Connie Bensen

There have been many posts on Twitter & tutorials keep coming out. Awhile ago I wrote about how I had to shift my use of Twitter.

When I had only 120-150 followers I checked in 3-4 times per day. And I would page back through everyone’s tweets & open links that I would read later.

But the twitterstorm that @jowyang created disrupted that & my number started growing. It took me a bit to readjust & I started using some new tools.

Now at 750 followers here is how I use Twitter:

• pop in only on breaks (It’s too disruptive to stream)
• chat with my network that is online at the moment
• if I see an interesting comment I may
  • click on the @username for context
  • follow that person
  • put their name into quotably.com to see the thread of the conversation (it works pretty well albeit it’s not perfect)
• use quotably.com to check my favorite tweeters & follow their links
• check replies & respond

My Twitter tips:

If you tweet about a broad variety of topics you’ll get followers of varied interests

Ask questions – crowdsource your followers – they love to help! (today I asked if I should get a kayak or canoe; on another day it was what to do in Paris) It’s also a great place to get tech help (my following is very geeky).

Business related tips:

• Tweetscan.com delivers an email every morning to me with a standing search for:
  • cbensen – for DM’s that are missed – Twitter is prone to hiccups)
  • cbenson (people misspelling my name)
  • acdsee – brand monitoring
  • community manager – I’m connecting with like minded people & I like reading the news as people announce their positions or talk about their work
  • take your tweetscan search & share it with others
    • Here’s an example that I saw Radian6 using
    • *update* Look at what Zappos is doing
      • Public mentions
      • Employee tweets
      • List of employees that Tweet
      • Link to follow the CEO

• • • If you use that – make sure you monitor it so there aren’t negative tweets on it
    • Get creative with it! It’s offered in an RSS feed – where can you embed it? website? blog?

Benefits:

• Networking – I’ve met a large number of people from Minnesota. After getting to know them I’m ready to attend the Twin Cities Social Media Breakfast next week & meet them in person!
• Branding -
  • repetitive – Use your photo as your avatar
  • memorable – Use a representative photo for your home page & people will see it when they check out your profile or go to DM you. This space offers the opportunity to display your brand logo multiple times. If you have questions on how to do it, let me know – I know of some software that makes it easy!

Follow me @cbensen & I’ll follow you back!

Resources

• for the beginner – Beginner’s Guide to Twitter
• more in-depth – Caroline Middlebrook has a great guide
• And there are tons of Twitter app’s out there – Lee Odden lists 5 newer ones & @jowyang has a good list too.
• Ellen has a good resource
• all things Twitter – a wiki with many, many resources!

Update – an interesting article on Twitter

Blog commenting is probably one of the easier things to accomplish when I’m traveling. I’m using Jeremiah Owyang’s tip of having blog ideas created in advance.

In my first post I listed my methodology for starting or rebuilding a blog. I’ve used it twice. There’s an aspect that’s more important than that & it bears repeating:

“It’s not all about you & your blog!

There is a much bigger world out there & you are but one voice, so you need to join the collective:

1. read other people’s blogs & comment – use a blog reader

• get involved & ask questions
• provide value & insight for them based on their writing & encourage them to grow

2. respond to their post on your blog if if your response is too long for a comment

• make sure that you reference the original post & use their static link (people appreciate the link love)
• this introduces your readers to a blog that you enjoy (a form of sharing your friend’s blog)
• sometimes it’s wise to wait a day or so if it’s an emotional response – maybe pretend that you’re writing to your boss?

3. comment on blogs that reference you & your writing

• use Google alerts & Technorati to see who’s writing about you & your blog
  • follow those links & respond to the conversation
  • it’s a great way to build brand
• allow trackbacks & follow them

4. show appreciation for the sharing of knowledge by your network

• utilize a variety of formats – Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc
• remember that it’s a group effort & we can do more together!

What ideas do you have for commenting on blogs? Have you gotten to know people through their blogs? Share your experiences.

