Twitter Day Two - Tweetdeck

Yesterday you got started on twitter.  Today we're going to explore twitter just a little further and try a few fun tools.  

I noticed I gave you all men to follow - so let's add some women today.  

http://www.twitter.com/shawnacoronado The Naked Gardener (no she's not naked, but she is a great read!)

http://www.twitter.com/JennFowler the frugal mom

http://www.twitter.com/kellywissink a business woman who has built her business totally online

http://www.twitter.com/karenswim great blogger

http://www.twitter.com/AmberCadabra another business woman who knows the social media industry inside and out

A couple of tips for www.twitter.com

1. click on the Home button - it will refresh your page and bring in new tweets

2. click on find people.  If you put your email address and password here, it will check your email contacts to see who is on twitter!

3. while you're in the find people section - look at suggested users.  There might be someone there you want to follow (like my Iowa boy Ashton Kutcher)

Are you following a lot of people?  More than 40?  Keep following people and enjoy the stream!  You may start to think "good Lord, how am I going to pay attention to what all of these people are saying?".  

 The answer is: you don't.  When I first started I was on twitter for hours and hours - time I didn't have.  Then I was introduced to tweetdeck.  It's purpose is to take the big stream and make it more manageable and easy to follow.  Go to http://www.tweetdeck.com  Scroll to bottom of the page and download tweetdeck.  

You will be able to take all those people talking and sort them into columns.  The default columns are All Tweets, @replies (people talking to you) and Direct Messages (people talking to you and no one else can see the comments).    

At the top are some icons.  

Tweet (click on that and it opens up the box where you can tweet -talk).

All Friends (this is tied to the column where everyone is talking)

Replies (this is tied to the column where people reply to you)

Direct Message (this is tied to the column where people who follow you can talk directly to you and no one else will see these comments)

Favorites (if you really like a comment you can save it to your favorites)

Group (you can set up a group and add people to that group and everything they tweet will go there)

Search (you can search for tweets around a certain topic and they will appear in their own column)

Twitscoop (this column will show you topics people are talking about and what is trending across twitter)

12 second TV (click this and it will pull up a column with different 12 second videos to watch)

Stock Twits (frankly, I haven't used this one)

Click on the Groups icon.  Let's make a column for the people whose tweets you don't want to miss.  I named mine Social Media.  I'm following people who usually have interesting things to see and give me great links to follow and read.  You can name yours whatever you want!  Maybe you want to put your friends in this column.  Maybe you are following a group of gardeners and want to not miss what they are saying.  

When you use Tweetdeck you don't have to constantly refresh the page - it will do it for you.  It will also post in the upper right hand corner Tweetdeck Notifications when tweets come in.  It will tell you how many and from which column.  I run tweetdeck all day long - and when I see notifications from my Social Media column, I'll go look.  Otherwise, I just ignore it.  

Now you should have some tweets coming through.  If you move your mouse over the avatar (the person's face) it will give you four options:

reply

direct message

retweet

other

If you wish to reply click on that, if you want to send a direct message click on that.  If you really like what they said and you want your followers to see it too - click on retweet.  The other icon allows you to follow or unfollow that person, add them to a group, check out their profile, delete the message and a few other things.

At the bottom of each column are some icons as well.  Move your mouse over them to see what they are.  I use clear all tweets a lot (it will delete them all and then they are gone).  The arrow allows you to move the column wherever you want it to be.  My columns are in this order: all tweets, @replies, Social Media, Direct messages.  Those four columns fill up one page.  If I want to see the other columns I need to click on the slider bar at the bottom of the page and slide it over.  

Enjoy tweetdeck and remember -- have a conversation, share some information and make new friends! 

picture of cat on laptop w/tweetdeck on the screen courtesy of dprevite at flickr.com

Twitter for a beginner

What is twitter?

It's an online application that connects you to other people. You talk (type) comments that are only 140 characters long. Businesses, news stations, small business people, and just everyday folk are on twitter – over 6 million at last count.

Go to www.twitter.com and get started by clicking on join. Fill out the form. For your username – it's recommended to use your name, or what you are known as. I'm @debworks – it ties into my blog. Upload a picture – spammers never do and you don't want to be confused with a spammer.

