It’s inevitable that with the rise of social media, businesses will have to think of new ways to reach out to potential customers and market themselves. Cold calling is a common sales technique in the offline world, but what’s its equivalent in the Digital Age? Cold emails and cold tweeting are often considered to be Read more about Cold Tweeting: Are You Doing It Wrong?[…]
Facebook regularly makes changes to its site, so social media users usually don’t make too much of a fuss when it happens. However, Twitter has recently rolled out a few interesting updates on its platform, and the reaction has been quite strong. Some of these features you might find useful, others… not so much. Tweet Activity Tweet Activity has Read more about New on Twitter: Polls, Hearts & Tweet Activity[…]
With the rising popularity of live streaming video apps, like Periscope and Meerkat, businesses are starting to pay attention and use these tools to their advantage. Live streaming is not new, but the added mobile aspect makes it easier than ever to capture, stream and share live content. While the abovementioned apps were only released Read more about Live Streaming for Business: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly[…]
Hashtags are becoming more and more popular because they’re no longer limited to Twitter; now they’ve spread to most major social networks. If you haven’t been using them as part of your social media strategy, you’re missing out on getting the best possible results for your business posts. What’s a hashtag? It’s a word or Read more about Let’s hash out the #hashtag[…]
Here’s another good question I received from my Ask-me form on my Timberry.com website: If I’m trying to build my Twitter presence to support my [omitted] business, who should I follow? How do I find them? How to decide? I’m happy to answer that one because I think it could be useful to a lot Read more about Q&A: Who Do I Follow For Business Twitter[…]
Everybody involved with business social media (or flirting with it) ought to read 10 Ways We’re Being Rude in Social Media and Don’t Even Know It by David Spark. Here’s his list (explanations are either mine, or in quotes): Friend collecting. David makes the point that friends and followers aren’t necessarily a measure of engagement or value. Read more about 10 Business Social Media Mistakes to Avoid[…]
(Sung to the tune of Reciprocity, from Chicago) I think it’s brilliant: there, in a nutshell, LinkedIn points out one of the key drivers of social media: reciprocity. Here’s the picture: With this new skills-based endorsement feature the reciprocity is obvious. Every LinkedIn user has a set of skills claimed. Every other user can endorse Read more about Social Media Back Scratching Explosion[…]
On one hand, twitter (or Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, etc) offers a positive change in business landscape, a brave new world of business possibilities, and you’re crazy to ignore it. On the other, it’s just a distraction, a shiny new thing, that gets in the way of the real business. Can both hands be right? Yes. Read more about Social Media is the Brush, Not the Painting[…]
(Note: originally published on Planning Startups Stories) I’m getting to know Twitter more these days, using it more, and enjoying it. I’m Timberry on Twitter. I’m frequently grateful to Twitter friends for pointing out good ideas, blogs, thoughts, pictures. Twitter enlivens my day, and brightens my writing. I’m beginning to develop a sense of what Read more about 18-Point Twitter Etiquette Primer[…]
Pictures, words, lots of ideas. If one picture equals 1,000 words, how many ideas does it generate? Is there a transitive property there? I had time over the weekend to pick up two unrelated pictures. Each covers something entirely different. Both are full of ideas. The first, a chart by Seth Godin: This is one Read more about 2 Pictures, 200 Words, Lots of Ideas.[…]