(Editors update: on some of the Twitter tools I did not want to list… they now seem as important as ever. We wrote 5 posts on over 160 Twitter tools)
Since I have been on Twitter I have seen the oddest widgets and gadgets popping up. Sure – give me more bookmarks and reasons to have a long list! Not.
Look – you have to be conscientious and proactive when dealing with a new Social networking outlet. I should know; I work on the Internet. We try, and sometimes are quite successful, at new software, gadgets and media. With that said, I have only been using Twitter for about one month and it wasn’t until a nice Canadian @orenoque asked me to look at some of the tools he uses. So I am thinking this is a hot tool if you can dice and trim all of the fat.
Let me explain.
Everyday I get anywhere from three to six new links that I find interesting. Most are focused on how to use your Twitter to maximum capacity. I can see how one might imagine strapping goggles and a flight hat on before sitting down to use this turbo tool. I am not going to bore you and give you another list of all these tools. Suffice it to say, you can Google Twitter tools and see hundreds of pages on the subject.
For example, some Twitter tools deal with how to mass DM (direct message) your followers. One is about managing the whole experience named Tweetdeck. While I am still trying to figure out what the whole experience is, I tighten my goggles, tuck my hair in and move forward. Yes, Twitter is hot, but I have to be honest: sometimes it’s boring, yet watching your followers grow is a feat and enjoyment in itself.
Maybe saying “boring” is a bit unfair, but I really do get bored when the people I am following are merely spewing links that really are of no interest to me. The ones that really bug me are the ones that constantly promote their own agenda. I am not saying don’t do it, but give us all a break (and you know who you are, @’s).
Granted, I am a newbie, but I have seen my followers grow to over 300 in less than a month. I truly believe it is due to paying attention to what works and how to maximize your Twitter-ability.
Then I happened on this tool, Tweet Effect. Well, let me tell you, if you took marketing 101 in college, you would have loved this gadget. Can you imagine how many papers you could have aced if you only had a tool that could quantify and qualify your results? The only problem is they do not save or generate reports on their results. Therefore, your best bet is to copy your numbers.
Another great tool that I recently find is Qwitter. It’s a great marketing tool, because it lets you know someone quit following you, and on what post. Between Tweet Effect and Qwitter, you have a strong chance of finding out what interests your target audience and what doesn’t.
Maybe I am putting too much emphasis on the quality of my followers and I should be happy I have any followers at all. The way I see it is even if you have hundred of followers, remember we want to hear about a variety of things – not just how wonderful you are and what a great tool you have created. Give me ideas of how to harness my creativity, give me snippets about people in your life, and yes, a “good morning, how are you” is always welcome.
In conclusion, I would love to hear what your favorite Twitter tool is and how it has helped you grow your business. If you can muddle through all the tools out there and find just a few to can harness the power of Twitter, then strap your goggles on and get ready to become a Twitter expert.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post. I particularly relate to the part about people who unfollow you. I’ve used Qwitter, but not Tweet Effect… I just tried it and was shocked to see some of the posts that resulted in unfollows. I lost several yesterday for reasons that stump me. So, even though there may be too many Twitter apps out there, I’m interested in seeing one made that will give you the real story behind people’s thoughts when the unfollow. Cheers.
The more I am on Twitter the more I realize there is no “reason” why ppl unfollow you. Odd thing is some of the most generic posts have resulted in ppl unfollowing me. At this point in my Twittervillian life I have come to appreciate random acts. :) Now what I keep in mind is how can I engage my followers in responding to my posts with either positive or negative comments. The time I have spent on Twitter has made me appreciate how fickle ppl really are. Thanks for your input.
I am taking a good look at tweetmanager. Still in beta @tweetmanager. The developers are asking for suggestions for further features add ons. I like this open approach to app building and I like the teaching style of the CEO Bill McIntosh.
Keep up the great work Gabriella, you are a fantastic writer. I have learned much from your blog.
KR
I just cannot get the hang of Tweetmanager. I have heard good, bad, & ugly things about the space that particular application requires. Don’t get me wrong I am a huge fan of Twitter, but it’s not the only tool I use.. therefore my learning curve has given me the luxury of taking my time. Thanks for dropping by cyberstreak :)
Hey Styletime, well it’s nice to hear from one of the people I admire and like following. So you think it’s negative.. humm yeah I can see your point, but as a marketing/SEO “geek” I like to see what makes ppl tick you know. What makes them follow or un-follow. My motto has always been ” I am not ready to go yet I still have a few more ppl to piss off “. So you can imagine when I discovered these tools I was in heaven lolol. I do appreciate your post thanks!
If you are looking to build a quality following of people who admire and look up to you, mass messaging is not the way to do it. On the other hand, if your sole goal is to make money as quickly as possible, than it might work for you depending on your business model and the way you approach it.
Good article for the newbs out there, nice one!
What I have noticed is the more ppl I follow the more I learn, that in itself is priceless. What I cannot understand is how many ppl are self serving on this. Sure I can take my lame comment as being a whiner but, I cannot appreciate these “Guru’s” posts when they cannot respond or give you the time of day. Yeah okay they have 23094723975 ppl following them and they are a star… The sole purpose for them is to send out a message (spam as far as I am concerned). I have stopped following a lot of the “Guru’s” and honestly I have not missed their 20 self serving posts every minute.
