I schedule tweets so that I don’t annoy everyone else

I recently wrote a guest post entitled To schedule tweets or not to?  Two Reasons and one of the comments I received helped me to come to the conclusion that there’s a difference between scheduling tweets and RTs and totally automating your tweets – so I wanted to elaborate on that. The commenter seemed to think I was encouraging people to totally automate the tweeting process and completely abandon the social aspects of social media or at least that’s what I got from this comment: Read more »

I’ve just finished reading Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (The New Rules of Social Media), and wanted to pass it along to my readers as a pretty good starting place for those new to marketing services and products on the web.

Inbound Marketing is a good primer on the basic foundation of an online presence. The phrase “inbound marketing” hits me well because I hate selling, and so do most people. If you’re like me and hardcore sales isn’t your thing, you’ll especially identify with the basic premise here – do what it takes to get found in ways that people are finding goods and services today.

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On January 12th, I posted a tweet asking the question, “If a business were going to hire you for a few hours per week to apply your social media savvy, how would you best use that time for them?” I asked it because it was asked of me in just that same way.

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I’m assuming you’ve heard of this new thing called Twitter. It’s okay. It has a few fans. And maybe you’ve also heard of a tool called Friendfeed.. It used to have a few fans, but they all left when Facebook bought Friendfeed. (I exaggerate.)

Well, enter Cliqset. I’m in love.

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When I first started using Twitter heavily, the #FollowFriday hashtag was just taking off, and I genuinely looked forward to Fridays because of it (which might be a sign of a social media addiction). I’ve always appreciated anybody that has mentioned me. But has #FollowFriday lost its original luster?

I say, if you enjoy #FollowFriday, keep it up, but I wanted to mention some possible alternatives to it that are also quite valuable.

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I’ve sent out over 20,000 tweets since getting started on Twitter. Exactly three of them have been sponsored (via Sponsored Tweets). Each carried a disclosure of some kind and I earned a total of $23 from those tweets. But some feelings kept nagging me, so I erred on the side of caution and de-activated my account… and I’d like to tell you why (whether you care or not).

First, I don’t think you should avoid sponsored tweets solely on the basis of what I say. There’s a good, healthy debate going on within the Twitter community and that debate should probably continue. Therefore, I’m actually going to state some points to the contrary of where I’m really going with my thoughts.

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Twitter + Marketing = One Big Controversy. I have all kinds of opinions about “marketing” yourself on Twitter and what that means, but Brian K. McDaniel (aka, bkmacdaddy) seems to sum it up quite right. Though Brian and I probably wouldn’t line up 100% on every issue, I do love his three major points…

• Stop Marketing (you need to hear his explanation)
• Start Engaging
• Keep Giving

Brian is writing about how to find clients on Twitter, but his words really do apply across most fields. You’ve just got to read his entire article.

There’s this thing called Twitter… and it has these new things called lists. They’re pretty good for connecting and marketing, even though Chris Brogan isn’t necessarily down with them.

I’m keeping a list of bloggers and writers, which you can see and follow here, but be warned – it’s not complete yet. In fact, it won’t really be “complete” until I’m dead. I also stumbled across Jacob Cass’s recommended lists here (two of which I managed to make).

This is kind of an open thread. You can use the comments to shamelessly self-promote your Twitter profile (make it a link if possible) or your own list of bloggers, or even a list of bloggers on which you’ve been included. Just don’t tell me how to have whiter teeth – I’ve seen enough of that today, which is why I like lists.

People who hang out online, whether on those things called “blogs” or those other things called “social networks” (especially Twitter and Facebook) are all really weird, right? They’re socially out-of-touch recluses who are damaging their psyches? Well, apparently NOT.

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When I was a kid, I hung out in the woods and baseball card stores. When I was a teenager it was the mall and the movie theater. Now? It’s bookstores like LifeWay, Borders, and Barnes & Noble. But online, I have some places I like to hang out as well. Call them time bandits if you wish, but I find them beneficial. These are some of my own favorite online hangouts. (Be prepared to share your own in the comments…)

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