Twitter Attempts. Fail.

The elusive fail whale wore its big, ugly self... on me. I tried out a blog contest. I tried to offer valuable content to followers and prospect re-tweeters by perusing Google “social media” News for hours… and I got nothing.

Are you doing things wrong?
A recent article by Jenny Cromie revealed to me a number of things I’ve been doing wrong on Twitter. Are you in the same boat? I won’t steal Jenny’s thunder by going through every example she politely conveyed with hysterical lingo. I will, however, offer you some things to consider:

The best kinds of Tweeple
They are natural. They are not awkward and are certainly not desperate. We who boast less than 300 followers tend to get nervous after a couple minutes of no response because we see other handles with numerous @replies. Are we not popular? Truth hurts—yes. Take it very personal and rethink your strategy.

How to Tweet
Be natural. Find things when they occur up-to-the-minute (because Twitter is all about up-to-the-minute) and tweet about them if you think “your” followers might find it appealing. Some people are better tweeters than others because they know the landscape much better than you do. (Don’t for one second take that personal). If I were a natural at the Internet space, I would know better. I’m not, but I'm learning.

Remember…
Twitter is a communication tool, a very fast one. Choose your Tweets wisely and when you do have the time, tweet. When you don’t, don’t. It’s just that simple.

Have you made mistakes? Tell us about them. Funny, strange, mistakes that turned into something good, etc.

A Small Twitter World Indeed

After Tweeting and finding followers within other social networks like Ning.com, I have come to the conclusion that Twitter has yet to really tap into additional audiences besides tech geeks, moms, PR pros and… stalkers.

I realized this when a handle that I followed on a different Twitter account (my small business) played catch-up with me @timotis. Sure, I had a Ning.com site for my small business which is how this individual found me initially, but how did they know to follow @timotis? That sort of thing is disconcerting, and it tells me Twitter could be a place for up-to-no-good types. Has anybody received requests to follow you, then you choose not to follow, and later find a suspended account due to “suspicious activity”?

Right now, Twitter seems like a safe-haven but what’s going to stop hackers from “Twitterbomb” (people tweet about this but apparently it doesn't exist anymore) viruses? Or perhaps a fail whale could drain this microblogging site that receives tweets from only 7% of the United States still. A small, concise world indeed.

Pitch Perfect: Microblogging

Pitching is all about relationships. Twitter is all about instantaneous exchange of status updates/information. If you combine the two, you no longer need to muddle through stuffed inboxes and mailboxes to get to that prized reporter.

More reporters are hitting up the genius of Twitter nowadays, and they aren’t just tech reporters. You can now find a whole slew of journalism mavens positing themselves on Twitter, Friendfeed, and Facebook. In pitching a reporter, Facebook has been the exchange agent of choice, though your best bet is microblogging – because it’s personal, fast, and unconventional. Reporters love to be people.

In order to properly navigate this new information exchange, you might want to remind them of their humanness by sending a greeting. First, it’s important to see what they’ve “tweeted” and respond to it in a professional manner. You can even “follow” them first and type in an @ followed by their handle to send a message. Same principles of a pitch: if they like what they see, they’ll follow you too.

Next, check out their numerous tinyurl link updates that will give you access to their latest articles written. Follow same procedure as above, only this time mention their article and your client’s area of expertise—but as with the length of a voicemail pitch, you must do it in 140 characters or less.

Happy Tweeting! And for Pete’s Sake, stop poking on Facebook.

Twitter - Microblogging

Check out how a reporter is utilizing Twitter in the interview below. Julio Ojeda Zapata is a tech columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press.