This is the third post in a series about how to use Twitter to form relationships for business and personal connections (which could lead to business, too, right?).

One of the quickest ways for me to explain how to properly use this platform is to use a real-life analogy.  Pretty much everything you can do in person while networking can be done online now, with the notable exception of a handshake or hug.  Video conferencing even allows you to make eye contact with the person you’re getting to know.

If you’ve read Dale Carnegie’s classic “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, you may recall that the first of his “Six Ways to Make People Like You” is this one:

Be Genuinely Interested in Other People

In fact, if you spend your time asking questions of others at a networking event rather than talking about yourself, they will later describe you as one of the most interesting people they met that day.  Simply put, being interested makes you more interesting.

When I’m working with real estate clients or interacting at a networking event, I have used a “talk show host” mindset for years.  I ask questions and sincerely listen, in an effort to learn more about them and their needs.  If you want to see a true master of this craft, watch Johnny Carson via DVD or online sometime.  Here’s a link if you would like to see a good example of his skills in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu9cSMy-k4Q (interviewing a then-22-year-old Michelle Pfeiffer).

One of the other reasons Johnny Carson had such a long career was because he was a tireless promoter of others.  His show provided a stage for comics who were virtual unknowns and he could instantly put them on the map.  Over the years, he met pretty much everyone who was worth knowing in entertainment.

With that in mind, when you’re using Twitter or any social media platform, think about ways to help promote other people and their work.  If you retweet interesting and entertaining stuff, those whom you’re helping will take notice.  DON’T overdo it, however, because you want your efforts here to be authentic, not forced.

I tweet more than average.  Okay, I tweet a lot more than average.  I have over 29,000 tweets at this point.  That being said, I ALWAYS notice when someone takes the time to retweet what I have shared.  I try to remember to thank them each time, too, although I don’t always remember to do so. Consequently, I would be more willing to help someone that I already “know”.  Become a known entity.

As I mentioned before, this is the type of thing that will come in handy for you and your business in general, not just online.

In a nutshell, if you take the time to help others get noticed for their work, blog, event, or cause, and you will be noticed, too.  Don’t focus on the superstars exclusively – they have ample support.  Don’t forget to help the people that seem worthy of attention who don’t have a huge following already.  That being said, doing both will help in the long run.

Thanks for reading!

Originally posted at 210 Consulting – Social Media Advisors Blog

Although the title of this post says “Tip #2″, it could rightfully be called “Tip #0.5″ since it probably should have come before my first post on this topic.  Let’s dive right in, shall we?

One of the biggest points of confusion/complaint with Twitter is this one:

“How can I possibly keep track of hundreds or thousands of people and their tweets?”

Well, you can’t.  So, I would highly recommend using a tool to screen out the noise so that you can really focus on the people you care about.  The top three sites that I can suggest for this purpose are Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, and Seesmic.

Each of these tools has its own features and advantages, which I’m not really intending to cover within the scope of this post, although I may visit each of these in a separate post sometime.  In a nutshell, Tweetdeck must be installed on each individual computer, while Hootsuite is a web-only application, and Seesmic offers both versions.  I have friends that love each one of them for different reasons.

Why are these applications so valuable?

If you remember nothing else here, keep this in mind:  Using a tool like this will enable you to create columns of people and things that YOU deem important.  In other words, you can sort out your REAL friends from the masses.  You can also set up searches by keyword, which is exceptionally valuable.  As a quick example, if you own a local restaurant or furniture business, wouldn’t you like to know every time you get mentioned?

Sadly, many people give up on using Twitter as a business tool before they get around to filtering their feed. It seems overwhelming unless you take the time to narrow it down.  Believe me, I felt the same way when I started there.

As of this writing, I have just over 12,000 Twitter followers and I follow close to 9,000 accounts.  However, I have about 300 people/accounts in my “Real Friends” column.  Obviously, I add (and very occasionally, subtract) people over time, but it’s a focused list of folks that I’m interested in.  Maybe I know them “in real life”, or maybe we’ve just had some good conversations online.  Either way, these are set apart for easier digestion, as opposed to the social media firehose that Twitter could become if unmanaged.

I hope this helps – thanks for reading!

Originally posted at 210 Consulting – Social Media Advisors.