Now you want to follow some people. Here's a few links to get you started (click on them and then click on follow):

www.twitter.com/debworks

www.twitter.com/chrisbrogan

www.twitter.com/donlemoncnn

www.twitter.com/dannybrown

www.twitter.com/keithburtis

These are people I follow. And me! Okay, if you look at any one of these peoples link after you click on them – you'll see on the right hand side who they are following. Click some of them, read their bio and see if they are someone you want to follow.

Now go to www.twellow.com Let's have some real fun! Choose a category that interests you and a subcategory – and start following people.

If you follow about 50 people a day – you will start getting people following you back. Your followers will grow very quickly.

Now – let's talk! If you go back to www.twitter.com make sure you are still signed in. You will see comments from the people you are following. This is called the stream. On the left of the comment is their avatar – this is why a picture is great! You can see who is talking. On the right of the comment there is a star and an arrow. The star is to add that comment to your favorites. The arrow is to reply to that comment. If you click on it, it will pop that person's name up in your comment box and then you can type your comment and hit enter.

It's now in the stream – and will also show up in that person's @Replies file. See your @Replies file on the right? In that file will be comments that people have directed specifically to you. The Direct Message file is where someone can talk directly to you and that comment not be seen by anyone else. You can only send Direct Messages (Dms) to someone who follows you.

You can reply to someone, or just type in your comment.  Either way, it goes into the stream. 

A couple of simple guidelines:

don't force your business down peoples throats, just have a conversation

remember that google never forgets -what you say stays on the internet

follow some interesting people and talk to them – it's fun!

Don't be upset if someone doesn't answer you – they may have a lot of followers and just missed your comment!

Go twitter!

this picture is provided by freeparking at flickr.com 

About Me Update

On December 2 I talked about my part in the social media -- my About Page.  

Three months can be a long time.   Things have changed.  I'm more focused.  

In order for me to talk about my 30 day plan, I need to talk about who I am and why I do what I do.  This is the first day of the 30 day plan.

Lesson One:  Have A Great About Me Page!  

We need to develop trust in order to have clients support what we do.  One good way to do that is to paint a picture of who you are.  It's also important to show why you've chosen the industry you are in.   I'm going to re-write my About Me page.  Read along and see if you can find out who I am - and why I want to work from home.

My name is Debra Brown.  I was born and raised on a farm in Iowa, went to school at Luther College and lived, married, and raised kids in Chicago for 30 years.  Now, I'm back in Iowa.  Why?  

My parents are older and not well.  Dad had a heart attack and two strokes a couple of years ago. He also has early Alzheimers.   He's a retired farmer who can no longer walk his fields.  He has no feeling in his hands, so he can't do his woodworking anymore.  He walks with a walker and hates it.   It was then we decided it was time to move back and help take care of them.  

I had the dream to move back to the family farm, grow a garden, work from home around my schedule and have a leisurely kind of lifestyle.  My children are grown and my grandkids live in Chicago.  I figured I would visit them often.

Well, I got most of my dream.  I live on the family farm, I do have a garden every year, I do work from home, I do visit Chicago often.  I also take care of my parents' paperwork (amazing how much legal, insurance, Medicare, retirement, church paperwork there is!).  I write for a local newspaper everyday, I have three blogs I write for everyday, I teach classes at Iowa Valley Community College.  I'm increasing my knowledge of social media marketing and teaching others as well.  

Then there's the dream job: I expand the customer database for my company and help others build their business.  I do it around my schedule and often in my pajamas.  I can do it at home or when I'm on the road.  I love it!  I don't sell products, collect money or deliver products.  I simply introduce people to the company and show them how to switch stores, save time and money and get green products in their home. I'm always looking for people who want to join my team and create the kind of life they want to live.  I have fun and get paid for it too! 

I volunteer at the Historical Society, read a lot, travel when I can (www.travelwoman.com for pics), go to the movies with friends, garden and am active with my church.   Nothing leisurely about my day - and I love it that way.  I'm doing the things I want to do. I have freedom, balance and joy in my life.    

My friend once told me - you can work for the man, or be the man.   Guess which choice I took? 

Okay - did you see:

1. a story that compelled you to read more

2. a conversation about my work

3. things I like to do in my free time

4. a picture relevant to the story

5.  a closing that inspires 

What would you add?  Or take away?  Do you feel like you know me a little better? What's your story?  

30 Day Plan

Sure you've heard it - plan your work and work your plan.  

Consider this tidbit.  What if you could look at your plan AFTER the expiration date and find out what went wrong (or right)?  Well, duh! Of course you could.

