Over the last couple of years, SEO Bridges has served a two-fold purpose. To generate income and to be a marketing engine for myself and my writing. When I started writing my novel, an author friend suggested I begin marketing. I had wanted to start a business, and I figured starting a business that allowed me to focus on the needs of readers and writers would help me market myself and my writing.

Over that time, I have treated myself as I would any other client. Or at least that has been my goal. For the first year, @SEOBridges maintained a larger following than @ErickWrites. Then, my personal Twitter feed began to outgrow my business Twitter feed. I had adopted a new strategy. I started to focus more on conversations, rather than just dissemination of information.

Once I started doing that, I found more Twitter followers who Tweeted well and just liked to chat. Now, as I continue to chat, I am changing my Twitter strategy once again. I will continue to use Twitter to find conversationalists and get into conversations, but I will also use it for market research.

If you feel your Twitter strategy has become mundane repetition, you might want to consider changing your Twitter strategy. If your Twitter strategy is all about you and not about your followers, you might want to change your Twitter strategy.

Have you considered changing your Twitter strategy? How has your Twitter strategy changed? Is your Twitter strategy working for you? Do you have a Twitter strategy and what is it?

Stay social, my friends!

Erick

Last week, Avinash Kaushik tweeted that some people don’t think before they Tweet, and that can lead to adverse consequences. I Replied, “It makes one consider that the freedom of speech has given rise and justification to the freedom of criticism.” I thought I’d write out a Social Media Marketing Rights version of U.S. citizens’ Miranda Rights:

“You have the right not to post or tweet everything you’re thinking or doing all the time. Anything you post or tweet can be used against you by anyone, anytime, anywhere for any reason at all. You have the right to maintain a social media presence separate from your everyday social and personal life, now and during future interactions with your friends, followers, and fans. You have the right to hire or consult a social media marketing agency, before you engage in social media. If you cannot afford to hire or consult a social media marketing agency, you’re on your own. If you must let everyone on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and other social media sites know what you’re doing and thinking all the time, all those free social media tools you use may cost you your job, privacy, and dignity.”

Like your Miranda Rights (If you’re a U.S. citizen), which are meant to remind you that you don’t have to incriminate yourself under police interrogation or in a court of law, your Social Media Marketing Rights should remind you that when engaging with your friends, fans, and followers on social media sites, there are just some things better left unsaid because not leaving those things unsaid could spell trouble.

Stay social, my friends!

Erick

No matter whether you’re a social media novice, aficionado, or expert, there is bound to be something in this book you can glean from. It’s a great resource for teachers and students, and it covers all of the basis from blogging to the importance of a social media plan.

If you’ve read this book, let me know your thoughts. I’d love to glean from you, and learn what has and has not worked. If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, you can buy it below.

The Social Media Survival Guide by Deltina Hay

You can learn more about Deltina by visiting her website, Social Media Power, or following her @Deltina.

Stay social, my friends!

Erick

When determining whether or not you should create a Twitter account, consider not all tweets are created equally. The value of your tweets is determined by your Social Media Radii (SMR).

Factors to determine your SMR:

1. The type of business your operate (If you’re a restaurant, people in your area have greater value than those outside).

2. People’s demand for your product or service.

3. The number of people who follow you.

4. How well and often your followers use Twitter (If a person follows you, but hasn’t used Twitter in months, it is unlikely they will see your tweets).

5. Your followers’ location(s) in proximity to you (See number 1).

6. Your followers’ potential to buy your product, come to your event, or otherwise engage with you in a way that is profitable to you.

7. Your followers’ potential to retweet or otherwise inform others about you, your business, and your product and/or service.

8. How well you integrate your twitter account with your other social media accounts.

The best way to determine your SMR is to use a social media monitoring service like Postrank or Sysomos. I also listed some free tools to help you get started.

Klout Trendsmap Mentionmapp Hootsuite

Your social media radii determines the value of your tweets and all your social media efforts. So, when determining whether or not to put up a Twitter account, how often to tweet, and what to tweet consider the above eight factors. Can you think of any other factors to include in considering Social Media Radii?

Stay social my friends,

Erick

If you use Twitter, you’re probably using a Twitter desktop client like Hootsuite. If you’re not, you’ll want to set that up and connect it to Twitter and your other social media accounts. You can also try Tweetdeck or Seesmic, but I prefer the ease and functionality of Hootsuite.

