Knock, Knock, Is Anyone Home? DM Annoyances!

Is it just me, or has the DM feature on Twitter become nothing more than a "one pitch pony?"

Most of the DM's I get look something like "Thanks for following, I look forward to your Tweets!" Do you now? I find that interesting because most of the people I talk to online are telling me that they get little or no response via the Direct Messaging feature. I reply back to 90% of the DM's I receive and the response is just about non-existant.

And using the DM for spam... don't even get me started there!

I find this interesting because many of the people who don't reply back are the same people standing on a soap box proclaiming that Twitter is about building relationships. While I may not be the smartest bird in the bunch (even though I'm the best looking... just look at me) it doesn't take a genius to figure out that if someone approaches me in friendship, and I ignore them, that my response isn't going to produce favorable results.

In my experience, I have found that building one on one relationships (through the social media) has led to more relationships through the friends I've made individually.

From a business perspective, even if those individuals I've become friends with have never turned into a business transaction, because of that friendship, other business transactions have come through those friendships by method of referral.

Here's something else to think about. Wouldn't it be a shame if the the Law of Attraction had brought someone to you, through Twitter, that was automatically ingnored because you don't check your DM's from time to time?

The point here is this... utilize your DM feature! If someone communicates with you, person to person, communicate back. You never know when you are going to connect with that right person and things grow into something brilliant for both people!

Peace out!

The tBird!

Twitter for niche marketing and business

Happy Monday Tweople! I hope everyone had a great weekend! How about Brian McKnight and the guys on The Apprentice last night? I knew they had it in them. And the cat fight at the end... can you say MEEEOW? Good stuff!

Anyway... it seems that many of the people coming to Twitter are doing so for business and marketing. Why not? If the key element we need to be successful in business is people, then you might as well go right to the source.

However, if you fail to implement the proper marketing techniques, you will do more damage than good, and you don't want that.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when using Twitter for business...

1.) Make a friend, make a sale! I'm a busy bird. I see what's going on with Facebook, Ning, MySpace, Twitter... and most of what I see is a large number of people jockying for the same position. Most want to make money and they want it now so they jump into the mix and do what everyone else is doing.

What you will find more effective is to be the one who is doing the opposite. If you want attention, traffic and conversion through your blogs and web sites, be the one who is going against the flow!

I'm a big believer in the Law Of Attraction & The Law of Reciprocity (and not just because I'm ripped and sexy!) When you give, it comes back to you and there is nothing better for working the laws that govern us, when it comes to marketing, like the world of Web 2.0. Give value and watch what happens!

2.) Stay within your niche. I know there are two schools of thought when it comes to traffic and followers. One school teaches qaulity, the other quantity. From experience, the wrong quanity brings little results so what you want is a large quantity of quality prospects. This means following and friending those who are interested in what you have to offer.

Twitter makes this easy. If you haven't already tried it, use the Twitter Search Tool to seek out those who would have an interest in your niche market, and follow them. Start giving some value to those who chose to follow you and watch what happens.

3.) Incorporate your blog into Twitter. When sharing value on Twitter one of the best places to send people to get information is your blog. As long as you are keeping your blog updated with great content (not sales letters and pitches) that your followers and readers can actually use and implement, then they are going to come back for more. When they come back for more, that's when they start clicking links and banners, which leads to sales.

You don't want to go crazy with ads, banners or links on your blog. Personally, I think to many banners and offerings show inexperience, instability and can even appear greedy. Of which, none of those traits are going to win you any credibility. If your blog is loaded with great content and insight, the traffic will flow through it like a well oiled machine.

You can use Tweet My Blog to add a plugin to your Wordpress blog that will automatically update all of your Twitter followers each time you add a new post.

You might also check out Tweet Manager by Bill McIntosh. Tweet Manager is still in beta, but he does open memberhsip up from time to time, so submit your invitation request today. Each time I have tried something different, I go back to Tweet Manager.

Bill also has a great show on Ustream every Tuesday night at 7 p.m. EST for those who want to learn SEO, Twitter and the other aspects of marketing that he teaches.

Well Tweeps, those are my thoughts for today. Time to head back to the nest, check on the Mrs. and find some more friends on Twitter!

Until next time...

tBird

the tBird on using Auto DM responsibly...

Okay Tweeps, here's my take on automatic direct messaging (Auto DM in TwitterSpeak.) Now I realize that this subject is controversial (which makes my belly feathers twitch)... and I like that, but seriously...

The questions this subject brings to mind are of ethics, professionalism and responsibility, as I see it.

I use Auto DM, and will continue to use it... here's why. While the tBird is new to the scene, my creator has been doing this Twitter thing for a bit, so it will not be long before I surpass him in followers because I'm just that good, plus I'm ripped and he's still fat (but he's molting week by week, so there's hope!)

Anyway... I think Auto DM can be used responsibly and for those who are using it would suggest the following:

First, the DO NOT's....

1.) Don't spam with it, especially if you want people to continue to follow you. If you span using an Auto DM, it's probably a one way ticket to "dropsmeville!" (Otherwise known as the dreaded unfollow.)

2.) Don't ignore people when they try to engage in conversation. If someone speaks to you, reply. Have some manners for tweets sake! If you are having a hard time keeping up, try and application like TweetDeck or Twhirl, they make life much easier.

3.) Don't use an auto reply for @replies. A friend of my creator did that last week and lost his account. It's sad, but what can I say... you break the rulz, you pay the price.

Second, the DO's...

1.) Use Auto DM as an assistant and manage it well. When I'm monitoring Twitter I set my auto DM to send a reply that says "Thanks for following, it's great to see you here. How are you today?" Some reply, some don't. Those that do reply get a prompt reply from me because I'm monitoring Twitter from my desktop using TweetDeck. This helps me build relationships and keeps the Mrs. happy, the babies fed and the bank off my back when business happens.

2.) Give people a gift... I also include a link at the end that offers a direct link to Twitter tools, resources, etc, that they can use to have more fun with Twitter.

3.) If you are going to have the Auto DM on, when people reply to "How are you today, ANSWER them!" Not doing so is an irresponsible and unprofessional use of that tool and will not show you to be an INFLUENCER in your network.

Hey, I'm just a bird, what do I know? This seems to make sense and I think if you practice this you might find Twitter to be more productive!

Until next time!

The tBird!

How to add more followers to Twitter using #followfriday

For those who don't know, #followfriday is a weekly event where people from all over TwitterLand refer and recommend one another to their friends and followers.  This is usually done for one of the following reasons:

*The person being referred brings great value to the network!

*The person being referred has said or done something to the benefit of all!

*The person being referred has admirable traits or qualities...

... or, it maybe they're just freakin' cool, like me!

To use #followfriday, it's very simple.  Every Friday (notice it's not called #followthursday) you simply send out a Tweet or two formatted like this:

"RT"... whoops... for those who don't know, RT mean ReTweet (which is a method the Tweople use to request others in they're network ReTweet a message)

"RT cool people I met this week: @tBirdrulz @askbillmitchell @bobriddelllive @ethicalernie #followfriday."

Click the link at the end of this sentence to watch a COOL video on how to use #followfriday.

Until next time!

The tBird!