONGRATS!!!

Chris

Thanks Chris so far 1 backer but I am grateful.
Thanks

Dianne wrote: "Ann, I started tweeing last October and I did not have a clue what to do and not one follower. Started following people and then following their followers and today I'm at around 9,500. It can be ..."

Patience will help tremendously with building your connections on the social media sites. Be kind and "follow" others and the numbers will climb. Great times lie ahead.

Chris

Thanks Diane, I have been tweeting for almost a year. The summer is my free time teaching during school year in graduate school. Thank you. Liked you on FB and following your blog. Your book sounds interesting will check it out. As you know I have now less than 20 days on my project. Your blog really had some interesting news, information that I needed.
Thanks

Dianne wrote: "That was a great post! Thank you. I would really like information about Google+. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated. I'm okay with twitter and facebook but I'm lost with Google+ and I underst..."

Thanks Diane, I love twitter. I learn information, books and other info but most of all, I enjoy sharing info.

I love twitter, but I hate the way some people spam it with constant posts about their books "5 star reviews" or "Check out my new book!' I have recently launched a true paranormal book, and instead of spamming people I have what I call 'Supernatural Sunday' when I will hashtag #paranormalintruder then post interesting pieces about me and my book in an interesting manner. The day before I will mention what I will be doing, and I've had very positive responses so far. I quite enjoy it myself. Just an idea to share. Throughout the week I post on my author page, again, just interesting posts and titbits, and pictures of coffee! ;-) I find Twitter a fantastic way of meeting people and I'm really enjoying it. Facebook is OK, but the quality of posts on Twitter seem better. I used to have my Facebook page as a friend page and got so much spam and people coming on to me (!!) I had to change it to a fan page. Not so much interaction, but a great place to receive comments from fans, which I always respond to (as long as they are not abusive).

That's a great idea! I try to only talk about my book a couple times a week! Tough to balance work and promotion and fun!

I agree C.L., it is a balancing act, I got the idea from a great book by Catherine Ryan Howard on self publishing, she used her hashtag once a week, so anyone can do it...and it's fun. If people want to know more they can click on your very own hashtag for all the old posts. I find short excerpts work well, pictures, etc.

Is there a tweeter program you use to help you manage all your pages?

Caroline you are spot on! Great ideas and thanks for sharing.

Chris, you should use Hootsuite. Unreal service that's free (to a point) that allows you to link seven social media sites, write one blurb, and send it out to all seven sites at once!

Thank you for the tip on Hootsuite, it looks good, but not a big fan of recurring fees. I signed up for Tweetadder and it seems pretty good so far, only been using for a couple of days though.

There's no fees for up to seven social media sites. Unless they've changed things recently. There's hundreds of social media sites out there but only a handful worth using. Thanks for the info.

Chris

How long have you been using Hootsuite? You can also hook Facebook and other social sites up?

I've been on Hootsuite for about a year. I have facebook, twitter, my blog, Pinterest, and Instagram hooked up to Pinterest.

Hey guys!
https://mobile.twitter.com/maryam_sha...
Follow me on twitter for book review updat
es!

Maryam wrote: "Hey guys!
https://mobile.twitter.com/maryam_sha...
Follow me on twitter for book review updat
es!"

cool beans