Tweetups & suggestion for Twtvite

I'm attending my first Tweetup on January 28th. Thanks to Chris Farias, Jen Hudder and Meg Coppolino for putting this together.

If you live in the Hamilton, Ontario, Canada area come and join us!

They are using Twtvite to get the word out and manage registration. It's a slick tool but I would like to be able to quickly scan and learn who is attending as illustrated in the screenshot below.

Social media helps people make connections, create relationships and physically network. You can use it to have fun, meet interesting people and generate business. For those of you attending the January 28th Tweetup...see you there!

Spontanious conversation using Scribble Live

Had an interesting spontaneous discussion with a few folks tonight using Scribble Live a live blogging service recently featured on Dragons Den where they raised $250K in VC funding.

It started with @tamera asking when would we get past social media 101. I don't want to put words in her mouth but essentially her point was that the chatter on twitter is being rehashed and there is no fresh thinking and tweets coming across her tweetstreams.

So, with that challenge in mind we headed over to ScribbleLive to discuss this further and below is the transcript of what was covered. We had a few others join us and the conversation was interesting. I don't think it lasted an hour and the the conversation started at 8:30 not 9:30pm.

Nevertheless, this was interesting to me on two levels. First, I engaged with four people I'd never met before. Cool! Second, we used a tool to have water cooler discussion on a topic of mutual interest.