How many of us actually do that?  My guess -- the ones who had plans and followed them.  (the rest are secret plans)

I had the opportunity of spending about 15 hours in a car over two days, without a computer.  I did have talk radio and a steno notepad (hubby was driving).  I had reviewed my blog notes and had thousands of thoughts swirling through my brain.  I took that gift of time and made a plan  -- for three businesses I work.   

Home Business - expanding customer database and developing business builders

• Phone calls one hour a day, five days a week
  
• 5 presentations a week
  
• follow up with EVERYONE who saw a presentation and wanted to think about it
  
• Develop one business builder
  
• enroll 4 people this month
  
• walk and talk baby, this time keep tabs
• utilize www.needalittleadvice.com to post networking information for my team
• 20 hours of work each week 
  

Local Newspaper - Franklin County Iowa

At the end of the week we lose our printer and are searching for a new one.  Now what?  

• create an online newspaper (www.readhampton.com) 
  
• brainstorm with publisher
  
• interview more local businesses and let ALL know they are online
  
• find ways to interact w/local community to spread the word 
  
• 10 hours a week
  

Social Media/Blog

I write on www.debworks.com every day.  It ties into my paper (that now has it's own site) and my work from home business.  I needed to decide how to best utilize this site.  I'm going to SOBCon in May and need a working business plan.

Then I got a brilliant idea!  30 days of information for beginners to my end of the social media spectrum!  Twitter, blogging, facebook, linkedin.  Seth Godin says to chose a couple of avenues and work them.  There are more four avenues!  

I am also teaching a beginners social media course at Iowa Valley Education at Ellsworth College May 5 and 6.  That should be fun -- 2 days after SOBCon!  This 30 day plan will be great prep work for those attending the class.  My friend Patrick Palmer (The Computer Guy) is doing the facebook portion of the class and I'm sure he will help me fill in any holes! 

20 hours work each week. 

Tomorrow I'll post the syllabus - and begin the writing work.  

So the point is this:

any plan in action is better than a perfect plan on paper.  

picture courtesy of flickr.com

Des Moines Register: Cavan Reagan Reichmann

Cavan Reagan Reichman is the Des Moines Register's digital editor/social media.  Cavan found me and added this blog to their blogger widget on the Business site of www.desmoinesregister.com It is my honor to interview Cavan.  

Here's a funny thing -- Cavan recommends that bloggers create their posts in readable sections.  Usually that means - short.  This blog post is not short!  I promise you though, it is readable. 

What is it you do?

 I'm focused on finding new ways to get our content to readers by watching where they already go online and finding smart ways to connect with them there in a way that makes it easier for them to find the content they want from us.

 I recruit and work with dozens of bloggers in the community and help readers use the user-generated content tools on our sites. I try to promote good discussions on our sites and gather feedback from our audiences on what we're doing.

I  help our staff members understand the best ways for them to be using social media in their areas, and work with our marketing team to promote what we're doing in these realms. 

I'm the editor of dmJuice.com and DesMoines.MomsLikeMe.com, both of which rely heavily on social media, and work with the online components of our magazines and lifestyle content.

Oh, and once I brought a fog machine to a meeting and set off the fire alarm.


DesMoines.MomsLikeMe.com Where did the idea for that come from? How do you fit in with a group of moms?

We're part of the MomsLikeMe.com network through a partnership with Ripple6 (@Ripple6 on Twitter). Our parent company, Gannett, owns moms-focused sites in dozens of cities. The idea started at our paper in Indianapolis. We got to jump into about two years ago and we rebranded all of them as MomsLikeMe.com sites last year. It's a basic idea: give moms a way to connect with other local moms to share stories and advice. Now we also offer coupons, a Moms Marketplace and some other cool features, with more coming soon.

Of course, I'm not a mom. Or even a woman. So I'm lucky to be able to work with Katie Kunert, the host of the site, the writer behind True Mom Chronicles and a graphic artist at the Register, as well as Jen Hanson and Sommer Brads, two local moms who are discussion leaders on the site. We work together with others at the Register to make the site a valuable resource. I work behind the scenes on bringing new features to the site and working with other Gannett editors, though there are many days I want to jump into the conversations I see on the site.


I like DesMoines.MomsLikeMe.com -- but I don't live in Des Moines. Should I participate?

