Twitter follower numbers mean a great deal to a lot of people. However, it seems that as Twitter matures as a service, the number of followers someone has, has very little to do with their influence. For those of you like myself, who use Twitter as part of your marketing mix, ...
Some people have asked me, why I place so much emphasis on building a community rather than a following. Yesterday, within a 30 minute period, I received 2 emails from people enquiring about my services. I believe the way these emails begin, (see excerpt below), demonstrates the marketing value of community. Email 1: "Dear Jim, You don't know ...
Has Twitter helped you attract new clients or customers? Some business owners and entrepreneurs, who use Twitter as part of their marketing strategy, do extremely well. Others seem unable to transform their tweeting time, into tangible, commercial results. I would like to hear from you, if you use Twitter as part of your marketing efforts and ...
I just fell back in love with Twitter! As some of you might remember, I was once one of the world's top 40 most followed people on Twitter. Then, in January 2009, after being swamped daily with hundreds ...
I have already had several books sent to me this year for review, written by social media experts or gurus. One thing all of them have in common, is that they contain a version of the following advice, which is, in my opinion totally incorrect: Build a following and market to that following.
Here’s what I have found to be better advice: Don’t build a following. Build a community instead!
FOLLOWERS are like the audience at a rock concert. They are set apart from the rock star on stage. They see the rock star as distant. They are part of the event, but a very small part. The rock star might get the crowd to sing the occasional verse, but we all know they are REALLY just broadcasting THEIR VOICE to the crowd! I really don’t see a lot of value in positioning yourself as a rock star, if you actually want to get involved with people. Ironically, the people I see using this approach all the time, are social media experts!
COMMUNITY members are like…
If you checked out the social media activity of 100 businesspeople, do you think you would find many leaders? Leaders lead: They have the courage to offer their own unique opinions and views. They act like leaders, from the front. Followers follow: They copy what others do ...
Here's one of the best pieces of advice anyone ever gave me: Don't just learn from your own experiences; learn from the experiences of others. Learning from the experiences of others, is also one of the most effective (and fastest) ways to grow your business successfully. That's because: It's a LOT less ...
Whilst it's relatively simple (if time consuming), to develop a large social network, many business owners tell me they find it difficult to successfully market their products or services via social networks. Here's why I believe this happens & how to fix it! People talk in terms of "increased brand awareness" and "being part of ...
With marketing and business development, it's all too easy to focus only on the BIG issues. However, small things can make a massive difference and totally change how people think about us. I decided to write this quick post, after receiving the comment below from one of my readers, Joni Mueller. Here's what Joni said: Excellent article ...
I was just telling someone about a chat I had a couple of weeks ago, with a VERY stressed out Twitter user. This person, who shall remain nameless, had (for no reason) seen his Twitter account suspended. He was absolutely distraught and called my office (here in the UK) from his ...
Until earlier this morning, my twitter account had been 'broken' for the past 5 days! This meant I was unable to follow anyone back; which for someone like me, with a reputation for developing communities, is a HUGE problem! Twitter didn't seem interested though; despite me currently being one of the top 60 most followed ...
