101Will tweet for

work! How to get twitter to work for you

Daulton West and Scott Gravitt June 30, 2009

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What is Twitter ?• Twitter is a free social networking and

micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read each others' updates, known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters, displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to other users - known as followers - who have subscribed to them

• Twitter is probably best used as a source for career networking and information gathering

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Let’s start twitting!Just go to http://twitter.com/

Click the “Get Started--Join” box & answer the 4 simple questions

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Profile• Name – be sure to include your real name here

so people can find you • Web – use your LinkedIn URL, unless a

personal website is preferred• Bio – what differentiates you and defines your

brand, put it here (Ex: Social media champion, Webmaster, Reporter for Examiner, Marketing 2.0, Branding 2.0, Web 2.0 coach / trainer, social networker / music trivia for fun)

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Basic terms • Tweet - What are you doing? - a posted message, max of 140 chars • Retweeting – Reposting someone else’s message,

format is: ‘RT’ + ‘@’ + ‘twitter ID’ + original tweet

viable4u Are you using the power of a Google profile to promote your brand? RT @viable4u Are you using the power of a Google profile to promote your brand?

• Followers = same as connections on LinkedIn, or friends on Facebook

Find People by name Use Twitter's people search to find people who currently use Twitter.  Search for a

first, last, or user name, and view results. Twitter uses the full name as well as the user name fields to give you as many relevant results as possible.

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Text commands• @username + message

- directs a twitter at another person, causes your twitter to save in their "replies" tab

Example: @danschwabel @megguiseppi @alisondoyle @guykawasaki

Survey: What are the top 5 topics you tweet on? / what do viewers want?

• D username + messagesends a person a private message that goes to their device, and saves in their web archive. Example: d ScottGravitt Are you back in town? Have deck for your review soon

• Frequently Asked Questions – basic 1st time user questions answered

- click ‘Help’ and scroll down to view the list of twitter terminology and basic concepts

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URL shorteners (used to shrink URL to avoid 140 char max)

• Hootsuite - Has a ‘Send Later’ feature for posting tweets at

specific times. (great feature)

• Tinyurl - Enter a long URL to make tiny: - or - use Custom alias (optional): to personalize a link http://tinyurl.com/dwestjr-ex1

May contain letters, numbers, and dashes.

• bit.ly - Has History feature that has date added, clicks, info

with title of link, name of shortened URL

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Hootsuite

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TinyUrl

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bit.ly

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twitterLatest Scenes from a Job Search:http://ow.ly/fPlXLink is to a series she is writing on different people and what has been working for them during their job search

Facebook

LinkedIn

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How is twitter different?• LinkedIn - better used for keeping your career profile current, maintaining

and expanding your contact list, joining groups to share career / job search information, doing company / people searches

• Facebook - better used for personal updates, and for keeping connected with family and friends

• Twitter - Twitter can serve as your primary source for keeping current with your field and with industry leaders, desired employers, and other “power contacts” you want to “follow”. Twitter does not require verification of “follower” requests, it is much easier to connect to people than on LinkedIn. LinkedIn / Facebook are not “conversational” and allow for only “one-way” updates. Twitter allows for a more free flowing exchange of information and for “live”, “in the moment” networking using microblogging (like a chat room)

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What are followers? (followers = connections)• Find people to follow on Twitter with Twellow -

http://www.twellow.com/

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http://twtjobs.com/ http://fav.or.it/post/1389618/twtjobs-140-characters-to-employment

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Twitter search - use keywords to find job listings, references to specific organizations, topics, even references to your name

• Saved Searches• social media richmond • dwestjr • richmondjobnet • jobs richmond va

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Nearby tweets – Enter:• Location• Keyword• Search radius

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TweetDeck – A useful free twitter application to organize who you follow into groups. You can also add facebook to your tweetdeck if you desire.

http://tweetdeck.com/beta/

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#followfriday - recommend the work of others, 2 formats viable4u #FF @dwestjr @RichmondJobNet @yeagerjenngrp @

mightycasey @roguestarsystem @rickwhittington @thecareergiant @elledmytryszyn @FastCoach

CatGotUrTongue #followfriday @dwestjr, @writersinthesky, @sarvay, @jobrielyn, @kcampbel46 - happy friday everyone!!!

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Links

• Job Sites and Career Experts on Twitter (by Alison Doyle)

• 150+ Experts on Twitter ALL Job Seekers MUST Follow (by Chris Perry)

• Where to Find Your Job on Twitter (by Chris Perry)

• UsingTwitter for Career Networking (by Daulton West)

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Takeaways• Use for networking & information gathering• As with any networking, think “how can I add

value to help others”, “quality” not “quantity”• Bio - differentiate yourself & define your brand• Follow industry leaders, desired employers,

RichmondJobNet, jobs richmond va (daily search)

• Use to connect with people to build quality relationships. Helping others builds your brand

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Best practices• It is recommended that you post a profile photo, which will help people

find you and which is a courtesy to people you may follow on twitter who do not know you

• “Less is more”, don’t inundate people with too many tweets, or you may lose followers. Think “quality”, not “quantity.” (This applies to other media like Facebook, and LinkedIn, as well)

• Whether its the status area of LinkedIn, the wall posting area of Facebook, or the Twitter message box - you only have 140 chars to “add value”, so use it wisely! (No one cares about what you had for breakfast, or lunch, or that you just showered after a walk – AVOID tweeting about mundane daily activities!)

• As with in person networking, the more you contribute to others, the more you will earn a good reputation which can serve you well. As a “best practice” note, self-promotion is frowned upon. Sharing and posting career / job information, helpful links, social media tips, answering questions, or starting a discussion to benefit others is what it is all about.