• 9:28 PM: b2bspecialist This is a realtime twitter stream meant to engage folks in realtime.
• 9:29 PM: tamera Interesting - I like this concept... and I like that it's easily archived.
• 9:29 PM: b2bspecialist Social Media 101 is dominating the twitter streams and there is rehashing of stuff
• 9:29 PM: b2bspecialist A canadian company developed this and just got $250K
• 9:30 PM: b2bspecialist Twubs is an application that's interesting as well
• 9:30 PM: tamera Exactly, there is nothing wrong with education, in fact it's crucial, but to evolve the space we, who have been around and involved through trial and error need to move the convo forward.
• 9:31 PM: tamera So, when talking about pitching journalists for e.g. should we be saying "read what they write" or should we be talking about why storytelling matters?
• 9:32 PM: b2bspecialist agreed, i think some of us are scratching our heads. The business case for social media could be at risk if we don't start sharing real world examples of success, frameworks to use. Will answer your post next.
• 9:33 PM: b2bspecialist I think ppl will have more choices where they can consume information. What's changed is the ability to have a conversation with someone you would never have met before. Like you!
• 9:33 PM: tamera Bingo. I wonder if it has to do with being hesitant to share our failures and our successes with a large audience so we resort to the same old same old.
• 9:33 PM: tamera :) absolutely!
• 9:35 PM: tamera So for example, in terms of failure, if you are a brand in a small market, like Canada, and you don't get the kind of coverage you want in mainstream media or via a FB page, how do you then know what to do to evolve? It cld be you should rethink what your story/ value is, or perhaps your approach.
• 9:35 PM: b2bspecialist I think sharing failure and success has to be shared. Ppl will make their own conclusions. There are more questions then answers regarding social media and expressing our selves in this medium.
• 9:36 PM: b2bspecialist You ask ppl.
• 9:37 PM: b2bspecialist There is always someone that is willing to help in my experience.
• 9:37 PM: tamera Yes, and typically ppl seem to be more willing (myself included) to jump on the negative when someone does something we perceive to be wrong vs. "sharing our trade secrets", whatever that means in this space.
• 9:38 PM: tamera @b2bspecialist I think that's true, but I also think you have to be aware of what the person brings to the table. Some advice may not make sense in your context.
• 9:38 PM: b2bspecialist That's a really tough one. Honestly I think it boils down to your personal values. I for example will share what I know and expect nothing in return. But, I'm not living in a multi-millaion dollar house...so...!!
• 9:39 PM: tamera @b2bspecialist Agreed. I know Miss Rouge has talked about that as well in terms of how much time/ energy you can spend helping and end up getting burned. It's happened to me, but I'll keep doing it.
• 9:40 PM: b2bspecialist This is an example of how we are learning a new tool together to have a conversation. We may learn from it and from each other. But, not sure.
• 9:40 PM: mcorsano hey there
• 9:40 PM: b2bspecialist Well we have a third watcher.
• 9:41 PM: tamera I think it's a good start. I don't expect to change the world tonight ;-)
• 9:41 PM: b2bspecialist Hey @mcorsano
• 9:41 PM: tamera Hey there :)
• 9:41 PM: mcorsano another peep! am catching up on the threads
• 9:41 PM: b2bspecialist Coolio
• 9:43 PM: b2bspecialist I sent out a tweet asking if ppl would like to develope a social marketing framework and pricing model with me. A collaborative if you will.
• 9:43 PM: tamera I'm going to have to pop out for a bit, have dinner cooking, but I'll check back in and perhaps we can try and keep this going over time.
• 9:43 PM: b2bspecialist Ok, great to chat in greater depth.
• 9:44 PM: mcorsano have a good one :)
• 9:44 PM: b2bspecialist @mcorsano do you want to continue with this thread? No worries if you don't.
• 9:44 PM: tamera @b2bspecialist absolutely, I like this, kinda mailing list meets real-time w/o the character limit.
• 9:45 PM: mcorsano well am not sure what the topic/theme is other than B2B?
• 9:45 PM: b2bspecialist lol
• 9:46 PM: mcorsano Now I see you are a B2B marketing agency head? interesting all my experience is B2B
• 9:47 PM: b2bspecialist Well, the conversation was started by @tamera in twitter. She was saying that the tweets were rehashed tweets from us folks who have been "around" the twitter world. Long in tooth so to speak. She was wondering what's next or will it be the same old, same old. And yes, B2B too! Coolio.
• 9:47 PM: mcorsano oh yes I saw her tweets on that
• 9:47 PM: mcorsano good first trial on Scribble live for me..so I hopped in here
• 9:48 PM: b2bspecialist Ok, want to chat about Scribble instead? Ways to use it for b2b companies maybe?
• 9:50 PM: mcorsano yes, sure would be good
• 9:50 PM: mcorsano can you put it behind a firewall for internal collaboration?
• 9:51 PM: b2bspecialist I would imagine so. Yammer is another option.
• 9:51 PM: DoctorJones Hey folks. I like the use of ScribbleLive for something like this.
• 9:52 PM: mcorsano Are similar functionality being built into Enterprise 2.0 platforms, say like Microsoft Unified Communications Server?
• 9:52 PM: b2bspecialist Hey Doc, glad to have you in this.
• 9:52 PM: b2bspecialist Beyond 101 is very interesting. What would 102 be is the question?
• 9:53 PM: DoctorJones @mcorsano @b2bspecialist We're big yammer users at our agency. Has really opened up international sharing.
• 9:54 PM: mcorsano 102 may include the application for intended purpose - case studies, user experiences....
• 9:54 PM: mcorsano 102 may include the integration -- break down the silos
• 9:54 PM: DoctorJones @mcorsano There is some neat capabilities in Microsoft OCS. IM,  video conferencing. It's pretty cool.
• 9:55 PM: mcorsano Molson uses Yammer as well I understand
• 9:55 PM: b2bspecialist @doctorjones seems to have a good case study to share via Yammer. But yes, real world use cases are great examples. Forrester has some on their site and Josh Bernoff covers some in Groundswell.
• 9:56 PM: mcorsano I think these siloed one-off Web 2.0 platforms will not be useful on their own
• 9:56 PM: b2bspecialist I've seen Msft OCS and I agree it is amazing. What's funny is IM has been covertly in place in companies for years.
• 9:57 PM: mcorsano 102 may be bridging them or mashing them up 
• 9:57 PM: b2bspecialist Cisco Community Central is an interesting use case as well.
• 9:58 PM: mcorsano I sold Lotus Notes in 1993 and the collaboration stuff peeps had little idea how to apply
• 9:59 PM: mcorsano But they caught on pretty fast -- it was advantage to have the function bundled with other utilities such as Email and document management, version control...
• 9:59 PM: b2bspecialist The technology is one thing but it's about the willingness to communicate. I find as I encounter older folks (not all, I'm older!) they are reluctant to share and/or are afraid of the technology.
• 10:00 PM: mcorsano Yes you right -- it is cultural
• 10:01 PM: b2bspecialist What's difficult, for some, is justifying the time investment since the condition is don't expect something in return. Quite honestly if I were to sell a social marketing program to a CEO she would ask what's the ROI. This is a fair question to ask.
• 10:01 PM: mcorsano I started my career at IBM mid-'80s and had to use Host based Email as part of the job ; was fortunate to grow up professionally with it - many do not have same exposure so it is a major paradigm shift
• 10:02 PM: b2bspecialist But, if you look at what @DoctorJones said they use Yammer and it has opened up international sharing....
• 10:02 PM: ShaneMS following along while making dinner and baby wrangling. re: yammer. it's a good idea... but in my experience, more of an echo sphere with about 1/2 the company using (50) and 3-6 people actually posting. however, I know people (that never yammer) do follow and have found value in what's shared.
• 10:02 PM: mcorsano Fact is you are a pioneer; your clients likely are not.
• 10:03 PM: b2bspecialist Hey ShaneMS.c Just a matter of time, I hope, before the young ones get into the enterprise and demand interaction through things like Yammer. Problem right now is the reluctance of some folks to even consider an alternative way to communicate and connect.
• 10:03 PM: mcorsano Clients have some serious degrees of pressure to figure this all out
• 10:04 PM: b2bspecialist I keep getting back to @tamera's succinct observation about Social Media 101. Can't we get past it?
• 10:06 PM: mcorsano Most are catching up, perhaps a factor?
• 10:06 PM: b2bspecialist Conversation is winding down!
• 10:06 PM: mcorsano But I agree...observed as much at Mesh09 found that surprising
• 10:07 PM: b2bspecialist Possibly or moved on! =) I've got a short attention span...so I wouldn't blame others.
• 10:07 PM: b2bspecialist Although we're up to five watchers.
• 10:08 PM: b2bspecialist Hey Tamera, that dinner starting to smell pretty good!
• 10:09 PM: mcorsano I'm going to exit at this time; appreciate the test run here
• 10:10 PM: mcorsano Q: how is this different than live chat with the feed to Twitter?
• 10:10 PM: b2bspecialist @ShaneMS made an interesting comment re: adoption/use of Yammer. Forrester has a profile that's interesting: www.forrester.com
• 10:11 PM: b2bspecialist A: you'd need to use a hashtag wouldn't you?
• 10:12 PM: b2bspecialist A: you can set it up so comments are moderated as well.
• 10:12 PM: b2bspecialist K gang, I'm going to shut this down.
• 10:23 PM: b2bspecialist I've reopened this live blog to experiment with Scribble a bit more.