When I started using Twitter back in the fall of 2008 (I had joined many months earlier, but barely used it up to that point), I was a little stumped by all of the lingo and the fast pace of the platform:

What is a “retweet”?  Why do I have to use an “@” symbol in front of everyone’s name to talk to them?  Is anyone really listening?

Over time, I became much more comfortable with the platform, and it has been invaluable to me as a business tool.  I connected with my radio co-host there.  I recruited some people to work for our company.  I had real-world dollars in my pocket because of the things that I learned there and the people I met, some of whom I got to know in person as well.

In an effort to share some of the things that have worked for me, I am starting a series of posts about Twitter and its usage.  If you’re looking to learn how to use Twitter as a legitimate tool to grow your business and your base of connections, you will probably want to follow along.

Today’s tip (as you probably noticed in the title above) is this:

START OR JOIN A CONVERSATION

One analogy that I’ve heard and used to describe Twitter is that it’s much like a big party.  If you are hanging out at a party, you will probably be part of many conversations throughout the event.  Sometimes the conversations get a little more in-depth, and sometimes they even get private.  Other times, you’re just kidding around with friends and having a good time.  Most things that you can do with regard to networking in person can be done on Twitter as well, although I am not suggesting that Twitter or any other social media tool should replace face-to-face meetings.

HOW TO START A CONVERSATION

I know that this seems really rudimentary, but we’ve had so many clients ask this that I thought it would be pertinent to include here.  Think of how you start a conversation in person.  Do you mention a blog post you just wrote?  Well, maybe, but only if you describe it somehow and then chat about it afterward.  The same applies with Twitter.  Simply broadcasting your posts to the tweetstream with no commentary is valueless, in my humble opinion.  You can include them, to be sure, but only as part of a larger plan.

Try these ideas:

• Mention a cool article or video you have seen
• Take a poll
• Ask a question of any kind (“what is your favorite TV show/movie/80′s song?”)
• Say something funny  – anything truly funny will usually get a good response
• Promote others by retweeting stuff you find interesting or wise

HOW TO JOIN A CONVERSATION

Unlike being at a real-life party, Twitter offers you the opportunity to join conversations with little chance of personal rejection.   If you spot something of interest, respond to it, as in, “Me, too.  That book changed my outlook on life in general.”  If you see something funny, respond accordingly, “I laughed so hard just now that milk came out of my nose.”

If you see a discussion about something that looks interesting or about which you can converse, just jump in and participate.  The worst case is no response at all, and you haven’t really risked much, right?

Again, I recognize that this is pretty basic stuff, but I’m trying to illustrate that Twitter isn’t mysterious or difficult.  It can facilitate things if you use it the right way.

I hope this is helpful for you.  I would love to hear your input below.   Thanks very much for reading!

Originally Posted at: 210 Consulting- Social Media Advisors

I will be teaching an online class on Monday for Tomato University, at 2pm EST, 1pm Central time.  It’s only $20!

Here’s a brief summary:

This course will cover some of the most relevant topics that newbie real estate bloggers need to know.  Students will get a grasp of the basics needed in order to craft a compelling & engaging blog for business and networking.

Specific topics to include (but not be limited to):

• Why you need a blog in the first place
• Finding good content ideas for your blog posts (“But what do I write about?”)
• Writing Google-friendly posts
• The etiquette and value of interacting via blog comments

Please note:

• All classes are LIVE Webinars.
• Students will be able to either call-in or connect with their headset/mic/speakers to listen in and ask questions.
• All classes will have a live chat managed by the professor (or assistant).
• Students will receive all webainr login links and codes in an email (to the email on file with their TU account) 1-hour prior to class start time.  If you have not received the info in your email, contact tu@realestatetomato.com immediately, and we’ll resolve.
• All classes will have an additional 15 minute live Question/Answer Session after their posted schedule.

Interested?  Sign up right here: http://www.tomatouniversity.com/courses/register/real-estate-blogging-101

When I was growing up, I remember being told repeatedly, “Be careful with that (person/thing/pet), Jason, you don’t know your own strength.”  I was always hurting my friends in random ways, although I really didn’t mean to at all.  I also recall saying, “Please don’t tell on me” more times than I care to count.

As an adult and a father of four now, I am well aware of my physical strength now, especially when compared with my three daughters.  My son, on the other hand, will likely be bigger than me in the next couple of years.  Yikes.

But I digress…

I was thinking about the term, “knowing your own strength”, and how it applies not just to the obvious meaning, but also to having an awareness of what you are good at and passionate about with regard to work.

