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The number of twitter followers you have no longer counts for much. There was a day when having 500, 1000, or 10,000 followers was impressive. It meant a huge number of people had opted into communicating with you because they liked you, your message, or your product. However, between spam accounts and auto-follow practices it’s easier than ever to get a huge ‘following’ of thousands of people who aren’t listening to you.

I believe a far better way to measure your effectiveness on twitter is around the idea of influence and interaction. How many people retweet or ‘@reply’ you? How many folks are talking about you or with you? Those are the real questions you should be asking. Your goal on twitter should be an authentic community, not a huge fake following.

*Twitalyzer is a great app for analyzing your twitter influence.

Photo Credit: woofer_kyyiv

One of the major mistakes companies run into as they dip their toe in the social media space is utilizing broadcast style advertising. In other words they take the advertising model of t.v. or radio, where the idea is to barrage people with messages about your company or offering, and begin mucking up their blogs or other sites with the same marketing style content. Below is an example of someone who is using the broadcast model on twitter.

Don’t do this. Not only is it annoying to others and hurtful to your brand, it simply doesn’t work. Social Media is an “opt in” marketing medium, in other words, no one has any incentive to listen to you. If you start blaring your message over and over anyone who was remotely interested will leave. It’s kind of like going to a party and talking about yourself the whole time. Your accomplishments, your good looks, your reason for being, your life story, your agenda. You, you, you blah, blah, blah. Eventually everyone gives up attempting conversation with you. Sure you may have a few hundred followers but the only reason their pretending to listen to you is in hopes that you’ll listen to them. They don’t care about you or what you’re offering any more than you care about them.

Stop screaming.

Chat with people. There’s a reason this is called ’social’ media. It’s like a big party: everyone talking, laughing, sharing ideas, throwing out suggestions, and yes even listening. The key is to strike the right balance between sharing about yourself and being interested in others.

Photo Credit: Felipe Bachomo

Title: Unleashing The Idea Virus
Author: Seth Godin
Description: How to help your ideas spread in the modern world.

Title: Clue Train Manifesto
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Description: How the rise of the internet is changing business from top to bottom.

Title:The Zen of Blogging
Author: Hunter Nutall
Description: A great beginners guide to blogging and a solid reminder of the basics for the seasoned veteran.

Title:Twitter 101 for Business
Author: By Twitter with Sarah Milstein
Description: Takes the mystery out of effectively utilizing twitter for your business.

Title: We Have A Website. Now What?
Author: Craig Rentmeester
Description: Practical advice on marketing your website.

Photo Credit: archiemcphee

While leaving the Dallas Startup Happy Hour, a few of us Nectar peoples ran into what looks like the first of likely many rejections to come. Feel free to watch the tale of sorrow and woe unfold after the jump.

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There is a huge boom in the Twittersphere right now. Many people that may not otherwise be accustomed to social networking are migrating to Twitter. And this is great news when you see it from the perspective of increasing the amount of traffic you get on your site. But before you throw the floodgates open and start writing about every little detail in your life, stop a second and read these 3 R’s of Twitterquette.  Read the rest of this entry »

Blogs are an essential component of anyone’s personal brand.  I have a blog that I cultivate almost daily and the Nectar team continually encourages everyone we know to hop on Wordpress or Blogger, set up a free account, choose a field of interest, and get to writing.  Here are a few reasons you should be blogging:

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