Category Archives: Social Networks

I’m Willing to Pay for Twitter

My gut reaction to what I’d pay for Twitter is “nothing.” In general most services that would even compare to this service are free.

When you look at the possibilities of what Twitter could offer above the basic level of service that they currently provide you only need to look as far as all of the sites, services and tools that have been developed using Twitter’s API.  So if Twitter could figure out a way to provide services to brands that would make it easier to interact with those that follow their brand and increase the depth and value of that relationship I’d pay more.

We’ll have to see what comes up next.

Real Estate Social Media to the Next Level

I’ve been thinking about when real estate will truly be taking social media to the next level.  Century 21 announced that they are moving their rather large TV media spend to online.  So where are the putting it?  Where is everyone else putting it?

Judging by Hitwise the majority of the money is going to PPC and some banner networks.  That is of course speaking on average among builders, brokers and real estate portals.  But where is the spend toward enhancing the sites or creating new tools that let their customers truly do the marketing for them with word of mouth?

It has to be coming.

I’d look for one of the big builders, Zillow or Trulia to be doing something bigger.

Pownce Update – Pownce Export Tool

Late Monday Six Apart Sent out the following message to Pownce Users on the end of the Pownce service and the content export tool.

We are sad to announce that Pownce is shutting down on December 15, 2008. As of today, Pownce will no longer be accepting new users or new
pro accounts.

To help with your transition, we have built an export tool so you can save your content. You can find the export tool at Settings > Export.
Please export your content by December 15, 2008, as the site will not be accessible after this date.

Please visit our new home to find out more:
http://www.sixapart.com/pownce

Our thanks go out to everyone who contributed to the Pownce community,

The Pownce Crew

Pownce Closing – Sold to Six Apart

After reading the Six Apart site and seeing that they are “welcoming the Pownce team” and that the site would be shut down it was time to remove my Pownce link from my signature. I wonder what else is going down.

I know that the economy is down and the government announced today that the U.S. is officially in a recession and has been since Dec. 2007 but does that really slow that amount of traffic to microblogging sites? Does the ability to generate revenue change for this type of organization? I would think not. What does that mean for sites that have more traffic and activity than Pownce?

I love Twitter and am not suggesting that there is something wrong with Twitter and other micorblogging platforms but is there a business formula or path to a formula for success that they are following that others can’t find?

I believe it is more of a first mover advantage along with the Tweeting to be seen scene. You know you tweet just to be seen on the scene sometimes.

Speed of Social Media

If you want to know the impact of social media then you should really look at the speed with which it can impact your business or your personal activities. I was recently at a conference and as usual my laptop was open and Twhirl was standing at the ready to let others know my thoughts and experiences of the information being covered.

As I sat in my seat listening to information on Green Marketing I noted a comment about when Green will go mainstream. A few seconds went by and I noticed someone a few rows up that ended up on my Twitter page. During the next break I spoke to @springnet who turned out to be the social media expert that was going to be presenting during one of the following sessions. One of the examples of social media was concerning the growing impact of Twitter and microblogging PR tools. At this point I became part of his presentation and was able to interact with the audience through his presentation.

I went from part of the audience to being covered in a presentation in a matter of minutes. This may not have had a business impact but during the course of the presentation several other companies signed on to Twitter for the first time and others in the days following. Most are stilling trying to figure it our a bit more but eventually they’ll come to a strategy.

Social Network Profile Name Selection

I recently received an email from a business partner asking about selecting names on Twitter. I believe that the majority of selecting a name on Twitter applies to most social networks. I try to think of this as the wild west. The situation with Twitter is similar to when domain names first became available. The main difference is that people understand now that once a name is taken it is no longer available. That being said you should lock up your name, your company name, variations of your company name and any other names that might apply to any far off business ventures that may be lying around in the back of your mind. If you don’t there is no precedent for taking control of a name that relates to a trademark. People are already locking up major brand names in the hope of selling them. Most companies will go the legal route but they can just pay a couple hundred bucks and save on the cost of their legal.

  1. Your name
  2. Your brands
  3. Versions of your brands
  4. Future venture names
  5. Anything else you can think of.