At some point, you’ll want to create Twitter lists, which can help you raise your Klout score and manage your online conversations. Create lists that are useful to yourself and your followers. The more attractive the lists you create, the more people will want to follow those lists. And if you’re worried about your online reputation, Klout judges you by whom you add to your lists and who follows your lists.

Once you’ve created your lists, and you’ve chosen your Desktop client, you can turn up to ten lists into columns on Hootsuite. I turned my Conversationalists, Informative Tweeters, and SD Writers and friends lists into columns. I included those lists because they consist of Tweeters I want to engage with the most and those sources of information I find the most relevant. I reserve my other columns for keywords, hashtags, and my home feed.

One other way Klout judges you is according to how people interact with you. So set up lists of people most likely to engage with you, retweet you, and/or thank you for retweeting them. If you want to follow some great people who will get into conversations with you, follow my Conversationalists list, interact with tweeters on that lists, find other conversational Tweeters, and check out my blog about Engaging on Twitter.

Stay social my friends,

Erick

For several months we tested three Twitter clients: Tweetdeck, Seesmic, and Hootsuite.  Here are some brief thoughts on those three Twitter clients.

TweetDeck

While you can manage multiple accounts, the incessant number of columns we had to create to do so drove us mad.  We sent them several direct Tweets, but they continually ignored us.  Ignoring one’s audience is never good for any person’s or company’s social media marketing campaign. We don’t recommend them unless you want to waste time.

Seesmic

We found it easier to manage multiple accounts on Seesmic, but we could only manage one Facebook account.  We didn’t like this, so we didn’t stick with them for long.  Though they recently announced integration with Google Buzz and Ping.fm.  They have some useful features, but we don’t recommend them as a primary Twitter client.

Hootsuite

Just like TweetDeck and Seesmic, Hootsuite allows users to manage multiple accounts.  We also found it more convenient to switch client tabs instead of setting up client columns, and users can schedule Tweets with Hootsuite.

So, as I said, we’re not ready to give up on Seesmic, but Hootsuite offers more of what we want in a Twitter client.  Do you have any thoughts?  BTW, here’s a chart that compares Tweetdeck, Seesmic, and Hootsuite.  All three have come out with updates since this chart was created, but it will give you an idea of what they do and don’t offer.

Nate Bal: The Difference Between TweetDeck, HootSuite And Seesmic

My mother always told me if you can’t say it in 140 characters or less, it’s not microblogging.

Enjoy!

Mobile Microblogging

tinySCRAP – Location based microblogging

Qaiku – Integrates with Facebook

brightkite – Integrates with Facebook and more

Seesmic – Includes desktop app

floort – Share your opinion about anything * Integrates with Facebook, Twitter, Live, and Ning

P2 – WordPress microblogging

tumblr - Integrates with iPhone, Facebook, AIM, Twitter, and more

mysay – Record what you’re saying

Zannel – Share videos and photos

Rememble – Add texts, videos, pics, and audio clips from your PC

Build a Microblogging Community

Typepad Motion – Bring Microblogging to your website

Jaiku – Post from the Web, by SMS, or from desktop clients

Yonkly – You can host it yourself, and they have an opensource edition

Twingr – Stay in touch with friends, family, or those who share your interests

Microbloghost – This is a WordPress based microblogging host with an online translator

Business Microblogging

Socialcast – A microblogging platform that allow companies to stay in touch with their customers and employees * Integrate with iPhone and Blackberry/Includes desktop app

Cestu – A social marketplace for businesses to promote their products, services, etc

sharetronix – Microblogging with a multi-media corporate version

SlideShare – Upload and share PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and Adobe PDF Portfolios

Socialtext –  Includes social networking, microblogging, Wiki Workspaces, and more

Yammer – Helps companies stay in touch with their customers and employees.

