Twitter is fun but there are certain things about how people use this tool that drives me nuts.  Now there is research to confirm what makes a great Tweet. Here is a summary:

Check it the full article.

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Many brands are now well into the social media world. It’s no longer a new thing for them and for some social media is an integral part of their overall marketing strategy.  Brands in the restaurant industry seem to be of the latter category and are  making some great strides in leveraging social media to impact the bottom line.

According to the National Restaurant News the nations largest restaurant brands are using social media very effectively. Their social media strategy is to engage prospects on social media as means to driving traffic to their local restaurants. Traffic in this sense is foot traffic and for a restaurant that is critical. The article also discusses the 25 most social restaurant brands. This ranking of brands is provided by a company called Virtue. It uses social media mentions, check-in’s, photo-sharing and inclusion on blogs to determine the most prominent brands on social media.

The main takeaway from this article is not that brands are active on social media but that they are using it to drive foot traffic and subsequently have a direct impact on their bottom-line (ROI anyone). And here is how they are doing it:

“These guys are figuring out how to harness this platform and drive content and communications consistent with what their fans are looking for,” he said. “In that news feed on Facebook and Twitter, brands need to ask their followers questions, create poll questions and basically give them an opportunity to give the restaurant relevant feedback.”

Vitrue has worked with several restaurant brands like McDonald’s, Buffalo Wild Wings and Chick-fil-A to create plug-ins for their Facebook pages and offers that show up in followers’ news feeds through its Wall Apps and Social Relationship Management platforms.

Bradford said the next social-media move for major brands and their software providers is to increase the chains’ local-advertising capabilities with features meant to connect Facebook and Twitter followers to the nearest individual location of a restaurant brand.

Read more.

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When work gets going it really gets going and my week just breezes by for the most part. I’m not unique by any means, and am pretty sure a great number of you can relate. A lot of things get squeezed out when life gets this busy. Over the past few months its been my social media engagements that has fallen by the way side.  That includes this blog. It also includes Twitter, which I enjoy quite a bit.

Half the time, all I do is watch the Twitter stream and feel pretty tongue tied since my mind is so occupied. I’m finding myself not sure what what I should say and what I should share. After feeling this way for a while I started making a list of things I could Tweet about. Before I knew it I had pretty decent list of things I could talk about. I hope to start following this list in order to keep myself more disciplined with my social interactions and get to know some more folks on Twitter.

So, here is my twenty Twitter tips for happy tweeting, to help you get over this “engagement hump”:

1. Comment on local events
2. Comment on local news stories (stay away from highly charged political stories)
3. Comment on local sports teams and the Green Bay Packers
4. Comment on fund raisers and good causes
5. Comment on industry related news
6. Comment on funny ads
7. Comment on how good life is
8. Comment on relevant historical markers (for example today (March4th) is National Grammar Day)
9. Respond to interesting Tweets from followers
10. Re-tweet interesting Tweets from followers
11. Recommend some of your followers to others on Fridays
12. Discuss your likes/dislikes on any given topic – (I loved “The Social Network”)
13. Comment on the weather
14. Talk about special events and promotions (10% off at Best Buy was awesome etc.)
15. Share a link to an inspiring story, funny video, great picture etc.
16. Make a bold statement every once in a while
17. Attend some local Tweet-ups to meet the community – and Tweet from the event.
18. Tweet about personal achievements, goals, ideas etc.
19. Post pictures of fun stuff seen here and there.
20. Have fun connecting with new people, and remember, you can’t plan a conversation, so you’ll find plenty to talk about once you connect with others.

I hope to up the ante in the next few weeks. Keep me accountable people, keep me accountable.

photo credit: leyla.a

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Twitter in Real Life: The Follow Back, originally uploaded by HubSpot.

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“Me too”.

That pretty much summarizes Google Buzz.

It’s obvious they’re trying to take away market share from Twitter and Facebook and quite frankly its not going to work. Most tech types flock to anything Google does thinking the company has some special power. It’s almost a religious experience for techies. If you look closely though you’ll see that Google’s recent history is littered with failed products and services. Remember Orkut? No? Well, I don’t blame you. How about Wave? Yep, I thought so. Lively? Well let’s not go there.

