My Views on Twitter

Prompted by the article “The Twuth About Twitter” written by Bob Bly, I thought I take the time share my views about Twitter.

Until a few weeks ago, I was on the Twitter bandwagon.  For several months I followed the advice of those who are more Twitter-savvy than I and maintained a Twitter presence (in addition to my Facebook and LinkedIn presences).

There is so much talk about connecting and conversing with your Twitter followers, but I just don’t see that.  I hear things like “join in the conversation” all the time.  With Twitter, I just don’t see how that’s possible.  First, there is the 140 character limit; it’s hard to say something of value in a short amount of real estate.  And when you do reply to something, the recipient may have no idea what you are tweet you are referring to.  So where’s the conversation???

In my opinion, Twitter is the internet version of radio/TV commercials, or so it has become in the marketing world.  Tweet a link to your product.  Tweet a special promotion.  Tweet a blog post.  This is all advertising—ONE WAY COMMUNICATION.  It is not a conversation, which requires more than one person (unless of course, you are talking to yourself).  So when the experts say “Twitter’s all about the conversation,” I just don’t buy it.  It’s free advertising, plain and simple.

So is Twitter an effective marketing tool?  It could be.  My thought is this:  tweet your products, promotions, articles, etc., but don’t waste your time trying to create a dialogue with followers.  Twitter is too cumbersome to use as a communication tool.  Instead, use a Facebook Fan Page to converse with current and potential customers.  The interface is designed for conversations and is easy to use—this tool is worth the time investment.

Friday Finds – 07/31/09

A weekly collection of things I’ve run across that may be of interest to you.

Why Multitasking Doesn’t Work via Lateral Action

10 Ways To Give Yourself A Procrastination Inoculation via ZenHabits

9 Rules of Facebook Promotion Every Small Business Should Know via All Facebook

Do You Have These 11 Traits of Highly Creative People? via Copyblogger

HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn via Mashable

Pondering Social Media in 25 Words

Liz Strauss has created a new 25 word challenge at her blog, Successful & Outstanding Blog(gers).  This one is writing 25 words about social media.

My contribution relates to how I have been feeling about social media lately:

So many blog posts; so many tweets; so many friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and followers; so little time to spare.  How ever do we keep up?

To contribute your own 25 words, head over to Liz’s blog post, Writing Project: 25 Words of Social Media Wisdom.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29223627@N04/ / CC BY 2.0

Strategies for Working More Efficiently

There are many strategies for working more efficiently, but I have found that the areas below are where people struggle the most.  So here are some ideas to help you use your time more effectively and work more efficiently.

Make A List

You’ve heard it before, but I’ll say it again:  a “to do” list is your friend.  Here are some task list strategies:

• Carve out ten minutes at the end of the day to create a new list for the following day.  This will help you wind down at the end of the day and help you jump in the next day.
• Break larger tasks into smaller, more manageable tasks.
• Prioritize your list.
• Do a few easy tasks at the beginning of the day.  Most people advise knocking off the hardest tasks first, but I find that I am more energized when I complete a few simple tasks and cross them off the list.  Sometimes you need that sense of accomplishment to be more driven to attack those harder tasks.

Organize Your Email

Many email programs and clients allow you to create folders.  Take advantage of this feature!  Following is how I manage my email:

• I have several different folders arranged by project.  Some projects may have additional subfolders depending on the situation.  Organize your email in a way that makes sense to you and allows you to easily retrieve old messages.
• Messages stay in my inbox until I act on it.  Once I’ve acted on it, I either delete it or place it into the applicable folder for future reference.  Consider this method as it keeps your inbox relatively clean and at a glance, you know what needs action.
• For certain types of email, such as newsletters, I create a folder and set my filtering options to place new message that fit a certain criteria into this folder.  These are typically emails that do not require action (other than to read them).  When I have some downtime, I go to this folder and start reading them.
• I use Outlook, so for messages that require action and are time-sensitive, I use the Flag option to set a reminder so I act on it on-time.

Organize Your Computer Files

I can’t tell you how many times I see hundreds of documents just thrown into the My Documents folder on my client's’ computers.  Computer files should be organized just like paper files.  I organize my business files by client., which may further be broken down by project folders.  I also have folders for my website, marketing collateral, and templates.  Find a systems that works for you and allows you to easily find documents.

Maintain a Calendar

Nothing is more frustrating than waiting for someone to show up for a meeting.  Don’t be that person who is always late, or worse, forgot.  Keep a calendar, whether it’s Outlook, Google Calendar, or a good old daily planner.

Unplug

Distractions can impair workflow and creativity.  When you are working on something that demands your full attention, consider the following:

• Close your email program.
• Turn off your cell phone.
• Let calls to your landline go to voicemail.
• Disconnect from your instant messaging program (or “appear offline”).
• Close your social networking tools.

I’m an organizational freak.  I’d love to hear about how you manage your schedule and workload.  Drop me a line in the comments.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tbisaacs/ / CC BY 2.0

Friday Finds – 07/17/09

A weekly collection of things I’ve run across that may be of interest to you.

Article  10 Tips for Taking Notes, by Maeve Maddox – Great suggestions for taking notes and meeting minutes.

Article  12 Tips for Making Small Talk, from CareerBuilder – According to a study of Stanford University School of Business MBAs ten years after graduation, their success did not correlate to their GPAs.  Instead, the ability to connect and converse with others had an impact on their success.  This article shares some great tips from Debra Fine, author of The Fine Art of Small Talk.