Twitter Helped Me Become A Concise Writer

Twitter helped me become a concise writer.

The Wonders of the Unconventional Use of Twitter

Congratulations goes to @twspassionplay for their unconventional use of twitter. On Good Friday, Trinity Wall Street Church in New York City used Twitter to Tweet the story of Christ’s final hours between the hours of 12 pm. I spend a lot of time speaking and coaching small companies and non-profit organizations on the benefits of Social Media (including Twitter). I have encouraged them to be experimental to really THINK about their businesses and how Social Media can support their efforts… Sometime to a room of stares, sometime to a room of giggles (terminology like ‘tweeting’ makes many corporate types giggle like school girls), but mostly to a room of groans and sighs from over worked business owners who say “I can’t keep up with my email, let alone adding Facebook and Twitter to my pile!”

Yes, Social Media is ‘another’ tool to add to your box of business tricks. Yes, Social Media has a learning curve. And Yes, it will add to your ‘pile’ if that is the attitude and approach you bring to your every day work style. But if you are creative, if you are open minded, there are wonderful applications that can bring a new prespecitve to your work and add to your businesses’ profile and outreach efforts. The next time I am in New York, I am going to stop by Trinity Wall Street Church… their application was that powerful, that intriguing!

Think about the power generated from the simple idea of Tweeting this time honored and recognized story of Jesus’ last hours. The story was picked up by many media outlets including @andersoncooper: What would Jesus tweet? http://tinyurl.com/d6ktnu. Could your business or organization use a high profile media push? Then THINK, be cleaver in your approach, know how to use these new tools! Learn them now or catch up later!

I am intrigued at the application for historical societies, for theatres,  for towns, for cities, for inns and family businesses…. If you have a great idea or providing a # (event) from Twitter or are using Social Media in usual ways…Please let me know! I’ll be glas to pass along your ingenuity to my followers.

The Resistance to Change is Not a New Human Trait

A friend of mine, Chip Noon, from Rochester NH Main Street, sent me a direct Tweet today asking if I had seen “this” The Growing Debate over Twitter and Social Media on the Loyalty Truth.Com website. I didn’t and immediately click to read the article…. An interesting, two-sided, argument that focused on “two key objections: (1) That the social media are yet unproven as a selling tool; and (2) that there is great potential to waste time on them.”

Hummm, I thought out loud, to myself… It reminded me, IN THEORY, of something I had read almost 20 years ago to this very day, March 6, 1989. I’d like to re-type it for you here to remind all of us:

THE RESISTANCE TO CHANGE IS NOT A NEW HUMAN TRAIT. THE FOLLOWING LETTER IS REAL AND SUGGESTS THAT IN OUR SOCIETY SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE.

Dear President Jackson:

The canal system of this country is being threatened by the spread of a new form of transportation known as railroads. The federal government must preserve the canals for the following reasons:

ONE. If canal boats are supplanted by railroads, serious unemployment will result. Captains, cooks, drivers, innkeepers, repairmen, and lock tenders will be left without means of livelihood, not to mention the numerous farmers now employed in growing hay for horses.

TWO. Boat builders would suffer and towline, ship and harness makers would be left destitute.

THREE. Canal boats are absolutely essential to the defense of the United States. In the even of the expected trouble with England, the Erie Canal would be the only means by which we could move the supplies so vital to waging modern war.

For the above mentioned reasons, the government should crate an Interstate Commerce Commission to protect the American people from the evils of railroads and to preserve the canals to posterity.

As you well know, Mr. President, railroad carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 miles per hour by engines which, in addition to endangering life and limb of passengers, roar and snort their way through the countryside setting fire to crops, scaring the livestock and frightening women and children. The Almighty certainly never intended that people should move at such breakneck speed.

Signed –

Martin Van Buren
Governor of New York

Blogging from Tweet Grid

I was having \”hang\” problems following my Twitter account with Tweet Deck so I began searching for something new and came across Tweet Grid. I like it because it is web based and does not bog my system down. I was watching some of Tweet Grid\’s learning videos to help me become more familiar with their services and came across How to Create a WordPress Blog inside Tweet Grid.

Since my blog and I have been having commitment issues, and I seem to be a much better newsletter writer and Tweet master, I thought I\’d give it a try. This is it!

Although you can add code via the Tweet, it isn\’t automatic. I am not a polished coder and think it would be a great idea for Tweet Grid to add some quick links for bold, hyper links, etc. to help enhance this, otherwise, terrific idea!

Give Tweet Grid a try at www.tweetgrid.com and let me know what you think of it!

ADDED FROM WORD PRESS:
As you can see above, Tweet Grid can be used for quick updates “without” special characters… ideas longer than 140 characters, but nothing sophisticated unless you know how to quickly code on the fly, which I don’t. Still, it is a useful tool when you are on the fly and just need a quick update. www.tweetgrid.com

Blogging is like Customer Service

Now I know why I have been drawn into the world of blogs and social media. It is like customer service, my specialty! I was just lead back to an article that Andy Sernovitz wrote for iMedia in January. In the article he states, “Customer service is the secret of blog relations: Customer service people find dealing with bloggers familiar. It’s working with a vocal group of individuals who each have their own particular concerns and needs. It’s looking at situations, addressing them, and getting them fixed however you can.”

I am not a public relations specialist. I seem to have always been at odds with my fellow team members regarding the PR approach. I am a customer service person. I am a Granite State Ambassador. We don’t push the news, we pull the news. We don’t make the news, we report the “news” to others. That is what I am comfortable with. We have mega influence over where people go, what they do and see while visiting. (GSAs are information specialists who staff visitor centers in New Hampshire). GSA, Inc. influences tourism officials, residents, and industry members. — we are real, live, bloggers!

Last August, when I started my journey into the underworld of social media (oxymoron), my quest was simple (or so I thought). I wanted to understand why people (at a tourism conference) were so hesitant to use Twitter, Facebook, and other social media outlets to enhance their already refined marketing attempts. It seemed so reasonable to me. The economy was slowing, gas prices were high, tourism was beginning to feel the pain of the complicated airline industry… why not try something new? Their answer (or at least the answer of the speakers and panels at the conference)? — They couldn’t figure out how to track the “ROI”… The ROI? There must have been a lot of civil servants (state workers) in the room! Anyway…. off of my rant….

What is the ROI of customer service? Do we (in the tourism industry) track the ROI of customer service? If so, how is it tracked? By referrals, by numbers of questions, how? At the very same conference I met one of the keynote speakers, Dennis Snow (Snow & Associates). A customer service guru, brought up and trained at Disney. — If we apply Dennis’ theories to blogging, to Facebook, to Twitter, we have an awesome public relations campaign! Dennis talks about “inculturating” service excellence. His framework–1.) The Lens of the Customer – 2.) The Service Environment, everything speaks (every detail of a physical environment says something about the organization, product, or person). – 3.The Service Delivery (Dennis even has maps for this). – and finally, 4. Process. Dennis states that the process element surrounds all of the other elements. Processes are the magic key for inculturating service excellence. Which brings me back to social media and blogging (process). I will begin to incorporate these elements into a social media training program over the next several months… If anyone had any ideas, comments, or helpful tips, please let me know at judiwindow@gmail.com.