Buzz will soon join the dustbin of history. Here are five reasons why I think Buzz will be forgotten before you finish reading this article:

1. Bandwidth

Social bandwidth is limited for most people and most don’t like to re-gift! I already update my status on Twitter and Facebook. I’m not the kind to feed one status into another. It creates clutter and pisses people off. The communities I belong to on these different sites are different and why would I link status updates between the two? That means I have different status updates on each social site. So, now Google wants me to update my status on Buzz. I’d love to (not really) but, sorry, no time. I guess I could feed my Tweets into Buzz, but what’s the point? Seriously. It’s like re-gifting. Might make sense financially but socially unacceptable.

2. Clutter

I played with Buzz for a day or so and soon realized it was starting to clutter up my neatly organized email. Ok, ok, I’m not that organized but it did make reviewing email and finding stuff much more difficult. Plus Buzz just looked like another email between my contacts. Why not just email them? Why deal with this clutter.

3. Purpose

I use Twitter to find and network with new people. My professional network has grown tremendously as I’ve used Twitter over the years. I use Facebook to keep in touch with people I already know from my past. Co-workers (mostly only after I leave the job), college friends, family etc. My updates and engagement on Facebook is mostly “private”. So, where does Buzz fit into this distinction for me? I don’t need to “buzz” with my email contacts who already see me on Facebook or Twitter. Business contacts you say? Well, lets start with email first, then we’ll connect  on LinkedIn. Then, we may have a chance for something more.

4. Confusion

Google’s ecosystem of products and services is getting complicated and is becoming harder to keep in focus. I upload my pictures using Picasa, then update my status using Buzz, chat on Google Chat, share videos on YouTube, send invitations on Google Calendar, create groups on Google Groups etc. For the vast majority of people this is far too complicated. Especially when you call do all that within Facebook. Pretty simple. Maybe what Google should create is an interface that brings all this together. Hmmm…….

What?

You have more reasons.

Add yours in the comment section.

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Bandwidth photo: photo credit: Ed Yourdon
Clutter photo: photo credit: wadem
Purpose photo: photo credit: SkilliShots
Confusion photo: photo credit: The Artifex

Recently I asked myself what I learned about social media in 2009. It’s an important question because the media is grown a lot in the last few years. Many have adopted the tools and some have left it behind while others continue to stay away. Still others have made millions.So, here are the top five things I learned about social media in 2009:

1. Social media is not rocket science - With the widespread adoption of social media tools and technologies, platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are no longer confusing to people. Everyone from company CEO and  HR managers to vendors and suppliers are using one of these social media tools. Additionally, once you get on these tools you realize it’s really not that hard to figure out. If you can hold a half way decent conversation with a stranger in an elevator you can pretty much use Twitter. There is nothing to it.

Consolidation ot technology is another factor that has taken away the mystique associated with social media. As an example, there used to be a number of competing microblogging websites but now Twitter is the king of the hill.  Plus most people understand that sites now occupy distinct spaces. For instance, MySpace is the domain of artists and musicians, LinkedIn is for business connection and Facebook is the general purpose platform for social networking.

So, combine the ease of use factor with the consolidation factor and you pretty much have a situation where anyone can use social media. It’s not rocket science and anyone that tries to make it look like it is complicated and hard to use is not telling you the full story.

2. Big difference between social media “experts” and social media “practitioners” – Kind of piggy backing on my first point, in 2009 I learned that the people you really need to listen to are not so much “experts”, but “practitioners”. Social media is so darn simple, I really don’t think there is a need for experts. I know I’m going to get a lot of flack for saying this but what expertise do you need to use Twitter? Create account, find followers, start connection. Seriously, what does an expert do to help you make Twitter more effective?

That is why I learned that the people you should pay attention to are not the experts that churn out blog post after blog post on using social media, but those that are using social media to sell a product or service. These are the folks in the trenches that are having an impact. They’re obviously using the tool effectively and making things happen. So, listen to them. In fact I’m going to be running an interview series on this blog talking to social media practitioners.

3. Focus on overall marketing goals not social media tools – Going back to my example above about Twitter. In 2009 I leanred that what makes your Twitter or Facebook experience relevant and effective is the goals you have set for these tools. You need to clearly define the goal you wish to achieve as you consider social tools. This will help you know exactly how you’re going to use these social media tools and you can set your creativity loose. For instance, if you’re going to use Twitter to drive traffic to your blog, then, you’ll have to figure out how to use Twitter to achieve this goal. If you’re going to sell products from your blog post, then, you’ll need to create blog content in such a manner as to achieve this goal.

Goals driving your tools is actually the most important concept I learned in 2009. Clarify your goals and then use the tools to achieve these goals. The tools in and of themselves should not be the focus. This is where listening to "practitioners" vs. "experts" comes in.

