My Take on Twitter Best Practices

I signed up for Twitter a few months ago, but have only started seriously using it in the past couple of weeks after having finally installed a desktop application. I opted for Twirl, as it allows for the management of multiple Twitter accounts (I now manage both a personal and business account).

Although I’m relatively new to Twitter, I’ve already developed some pet peeves as to the way some of my ‘Friends’ seem to be using theirs…

I don’t care that you’re taking a lunch break. I don’t care where you’re going for lunch. I especially don’t care that you’re now back from lunch and are feeling a little full. Twitter is like a ‘micro-blog’, and this is reminiscent of those personal blogs that everyone used to have and that nobody read. At some point, I may have to ‘un-follow’ you.

Now I may find it interesting if you were to recommend a great new restaurant you had just gone to, preferably with a link to their website. Maybe not the best example as most of your contacts will most likely be from a different part of the world - But the point is to add value. You’ve asked me to give you my attention and time, so the least you can do is give something back. Ask a question, give an answer, provide a link or some type of information, review or opinion that at least might be of interest to someone other than Mom.

I’ve heard some suggest an ideal number of ‘Tweets per day’. But as long as you’re providing something of value, then I say Tweet away! It’s all relative.

I plan on following-up with a post on ‘Twitter for Business’. Follow me on Twitter: @jpelletier

My Top 6 Business & Marketing Blogs

I live by my RSS feeds, most of which are business and marketing blogs. Here are my 6 (current) favourites, with links to the website from which you’ll find your appropriate RSS feeds.

1. Seth Godin

   If you’re involved in marketing or any form of customer service, Seth’s Blog will definitely give you food for thought. His posts are typically short and opinionated, but I guarantee you’ll be bookmarking at least every 2nd or 3rd one. Be sure to check out his books too.

2. Cofebuz

   Cofebuz is a marketing and business blog with a focus on networking and building relationships.

3. Duct Tape Marketing

   Dedicated to small business marketing strategies, this blog has quite a bit of advertising and ’strategic partnerships’ along with its own branded product to sell, but some great ideas nonetheless.

4. Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

   Another heavily branded blog with product to sell, but some great content too, focussed on small business and entrepreneurship. The author even does video posts which have improved in production value quite a bit lately.

5. E-Quip Blog

This blog claims to offer ‘management insights for A/E firm managers‘, but I’ve found it to have some of the most useful tips for any type of service-based company - more so than most business blogs, which tend to focus on product oriented businesses. I suppose that architecture and engineering just happens to be closely related to the video production industry in which I work, where we bid on large jobs and provide a technical service.

6. Copyblogger

Copyblogger offers copywriting and online marketing tips and is an informative read for anyone writing virtually any type of marketing copy.

If you haven’t started using RSS feeds as an alternative to actually having to visit website URL’s, then do it now. And remember to subscribe to this blog’s RSS feed as well!

Make Recommendations, Get Recommended on Gigpark

When in need of a new accountant, handyman, or cleaning service, we tend to ask a friend for a recommendation. That’s the idea behind GigPark, a great new way to recommend and find these recommendations for a variety of businesses and services that your friends already trust and use.

It may be more of a stripped-down version of LinkedIn, but instead of being strictly for business, it gives the ability for consumers to recommend business and services to other consumers. LinkedIn, on the other hand, feels more like a strictly professional platform.

Read the rest of this entry »

Find Sales Leads at LeadVine.com

At LeadVine.com, “the community is your salesforce”. The service aims to help companies find sales leads and allows individuals to make money by giving referrals.

Generating Leads: It’s fairly quick to setup a profile and to post your sales lead. You can include a minimum lead amount, including details of the referral fee agreement. Answer a few qualifying questions like “You know to refer me when…” and “Decision maker to refer me to…”.

My sales lead is fairly target, stating that I am “Looking for businesses or agencies in need of Video Production services”. It’s now up to the Leadvine community to refer me to appropriate leads.

Read the rest of this entry »

Submit an Interview to Gaebler.com

I came across this free PR source in HARO a couple of months ago. Gaebler.com features resources for entrepreneurs, including articles on a broad range of topics and profiles of success stories.

Most of the content seems to be submitted by visitors to the site, including the articles and the entrepreneur profiles. The profiles are in an interview format, although the interview is self-conducted using a downloadable template from the site. I submitted one on our experience starting our Video Production Company, and the best part is that you basically have editorial control over the article.

To submit your own interview, go here to download their form. Expect it to take a few weeks to be featured on the site.

Get Free PR from HARO

Who doesn’t like free PR? You’re an expert in your field and chances are that there’s a reporter out there looking for a source just like you.

That’s where Peter Shankman’s free HARO or ‘Help A Reporter Out‘ newsletter comes in. Enter your email address to receive up to three emails daily, each with 15-30 queries from reporters looking for experts in a wide variety of fields.

I signed up about 2 months ago and have managed to find and reply to about 6 inquiries that were relevant to my company. Of these, only 2 were successful - Maybe not the best rate of success, but it only takes a minute to scan through each email, and over time I’m sure these will add up. And as most PR experts will tell you, it’s often the on-going relationships you can develop with reporters that will really pay off.

Check out www.helpareporter.com for more details.