Hi Gabriella
Just imho and you know I don’t TELL people how to use twitter just advise ;) but your tool’s focus on the negative ‘ppl leaving you’! Why?
Quit Qwitter and forget Tweet Effect don,t think about what you’re tweeting too much and how people will react to it just chat ask questions share interesting stuff.
Just imho ;)
I’m a newbie…just spent a couple of days here..and i have around 365 followers. But i really enjoy tweeting..best thing i liked is that any query is replied within mins. I’m still not fully aware with all the tools. But will surely be back again after i get familiar with all the tools mentioned here. Enjoyed reading the post.
Well At least you have ppl responding :) Maybe I should follow you and see how you do it lolol
Hey Joey you have been on longer than I have (by 1 month ;-) ) ad you seem to already have a system that works for you. My goodness to think I had to practically “beg” you for a comment. lolol But just so you know I did not DM everyone on my list, just the ones I want to interact with and yeah want their honest opinion. So thanks for giving this post a chance.
I have only been with Twitter since November 31st, 2008. I have seen so many 3rd party applications and what not. I personally do not send a message to my followers as I do not want to receive such a message myself! It just fills my direct messages with spam links and stuff. I do like some 3rd party applications that make Twitter easier to use.
Good post. I too get bored with some of my follower’s posts. I will check out your recommendations.
Thanks,
Shecky
Nabbit my favorite froggggg. Thank you so much for your visit. You have tons of followers, and I have to admit your numbers are respectful and something I wouldn’t mind getting in time. But honestly do you interact with all of them?
Nice post. I really enjoy our tweeting. You did give some helpful tools for new tweeters out there. I have to agree that watching the # of twitter followers grow is a lot of fun. Again, great post!
Hello Andy I have heard some stuff about the Twitter Karma I will have to look it up. What’s amazing is how some days you get over 20 followers and sometimes you can go for days without one follow. I am still trying to figure that out. But yeah the spammers are pretty obvious. Especially when you take the time to look at their profile and all you see is their shameless posts to a page where you have to buys something. Thanks for your input
Hmm interesting thoughts, I use two to three real useful tools, recently discovered destroy twitter, some functions are better than tweetdeck some are not. As for another online tool, I would use twitter karma look it up on google. As I like balance, I use it a lot. I follow those who follow me, of course I select them, I do not follow those spammers that are offering quick buck, hence why I do not auto follow, nor do I send out auto messages.
Thanks for this post.
Hey JR, funny you should ask why people ditch you.. lolol I was curious too. What I found was that ppl are either extremely religious or political. Or so my “feedback” from these tools have been. Let me clarify, at one point I was having a silly day chasing clients, so I wasn’t paying attention to Twitter as I usually do ( I tend to watch it like a hawk some days ;) Anyway, I started posting silly things just for laughs. Well the one post that really twisted a few ppl around was “BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a change! The chicken wanted change!” silly and stupid, but I happen to have a list of a lot of politicians and celebrities with their comments.
Point is I had over 10 ppl un-follow me after that post. Isn’t that crazy? I mean if they would have taken the time to read the article here ( http://tinyurl.com/dmdwcs ) I am sure they would have laughed as I did when I first saw it. But in retrospect when I went back to look at who these “twitters” were I was like Pffft so what! Didn’t like them anyway…lolol Thanks for dropping by
I rave about Twitter to a lot of people. I’m actually quite excited to learn about Qwitter because I’ve always wanted to know why people ditch me! I don’t really use any other tools. I’m willing to check anything out, but I use Twitter for basic networking and chatting purposes. It is soooooo useful for getting input and connecting with interesting people.
Thanks for the DM too, btw. This was a very good piece!
Well you will soon find a need to use tools if you are going to use Twitter for your benefit. I am learning and it seems just when I think I know… I don’t know anything :) lolol thanks for dropping by
PS – really enjoy following your posts on Twitter. Great stuff.
Great post!
I’m also a newbie on Twitter and I know how overwhelming it can look at first. I don’t use any tools just yet, but after reading this, I think I might. I don’t have too many followers (just got over 100 this weekend) and I’m still working on how I can meaningfully contribute to the overall conversation. I guess with time and experience comes the reward.
It’s so exciting to be able to connect with so many people, especially some really cool ones :-)
Thanks for the feedback on my blog!
-Mandy
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{ 9 trackbacks }
RT @SEOcopy I have finally done it.. Wrote about Twitter with my senior writer of course (I suck at grammar) http://tinyurl.com/ad24ep
La Donna di SEO let's us know it's OK to be new and something and OK to try new things. So get out there an try. http://is.gd/hG8V
RT @fabien: @SEOcopy Am looking for a tool that would alert me when someone unfollows.. any ideas? ~ Here are a few http://ow.ly/JFBg
Twitter Et All http://ow.ly/JFKn ~ Wow has it been almost a year?
Twitter Et All http://ow.ly/JFKn ~ Wow has it been almost a year?
Why do people DM me their "services" I mean isn't it better to engage THEN take it to DM My thoughts http://ht.ly/2eXNQ - http://ht.ly/2eXNR
Why do people DM me their "services" I mean isn't it better to engage THEN take it to DM My thoughts http://ht.ly/2eXJX - http://ht.ly/2eXLR
Twitter Et All http://t.co/1jn48NC - Are you getting the most out of your experience?
Are you getting the most out of your Twitter experience? - http://ow.ly/3Kwi9 - RT @level343