I guess part of the equation is also “knowing your own weaknesses”, too, right?

Here are a couple of strengths that I feel I have:

• I am likeable (I can get along with almost anyone)
• I am sensitive to the needs of others
• I am patient
• I enjoy teaching and I can usually explain things in understandable ways
• I’m very good at remember names, faces, and numbers
• I am creative at coming up with solutions to various types of problems.
• I genuinely like writing

Here are some of my weaknesses:

• I have a temper
• I don’t have a strong knowledge of history (just not my thing)
• I am not really that technically-minded and I have a low tolerance for stuff I don’t immediately understand
• I am not handy….at all.  My wife is the one who fixes broken things, not me.
• I tend to over-commit to projects.
• I don’t have a strong enough filter between my mind and my mouth sometimes, although it’s far better these days.

What about you?  Have you done this type of thing before?  I can guarantee you that others are always evaluating you – why not do it yourself?

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/greencolander/1569954608/

When I started blogging back in 2004, I didn’t write anything other than my own thoughts and observations on topics that had my interest.  In a way, not much has changed since then, but I now understand the real power of this medium, both from a search engine perspective and from the viewpoint that information can be shared with incredible ease across multiple platforms now.  Somewhere along the way, I began to write about businesses, mostly good stuff, but with a healthy dose of the bad as well.  Posts I’ve composed about truly horrific customer service are negative, to be sure, but they are negative with a purpose, namely to warn others.

With the increasing popularity of sites like Yelp, which allows customers to write and post reviews on the fly, it’s never been easier to help or harm businesses in a matter of minutes without even returning home.  In fact, I would argue that these “mobile reviews” are some of the most powerful around, since they likely come during or just after the service experience.

I like that phrase, actually. “Service experience”.  With few exceptions (state and federal government offices come to mind), those who provide products and services to consumers would do well to think of their own service experience, and how it compares to those of their competitors.  Be mindful of how you are being perceived.

With newer geo-location tools including Foursquare and Gowalla, it’s also possible to let others know where you are at any given moment by checking in.  You can also add tips, such as, “Avoid this place like the plague.” or “Try the crispy beef taco platter – it’s always good.”

My point here is that each and every one of us now has the potential to be a restaurant reviewer, or to have the influence of a local newspaper columnist.  Any business that intends to succeed in 2010 and beyond would do well to be mindful of this.

Believe me – we can tell when you care about us.

I have been hearing more about Scribefire lately, which is a Firefox addon which allows me (or anyone else, for that matter) to blog with a small pane open on my screen while surfing or reading.  It can be found at http://scribefire.com, and the download took a few seconds and required a restart of Firefox.  I decided to give it a test run today. 

This post is actually being composed in Scribefire.

So far, I am impressed.

It asked me to input my blog URL, then it needed my login info, of course.  The menu is pretty extensive, resembling WordPress, and the blogging pane itself can be resized.  I could also opt to open this program in a new tab or a new window, rather than the pane idea. 

In the description on the site, it states, “you can drag and drop formatted text from pages you are browsing, take notes, and post to your blog”.  I tried to bring in some formatted text with that last sentence as a test, and it worked well, but it didn’t retain its formatting (rather, it just became the same as the font that I am using here).  It would be easy for me to add a YouTube video, and the picture insertion is intuitive as well, although there’s an odd second menu for aligning photos once you have them inserted into the post.  I love the fact that there is an option on the dropdown menu to “find an image on Flickr”, although it doesn’t specify that it’s only pulling from the Creative Commons-licensed area, so I would be hesitant to use those images without verifying this first.

The Notes function was originally developed for Engadget, which is among the most-read blogs around.  It makes sense that they would use this feature a lot, although I’m not sure that I will as an average user.

I think I may integrate this into my toolbox, since it enables me to just press F8 on my keyboard and start writing a post, rather than logging in to my Wordpress dashboard.  Scribefire also allows me the ability to share any page I’m viewing on Facebook, StumbleUpon, Digg, and more.  Twitter is conspicuously absent, and this seems like a logical addition to the next version.

Part of the hook here is Scribefire’s simplicity, and the ability to easily cut and paste information from sites and posts on the fly.  I am sold on the simple part.  The only potential drawback that I can see is if someone else gains access to your machine, they could gain access to your blog very easily with one keystroke, but this seems like an unlikely scenario.

