Oh ja, Twitter’s not going anywhere!
Borrowed from ZNet Blogs
In response to a guest post I did over at Search Engine People, a few people expressed opinions that Twitter is a flash-in-the-pan and won’t stick around like Google.
As Barry Welford rightly pointed out: We remember very clearly that when Google was new it was heralded as a flash-in-the-pan too. But I knew instinctively (OK let’s call it women’s intuition here) that Google was going to be big. I predicted it at the time, but sadly there are none of my web pages around from that time to prove it.
I’m predicting that Twitter will be even bigger than Google. NOTE TO TWITTER ADMIN: get ready for what’s coming now. You need to fix yourselves up so you can cope with the traffic and get some serious search algos in place. Don’t tell us that we didn’t warn you!
Just take a look at these Twitter stats. And it’s still really early days yet.
Jason Calacanis Launches Mahalo Answers
Jason Calacanis has launched Mahalo’s answer to the various ‘answers’ facilities around the web, including the famous LinkedIn Answers.
Jason gives a reason for the creation of Mahalo Answers
For the past couple of years, I’ve been studying the intersection of individuals and three Internet services: search, content and knowledge exchanges (aka KEs). These three products–or processes–serve individuals by helping them solve their real-world problems, and all three services have been booming over the years.For the past couple of years, I’ve been studying the intersection of individuals and three Internet services: search, content and knowledge exchanges (aka KEs). These three products–or processes–serve individuals by helping them solve their real-world problems, and all three services have been booming over the years.
And here’s Jason’s explanation of what Mahalo Answers is:
Mahalo Answers is a Knowledge exchange where you can post questions which are answered by other users. Optionally, but highly encouraged, you can offer a tip for the best answer given for your question. Tips are given in our virtual currency, called Mahalo Dollars, which are purchased at a one-to-one rate with U.S. dollars, and which can be removed from the system less a 25% fee (i.e. how we make money!).
A Lesson in How NOT to Use Twitter
Recently we’ve seen a lot of discussion online on how users can improve their networking skills to use social media optimally. There was my post over at Marketing Pilgrim, Why Social Media May Not be Right For You, and some specific tips on how to use Twitter for online succes and this great post about Social Media Community over at Search Engine Watch.
Yesterday all hell broke loose because one fairly new Twitter user decided to apply traditional offline marketing tactics to his Twitter account. Not a wise move as we shall see.
In retrospect I feel for Matt Bacak. In a matter of weeks he got around 2,000 people to follow him (including me), and only followed 32 back. That is really bad form for Twitter. Then, as if this insult to his followers wasn’t enough, he decided to publish a press release about how well he was doing on Twitter. I didn’t even notice it, but a few of my Twitter friends notified me.
Word travels fast on Twitter. We all unfollowed him, and I imagine over the next few days he will see his Twitter balloon rapidly deflate. In fact, word has spread like wildfire throughout the social media communities, proving that these outdated methods don’t work on social media period.
Made me laugh when I saw Matt’s video post on ‘Social Marketing Secrets.’ Obviously he needs to learn a few secrets yet.
Why will his Twitter balloon deflate?
For the following reasons:
- Twitter is not about traditional marketing
- there is no room for arrogance in social media
- when you want something from someone (or a whole bunch of people) you need to at least think about providing some benefit in return–even if it’s just to follow someone back.
- To brag about how fast you’ve promoted yourself on a medium like Twitter is simply to broadcast the fact that you don’t ‘get’ Twitter at all.
Some, perhaps Matt included, would say that there’s no such thing as bad publicity and this thing has certainly generated a lot of buzz. But social media is all about establishing trust for your brand, and I don’t think you achieve that when you come over as an arrogant self-promoter who doesn’t care about those who you market with.
Matt, I invite you to come and defend yourself here. I’m prepared to give you space for a post if you’d like. 
Your social media activity can make or break your business…
This is not an exaggeration.
It hasn’t always been the case but it is now. Using social media sites can:
- Determine how far you reach online
- Allow you to steer how your brand develops
- Provide you with a tool to enhance your reputation
- Provide damage control if you have any slip ups that negatively affect your reputation
- Bring traffic to your website
- Provide you with an online business learning resource whatever your niche happens to be
- Help you see what’s the best way to develop your business
Actually, there’s more but this is a great start as you can see. Stick with me and I’ll show you the ropes. In the coming weeks you’ll see a wide array of social media resources appear on these pages. Most of them free, and all of them super-useful.
