It has been argued that Twitter is no more than a fun way to waste some time during the day - entertaining for sure, but with no real-life applications, and no business value.
The Ad Contrarian, in Twitters Never Win. Winners Never Twit stated in no uncertain terms that Twitter was a monumental waste of time (I won’t repeat the exact terms here because my nieces and nephews occasionally reads my posts and I don’t want them picking up this sort of language, at least not from me). He also states that his critique is based on the fact that he “tried” Twitter (for a total of 6 days).
I understand that Mr. Contrarian (if that is your real name!) generates most of his traffic by being overly obnoxious and in-your-face so as to goad people into linking to his blog, so I have purposely avoided doing so (you can easily find his blog if you really want to).
Thus was born Twitter Stories, a series of posts based on micro case studies of the use of Twitter in real-life and business situations. This post is the first in a series that I hope will show practical applications of Twitter by the folk who really and honestly use it.
Micro case study number 1: Mitch Joel vs the Airline
October 14, 2008,
Mitch Joel is waiting for a flight to Winnipeg where he is set to speak Personal Branding at a Power Within event.
At 6:53, he posts the following tweet:
need help: anyone know anyone who talks on the subject of Web 2.0 and Social Media and is based n Winnipeg? DM me details please :)
He does not get the tweetback he is looking for, so at 7:23 he posts a follow-up tweet:
really need your help. my flight is delayed. do you know anyone who can talk about online marketing in Winnipeg? Please DM me. It's urgent.
October 15, Mitch posts the following on Twitter:
Twitter & Facebook win! Was able to find Joel Parent who kept the crowd engaged while my flight was delayed. Managed to squeak in 40 mins.
Outcome: Twitter is a business contact and emergency services tool
This is the new business reality that Twitter and other Social Media offers to those who are willing to invest in it. And by invest, I mean take the time to develop ties to a broader community. It goes far beyond networking in the traditional sense. It not just a matter of collecting business cards and doing the occasional follow-up phone call. Here, two professionals who didn’t know each other beyond their social networks were able to come together and collaborate on a specific project. Mitch was able to reach out to someone, and to verify his qualifications to get the job done, primarily through Twitter and by extension, through Facebook.
Twitter, like other social media, is a tool and is only as good as the ties you have made and nourished and to the brand and the reputation you have built up. But for those who can use them properly, these new tool offer incredible new opportunities never seen before, many of which have yet to be discovered.
To know more about the story, read Mitch’s post Twitter For Business Works
If you have any such experiences you would like to share, please comment on this blog or email me at alainlemay69@gmail.com
Of course, you can also contact me via Twitter under: Alain_Lemay69
Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts
Friday, October 17, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Facebook Hotties as a business training tool?
OK, I admit it. I don’t use Facebook only for business/networking purposes. I do play the occasional game. As a matter of fact, I have become fascinated by one of the applications available on Facebook called You’re a Hottie, and so should you!
Basically, you buy and sell hotties (other Facebook users) to make money and increase your Net Worth. It is quite addictive in itself but it has more to it than meets the eye.
In order to be successful, you need to be able to recognize a “good deal”, a hottie whose value you can increase and sell back at a profit. This means you have to understand the Hotties market, pick-up on buying and selling trends, and know when to buy and when to sell. You can check to see recent trades on any hottie of interest to help you decide if this hottie is indeed a hot property or simply overinflated.
You can increase your hotties value by petting them (groan) once every 24 hours, or by placing them in a manor. Manors increase the value of your hotties quickly but you have to buy the manors and incur maintenance fees that cut into your cash flow. But before you crank up the value of your hotties, you need to understand offer and demand for the Hotties market.
You have to judge how much you can increase the value of a particular hottie so that he/she will sell well on the market. If you don’t increase the value enough, you will make only a meagre profit on your investment. On the flip side, increase the value too much and the hottie in question could become unsellable, too expensive for the market. Another wrinkle - since the pictures are pulled from the user’s profiles, they change when the user changes his/her main picture. This means you also have to decide whether this picture is likely to stay for a while or change often. That hottie in a bikini could quickly become a shot of a baby, or of the family pet. All this to say that you are going to need to develop a buying/selling strategy, test it out, and make adjustments accordingly.
Marketing is very limited. You can offer your hotties for sale to other owners using a button and then, only once a day. You can also give them a nickname which basically provides you a space to put teaser text so others will want to buy your hottie. Since you only have about 12 characters of space, you need to write killer short copy. This alone is great business practice!
Is this application going to turn you into a cutting edge business man/woman? No. But it is a great mental exercise that will help keep you sharp and hone your business acumen. It will also help put you in the right state of mind. Opportunities come our way regularly - the trick is in recognizing those opportunities and seizing them when they present themselves. And that is how play becomes pay!
Tip: When considering buying a hottie, check to see if the present owner has bought this hottie more than once recently. This might mean he/she is emotionally attached to the hottie and will buy him/her back from you (a quick profit for you) if you buy the hottie from them. (Do check if they have sufficient funds to buy the hottie back though!)
Basically, you buy and sell hotties (other Facebook users) to make money and increase your Net Worth. It is quite addictive in itself but it has more to it than meets the eye.
In order to be successful, you need to be able to recognize a “good deal”, a hottie whose value you can increase and sell back at a profit. This means you have to understand the Hotties market, pick-up on buying and selling trends, and know when to buy and when to sell. You can check to see recent trades on any hottie of interest to help you decide if this hottie is indeed a hot property or simply overinflated.
You can increase your hotties value by petting them (groan) once every 24 hours, or by placing them in a manor. Manors increase the value of your hotties quickly but you have to buy the manors and incur maintenance fees that cut into your cash flow. But before you crank up the value of your hotties, you need to understand offer and demand for the Hotties market.
You have to judge how much you can increase the value of a particular hottie so that he/she will sell well on the market. If you don’t increase the value enough, you will make only a meagre profit on your investment. On the flip side, increase the value too much and the hottie in question could become unsellable, too expensive for the market. Another wrinkle - since the pictures are pulled from the user’s profiles, they change when the user changes his/her main picture. This means you also have to decide whether this picture is likely to stay for a while or change often. That hottie in a bikini could quickly become a shot of a baby, or of the family pet. All this to say that you are going to need to develop a buying/selling strategy, test it out, and make adjustments accordingly.
Marketing is very limited. You can offer your hotties for sale to other owners using a button and then, only once a day. You can also give them a nickname which basically provides you a space to put teaser text so others will want to buy your hottie. Since you only have about 12 characters of space, you need to write killer short copy. This alone is great business practice!
Is this application going to turn you into a cutting edge business man/woman? No. But it is a great mental exercise that will help keep you sharp and hone your business acumen. It will also help put you in the right state of mind. Opportunities come our way regularly - the trick is in recognizing those opportunities and seizing them when they present themselves. And that is how play becomes pay!
Tip: When considering buying a hottie, check to see if the present owner has bought this hottie more than once recently. This might mean he/she is emotionally attached to the hottie and will buy him/her back from you (a quick profit for you) if you buy the hottie from them. (Do check if they have sufficient funds to buy the hottie back though!)
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