Yahoo Meme – Of course Yahoo joined the microblogging craze.

presently –     A microblogging platform that allows companies to stay in touch with their customers and employees

Others

Identica –  A microblogging service similar to Twitter

koornk – A basic microblogging platform

Flattr – A microblogging platform that allows you to show the love by sharing the wealth

Twit Army – A public timeline based on laconica

youare – Import your life from Youtube, Flickr, Delicious * Includes a WordPress theme

posterous – Post by e-mailing post@posterouscom

dailybooth – A picture and video sharing microblog

hictu – Build a microblog with video, audio, and text posts

Spotjots – Share your life in pics with the world

12seconds –  Send video updates * Integrates with Twitter and Facebook

Sweetter –  Opensource microblogging

Sprouter – Collaborate and networking with other entrepreneurs

plerb – A basic microblogging platform

meemi – Microblog and comment on people’s posts

Secondbrain – Discover and share great bookmarks

textcurve –  Share anything anonymously

sFeed – A shopping microblog that focuses on fashion news and entertainment

blellow – Allows freelancers and professionals to collaborate, find work, and be more productive

twingly – Follow and discuss various topics or events

FriendFeed – A microblogging platform Integrates with Facebook, Google, and Twitter

echowaves – Pick up your conversation where you left off

blurtit – Ask questions and get answers

Plurk –  A basic microblogging platform

Vixles – Location based microblogging

There’s a few others, but they weren’t worth mentioning.

Go ahead and comment, Tweet me , or e-mail me.

Erick

This past weekend I watched an old, 1927, black and white, silent movie called Metropolis. The more I read the captions, the more I realized silent movies were the first microblogging platform. For this blog, I will use Twitter as an example, but the list applies to all microblogging platforms.

Silent Movies vs. Microblogging

Text

Silent Movies: Writers had a limited amount of text with which to convey the most pertinent messages of a silent movie’s story line.

Microblogging: A limited amount of text should tell your audience a story about yourself and your products or services.  Your Tweets should be relevant, personal, and conversational. Not necessarily all at the same time.

Scenery

Silent Movies: Where writers couldn’t add text, scenery had to match the story line.

Microblogging: Your Tweets, your brand, and your website should match your message.  Write about what’s relevant to your audience, and brand yourself as caring about the same things your audience cares about.

Gestures

Silent movies: Actors used overt gestures and facial expressions (Silent movie actors studied the art of mime).

Microblogging: If someone retweets you, thank them. Interact with your followers and those you follow. And don’t be afraid to put a smiley face or wink in with your Tweets.

Future

Silent Movies: They evolved from one form of communication into another.

Microblogging: It evolved from one form of communication (blogging), and it will evolve into another form of communication.  Microblogging may not die out, much like blogging, but it will develop into a new form of communication.

I don’t think it’ll be too long before we’re using computers like the one in Tom Cruise’s Minority Report. Maybe them, social media marketing will become more virtual, and we’ll be able to interact with one another in holographic virtual realities.

Do you have any thoughts about what social media marketing might look like in the near or far future?  Go ahead and comment, e-mail me, or Tweet me.

This is the third blog in my series about blogging and micro-blogging, which is a great way to boost you social media marketing campaign.  Again, this week’s software offers a free version, but it is not open source.  Though, Yammer can provide open source script that runs within firewalls and will sync a LDAP or Active Directory server with Yammer.

Since we are interested in the free version, let’s look at that version of Yammer.  Yammer’s free micro-blogging platform includes the ability to share files and create groups, mailing list integration, SMS integration, desktop/iPhone/Blackberry apps, and of course the ability to suspend former employees.  If you want to know what the silver and gold packages include, read about them here.

Yammer works much like Twitter; though, there are some features Yammer offers that Twitter does not.  Yammer users can set up RSS feeds, set ups those apps, or integrate with SMS.  Honestly, without signing up, I don’t know if Yammer will automatically shorten URL’s; though, there is a paperclip right below the message bog where users can attach files.  I’m also not sure if that’s just for pics or Word and other files.  But it’s there.  Whatever types of files you can attach, it’s much easier than having to go through your list of contacts and finding e-mail addresses.  Oh and just like Twitter users can follow and unfollow people, set up or join groups, view a tag directory, view a file directory, and do so much more.

Okay, so there’s more.  But that more costs a little something.  Since I only blog about free and open source software, I am going to let you review the perks of the silver and gold versions.  Depending on which version you want, it’s only $3 or $5 per user per month, and you can add clients with either of those versions.  All in all, the ROI might be well worth it.

Oh yeah, for anyone who hasn’t noticed that social media marketing is going mobile, here’s a link to Yammer’s apps.  And, of course, you can always be assured that no matter how long a person locks themselves in the lavatory, Yammer always has your security in mind.  And they’ll never charge for extra bags.