Robert Scoble video chat/demo of Twitter Lists

Great overview of Twitter Lists by Robert Scoble. It's a two parter.



A couple of take-a-ways:

• The lists you are on will matter more then how many followers you have. Well, I'm on one so far and I created it! Put me on your list! (please)
  
• Lists can save you time because they aggregate twitter accounts based on common interest, topics etc.

Mobile Twitter Apps List

I'm starting a list twitter applications that can be used on the Blackberry and iPhone (will add others end user devices). So, this is a "Post in progress".

The goal is to provide you a list of apps that includes:

• Pros/cons (mine and others) of each looking through the lens of marketing and business development professional and other business users
  
• Links to video demonstrations so you can see how it works
• Where applicable I'll have a link to the person who tells me about the app. (Note: it will be a link to their Twitter profile).
  

Over time, I hope, this post will evolve. For this post to be useful to you I need know about apps you are using along with your pros, cons and ratings.


iPhone

TweetDeck is a popular desktop that is also available for Apple's iPhone.


Pros: Free app (Desktop & iPhone), same interface for client and iPhone, you can manage multiple accounts, good demo walkthrough. Part of my core app package I use.

Cons: Real time updates make me lose my place when reading tweets. Needs a pause button. They have not responded to tweets I sent regarding improvements/feedback.

Rating: 4 out of 5


Blackberry

Viigo is a broader Application Suite for various push based services you may want on your BlackBerry. Thanks to Alain Theriault for sending me a tweet about Viigo. Here's a video demo.

If you use Viigo please leave a comment re: pros, cons and rating. Thx.


UberTwitter is an app that Haig Sakouyan referred me to. Here's a video review.

If you use UberTwitter feel free to leave a comment re: pros, cons and rating. Thx.

A way to make twitter better

In an earlier post entitled: "To Follow or not to follow, that is the question", I describe how I decide when to follow someone on Twitter who has followed me. Follower updates are sent to me via email. I review each followers Twitter profile to decide if I want to follow back or not.

Over the past two days I've had quite a few people follow me. So, I headed over to learn a bit about who had followed me and I was very surprised at the number followers whose accounts had been suspended due to "suspicious activity".

I'm grateful that Twitter and the Twitter community police jerks and spammer accounts and that these accounts get shut down. Twitter must make sure that these types of people don't ruin the Twitter experience.

I do have a suggestion as to how Twitter can improve. It would be better if Twitter sent me a follower notification once the account as been deemed authentic. Instead of sending a notice immediately they should wait until the account is verified as real.

Why do you use Twitter?

