After long forbearance (neglect!?), I am finally returning to this subject, or rather, the subject of this book.

I started reading the book long ago (over a year ago). As I read, I was looking for something specific. I wasn’t really looking for how twitter worked, nor how it profited other twitter ‘marketers’ so that I could jump on the vapor wave and sell vapor myself. I was looking for how it could profit me and my clients. I did not find the answer. I have not finished the book.

Joel Comm’s book isn’t the problem, it is twitter. As I read through twitter power I underlined, highlighted, and actually moved on many ideas. As I read, I found my thoughts leading me to one conclusion. At the same time I was reading I was actually in twitter studying the interactions, the methods used and mulling over what I saw. Alas, after a year of digestion I have come to this:

1) If you are not already known and appreciated, this is not the place to put the bulk of your effort (to try and get so).
2) Your efforts are as temporary as it gets. Your tweets are effectively a flash in the pan.
3) If Michael Jordan tweets, ‘I just got these shoes, they are the best yet…’ hundreds if not thousands of those shoes will sell immediately. If Joe Blow tweets the same… nada.

So, even if you manage to get your 1k, 10k, 30k, or more followers, even if you tweet the prescribed number of times a day, you are probably off the timeline before the target audience even gets home. Yes, do tweet. Yes, do build a ‘rep’ for quality, fun(ny), insight, etc. Don’t spend your whole day, budget, marketing plan on twitter.

One final note: Think on this, if someone is following 50 people, they might read most of the tweets those 50 people make. If they follow 60k they only read when/if you tweet about them or some other topic they are interested in.

Tags: BOOK: twitter power by Joel Comm by Scott Gregson
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Well, I am amazed. I mean it, really. Social Marketing – I understand the possibilities, but am amazed at the actual and implied substance that is available en mass.

Short story, there is a lot of hype. There is a lot of true potential. True story, if you want to build a long term marketing plan you’d better include social media / social marketing (or whatever it will be called tomorrow).

-Mists-

twitter power (Joel Comm) is a basic how-to book on using Twitter together with other New Media methods to reach new clients. The book specifically addresses the ins and outs of Twitter and best practices (it is detailed [practical]). Read this book if you want to move forward in marketing (print media is dying on the vine).

Half way through the book, trying to apply my highlighted portions, I had to stop to deal with customers. One visit today, a short explanation and I basically got the blank check go-ahead from this customer. Granted, his blank check isn’t six digits blank, or even four digits blank, but blank nonetheless. He got the concept, even though I told him I only had a few usable methods of Social Marketing so far.

Upon beginning to read Joel’s book, as the light shown on my path, I started looking deeper into this thing—Social Marketing. What began as a search for more focused SEO, broadened into a deep valley of vague ideas. As straight-forward as the book twitter power is, a little self study via the new media / social media / social marketing, lead into a mist laden valley of unsurety.

What I found was a new society of MRR and PLR purveyors – “everything you need for $1997″. All of this wrapped or re-wrapped in his/her own personal embellishments. Chopped, cut, repackaged, ghost written, and fully pre-hyped to the point of guaranteed money-back success! Well, Joel seems to be more balanced, of real substance than these hangers-on.

Once I started down the road I found, I could not believe what I found. There are so many people trying to break into this it is astonishing. The first thing I noticed was people following me on twitter. OK!? Who is this guy anyway – go look – he’s a Social Marketer, or a consultant/trainer of same (He will make you rich! – at a cost howbeit). Then another follower, and another, and etc. OK, so right now there are 20 following me. Why! I am not doing anything, or saying anything that is of value to anybody yet. I still am setting things up and my tweets consist of tests of ping.fm, wordpress plugins, and etc. These people are following 19,000 others (or really 10 and filtering the rest) and are being followed by 17,320 (who are really following 10 and filtering the remainder). They follow me so I will follow them, and I do too. I am following 12 but only 5 of those actually tweet anything at all. I went and looked at who they presented themselves to be, judged what I saw and said, “OK, I’ll give her a chance, I’ll give him a try…” I want to find, really, I do.

Now, as I watch these people I see a pattern, some are here mostly for fun. Some are here mostly to push something, and really don’t have anything or any substance to offer that they personally built (enter MRR/PLR). Oh, well! When eating watermelon you have to spit out the seeds.

LESSON LEARNED: twitter power, page 75, just before #3 -”you still have to pay your dues.” Muddle through the mists to find the crystal clear stream full of fat Brookies, a mayfly hatch just happening… and, oh yes, a Dr. Pepper in your pack.

*you did notice the word methods didn’t you, are twitter, facebook, your blog, et al, means or a methods? Know the answer to that and you know a lot! I have met people who owned an impressive set of tools, and I have met others who had impressive results in spite of their tools.

Tags: BOOK: twitter power by Joel Comm, Books Read by Scott Gregson
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I have been trying to upload new matching photos of myself to both twitter.com and Facebook.com (I am @scottgregson on twitter.com). Evidentally, twitter is experiencing growing pains. I have been trying to upload a background image and profile photo for hours. The profile image finally uploaded, but the background image is stuck at an intermediate version. Oh well, it will do for a while.

In the process of trying to teach myself marketing I am re-studying SEO. I am thinking that, with the internet being the way it is, it is a better investment to learn the non-tradition / high-tech methods than the traditional. I tried the ‘Chamber of Commerce’ route, and that may well work in the future, but I only found it presented to me the same problem I personally have always faced. That problem isn’t present with internet marketing. I am a one-on-one person, though I can do the one-on-audience, I do not do the one-on-crowd very well. Anyway, after reserving 2 books at the library, have to wait my turn on those, went to Barnes and Noble and purchased Joel Comm’s book twitter power.

The book is written with a few chapters introduction / selling and then the actual application. I am at the beginning of the actual application and ran into the trouble with twitter’s server/system issues. I am applying as I read, actually following directions – I must have a fever or something.

I will write more on the book as I progress through it. I will not review / critique the book per se, I’ll just report on the progress. So-far the book is easy to read. Just into the meat of the book so I cannot say much about the insight of the work yet.

I said I am studying Marketing. This is in contrast to Sales/Selling. These are related but not the same. If you are a business owner you would do well to understand the difference. The two work together (or should) but are different in too may ways to be thought of as the same thing. Joel’s book is really on marketing. For sales, read the book Selling From The Heart by Steven Lloyd. There is another book by that name, Steven Lloyd’s is great! At this point in my business I cannot be purely a salesman, I must be a marketer, salesman, and other things. When you read either book you can get a pool of tools to use. You must adapt what you read to your business.

If you need sales advice and devote more than 15 hours a week to real sales read Steven Lloyds book linked above. Actually, there is something there for anybody trying to build any business relationship – you just have to digest it properly and it will bring profitable results.

If you have a product or service that needs to be marketed get an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) related book like Joel Comm’s. Note that the book itself is not about web page SEO but is about internet marketing and specifically using twitter to full advantage. This is really what web page SEO boils down to—effective marketing. It will change what you do in web page SEO. -that summary will surely confuse someone, and that, after all, is my trademark…

Tags: BOOK: twitter power by Joel Comm, Books Read by Scott Gregson
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