This got me thinking about how companies can  utilize Twitter more efficiently. Really the same way athletes should, but don’t!  An athlete’s name is not their brand due to free agency. Sales is nothing more than real world free agency. With that in mind-I have compiled a list of Twitter best practices with an eye on maximizing your companies brand on Twitter, and ultimately driving brand awareness and affinity:

1. Twitter users are 37% more likely to be followed when they spell out their full name instead of attaching their brand to their username. With that data in hand, I suggest that your company have one corporate username and all other employees make their user name an extension of the company’s brand. This will allow your company to be able to speak to all business avenues -instead of being pigeon-holed based on his/her username.
2. Every piece of content created in blogs, Youtube, Flickr, deep discussions, new events- need to be shared on Twitter. We suggest connecting Friendfeed to the corporate Twitter account.
3. I suggest your company share tidbits of knowledge daily. At least 10 twitter posts per day using keywords from a yet to be established keyword list. 60% should be of the thought leadership variety, while 40% of the posts should talk about the Twitter personality’s life. The corporate account should be purely talking about company  happenings and posting links for “link juice”, while responding to mentions. Always post an opinion on industry specific news.
4. I suggest creating a template thank you note for every new follower. This template will link to the company’s website and be accompanied by a  thank you with a clear call to action.
5. I suggest your company closely monitors the Twitter members that are talking about the organization on http://www.search.twitter.com. Track the results by simply copying the RSS feed of the results and placing it in an RSS reader.
6. Your organization should comment on other posts of interest as much as time allows. This opens up free flowing conversations. The organization can track these conversations by keyword and put the RSS feeds into a Netvibes to follow effectively.

Summary:

1. One Corporate Account (example @authoritydomain)- At least 10 Tweets a day (60% business/40% casual & fun- be a human) Attach a trending term: Example #authoritydomains. If you are a Mets fan: #Mets
2. Numerous Individual Twitter accounts–For example put http://www.authoritydomains.com in the BIO, spell out full name (example: @derekshowerman). Shot for 10 Tweets a day, 60% business/40% casual & fun- be a human!
3. Follow other Twitter folks who mention your business on http://search.twitter.com
4. Thank every follower and have a clear call to action.

Suggestion:

Please be sure to engage social media with an eye on fulfilling real business objectives and a roadmap to see real ROI. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Home- The General page harbors access to my blog page, weather, stocks, Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, and Twitter. Although I use Digsby for my IM, Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter needs, it is nice to be able to click on a tab and see all services from a birds-eye view.

Social Media – I have a social Media tab that holds all of the fine folks I follow on a daily basis. I additionally added the RSS feeds of keywords that are of interest to me on Twitter. I highly recommend this course of action through: http://search.twitter.com I also, have key Twitter folk RSS’d.

News – I love the CNN news widget. I also have a FOX widget up to get the conservative perspective. Slate has a stellar widget that is quirky and different. I am also very fond of WorldNews.com, and immediately added Whitehouse.gov to watch what Obama is up too. I have a Reddit widget that keeps me informed of hot topics being bookmarked. Wallstreet Journal widget is there too!

Sports- I have the ESPN Widget and the RSS feeds for the Mets, Giants, Islanders, Celtics and Duke Basketball from Sportspyder.com

TV, Movies & Music – I won’t bore you with what I have here. But I have organized all the nerdy sites I frequent into one spot. One nerd site I should mention is Aintitcool.com. If you are a movie buff it is a fun site that is not politically correct.

Tools & Technology – I loved the Wired and Techcrunch widgets. I have a few other RSS feeds that are interesting to me, such as platform providers, etc.

The net sum is:

1. The assortment of widgets that Netvibes provides is robust and they all work splendidly.
2. It takes a 30 to 45 minutes to set up.
3. I save at least an hour a day being able to read only what I want- instead of having to surf to see what is new at the destinations that are important to me.
4. As I mentioned earlier, Netvibes is the perfect birds-eye view of what is important to me online.

