Twitter

I posted the following answer to how I use Twitter in a linkedin.com social media group I am a part of and thought it might be helpful for my readers if I posted it here as well. Enjoy.

Oh, and by the way, if you’re not yet following me on Twitter please visit http://twitter.com/adamkillam  and do so.

HOW I USE TWITTER

I use Twitter to: 

a) To connect with people online who I can later meet at networking and business events locally (competition, potential partners, potential clients, friends, current clients). 

b) To build a following of people who have related business interests. I find that by posting about my SEO/PPC/Social Media work, people interested in these topics find and follow me which makes my job of finding and following others in the industry easier. (Just follow back the people who follow you!). 

c) To create value for people in my network by quickly and easily connecting them with people I think they should meet and online resources I think they would find useful. 

d) To research the popularity of a given subject by posting links using http://budurl.com so that I can track the click through rate of a given article and judge how interested people are in the topic. 

e) To generate traffic to my site ( http://adamkillam.com/twitter ) and my client’s websites by posting links to articles that I believe are relevant to my follower’s interests. 

f) To do keyword research using tools like TweetDeck which enable you to monitor Twitter for any mention of the keywords of your choice. Often times people will mention all sorts of great related phrases to the keyword you had in mind or in relation to a particular product or industry. I then take these words and phrases and use them in my own Google Adwords campaigns for example. 

g) To build credibility. When prospective clients research me, they see that I have a decent following on Twitter which adds a touch of credibility (aka I might know what I am talking about just maybe

That’s all I could squeeze out right now!

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That’s right folks. You too can have 1 Million followers if you are:

1. A T.V / Movie star
2. Have an in with a traditional mass media company with great distribution
3. And have a Twitter account of course!

The story I am referencing above is in regards to Ashton Kutcher’s (@aplusk on Twitter) recent publicity stunt of generating 1 Million followers on Twitter and beating CNN in the race to boot.

How did he do it and why should you care? For an explanation of how he did it, see this article on Advertising Age, complete with images of Kutcher’s billboard promo. (whoops did I give it away?)

Now for the answer to the question: “Why should you care?”

For one this is a great example of how online marketing and offline marketing can be merged with excellent results.

Now, the value to Kutcher of having a million fans, and the resulting publicity at this stage may be hard to measure (sure beats stories about DUI’s, divorce or drug abuse!), but for the average person or company, it’s a great reminder that relying on one source of marketing is never a sound strategy and often online and offline can work together to give you extra bang for your buck.

Another thing this story reminded me of was: to be original. Or at any rate, the ploy was a great example of taking an old concept (billboard advertising) and mixing it with something new (Twitter) to create buzz and increase one’s reach in the marketplace.

Those are my thoughts on this story. I’m now heading out with some spray paint to post @adamkillam on everything in sight I can get my hands on. I figure if I work hard over the weekend I should be able to ad at least another 200-300 followers!

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The 1st Vancouver Twestival is taking place tomorrow (Feb 12th) at 6:00 PM. I was one of the lucky fast movers who got a ticket and NOW I CAN’T GO! Seems a course I booked myself in for a couple of months back decided to start this week on the 12th and attending the first session is mandatory.

In light of these recent developments, I would like to give my ticket away – with a small catch.

What’s the catch you say?

What I would like in return for the ticket is some help with my website. Yes, I work in Internet marketing and yes I am web savvy but the plain truth is that I have neglected this site for some time now. It seems I am always doing work for my clients (god love them) and  never enough on my own site (can you relate?).  

I am currently working to overhaul the content of the site and all sections are being worked on. Visitor feedback is incredibly valuable in my eyes which is where this mini contest comes into play.

Here’s how you can help, AND WIN BIG!

1. Post a mini review of this site with 3 helpful tips/suggestions/comments. 
2. Add your post to the comments section of this article 
3. By 8:00 PM I will choose a winner and announce it on this site and on Twitter.
4. Be sure to include a link back to your site and your email address or @ so I can get in touch

Let the races begin!

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I was speaking with a PR firm client last week who mentioned “Frugal is the new cool” and decided it was time to tone down the look of the site. I keep an eye out for trends (as one must do in social media and web marketing) and given the current state of the economy I’m taking his message to heart. 

I wore a less flashy watch to a meeting today and will be tweaking the site in the coming week or so to see if I can simplify it a bit (yes, it’s already quite simple and I can do better!).

With all the talk lately of recession, marketing in tough economic times etc etc, it makes sense for marketers to be a little less flashy and focus their messages more on the bottom line and how they can make and save their clients money.

For me, that means the site needs to be less about adding widgets and more about focusing on good, solid, valuable content that my clients will find applicable to their businesses.

On that note today’s tip is:  go back to basics.

Practical applications:

• Update and simplify your web site’s theme / design 
• Don’t be afraid to use or go back to plain text emails or simplified HTML
• If blogging or using Twitter, focus on practical tips and less theory (marketers are the most guilty of breaking this one)

I think going frugal is a trend we’re going to see catch on and stick for the next couple of years. As more ideas on this topic come to mind, I’ll post them here.

What steps are you taking to “go frugal”  in 2009″ 

Post thoughts to comments.

Update: Read about the New Frugal Google

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