Like that question has never been answered before! So why am I addressing it? Well, someone asked my opinion & after coming up with 5 steps & prioritizing them I thought the process should be shared.

Here is my advice for starting a blog along with some resources to get you started.

1. Branding

• Who are you & what makes you memorable? I have my photo…
• What is your message? You may not have your voice yet, but that’s ok.

2. Choose a theme & someone to build it if you’re technically challenged like me

• Find a theme that reflects your personality
• SEO is huge & widget-ready will make it fun for you
• Google Analytics & Feedburner are important
• choose a blogging platform that is user friendly
• I really like WordPress & my sister builds great blogs

3. Start writing and find your voice

• I don’t believe you need content in advance because I’ve started 3 – cold
• After 2-3 months you’ll be comfortable & will have found your voice
• During this time read & post comments on other’s blogs
• ‘Gently’ link to your relevant blog posts.

4. Go thru your posts & redo the categories at 3 months or so

• Now that you have your voice, you’ll know what you’re writing about!
• Categorize them for your readers please (it’s the librarian coming out in me)

5. Be consistent in your posting & grow your blog

• Check your stat’s & interpret them
• What searches are hitting your blog?
• Follow links back (using Technorati) and thank them for linking to you

Bonus idea – I did say 5 up there.

6. Repurpose questions that people ask or that you see multiple times.

• If one or a few people have them, then chances are the lurkers do too (which is 95% or so people).

What did I miss? It should be a fun process. If it’s work you probably won’t do it (please don’t contribute to the massive number of abandoned blogs). It will take effort, but it will be rewarding! enjoy!

Blogging gets easier with time. After awhile the self conscious feeling fades & it becomes more natural. Give yourself time to grow with it!

Does a brand have personality? This question brought more to mind:

• If you asked your customers, would they say that your brand has personality?
• As a marketer how do you give your brand personality?
• As a Community Manager how can I give our ACDSee brand personality?

All of those questions resulted from reading about Rohit Bhargava’s new book.

Faceless companies don’t work anymore. In a world where consumers have more access to information than ever, and more power to share their voice … a brand’s identity is no longer controlled through marketing and advertising. In this new era, what you say your brand stands for is no longer good enough. What you demonstrate to your customers matters most. This is the power of your personality.

This book is going to be an interesting read because I think my sister & I personalized the ACDSee brand. Here’s what happened:

• We’ve had a website since January, but this happened July
• We started holding real time chats at digital scrapbooking sites
• We became branded as Connie & Heidi – our personalities came thru
• Because ACDSee Photo Editor was little known, we spent the first half hour chatting about it each time
• Our chat schedule has been busy with one per week since July
• ACDSee Photo Editor not only has users, but word of mouth is increasing

I had realized how we launched ACDSee Photo Editor. Talking about it in real time was far more effective than traditional advertising efforts. But have we given the brand personality? And my sister stepped up the social media initiative by doing a webinar so people could see the software being used! That was well received too.

So my question is – when digiscrapping ladies think of ACDSee, do they think of ‘Connie & Heidi’? Or does the brand have it’s own personality? I just asked a couple what their ‘word association’ response was to ACDSee. One said ‘easier scrapping’ & the other said ‘Connie’. I think I need a bigger poll!

Overall, social media efforts are probably more appealing to potential customers because of their interactive nature. Customers are thinking about the product, asking questions and if that results in a positive experience it’s integrated with their sense of the brand.

In my work as a Community Manager I’m working externally with Customers as well as internally with our team. It’s my goal that the enthusiasm for social media tools is extended in both directions. Everyone should share in the excitement about the brand! It’s more than just creating & selling of the software. Or on the flip side, the use of it. It should be an experience that everyone wants to share with others!

So my challenge is how can I impart this? Here’s an example where a digital designer uploaded an image of her kit, then describes it using Utterz (it definitely gives it a new dimension). Does it give her work personality?

What ideas do you have for creating brand personality? We can brainstorm while we wait for Rohit’s book to be published!