Iowa seems so unique in how big our geographically based communities can feel. While some of the discussions on the site are about local events, business or restaurants, the advice is universal. So jump in!

dmJuice.com Here's a great site for social marketing! Tell me how this site got started - and where you see it going.

dmJuice.com launched in 2005 when we launched Juice, a weekly magazine geared toward 25-to-34-year-old professionals in the metro area. Des Moines really has a strong community of young professionals, and the city has grown so much since Juice launched. 

dmJuice.com focuses on networking, people, style and health. You can find lots of great community bloggers (as well as Juice staff members' blogs), photos from networking events and our projects like the Juice Fitness Challenged and Forever Changed. We also have an entertainment Web site, desmoines.metromix.com, and both sites help power the magazine.

Cavan, our readers like to know a little about you. Relationships require we get to know each other!

I'm originally from the Los Angeles area. My dad's family is from California (and Ireland before that) and my mom's family is from Taiwan. I was an Air Force brat, and we moved to England and got to travel around Europe a lot when I was a kid. We moved to Omaha when I was 10, and I went to Iowa State, then started working at the Register right away. My husband's name is Scott, and he's one of the managers at the Apple Store. Which means, yes, we're both a little nerdy when it comes right down to it. We also have a dog and a cat. We're not the kind of people who talk about their pets like they are children. But we're talking about a really cute dog and cat here.

I see you promote Cozi. What is it and why do you promote it?

Cozi is a site that helps families stay organized. You can do some pretty fun stuff on it, like set up a grocery list and calendar that your entire family can add items to. Just watch out for your kids adding nothing but candy to the list. That is another partnership with Gannett, similar to how we built the MomsLikeMe.com network.

Iowa State was your alma mater. You did grad work at Mizzou? How did college prepare you for the journalistic world?

I'm completing Mizzou's media management master's program. It's designed for working journalists and is online except for a few trips to campus for seminars and defending your thesis. Mizzou has such a strong journalism program, and it's great to be part of that and continue working full-time. (I mentioned I'm a nerd, right?)

I went to Iowa State as an undergrad, and was the editor of the student newspaper, the Iowa State Daily, my senior year. It's so hard to know how to prepare students for journalism anymore. I'm thankful for my experience from the Daily, my ISU professors and being able to jump into the digital world so early on in my career. That's a great way to make sure you're constantly learning about this rapidly changing industry.

How can the Des Moines Register be improved?

It all comes down to focusing on what our audience wants from us and balancing that with our role in society as watchdogs. Newspapers in general must be more agile when it comes to adapting to the changes. There is a way to keep our history and tradition alive while also finding new ways to get our content to the right people.

All businesses have to fight for time now. Certainly money is a factor, but we're not just talking about purchasing decisions anymore. We are all inundated with information, and we need help cutting through it to get to what's relevant. If we feel like there are smarter ways to spend our time to get through that information, we'll go for it.


You have graciously added me to the blogger widget at DesMoinesRegister.com/business. What do you look for in a blogger for your widget?

My goal is to make it easier for readers to find local, relevant business content. They're already on our business page, so why not help them find even more information they might find useful? I believe you are the farther from the metro area - but when I was keeping tabs on all the business blogs I could find, you won me over with your focus on social media. I thought that was something that would be valuable to our readers.

Where do you see social media taking us in the near future/ in the far future?

It all goes back to time and trust.

The more value you can get out of social media, the more you'll use it, and the more it will start popping up in new areas of your life. 

It was not long ago at all that businesses would not consider social media marketing or having their CEOs tweeting or blogging as a worthwhile use of resources. Now look at what's out there, and how quickly it's evolved. It would be silly to think there aren't more massive changes on the way.

The biggest lesson social media can offer businesses is this: Listen to, and react to, customers. (I didn't say your customers, either. All of them.) Don't assume you're in control of your brand, just like you can't control the masses. Respect their time, interact with them, and you'll be surprised at the outcome.

For a person new to social media - what do you recommend the first three things they should do?

Figure out what you want out of the experience before you jump in. That reduces the odds of getting frustrated and feeling like it wasn't a good use of your time.

Listen to others' experiences with social media. No amount of using it will convince you of its power as much as hearing a trusted friend or colleague explain why it's valuable to them.

You're a content provider now. You can pick the content you're broadcasting, and you can usually control who it's going to. But you have to own that role, or you won't get much out of playing the game.