Twitter – Am I doing it all wrong?

I naively thought that following people meant I was really going to “follow” them and actually read what they write. But no – now I am learning Twitter is basically a way to acquire real estate space on the Web by having your name showing up on other people’s Twitter page. All along it seems I wrongly believed it was about networking, connecting and communicating – not real estate.

I thought I would choose to follow some people because I actually want to know what they think. But strangely this appears to be an unwise decision. I read you are supposed to follow high level re-tweeters (people who will transfer your own messages to their network of followers), that you should follow people with large groups of followers expecting they will follow you back and become your ambassadors. Again I have been doing this all wrong since I did not choose who I follow according to these criteria – nor did I expect them to follow me back. For example I am following @jowyang and @mitchjoel, and they are not following me back. Why should they? They write about social networking – a topic of interest to me, but I write mostly about our music business, a topic probably not of interest to them.

Unfollowing people – now that’s really wrong! I actually un-followed few people because I was not getting much out of their Tweets. I  even thought of unfollowing top guru @guykawasaki, a big mistake I am told. But why is that a mistake exactly? Most of his posts are just not grabbing my attention. And I am sure he’s never read any of my posts. Nothing personal – I just want to manage my social networking time as best as possible. But I am told I should never do this – that I should never unfollow anyone, that it is very rude.

I am also advised to never bother to read any tweets unless it comes in the form of private messages or @ messages addressed specifically to me. Otherwise I will waste too much time. I must only respond to Direct messages. So is it all about Me, Me and Me – and not Them or Us as a community? Ha! I have been definitely wrong here too. I have been reading many tweet messages from people I follow. Damn.

I have been using the private messaging option with some success only to learn it is a better strategy to reply always with @ because visitors will look at my Twitter page and will see I am an active community member if they notice lots of @ replies. But they won’t know it if I reply with a “d” for Direct which is private. Oh! I see. Arrrgh! Wrong again.

And one last thing… I read you should always use a picture of yourself as your avatar. People, I am told, want to see real people – not an organization logo. Since I signed up as an organization I thought I would use our easily recognizable logo and there would be no mistake in identifying immediately where the message is coming from. That would also eventually allow others within our organization to Tweet as well. But I must be doing it all wrong.

So what do you think? Is there any right way to do this?

My intention is to use Twitter as a useful and direct business communication tool, to respond personally and interact genuinely with individuals as a person, like I have always done in all my businesses.

Is Twitter a good option for this? Should one get 2 accounts – one for business newscast and one for personal interactions?

Twitter…
A networking tool or Internet Real Estate?
Should everyone follow everyone back or not?
Unfollowing – is it rude?
Private messaging – when is it most appropriate?
A human face or a logo for avatars ?

Thank you for your feedback,

Gilles Arbour
@premiumbeat

PS: See my previous post about Twitter

Twitter! Why We Want To Build A Twitter Network

Hey! Follow us on Twitter @Premiumbeat!
You don’t know what Twitter is? In a nutshell Twitter is a free micro blogging and social networking service where you send and receive short (140 characters or less) pieces of information in real-time. Opening a free Twitter account takes few minutes.

You can read the excellent Caroline Middlebrook Twitter Guide for detailed information and Jeremiah Owyang How I use Twitter, and you? for brilliant insights about using Twitter.

I am very new to Twitter. I first signed up after Francois, my son and partner at Premiumbeat.com came back from SXSW conference in Austin last year. He said it’s the talk of the day and it will become a very powerful tool both for personal and business purpose. I always listen to him   so I did sign up. But I didn’t get it. It looked like a lot of distracting noise to me. Nevertheless some people (thank you Jean @3bean) started to follow us! I took a second look few weeks ago and I started to follow people too. Then I got it! In one short line Twitterers are sharing their distilled thoughts about topics that are important to me and oftentimes add a link to an expanded version of their views. I love it!

Twitter constantly asks the same question: What are you doing?
This is a great question if you want to use Twitter strictly on a personal friend-to-friend basis. Yes I do understand it can be fun to know that my friend Patrick is eating the best Sushi ever while my friend Jo-Ann is at home watching an old movie with her 2 cats. They’re my close friends and I am interested in what they’re doing. That’s cool.