Here's a twist. I'm using Friendfeed to find out why people use Twitter. I use these two social media tools and like many of you I'm figuring out how to get as much value from using them as possible.

Well, why not use social media tools to find out what value we are getting out of them? Below is a new feature I'm using from Friendfeed that allows you to embed a Friendfeed post in your blog.

Using Linkedin to listen and conduct research

Too Much Social Media?

In my journey to find things that matter when it comes to B2B marketing I find myself stretched thin when it comes to social media. I use Delicious, Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook (a little). I get overwhelmed by the amount of noise but enamored with the potential social media represents. A vicious cycle no doubt. Having said that I'm starting to realize what matters to me.

First, social media starts with People and making meaningful connections with them

I do get a kick out of using these tools and connecting with people. These people, by the way you're one of them, are opening my mind and helping me see how social media can be used for business reasons.

Second, social media leverages online groups

This is the most interesting part of social media to me. In an earlier post I talked about how SBBUZZ is using Twitter to group people together to chat about small business and technology.

Another way that social media is "grouping" people is through the conducting of polls. On May 1st, a Linkedin Poll asked the question: "What is the most important new platform for brands to master?" To date over 2300 people have responded and 73 comments have been posted.

This is powerful! In Chapter 5 of Groundswell the authors talk about how social media can displace market research companies. Here's an example where that is taking place!

In summary

For me, social media is about connecting with people, learning from each other & sharing. It also can group people with similar interests to converse (like SSBUZZ is doing), vote and debate.

To follow or not to follow? That is the question

As a B2B marketer I'm watching the Twitter phenomenon closely and with great interest. I'm not so sure people are interested in following brands. I may follow a brand if it offers me something of value in the way of advice, service and ideas. I won't follow it to become another "lead" on the web 2.0 version of an email blast list.

Twitter is kind of like the "Long Tail" for creating your social network of contacts. These are people who choose to follow you for various reasons and motives. Some are trying to build their lists and sell you on how to make $10,000 per month using Twitter. (I block these). However, many people are using Twitter to share content, ideas and connections. These people I tend to follow back.

Using Gmail to track followers

To make things easy, I have set up a filter rule in Gmail, that puts all my follower notices in one place (see screenshot on the left). I can see how many people have followed me based on date. It also confirms which Twitter Followers profiles I've check out and who I haven't. (read emails means I have, unread means I haven't).

I'm not actively building a Twitter list, it's organically growing and I don't automagically follow someone because they follow me. I do get to know them a bit though. I check their profile, their tweets and their blog or site. If within 30 seconds or so, I see something that tweeks my interest I'll follow.

You'd be surprised at who is following you. It could be your next customer, your current customer or a prospective partner!

Twitter for Businesses?

Time to bash the Twitter skeptics who claim that Twitter is a fad and not professional enough for businesses. Twitter is a tool, it's not a fad nor is it a "solution". How people leverage this tool to achieve something is what matters.

One of the biggest problems today is not lack of information it is lack of good answers. Google search is great and it plays an important role in helping you find answers. But, there can be many "false positives" or dead ends. Good search results still require you to dig deeper. Plus what happens if only part of your query (question) is answered?

Twitter can be used as a realtime question/answer tool. Here are two real world examples of how small business is using twitter to network, share, learn and get answers.

Example 1: iPhone Battery life
Yesterday I noticed that my iPhone battery was draining too fast. I sent out a tweet asking for advice and within 5 minutes I had a quality, authentic response from Ryan Barnett who said:

@b2bspecialist: Turn off screen as fast as possible, turn off 3G, turn off networking, buy a Power Slider from Incase: http://bit.ly/1NCoVr

Example 2: Tweetchats

SBBUZZ is an interesting case study on how small businesses strapped for cash and time, can cost effectively ask questions about technology for small businesses.

Founded by small business entrepreneurs, this is an example of how small businesses can tap into talent, skills and broaden their social network reach and get answers.

How SBBBUZ works: It's pretty simple (go to their site for instructions). Every Tuesday night from 8-10 pm ET, you can join in with others who are looking for answers regarding small business and technology. This is a real-time Q&A session. It takes place in the evening, which is a good time for small business owners since their days are busy and hectic.

But, it gets better! While the realtime nature of this is great, the session is permanently archived on their site. And, since the session took place on Twitter it is permanently indexed.

This is a great example of innovative thinking. Twitter is being used to help people and organizations succeed. That's not a fad. It is a solution. You can follow them on Twitter.

So is twitter a fad and not professional enough for business? Maybe that's what they said about email when it first came out.