4. The connections made via social media are real – When it comes to social media its easy to think that because you’re spending so much time in front of the computer connections are not being made. At the end of the day, you do business with people not computers. That is why connection with people is so important. For me one of the most satisfying aspects of using Twitter has been the connections I’ve made with professionals in the local community. It has opened doors for me on more than one occasion. From connecting with a video expert to the director of a non-profit helping refugees, my world has expanded exponentially through the connections made via social media.

So in 2009 I finally understood that the connections are real. The people are real. Business is real. Social media is not the domain of computer geeks and nerds talking php and html.

5. Social media can give you the confidence to take on giants – From a personal perspective my experience on social media this past year has given me the confidence to start my new venture. I have finally come to appreciate the power of this new media to make thing happen. As my world expanded and my contacts grew, I realized that I had the ability via social media to make my new venture extremely successful.  If a business selling worms in the UK can use social media to develop a sustainable global business, I too can use social media to deliver a product to a niche market.  It is with this confidence that I have launched Sabdamala.com, an online video teaching business geared to the Nepali community.

What’s ahead in 2010?

The learning and growing process never ends and 2010 will be no different in this regard. As I move forward with this blog, I will be interviewing social media practitioners. The objective is to share our experience, and learn from one another.  I will also be posting about my use of social media as Sabdamala grows and expands. The possibilities are endless and the field is wide open. Onwards and upwards my friends.

Call me a social media purist but one of the best aspects of this new medium is that it fosters free collaboration, information sharing and interaction among participants. I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned from those I’ve met and interacted with on various social media channels. This open spirit is the main reason why large companies, traditional marketing execs and members of the traditional media have a hard time utilizing social media to its maximum potential.  The old rules simply do not apply.

I bring this up because the Phoenix PRSA is organizing a meeting of its members. Its charging members to attend and calling it a Tweet-up. Now since when did Tweet-up’s get hijacked like this? Well, for one thing, let me be clear, a Tweet-up can’t be hijacked because any ad-hoc, spontaneous, free, social event organized via Twitter is a Tweet-up. However, in this particular case the name Tweet-up is being hijacked. In my estimation this event surely cannot be called a Tweet-up.

I have nothing against Phoenix PRSA, the organizer of the event or the organization itself. In fact I didn’t even know the organization existed until a few days ago.  I say this just to be clear on my intention here. My point is not to go on a rant against them. I’m only commenting on the fact that while there are no spoken rules on what qualifies for a Tweet-up and what doesn’t, I can tell you what it represents to those of us for whom social media has meant more than just the latest band wagon.

So, to me here are the characteristics of a “true” Tweet-up:

• In its truest form a Tweet-up should be free, accessible and relevant to your friends on Twitter
• The more spontaneous the better
• There should be no  “member” vs.  “non-member” distinction
• Organized in the spirit of being social – (no Amway salespeople please)

Now based on this, the Phoenix PRSA “Tweet-up” does not qualify. This event is essentially an organizational meeting that is being organized and promoted on Twitter. So, call it a member meeting or an end of summer gathering for PRSA well wishers, but please do not call it a Tweet-up!

A few days ago a woman by the name of Amanda Bonnen posted this tweet about her apartment:

“You should just come anyway. Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it’s okay.”

She had 18 followers. So, a few people saw it.

However, yesterday Horizon Realty filed a defamation lawsuit against her for $50,000. An uproar ensued as word got out. The Twitterverse and blogosphere came alive. Over the past 24 hours the news has spread like wildfire. It gained more steam since the PR person for the company said “We’re a sue first, ask questions later company”. Now, 6 of the top 10 searches on Google for the company name talks about this lawsuit and highlights this quote.

Not only that but everyone from the WSJ to BBC have picked up on it and featured it on their online editions. So, what only a handful of people would have seen – is now known by millions. The worst part is that the infamous quote will forever be indexed by search robots and be associated with the company on search engine results.

Either you are humbled by the power of social media or you’ll be humbled by it! Or, in this case, your lawyers better understand that 140 characters sent to 18 people may not be worth the trouble – a kind note from a customer service rep asking how they can help may be better.

But then again users of social networking sites need to understand that they are in a public forum and their words do have consequences.  My personal rule is if I can’t say say it to my mom or my boss right in their face I won’t put it on my blog, my Facebook update or anyother place.

Your thoughts?