Thanks for reading!

This was my first year to attend SXSW Interactive, which is five solid days long.  The fact that it’s right here in Austin made the decision to attend much easier.  I coined my own term for the event: Geek orgy.  Get it?  Like a Greek….never mind.

Here are a few things that I learned that I intend to implement next time around.  (Yes, I will be back next year.)

1. Get a mobile charger for your phone. I use an iPhone, and with the relentless usage of Tweetie, Foursquare, and texting, the battery couldn’t withstand my onslaught.  Thankfully, there were lounges available with chargers for pretty much any type of phone around the Convention Center.

2. Use a backpack or one of those wheeled carts, even if it looks a little dorky. I attempted to carry my cinder block Macbook Pro on the first day, and I scrapped that idea in favor of the iPhone for the duration.  Had I thought of it earlier, I would have stuck the laptop in a backpack, which would have made my life easier, in addition to enabling me to blog during the actual event.

3. Wear comfortable shoes. This one probably goes without saying, but I can’t bring myself to wear running shoes with jeans when I am networking.  That being said, I intend to acquire some comfortable yet halfway stylish shoes before next March.  I have 11+ months to plan.    The Austin Convention Center is massive (as in, three city blocks square), and the event encompassed the entire building, along with parts of two adjacent hotels.  The parties are held at various locations nearby within a few blocks.

4. Upload your picture ahead of time to the SXSW site. I didn’t even think about doing this, but I should have.  Instead, my badge displayed me speaking and sort of smirking in mid-sentence because it was taken at the registration.  I would recommend using your Twitter profile picture, which hopefully is an actual picture of your face.  On an ancillary note, I should have used my office address, rather than my home address, since I had to explain that I’m in Austin because people don’t know the suburbs around here, and it showed my home address town on the badge.

5. Don’t be shy at all. I certainly wouldn’t advocate being an obnoxious blowhard, but I would recommend just practicing the fine art of saying, “Hi”.  I had a list of a handful of people I really was hoping to meet, and I met several (although not all) of them.  I didn’t have any hidden agenda – I just enjoy people, and I like meeting people that I admire and respect.  Additionally, I found it easier to keep in mind that the other 15,000 attendees are mainly there to network!

6. There’s a reason that guys like Chris Brogan, Darren Rowse, and Gary Vaynerchuk are famous in the business/blogging/new media world. They are interesting and gracious.  Period.  I had a chance to meet Chris on the first day, and early.  He is ridiculously nice in person, and I met two other luminaries just by standing there with him for a couple of minutes.  I heard all three of them speak, and none were disappointing.  Darren even agreed to be on our BlogTalkRadio show soon (http://facebook.com/socialmediaedge).   Since it airs live at 4am Australia time, we have to record it in advance.  Chris spoke with Julien Smith about establishing trust (they did co-author “Trust Agents”, after all), and it was both funny and genuine.  The energy in the room during Gary’s talk was palpable.  I left there feeling like I used to feel when I walked out of a “Rocky” movie – invincible and inspired.  The dude knows how to work a room.

7. Plan ahead a little more, but remain flexible and go with the flow. If I had been paying more attention before the event started, I would have caught a couple of speakers that I would have loved to hear.  However, if I had scheduled every minute of every day, I might have missed meeting some of the coolest people I came across.

8. Learn where some of the “cool kids” hang out. I did.  And no, I won’t tell you, at least not here.  If you’re super-interested, get in touch with me and I’ll tell you where I would imagine you will most enjoy your time in terms of solid networking where you can actually hear yourself think.  If I make it too public, I risk ruining it next time.

9. Overall, they need to do a better job of vetting presenters/panelists. Although I managed to catch some awesome sessions (most notably the ones I mentioned above, along with a discussion led by Chris Heuer and John Biehler), I also witnessed some supremely boring and sales pitch-y garbage, too.  I have a suggestion if you are planning to sell stuff during your presentation: Don’t mislead the audience.  Just call it “Widget I Want to Sell You” or “Walkthrough of My Software”.  I had to vote with my feet and leave more than one of the sessions I chose to attend.  I am sincerely considering throwing my name in the ring for a session for SXSW 2011.  Wanna join me on a panel?

Austin remains a terrific town. I’m happy to have called this area home since 1988. It was fun to see the jealous reactions of many of the people I encountered when they learned that I get to live here year-round.

Hope to see you here next year!