Finding your interactive stride on Twitter

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In How to Dramatically Increase your Twitter Following, Forbes contributor Dorie Clark walks us through a knuckle-down effort on tweety bird.  It was three years ago that I began to tweet with concerted effort, but it wasn't until last year that I figured it out and found my stride.  I have separate profiles for five of my projects, and two are really smoking right now - Ron Villejo Consulting and sportsPond53.  

With RVC^ I have 5534 Tweets and 1119 Followers, so perfectly in line with research findings that Clark mentions.  However, my approach to getting here is more of a hybrid between the two things she talks about.  I have quite a set up on social media for my projects: Besides Twitter, I am on Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, XING, EFactor, Pinterest and ASW Inner Circle.  So that's a lot, and I have to take a slow-and-steady progression, that is, post and comment just a couple of things, mainly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  

But I also double-down with a lot of content in certain instances or events.  For RVC^ it was weekly Tweet Chats with a group called Lead with Giants.  I am no longer active here, but it springboarded me into a small circle of friends who tweet each other daily.  From there, other followers chimed in, and now my circles have not only grown, but also Retweets and Favorites of my stuff have exploded (20 - 40 a day).  Moreover, for sportsPond53, I seem to have slipped into fourth gear, even overdrive, with tweeting back and forth with several friends around hockey and basketball playoff games in the last two months.  

So weigh what Clark suggests, but the real value of her advice is figuring out what truly works best for your purpose.

David Hasselhoff gives Marissa Mayer ideas

Marissa Mayer

Mayer did play up to the egos of the ad industry audience by noting that commercials are often more interesting than programming, saying that ads can be "30-second stories."

Reference: Yahoo CEO takes heat for stilted presentation in Cannes.

Maybe Marissa Mayer is feeling more heat to build up Yahoo! business and lift revenues.  But the apparent irony to her talk was her not spinning Yahoo! and telling its stories very naturally.  She may have slipped into more programming than commercials, in other words.  No matter, it's a lesson learned for the struggling CEO.  David Hasselhoff running around the crowd with his red Baywatch buoy may give her, and the rest of us, some ideas.

What stories can you tell while on the go?

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New York Times writer Kit Eaton talks exclusively about the first part of Mobile blogging options for storytelling on the go.  But the part about storytelling on the go is an awesome idea.  Blogger is my main platform, and I've written articles on my iPhone Notes app, while on a Metra ride to Chicago, then simply copied and pasted onto my blog.  While blogs and social media have frank distinctions, they are increasingly more alike with another.  Storytelling is what defines blogging, and certainly social media can be one set of platforms for it.  

But what is storytelling?  It's speaking more personally about something, and weaving it into a narrative, even a short one, which has a bit of drama, intrigue or emotion.  How does storytelling help your company or brand?  That personal touch may just be what appeals to your target customers or audience.  Stories have to be genuine, and stories have to be relevant.  When you're on the go, you encounter a vast pool of sights, and sounds, and smells, that can be the seeds to a story you write, literally while you're on the go.  

100 best websites for women entrepreneurs

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As Forbes staff Meghan Casserly writes in The 100 Best Websites for Women Entrepreneurs, women going into business don't have to go at it alone.  Supports and networks are at their disposal.  I understand that women are more predominant than men, when it comes to buying online, so it makes sense for business owners in general to keep them firmly in mind.  Moreover, Casserly challenges the notion that women are just about fashion, beauty and fitness.  They are so much more, clearly, so have a look-see.

Social media strategy is inviolably social

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From the Working Knowledge e-newsletter, by Harvard Business School, comes this recent offering -  Secrets to a Successful Social Media Strategy.  It's a well-written piece, and describes the research and book by Professor Mikolaj Jan Piskorski clearly and persuasively.  In brief, companies that succeed best, and apparently gain a profit, are those that navigate the tricky balance between broadcasting commercial messages and engaging loyal and would-be customers.  Piskorski calls it quid pro quo - this, for that - which is neither a new or a secret concept.  Still it's very tricky indeed to carry out and make happen.

Quid pro quo is about give-and-take.  It doesn't have to be in the sequence.  But if I give, then I have credit for taking, such as messaging them with a request or promotion.  If I take, then I must give back in some form or another, such as a congratulatory comment or thoughtful contribution.  But it's hardly ever that cut-and-dried.  Someone noted that social media was becoming less social, and I agreed.  In fact I have agreed since I got active on Facebook five years ago: specifically, people were more likely to post and see, than truly participate, engage and converse.  

So keep social media social.  Pikorski distinguishes between "digital strategy on social platforms" (business-oriented, outbound messages) and "social strategy on social platforms" (people-centered, two-way street)  This is too pedantic and elementary, really, as far as concept goes.  Social media strategy is, and must be acknowledged fully as, inviolably social.  When I am on social media, I do my best to view people as people whom I would meet with, hang out with, and talk to.  The same sort of considerateness, reciprocity, genuineness and respect come into play.  

How I use LinkedIn to promote a program

Ron Villejo, PhD

I am affiliated with the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western University (US), and I am working with them to encourage managers and executives to attend a very unique program - Leadership Deep Dive - to be held in Dubai. I really enjoy attending conferences and networking with fellow business people and professionals.  But when time and budget are tight, I focus more on social media, especially LinkedIn.  With 300+ million now on the site, it is simply hard to beat.

Here are three key things I've done to promote LDD, and their benefits for me:

1. I took stock of my 1071 connections, and privately messaged those who might very well be interested in this program.  It gave me reason to check in and get caught up a bit with a number of them who responded back.  
2. LinkedIn allows me to target colleagues, even those who aren't connections.  I am a member of a group by a key client prospect in the Middle East, so I can see colleagues' headline profiles in a list and message those who fit my target directly.  I do not send mass or generic messages; in fact I message each one personally, that is, by name, and reference their position and company name.  
3. Both connections and would-be connections have been checking out my profile more.  Since I started promoting LDD, I have had a noticeable uptick in views (below).  That isn't the only thing I'm doing - I post and comment regularly on my Timeline, plus I am active in select groups.  

I am proud to say that in 2012, my profile was in the top 5% most viewed among about 200 million members.  To be in the top 19% among my connections in particular is quite good, actually.  Last year I updated my profile once or twice a week, which LinkedIn algorithms would announce to my connections.  But because I hadn't updated it in a while, these profile views prompted me to do so.

Avoid overly repetitive commercial ads

That Muppets commercial is beyond annoying now after seeing it 1,000 times tonight
— CJ Imondi (@CJImondi) June 9, 2014

@sportsPond53 lmfao
— CJ Imondi (@CJImondi) June 9, 2014

My friend and I, and scores of others, were watching the NBA Final between the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat last night (Game 2) - and tweeting in the process.  I knew exactly what commercial he alluded to, and I agreed with him 100%.

I've been feasting on playoff hockey since mid-April, and through the Stanley Cup Final thus far, NBC Sports Network has shown pretty much the same set of commercials.  I haven't followed playoff basketball as much, but now that we're in the NBA Final, I've tuned in.  ABC Sports also seems locked on the same set of commercials, including this one for the Toyota Highlander.  

The repetitive airing has become quite mind-numbing and off-putting.  I don't know how well I represent these advertisers' target, and I don't know if my friend's reaction and mine are similar to others.  But they have to closely review their strategy, delivery and effectiveness.  Besides Toyota and the Muppets, it's Geico, Enterprise and BMO Harris that are tedious, unimaginative brands.  

Keep these points in mind, when you're designing and developing your promotional videos and ad campaigns.