Image by Marcos Xotoko

A lot of businesses make a very simple mistake as soon as they get their Twitter account. They ignore their audience. Without engaging with your audience, your Twitter account becomes one-way – and one-way accounts are more detremental to businesses than benefiial.

So how do we make Tweeting for business a success?

1. Monitor your brand (and respond)

What people say about you matters. Whether it is good or bad, you need to know what they say. Simple searches (I use a search column in Tweetdeck) that look for mentions of your name or keywords bring those tweets to your attention. You can then act.

Positive tweeters love to know you’ve read their message (thank those who RT you messages), while negative tweeters can be appeased simply through a quick response, even if it doesn’t solve their problem and simply says “Sorry you’re not happy”.

2. Dnt yooz txt spk (itz nt 4 proz)

Although Twitter only gives you 140 characters to broadcast to the world, make sure you don’t resort to text speak to save space. You’re communicating your message, but also your brand. Text speak is unprofessional and is cutting corners. Do you want people to think that about your business?

3.Be personal (but professional)

Another great deal for your service? Meh. You’ve changed your delivery charges? Yawn. How was my weekend? Well, since you ask…

Sales messages are all well and good (and deserve to be tweeted), but make sure you take a break with some personality. Is it someones birthday in the office? Did they bring cake? Let your followers know!

Your personality is part of your brand. Just keep this question in mind: Would I tell this in a meeting? Make sure it is always “yes” and you’ll add the perfect touch of personality to your tweets.

4. Keep active (but not too active…)

I once found out Paul Daniels was on Twitter. I followed him immediately (well, wouldn’t you?), keeping tabs on where he was and what shows he was doing. but that was the first 10 minutes. Throughout the day he must have tweeted about 50 times. So I stopped following him. Conversely, there are a few people I follow who hardly tweet so I haven’t forged a reationship with their brand (fittingly I can’t think of who they are!)

Ensure you don’t tweet too much and dominate your followers’ timelines. I find that 3 serious tweets (to a case study, news article or product update) interspersed with 2 more personal tweets (”wow biblical rain outside our office”) seems to work well.

5. Share information (even if it isn’t yours…)

Don’t be afraid to send your followers links that go somewhere other than your website. Twitter is not about driving traffic to your best landng pages all the time. It is about communication. By tweeting interesting links to other sites you are putting the follower first. You’ll then become a trusted source of information, which is great for your brand and for the long-term relationship with the follower.

So what are your tips for using Twitter in your business?

Photo by André Engelhardt

Twitter is a conversation.

Whether it be for personal or business use, it is fantastic tool to communicate with others. Twitter’s own ‘About Us‘ page says that the service helps “businesses and organizations of all shapes and sizes” to “stay connected to their customers.”

However, some businesses very much ‘get’ Twitter,  successfully engaging with their audience, whereas others think it is just enough to have an account and tweet about their products or services.

A quick moan about Virgin Mobile overcharging me for my phone bill got a sharp response from the Virgin Media account. I also gave a London restaurant a jab about dinner taking so long, they responded by sending over some free dessert. And it doesn’t just happen to me. Mick Dickinson recently monitored brand response times on Twitter for his Buzzed Up blog, and there were some very quick responses in there.

But there are those who don’t get it right. They see Twitter as a sales tool, a one-way broadcast platform from which to promote their products and services. All the while they are failing to monitor their market or respond to anything their audience is saying to them.

One such example are the guys at the Bristol Hippodrome (@BristolHipp). There is a comedy show coming to Bristol that I really want to see, but there is no info on tickets, so I sent them an @reply. No response. I sent them another. Still nothing. I publicly called them out about it. Nadda. Someone else had to tweet a link to me! (Thank you @Ninja_lynneja)

A quick look at their Twitter timeline shows that they don’t reply to anyone! They just plug and plug and plug. It is obvious that they don’t get it. It isn’t just a way to communicate to your market, but it is also a way for your market to communicate with you. The Bristol Hippodrome has a phone number, but I doubt they only call people and let it ring out when someone calls them…

Being ignored promoted me to write this blog. So now the Bristol Hippodrome is taking a word of mouth dent as they  constantly ignore their audience while happily tweeting about the best seats for an upcoming Oaklahoma show…

Businesses who are getting in to Twitter need to remember: Be social with social media. Interact with your audience.

Tweet me a word. Any word. First one that pops into your head…

And they did. I wanted to see what was on the mind of my followers on one specific day.

I got an interesting range of words – and here they are:

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An odd concentration on food and animals (Griffin counts as an animal), interspersed with a few singular oddities like ‘Fractal’ and ‘Validation’. So, after analysis, my followers tend to think about rude thnigs, animals and food…

Thanks to the long list of those who responded: @atkirby, @stillawake, @Chutzpah84, @christianrt, @daniellewins, @emmaoperator, @lewiji, @stuherbert, @Shiiuga, @allifletcher, @lgladdy and @gavinlew. Also, thanks to the ‘Naughty List’ contributors who are @benrcole, @alex_newport, @jackfmbristol and @NukeSpoon.

