First, there are four basic ways (or food groups) to ‘tweet’ or send messages on Twitter.

• General broadcast: These messages go to all of your followers and are good for general statements, thoughts or opinions.  They are also great for sharing updates to your website and/or blog.
• The “@” reply: These are direct responses to people on Twitter and are visible to them  (whether they follow you or not).
• The Direct Message: These are private messages sent to people that are following you. They are not displayed to your other followers.  They should be used with care, as they frequently are sent directly to others cell phones.  Individuals must be following you for you to be able to Direct Message them.
• The ReTweet (RT): these are messages where you are forwarding a message that you enjoyed from one of your followers to others.  Note: always follow any links in these messages BEFORE you forward them along!

The Right Mix:

To be most effective in engaging your audience on Twitter, it takes a mix of the above types of messages.  By leveraging RT and “@” replies, it shows that you are listening and participating in the community and people will engage with you and listen to what you have to say, when you do a general broadcast.

Your mix of broadcast, RT, @ and DM messages will vary depending on your audience, topic and personal style – the point is to ensure that you leverage all the different message types to engage the audience effectively.  Tip to much in any one direction; for example all general broadcast messages, you will not be engaging your audience. Tip the other way; just @ responding - you are not really contributing original thoughts.  Take a look at the Twitter stream of some of the masters: Chris Brogan, Pistachio or GaryVee and you will see how they are following this simple principal.

/Colin

Photo Credit: Mafleen

I confess, blogging has been an irregular activity for me. While I enjoy it, like most people, it has not been my top priority and I simply can’t produce the volume of Chris Brogan.

A few weeks back I was thinking of a way that I could commit to 2 posts a week and really stick to it.  That was how I came up with the Friday Funnies.  Now, every Friday -I  write (or attempt to) a funny post that pokes fun of social media.  It is a regular weekly theme that I feel comfortable with and that I enjoy.  What really surprised me was the real power of having a regular theme like this can do for both bloggers and readers.  Here is what I have seen so far:

Blogging side:

• Writers block gone: I know what I am going to write about every week.  I have a week to think about every post and I am enjoying it!
• More posts: I don’t want my blog dominated by Friday Funnies so I am forced into making time for at least one additional post per week.
• Enjoying it: this is the best part  - I found a theme that I really enjoy and while I have to force my family to look at it, I am having a blast!

Reader side:

• Repeatable pattern: readers know what to expect on my blog on Fridays.  I have established a pattern.
• Increased readership: because I have a regular pattern traffic which was starting to slump off is now back on the climb!
• Outreach patterns: I can spread this regularly through Twitter and Facebook and have people expect to see it there as well

Summary: If you or your company have a case of blogging constipation – choose a theme that you are passionate about as your blog bran to keep your posting regular!  Both you and your readers will be happy for it!

/colin

The principle that I think that everyone can gain value from is social proof.  At a very high level social proof is simple fact that we all look for cues from others on how to participate within a community (or any environment).  The book gives great examples with actual figures to measure how social proof actual impacts people’s behavior.  The obvious example that we can all relate to is that people will laugh longer to jokes when prompted by a canned laugh track.  Think of other places where you may see this – ever notice that bartenders always that have tip jars out – always start them with a dollar or two?  Its a social cue for everyone else’s behavior.

How does social proof apply to social media?

• For new communities: social proof demonstrates the need for the seeding of content and the participation of moderators to initiate conversations.  These new communities need this social proof from others to demonstrate that the community is a safe location where other smart members can contribute.
• Existing communities: Once a community is up and running – you have data – think of that information as the social proof or ‘laugh tracks’ that can guide your community on how and where to participate.  Highlighting most active and recent topics are great ways to create the cues for members on how to participate.  These are also great cues to broadcast on Facebook, Twitter, or other broad communities to promote your community.

Social proof was one of many concepts that I loved in Cialdini’s book – a very fast read (less than 2 days for me).  Again, not a social media book, but you will be inspired!

/colin

At a high level, the project did nothing dramatically new.  People have been using blogs, twitter, video, podcasts, Utters, Seesmic live video to share information for a while.  What was different was the focus on a single topic, by 4 individuals for a focused period of time.  This focused use of the array of social media tools at our disposal was far more powerful than I had estimated.

Our communication goal: We used every communication tool at our disposal to share our experience with those that were listening.  If you followed us, you knew where we were (we could tell you on Twitter), saw what we saw (uploaded through Twitpicts or Seesmic) and listen to us (Utterli).  After our interviews we would compose more formal posts for the trip blog as well.  We engaged with our audience and tried to draw them into our conversation – breaking the ’4th wall’ to use a theater metaphor.

Speaking as one of the four in the Ford Escape on the #iRoadTrip – we never felt like it was just the four of us.  Our continual conversation with the wonderful people that shared our adventure online, was just that – a shared experience.  These conversations created a virtual fifth passenger; our audience, who was with us throughout our adventure.  In our Ford Escape we had Scott Monty, Chris Brogan, Chris Kieff, Aaron Strout, Bryan Person, Jim Hunt, and many, many others in this fifth passenger seat.

On behalf of Jeff, John, Jim, and myself; thank you to those that listened and joined us.  We are planning three more trips this year and we hope that you will join us as the fifth passenger on those too.

If you were one of the fifth passengers, we are eager to hear what you would like to see on the next trip.  Please let us know in the comments below.

/colin