Twitter may be something that people are still trying to figure out but it is in a similar position to Google a few years into operation. They have the majority of the traffic to microblogging platforms and are constantly tweaking and innovating their interface and tools. Not to mention that you can use their API and create your own Twitter tool. As for my selection of my Twitter profiles I operate each of the names below for myself or professionally. The first 4 relate to blogs that I have. Then number 5 is my name and the last 4 are for professional purposes.

  1. @marketingtexan
  2. @socialpaw
  3. @smokeytheblog
  4. @funidea
  5. @kevinfarley
  6. @hnn
  7. @meritagehomes
  8. @montereyhomes
  9. @legacyhomes

In talking with some younger generations they are using this system for chat. While I was used to using ICQ in college and some earlier systems before that the options are greater and this type of social integration into direct communication is just a natural progression.

UpdateBrian Solis posted an article that linked to a username checking site for social networks. http://usernamecheck.com/

Social Media Etiquette – SMetiquette

While watching tweets come up on Twhirl to my desktop I started thinking about the appropriate use of social media when it comes to the information agreement with those that follow you. I suppose it would be called SMetiquette.

When you are working on gathering followers on Twitter or subscribers to your RSS or to any other form of social media that you produce then it might be time to make sure that your voice and tone are in line with the expectations of your groupies. If you take a look at the language used by some smaller organizations in comparison to that used by organizations such as: @Thehomedepot@wholefoods or @meritagehomes, you’ll notice a vast difference. The kind of language that kids tend to use on their Myspace pages would be comparable to that used by smaller organizations while larger more professional organizations tend to stay more professional and predictable.

Who’s at the helm? this may be one of the determining factors that truly exemplifies the reason behind this difference. At larger organizations those responsible for dealing with the public are usually PR people. The smaller companies either have their founder or someone with some interest in social media. They haven’t approached the possible implications of this choice with as much attention as they should.

A few ideas for your strategy:

  1. Play to the expectations of your followers – Don’t send/post something that is out of line with your typical information unless your typical information is out of line.
  2. Frequency is a careful balance – Posting/tweeting too often can be a bad thing. If you don’t have enough activity people lose interest.
  3. Personality is key – Your personality should show through so that your organization looks like a person and less like a cold faceless company.
  4. Monitor interactions – Make sure that you have enough people to take care of the interactions.

Twitter Tools & Gadgets List

With the emergence of Twitter’s API came along an ever growing list of Twitter oriented tools. I’ll be adding to this list as I discover more and unearth my notes on other tools that I have forgotten about. Eventually I’ll get around to organizing them into categories to help you determine the options for certain types of activities involving Twitter.

Mr Tweet – Mr. Tweet looks through your extended network to help you build effective relationships on Twitter.

Twitter Blocks – Showing recent updates from users and the people they follow.

Twitter Grader – Twitter Grader gives you a grade based on the power of your Twitter profile.

Twitter Sniffer for Brands – Finds mentions of your brand on twitter including @replies and other random mentions. It assumes your Twitter username and brand name are the same.

Twitter Search – Formerly Summize

Tweet Scan –

TweetDeck –

Twemes.com – Twitter memes – global tags for twitter.

Twhirl –

Twistori 

Twitpic 

Twitscoop 

Twitterfeed 

Twitterlator – Twitterlator is a full-featured Twitter client. The fun and elegant design will make your social networking life run smoothly. Stay in touch with friends, make friends, and feel the pulse of Twittersphere, all in real time. This version is the first release on CNET Download.com.

Twittervision 

Twitterrific – Iphone and Ipod Touch Twitter posting tool.

Twellow.com – Categorize each of the users responsible for messages into the various categories found at Twellow.com. By adding these people to specific categories we help you narrow your searching into specific niches where you can find who you are looking for.

Twitterank.com – Twitterank is sort of like Page Rank for twitter users. True to its namesake, it uses “back references” of sorts to determine how worthy of a person you are in Twitterverse.

Twitterless.com – Get updates when someone stops following you on Twitter.

Twitbacks.com – Free Twitter backgrounds.

Twist – See Trends in Twitter.

Twitturly.com – Twitter history.