But for a Business Twitter Social Network, I am asking myself different questions:
What can I share that will be a useful contribution to the members (or followers as it is called in Twitter language) of our Premiumbeat Business Twitter Network? What are useful news? Useful questions? What is getting my attention today that could benefit them? What did I learn recently that could be of interest to this network?

One of the many good things about Twitter is that it is not obtrusive. You get short messages and can immediately see if it is of interest to you at this moment. It’s a little bit like reading Headlines – and not every Tweet (that’s how Twitter posts are appropriately called) will capture your attention. You only explore the ones you find promising. Please note that you can “unfollow” any broadcast from anyone at any time.

I am assuming that most of our followers on Twitter will be our clients and partners: web designers, video producers, advertising agencies, musicians, music publishers… They are all people interested in our Royalty Free Music Library and related topics. Others may simply be interested in Social Media Network development – or just curious.

Very quickly I am thinking of 8 good reasons to get on Twitter. It all comes down to basic communication -  sharing, listening, responding:

1. You will be the first one to get fresh news. Because Twitter is a Real Time Broadcast medium people following us on Twitter will be the very first ones to get the news. For example, as soon as I add a new set of music tracks, I publish the news on Twitter. We send our newsletter only once a month but we do our Twitter Broadcast immediately – as soon as we have interesting news. Twitter people are always the first to know.

2. You get immediate communication access. Even if I am a very busy person (who’s not?) I can respond very rapidly and possibly bring resolution to a problem within seconds. Yesterday a web designer was sitting with her client, she needed to know right now how much it would cost for a special music license involving TV rights and DVD duplication. I gave her the answer within 30 seconds.  My Twitter page is always open on my computer, so if I’m at work I’m on Twitter.

3. It’s perfect to give and receive quick feedback. Twitter is a great place to ask questions and create instant surveys. Followers feedback can make a huge difference and suggestions are always welcome. Anyone following our Tweets can respond immediately and provide feedback. Whether on Twitter or otherwise we do listen and modify our services accordingly. Your input makes us better. Just as I was reviewing this text, I received a feedback question from Ann @seosmarty. I responded immediately and got to learn about a new website tool at http://fivesecondtest.com. It took a total of 15 seconds. Twitter interactions are fast.

4. Being a Twitterer is a great way to learn about any current topic, or to gather up to date information that is interesting for you. You do this by choosing who you want to follow on Twitter. For example @jowyang is in a business meeting in California right now as I am writing this text. In his last Tweet he mentions that according to “Google people” in the room we have only 5 seconds to capture the attention of website visitors. If we fail they go somewhere else. Since we are in the process of re-designing our website, this is welcome input and it is helpful to look at our new design with that 5 second time frame in mind.

5. It’s easy, fast and simple. Whether you Twitter from your computer or from your cell phone, it is amazingly simple. You set up your account, choose your settings and get going. There is nothing to design and there are no complicated codes to learn.  On my Mac I use Twitterrific to read and write on Twitter. It opens up in one click and I can see all the recent Tweets from people or businesses I follow. I also have a window to write Tweets. It’s very fast and to-the-point. You don’t need to use Twitterrific but it really is terrific. For Windows Snitter is excellent http://getsnitter.com. There are many other Twitter applications for all platforms at http://twitter.pbwiki.com/Apps

6. It’s a simple way to acknowledge and praise others publicly. Acknowledging someone for their contribution is always welcome, but doing it publicly gives it even more power. It also is an opportunity to let other members of the network know about something good and interesting that someone else has done. In this way Twitter becomes a hub and a filter for ongoing conversations between the members of a network.

7. It’s a simple way to address personal issues privately. Conversely Twitter offers an immediate way to handle personal questions privately. I can send  a private message in real time to anyone who has a specific question. I can resolve an issue or handle a problem privately without having to involve others having nothing to do with the issue.

8. Business becomes more personal. It’s easy to monitor what is being said on Twitter about our brand. Chris @cderenberger writes that he is “checking out some new music on www.premiumbeat.com for the new product launch videos coming soon….”. He’s purchased music from us in the past and he liked our service enough to mention it in the Twitter public space. That’s a nice vote of confidence. Thanks Chris! Now I follow Chris and sent him a personal note.

If you use Twitter for business and have insights or feedback please let me know in the comments section below – or on Twitter! I’ll be happy to update this post as we go.

Thanks!

Gilles Arbour

P.S.: See new updated post about Twitter