However, a Brazillian design agency has taken that and turned it on its head – by creating vintage adverts for the big four.

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Sao Paulo based Mama Propaganda have designed these gems as part of the “Everything Ages Fast” campaign for fellow Brazillians Maximidia Seminars.

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You can download the full high-resolution versions (in English or Portuguese) here.

In March the BBC announced that, from June, Rupert Murdoch’s News International company would start charging for access to its Times and Sunday Times websites.

They believed, with newspaper sales nosediving, that they should be able to charge £1 per day or £2 per week for the information they provide. An OK theory, but with hundreds of other news outlets providing the same information for free, it was a bold move.

Industry analysts called the move risky, but The Times editor James Harding mentioned that it was:

Less of a risk than just throwing away our journalism and giving it away from free.

Whereas some commentators said they could lose 90% of their visitors, early stats seems to show that News International’s move has paid off. Analyst ComScore has today released figures that show traffic to The Times website is only 27% down since the paywall was introduced.

The number of unique visitors fell to 1.61 million in July, from 2.2 million in June and 2.79 million the month before. Total page views fell to 9 million in July, from 20 million in June.

Despite all the visitors having paid to to view The Times online, the average time spent on each page has dropped to just 4 minutes from 7.6 minutes in May.

The Mail Online is the most popular newspaper website, with nearly 9 million unique visitors last month.

So it appears that while other websites like The Mail Online are heaving with visitors, the £2 per week (if not £1 per day) that News International gets from its 1.61 million visitors more than makes up for the drop of 1 million freeloading visitors…

What’s in a name?
That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet

Great words, great play. But, poor Shakey, I’m afraid those don’t ring true in the world of marketing and Twitter.

Your name, on Twitter, is your brand. Although I oversee the majority of the activity on my employers Twitter account, I have my own. And it is this brand I’m talking about. Personal.

Personal brand

Your personal brand can be considered more important than that of your employers, mainly because personal branding is, as the guys from Clear Thought say, “very important to long term career prospects, get it right and you’ll never be stuck for a fab job“

When I was about 13, I picked ‘jakemaster_j’ for my Hotmail account – my first email address. Once I needed to email important people, I signed up for ‘jakepjohnson’ on Gmail, as it seemed more grownup and serious. I wanted people to see me as a mature young man, so the change was needed. You’re more likely to do business with Jake Johnson than Master J, am I right?

Consistency

Consistency is key across networks, such as Twitter and LinkedIn. if you’re networking on both, but you have two different usernames, people are going to be easily confused and all your hard work won’t be as effective as someone doing exactly the same, but with just one, consistent username.

I’ve stuck with my Gmail ever since and the same name dominates my Internet profiles: Twitter, Flickr, Last.fm, football blogging, etc.

Business image

The name you choose for yourself can determine how potential business partners see you. Research indicates that businesses gauge how trustworthy you are based on something as simple as whether you supply a freemail (Hotmail or Gmail) or a personal domain for your email contact, so you’d better choose carefully.

It also needs to reflect who you are, with indication to your name. If your Twitter name is ‘Mr_Pink’, you will find two things; its hard for people to do business with ‘Mr_Pink’ (unless thats related to your busniess) and introducing yourself with your real will not link back to the personality they know on Twitter.

Work-life balance

It is also a good idea to keep yourself and your business separate identities when it comes to online profiles (even if your work-life balance leaves something to be desired!). Personality plays a huge part in people connecting with you on Twitter. If the research on picture vs no picture is anything to go by, then having a personal name is a sure fire winner over something like ‘DirectFloorsLtd’. Plus, you can take your name with you wherever you go. If you have a business-based account and move on, you have to start all over again at your next business…

So, to summarise, when you choose your Twitter name, consider a few things:

• Is it professional?
• Is it consistent?
• Is it personal?

If you can answer ‘yes’ to all three then you’re on to a winner!

Another Friday, another round of recommendations.

First up is @stillawake. I’ve recommended Joanna many a time and, while I try and steer clear of repetition, she always manages to comes up with a new reason to be included. This week: her ace snap of poppies outside the Bristol Council House.

Second up is my Gradwell workmate @Chutzpah84. He only used to moan about (and RT) all sorts, but now his moaning is interspersed with updates about his new-found love for biking. He is cycling everywhere and is a guy to follow if you like to bask in the glow of someone who has just found a new joy…

Thirdly, another of my Gradwell colleagues, @lgladdy gets a nod. He is always uncovering a bargain, delivering some very up-to-the-minute tech news or just giggling infectiously. Do me a favour, if you end up following him, tell him he doesn’t need that new gadget he is about to order…

Fourthly, @atkirby. Follows some very interesting people herself, so tends to RT lots of great links from a wide array of areas. She also chips in with her own tweets and is always happy to lend a hand to people in need. She likes her tea.

