The Art of Persuasion and Social Networking

Hello World Family,
Falcon here with something to think about for the weekend: how to get the word out, or not…using social networking. Yes, Falcon is talking about all those sites like Facebook, My Space, and of course, Twitter, which so many just can’t figure out what to do with them all.

Here are some quick tips, not because we are experts in the social networking genre, but these are some points we have noted along the Internet highway:

TWITTER

First of all, if you only Tweet like three times a month, it doesn’t matter if anyone is ‘Following’ you or not-no one is seeing what you do unless it is by sheer luck. Here’s why…

Most people follow several hundred people and are followed by several hundred people. If you have an app on your mobile phone, you will see all the Tweets those that you Follow that they have made since you last used the app. There will probably be several hundred tweets, and most people will scan through to see who Tweeted what, and go on their merry way.

You may get seen that way if you are a hesitant Tweeter, but a fast finger or a blink of the eye means you could be missed. Someone going to their computer is not going to scan through 8 pages or more to read everything that they missed up until the last Tweet they can remember. If your Tweet falls below page two, you are probably done for…here’s an interesting fact:

The people using ‘SEARCH’ are getting the latest information about you if they check daily and are NOT ‘Following” you; (ironic, isn’t it?) ; the ones that are assuming that by Following you that they are getting the latest will probably find out at some point that they missed like 3 posts since the last time they saw your Tweet, and probably missed that important sale you offered on your website, the concert you only posted 3 days before the event, or the ‘vote for best website’ deadline that passed 8 days ago.

If you aren’t really going to Tweet frequently, Tweet repeatedly to promote a particular event. For example, if you have a special sale coming up this weekend on your website, Tweet it like 6 times in the same day for a day or two. That way, those that Follow you will have a greater chance of seeing your post, and most who don’t but pick up on key words might.

Here’s another tip involving key words-look at the top ten subjects of the day, and see if you can’t incorporate that into your Tweet. That way, if someone scans those keywords, they may see your Tweet because you used the most popular Tweet subject of the time.

Some follow and scan by subject matter; make sure you put the most common words in your Tweets concerning the subject that you are promoting. Musicians-put the type of music you do in your Tweet about your concert appearance, as well as your own name. When you don’t Tweet your own name, the only things that pop up on search are people talking about that band name, not the band itself. That is not promoting you, is it?

Putting the name, the genre, and the venue in the Tweet makes you more attractive to those who Follow certain types of music, and those who are looking for certain activities to attend. Also, make sure the city and location are promoted in the Tweet; if you just put in a link in your message and say something like, “See us tonight here: link- blah blah blah”, that is much less effective than saying, “See BANDS NAME tonight playing JAZZ at The Ax Lounge in Cincy Saturday Night7/25, blah blah, blah” (all previous information is fictitious). People who Tweet and search Jazz and perhaps that venue may now come to the show because they know about you now. Others may start to track you because they are interested in the type of music, venue, or even go to your page and get information about your band that makes them buy on line or go to a store and search your stuff out.

The key is to do this right, and you either have to Tweet frequently, (like a lot of PGA and LPGA players do, as well as Ghost Hunters), or you have to Tweet the message repeatedly in a given period to make sure it isn’t missed. Otherwise, you are probably wasting your time.

Don’t like social networking like Twitter, get a local friend or fan to do it for you, on your account. They will be delighted, and you will be free to do what you do best, your craft.

BLOCKING

We all have blocked someone, and on Twitter, it is basically useless. Here’s why: anyone who is NOT signed in on a computer can search for ANYONE they like and get their most recent Tweet, date and where it was posted from. If they click on your name, and you haven’t locked your profile (who would want to follow someone they know nothing about at all?) they can pretty much get whatever they want when they want. This is not the way to protect you from your online stalker…sorry. I have blocked people who have Followed me if they are pushing porn, something I really can’t or don’t want to buy, or because I don’t know why they want to follow me in the first place. If your profile is completely locked and I can’t see anything about you, I am not going to follow you, or let you follow me…sorry.

If you don’t want that offer on dish television in your Tweets one more time, simply ‘Unfollow”, they will stop. They can follow you, and DM (direct message you), but they will probably slow down. If they DM you all the time stuff that you don’t want, block ‘em, Dan-o.

Facebook, My Space, etc. have better mechanisms for not being friendly, but there are still holes. My Space has ‘un-friending’ usually rather than blocking. You can in extreme cases, but even Tom (the administrator) will tell you maybe not to do that. Just remove them from Friends and that will do the trick…unless they are on someone else’s computer and not signed into their account…sigh…NOTE: if someone un-friended you, that doesn’t mean that they can’t still look at your stuff. It’s touchy. Unless it is a really bad case, just leave each other alone, and be grown-ups; that should do the trick.

NOTE number two, if you REALLY want someone to NOT follow you on a social network, the best way is to make sure you do exactly what they think they want you to, but do it very publicly. Blogging about it is great (and you can set the blog to only be seen by a preferred list, like that person, but they may not know it; they may think everybody saw it) because nothing makes someone fold faster than a lawn chair and unplug with quickness if they think they are about to be publicly held accountable. This works for makers of bad products who keep sending you emails, or IM’s or DM’s on their latest pharma you never wanted to guys you just wish would have gotten the hint a decade ago to just let it go. Want to get them to stop? Nothing works better than making sure they think it was their idea :).

GROUP SITES OR FAN SITES

Do you have a film, band, or product you want to promote? Want to get a list of leads without trying too hard? Create a fan site of your group or product! Again, using key words that are on hot topics will make your postings more effective. Go to sites with similar interests, and look at their Friends list. You can ask them to be your Friend or Fan. I know, it may be hard at first, but it’s not unlike going up to the prettiest girl in class in fourth grade as asking her to accept your Valentine. She did take it, didn’t she? Well, you won’t get them all, but you will get some, and those may turn into supportive customers and/or fans of what you do or make. Be bold!

Make a short film and put it on You Tube with your Fan site information for Facebook or My Space attached. Put accurate but popular keywords in, and get your friends to go see it, rate it, and then comment on it.

Put blogs on your sites; use the bulletin feature on My Space, and use them often. Again, if you are not a social networking fan, get a fan or friend who is, and keep them informed. Nothing is more lame than having one site you prefer have the latest information on your product and the other not be updated for a month. Update uniformly and often. If you know this is not your forte, just own it and go ahead and recruit a family member, friend, college student…somebody! You can’t complain about the social networking not working for you if you are not working with it. Fighting tooth and nail won’t make it better; ride the wave and have it work for you!

Well, Brothers and Sisters, it is the weekend, so now you can do all that social networking that will advance your career, your group, or your project, instead of just sending someone a virtual beer or recruiting a new recruit in Mafia Wars. Have a safe and enjoyable weekend.

Peace,
Falcon and Dove