I hope this recommendation helps folks become more productive with their day! It certainly has deeper functionality than Google Reader does. Thanks AJ!

1. Create an Ideas area  like Dell’s Ideastorm. This can be open to anyone who wants to share ideas that will help America get out of this financial mess. As I mentioned in the video, it could be sharing something another government has had success implementing. Or maybe there is a brilliant nugget in the mind of some 10 year old political whiz kid. Either way- the “we” has been proven to be smarter than the few. Might as well give the masses the vehicle to present the American Government with the nuggets that could really instill “change”.
2. Events- Conduct live Chats with Senators and key members of the Government. The purpose of these chats is to give people a chance to ask tough questions. Obviously not all of the questions can be answered. But within those questions is valuable Intelligence. Intelligence the Government can use to understand what is really on their citizens minds. For the citizen, it is a way to be heard. For the very reason ESPN is successful using sports chats, so too will the Government. Use Recognition Rewards to drive participation.
3. Instill empowerment through the use of Recognition Rewards- Great participation should be rewarded in the form of their very own blog post on the WhiteHouse.gov website. Also, Barack Obama is very popular right now. I am sure there are hoards of folks that would share their thoughts for a right to dine with the big guy!
4. Live Chats During Speeches & Press Conferences – This gives folks a reason to come back to the community. But for the same reasons outlined above, it will give the Government an unfiltered look in the minds of the citizen. It is also would be great if 3 questions from the chat are asked after the speech or during the press conference. I never understood why the media was the only people allowed to ask questions. And I understand that many of the questions are seeded questions. Let’s put an end to that! Every day I get asked questions from customers off the cuff and I am no worse for wear. Government officials are paid a hell of a lot more money then I- they can handle it!
5. Profiles – Each Citizen can create their own profile. This way they can favorite the topics that are important to them. They can track the progress of the agendas right from their profile. They will also be able be ranked as citizen, and will be able to set reminders to return for events that are important to them. Lastly, they can buddy up with other citizens to create and organize events to push the causes or candidates that they are passionate about.

In the end this takes money. Tax money! But  much of this can be outsourced away from the Government. Community management and moderation can be had! Just ask me and I will send Barach & Co. in the right direction. Come to think of it- wasn’t Macon Phillips hired to be the Director Of New Media for the Obama Administration?

I don’t want to get into the logistics of the debate. Instead I would like to focus on the tone of the blog post and the tone by which the commenter’s/followers have chosen to interact after my comment. Outside of the folks who backed Scott Monty, there seemed to be a very negative overtone, not only from the blogger, but the followers as well. Even the skull for an avatar implies negativity.

The Sportguy wrote in ESPN The Magazine: “The hater gimmick sprung from the Internet, where bloggers and message-board posters rip people to shreds on a daily basis. It’s a logical tactic. If you want to cause a splash, but you’re not talented or funny and lack an interesting take, what’s left? You attack.” I found it interesting this comment came to head at the same time I was dealing with a blogger community that fell into the “hater gimmick” category. It would appear “hater” blogs are a bit of a no win situation for anyone

So the question begs to be answered. Do you want your Social Media presence to be “hater gimmick”; or an entity of fresh perspective and organic learning? My choice is the latter. But I would be remiss if I did not take the spotlight off the negative and shine it squarely on the lesson to be learned. Pick a positive tone for your online niche. The tone you choose will in turn result in comments that match the way you choose to interact with the world. If you choose negative, you are going to draw in negativity. If you choose educational and open-you might learn from your peers and likewise for the readers from you. Much like life-if you surround yourself with negative folks-that is what you get back. If you surround yourself with happy people-you too will be happy.

The negative follower is going to call me out and say “…well the hater gimmick worked, you linked the blog.” While the positive follower is going to take the small lesson and learn from it. I am going to take my chances and say most of you are going to take the good from this post and apply it. Peer learning is one of the many benefits of Social Media if executed correctly!

I will be doing my first podcast this week. My apologies for being unavailable last week. I was traveling and then came down with the plague. I will be doing my first podcast in the coming days.  Make it a great week….