Design The Planet » Twitter

12 Great Ways to Use Twitter to Your Advantage

Ryan — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:58:14 +0000

So, you’re ready for your very own Twitter account but still don’t grasp how it’s used? Maybe you’re one of the many ‘tweeples’ that already has a Twitter account, but can’t fathom what to write (tweet) about. Maybe your buddy/co-worker is giving you flak for having a Twitter account and you need some ammo to fight off his/her negative comments. Well, whatever the case, you’ve come to the right place.

Twitter is another social media outlet that let’s you communicate with others without all the extra applications to download, pictures to browse and tag, favorite music, books or tv shows to add, pages to keep up with and organize, or even ads to stare at… all for free! Twitter only allows you 140 characters to answer the question ‘What are you doing?’ Only 140 characters you ask? Below are 12 ways to use 140 characters to your advantage:

01. Networking: I used Twitter to find people attending an event I was about to take part in. I met lots of great people who I’d previously befriended on Twitter. I’ve also heard of people meeting (via Twitter) before an event to discuss sharing costs for hotel rooms, cabs, etc. Which brings me to my next point…

02. Get Conference/Event Updates: So you couldn’t make it to the latest conference for financial reasons, too much work, or whatever excuse? Hop on twitter and search for terms relating to the conference. If it’s the least bit techy of a conference, you will find tweets! #AEA #WordCampNOLA. My buddy even won a ticket worth $895 just for ‘re-tweeting’ a sentence!! Congrats @geoffthibeau

03. Communicating: Want to join in a conversation about a related industry? Twitter is just like talking on the phone… but with a stranger. Who says you can’t communicate with people you don’t already know?

04. Just Listening: You want real peoples views on a particular subject? Open up Twitter and search away. You can get as serious as religion and politics, or as casual as food and art – probably even simultaneously.

05. Just Jotting: Sure, it’s okay to talk about where you just ate (maybe even a review), that you’re going to the beach this weekend, or that your lawn needs to be cut – I’ve done it. Maybe you’re using Twitter as a mini-blog and that’s fine – just don’t be too mundane.

06. News: Whether it’s local or national, you can get news updates via Twitter in small enough chunks to entice a read (or not).

07. Being Resourceful: I use Twitter on many occasions before going to see a new movie. I’ll check the buzz of people who actually saw the movie (versus critics) and decide what I’m seeing that night. You could do this for restaurants too.

08. Buying/Selling Products/Services: Well it hasn’t sold yet (as of this writing), but we’re getting rid of a printer and I tweeted it on Twitter. Still hoping for a bite… Do you need a laser printer? I’ve seen mobile food units using Twitter to Tweet their location and menu specials as well.

09. Promotion (websites, blogs, folio updates): Twitter is a great way to promote your own blog, website or client updates. Don’t plug yourself too much though – you don’t want to look like a self-centered-tweeter.

10. Be a Resource: Maybe you can offer great info on a particular subject you’re passionate about? This is a great way to be a resource, help others in the process, and network even more.

11. Get Feedback: Surveys, Polls, Questions – if you have enough followers, you can get great feedback in a short amount of time.

12. Hire People: Have people spread the work via Twitter that you’re hiring a position. It’s easier than you think to find (via search.twitter.com). Someone can search for terms like ‘hire’, ‘job’, ‘graphic design’ within 50 miles of New Orleans and see who’s hiring!

So, how about you – how do you use Twitter? How would you like to use Twitter? What do you wish Twitter could do?

Ready to get started? Go sign up (for free) and get to Tweeting!

Did Everyone Just Find Twitter?

Perryn — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:53:28 +0000

In the past week, two more big names have joined the Twitter ranks. A popular sports TV show on ESPN called Pardon The Interruption (PTI) is now on Twitter and after a few days they’ve already added “tweeting” to their regular vocabulary. PTI will discuss what is happening in the sports world as it happens instead of waiting for their show to air the news (PTI’s Twitter). Also, on the way to work, I heard a local radio show, Big D & Bubba, is now tweeting. They mentioned posting pictures of guests in their studios and tweeting from remote broadcasts & concerts. (Big D & Bubba’s Twitter)

Design the Planet has a Twitter account

Here are some great ways to market your business through a social media source like Twitter – you can talk about new services, post your thoughts on particular topics, inform ‘followers’ of private sales, link people to coupons, update seasonal or store hours, and remind your fan base of events and updates in your industry. Note, I mentioned fan base not clients or customers. Think about your customers and clients as “fans of your brand”. Customers do not follow just any store or any professional service if they are not a fan. Your fan base is your biggest support and best referral source, and they will be honest with you about changes for better or worse. You may be amazed who follows your tweets and what responses (@replies) are made. With over 54 million visits in January of this year, Twitter is fast becoming a great resource for companies to reach out and interact with their fan base.

How do you connect and communicate with your fan base? If you’re already on Twitter, what kind of people/companies do you follow?

And here’s our Twitter account of course – @designtheplanet

The Power of Immediate News

Perryn — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:05:41 +0000

Last night I recorded American Idol because my wife was in class. When she got home, we sat down to eat dinner and then watched American Idol fill the last 3 spots of the Top 12 contestants. Because of some drama of a certain contestant and long winded responses from the judges the show ran 5 minutes late. Our DVR did not record the extra 5 minutes so we only found out 2 of the 3 moving on. One of our favorite contestants was still waiting on his fate as were 3 other signers.

What to do? We searched some of the mega news websites – MSN, Yahoo, AOL, even American Idols own website. None of those websites will be updated until the next morning. What to do? I searched Google and Technorati looking for a blog, but even the most recent posts did not have who was chosen, just commentary about the performances that night. A light bulb went off in my head and I searched Twitter. Immediately I found out that American Idol ran 5 minutes late and the contestant my wife & I were pulling for was not in the Top 12. He made the Top 13 in a stunning TV moment which again – my DVR did not record. Twitter helped me rest knowing what happened and now I peacefully wait until that TV moment is posted on YouTube so I can watch it myself.

Facebook is King!

Design The Planet Team — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:57:30 +0000

After a rough week with users revolting about a change in their privacy policy, Facebook has had a great week. This week, Facebook introduced that a new Twitter inspired look was on its way and MySpace announced the loss of 3 key executives (source: USA Today). Two days later, we read another article announcing Facebook as the #1 social network (source: Compete.com blog). Facebook receives over 68 million unique visitors a month (compared to 58 million at MySpace) as well as 1.2 billion total visits a month to MySpace’s 800 million. This traffic and usage leap frogged Facebook over MySpace.

Side note: With 53 million visits in January 2009, Twitter is now the third most visited social network a huge jump from 22nd place last year.

Some Say Twitter Isn't Popular

Perryn — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:17:22 +0000

Twitter over capacity because of growing popularity.

Design the Planet recently joined the Twitter ranks and started Tweeting (adding text about what we’re doing). We have read articles and talked extensively about the benefits of the service and the lack of actual usefullness the website service offers. One thing is for sure, Twitter is popular and surging in the number of users online each day. In fact, they recently had so many Tweets that they got overloaded and left this fun message on the right.