Lastly, @convoy104. Simply because of this.

DRIP!

My eyes open in a flash. My brain thrown into third gear. I know the source of the noise, the monster that is snatching away my peace with every beat of infernal noise. It does it again. Its teasing me. The noise becomes a sound, which my brain listens to as it fails to shutdown like before. No longer does the noise resemble a dripping sound. It has evolved, goading me with a single word: Fix.

It repeats.
Fix!

Fix!
A collection of thoughts spill over into the droplet that keeps my slumber at bay. The word it utters hits a nerve.

Fix!
It causes me to feel guilt and frustration as I recall a vow from the back of my mind. It brings me to where I last heard the word: “I’ll fix that tap in the morning”. My wife protested at my weak response. And she was right. I didn’t do as promised.
And now it haunts me.

In the darkness the sound gets louder. Progressively. It begins as a whisper. A light noise, but persistent enough to send my sanity packing. No longer is it jut a whisper. It has evolved into a din. As the excess water hits the cast-iron basin, its sound waves alter. As it reaches my ear-drum it has become a blacksmith’s hammer, striking the anvil, striking my head. The pounding of the hammer worsens. Hits my head harder. The more attention my brain allows itself to allocate to the noise, the heavier the blow. My problems, my work, my ailments add themselves to the blow. Hits my head heavier. With every pound it chips away a little of my patience, my sanity, my mind.
I crumble.
I give in.

The covers are tossed away like food a high-chair bound infant refuses to accept. My feet are thrown down and plant firmly on the floor. I follow the source of the noise to the bathroom. As I throw open the bathroom door, I notice the volume has decreased. It is shrinking away from the confrontation it has provoked. I summon my anger into strength as I squeeze and twist its little head, choking out the life. I use all my might to crack the tap as far as I can.
And it stops.

Silence.
Peace.
Sanity.

I retire back to my bed and repeat my ritual. Pull over the quilt. Ensure both sides and lengths are equal, adjust, smooth out the creases and pull over the blanket. Settle down on my right side, the turn onto left. I’m ready. Back in my snugness.

DRIP!

It taunts me! The coward. It waited until I was settled. It waited until I was gone.

I cannot bear anymore hammer blows!

But, gradually, I hear my saviour arrive. I hear its marching approach. Its own distinct, relieving noise creeps into my ears and drowns out the harsh, repetitive pounding.
The rain.
The rain pitters in my skylight. Its exciting, unkempt, erratic rhythm overshadows the dull, lifeless thuds. My brain has no interest in a rhythm it cannot keep time with and allows itself to succumb to my orders.
It drops down a gear: shutdown.
I am at peace.
I am tired.
I am calm.
I am asle….

I settled down wih my wife to watch The Sentienl on Film4. As with many things, I updated Twitter with my early thoughts:

Watching The Sentinel. Alright so far, but everyone is so damn serious…

A few minutes later I got an @ reply from Pete Brennan (convoy104), with the following:

@jakepjohnson could you fill me in please on the sentinel, missed the first 20mins? Would much appreciate it

So it appears that Pete came into the party late and wondered what the hell was going on. Amazingly he turned to Twitter and searched for ‘The Sentinel’ and found me. History was then made and Pete was caught up on the happenings of Douglas, Sutherland, Longoria and Basinger by myself:

#twitter is amazing. Just put film4 on, 20mins into film, searched for someone else also watching, @jakepjohnson just filled me in. BOOM!

Just another great use of Twitter.

Picture the scene. It is October. It is raining. It is cold. You’ve got nothing to do but stick on a jumper, grab a big cup of tea and settle down with a good book. But you need a soundtrack. Amos Lee has provided just that.

The Philadelphia-born singer provides an album that calms and caresses. The sound may be familiar to Norah Jones fans (Lee is on the same Blue Note label), but he is not merely a male version. Lee’s voice is so very soulful, even trembling with emotion in places, that it is impossible to not feel a warm comfort from his songs.

‘Arms Of A Woman’ is classic, minimalist yearning of the highest calibre, before a more up-tempo and funky ‘Give It Up’ arrives – and then ‘Soul Suckers’ brings a more melancholy, reflective mood. Lee tackles many styles in this album, all unveiling levels of depth and maturity.

I’ve not come across a more consistent relaxing, comforting album yet. My only gripe about the album is that it isn’t better-known, but hopefully this post will add a few more fans.

At a glance…
Favourite track: Soul Suckers
In one word: Smooth
Similar artists: Norah Jones, Ray LaMontagne, Justin Nozuka

Buy Amos Lee – Amos Lee on Amazon |Listen to Amos Lee – Amos Lee on Spotify