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Category: Social Media (page 8 of 10)

9 Ways to Increase Your Twitter Influence

Perform a Google Search for “How to Increase your Twitter Follwers” and you get plenty of websites/services to follow.

Many of these are services, where you opt in to following 10 people then auto-following everybody else back, guarantee that you’ll have 20,000 Twitter followers in 30 days.

Others give ways to buy Twitter followers. I’m not kidding. For only $87, this site will get you 1,000 new followers.

Other sites tell you things you need to do with your Twitter account, such as making sure to fill out your bio section, learning the language of Twitter (Reply, Retweet, Direct Message, hashtags, etc.), and following the people who update about things you want to read. (these are all good things, and should be done, but they’re not what I’m focusing on in this post)

But my goal in using Twitter isn’t to have more and more followers.

I would much rather have influence than followers. Because followers often represent people who aren’t listening, but are merely speaking. They don’t care anything about what you have to say…they just use Twitter as a platform to get the word out about their business/life/hobby.

If you want to increase your followers quickly, it will cost you $87.

If you want to build your influence, it’s a little tougher and takes longer.

(If you need a refresher on the language of Twitter, read my post HERE. If you need some reasons to start Twittering, click HERE. If you have no idea what Twitter is, click HERE.)

9 Ways to Increase your Twitter Influence

1. Be authentic. Give people a snapshot into who you are. What makes you tick? What do you enjoy? What unique angle/wisdom can you give on an event that you’re attending? A book that you’re reading? A blog that you follow?

2. Share helpful content. If your posts only benefit you and your dog, people probably will tune out after a short period. For example, I’m a small groups pastor, so I try to post content that applies in my field. I try to be authentic, but I make sure the content is broadly applicable whether you live in Tennessee or California. Whether you’re young or old. Whether you go to my church or meet in a house church.

3. Invite conversation. Try to phrase some of your updates in a way that invites others to join in the conversation. Pose a question. Leave your update open where others can share their thoughts, opinions, and disagreements. If it’s broadly applicable, helpful, and uniquely you, others will want to join in.

4. Post consistently. If you only post occasionally, people will tune out. If you only post once/week, you’ll never show up in your follower’s timelines (because they’re based on the latest posts), and people will never see your updates.

5. Create conversation with others. I’m making a distinction here from #3, above. Creating conversation means that you reply to others. Retweet things you find important, inspirational, helpful. Continue the dialog with others.

6. Don’t post only facts. When you have a conversation with someone, do you merely share facts with one another? If you do, your friendship will quickly dry up.

7. Respond timely. If you’re consistently putting helpful information out there in a way that invites conversation, you will inevitably receive replies to your updates. Make sure to thank those who are spreading your ideas. And do it in a timely manner. Also, if someone sends you a Direct Message, try as much as possible to respond in a timely manner (I use the 24-hour rule on any email sent to my inbox).

8. Give some link love. If you read an article, or a blog post, that you think may be of interest to others, share a link and give credit to the person that wrote it (by using their Twitter handle). You may not see this as a way to boost your influence, but trust me…sharing links gives encouragement to others, and helps to give you credibility among those who follow you.

9. Be careful what you post. A tweet is forever. What you post today will be visible for years to come. Influencers have the future in mind with the things that they say and do.

Isn’t it the same in all of life? Gaining influence is much more difficult than merely having a platform for your opinions. You can go to the local mall and scream out your thoughts…but likely nobody will listen.

Working to gain the respect and trust of people is a much harder, and longer, process.

But in the end, I think it’s worth it.

The Cc & Small Groups

December 29, 2009 / Ben Reed / 1 Comment

Have you ever been “Cc’d” in an email? Not even sure what I’m talking about? Let me enlighten you.

Here’s a normal email field:

See the “Cc:” line below the “To:” field?

Cc stands for Carbon Copy. You know those forms you have to fill out that have multiple copies where, if you press down hard enough, the image is stamped on all of the subsequent attached copies? The first one’s white…the second is yellow…the third, pink…the last page is black. Follow?

Carbon copies are a way of sharing multiple copies of the exact same information with people.

The same holds true with emails.

If I send an email to you, and Cc Joe, it means that I want Joe to have the same information that you have. It’s not directly addressed to him, but he needs to be included in the conversation.

There’s one more thing you need to know about: “Reply All.”

If you “reply” to said email, I will get your reply. But Joe won’t.

If you “reply all” to said email, I will get your reply, and so will Joe.

Here’s my point: I included Joe for a reason. I wanted him to be included in the conversation. I want him to know what we’re talking about. And for him to know what we’re talking about, you have to “reply all.”

It would be the same if I am having a conversation with you and Joe about an upcoming event that you will be leading. I say, “Hey, do you know who else will be coming to the event?” And you whisper back to me, “Yes, Don will be there, too.” Then Joe says back (to both of us), “I don’t know anybody else who will be there.” Then I have to say (to both of you), “Sorry, Joe, _____ whispered to me, but he should have said it out loud. Don will be there.” Then you whisper (to me), “Can’t wait to see you both there!” Then I have to tell Joe what you just told me.

Confused?

If I send you an email, and Cc somebody else, please, please, please “reply all.” There’s a reason I sent them a Cc. I want them to be in on the conversation!

Email can be a conversation…if you know how to use the Cc. The same principle can hold true in a small group, too.

If I’m leading a small group, and consistently find myself talking with the same one or two people, that’s not a small group…that’s a clique.

A good small group leader involves everybody in the discussion. They’re listening to what Joe says…and connecting it with what Sean says…and the prayer request that Debbie shared last week…and the fact that I know John lost his job. Because they, as the good small group leader, are convinced that everybody’s story matters. And they are convinced that, though Rose is quiet in the back, she’s dealing with real life issues. And, even though everybody rolls their eyes when Chris starts to talk because he dominates the conversation, Chris is a vital part of the growth of the group (because learning how to interact with Chris teaches the group patience, love, and grace).

Sure, it would be more fun to talk with “that couple” that you’ve been friends with for years. Or that girl that you think you may have a chance with. But the role of a small group leader is to pastor the whole group, which means learning to help the whole group have a conversation.

Learn to listen well. In email. And in small groups.

What kinds of things have you done in your small groups to help elicit discussion out of the whole group?

Don’t start a blog if…

November 11, 2009 / Ben Reed / 7 Comments

Yesterday, I gave you 10 reasons your should start blogging. Today, it’s the flip side. There are lots of reasons why people don’t blog. However, that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m going to give you reasons why you should not blog, even if you think you should.

9 Reasons you should not blog

1. Don’t blog if you don’t have anything to say. In the meantime, though, find something to say. Learn to beautifully communicate the mundane.

2. Don’t start blogging if you know you won’t be able to consistently post. My goal is, at minimum, 1 blog per week. I always shoot for 2-3 per week, though. If you won’t be able to consistently post, don’t start blogging. Just wait until you have the time. Blogs that aren’t updated regularly lose readership and influence.

3. Don’t blog just because everybody’s doing it. Don’t just jump on the bandwagon, especially if #1 and #2 apply to you. And yes, I know I said the same idea as a reason to blog HERE. Remember, this is my blog, and I can do what I want.

4. If all you want to do is create an advertisement page. Blogs are meant to communicate more than just advertisements. Websites, billboards, and TV commercials do that just fine, thank you.

5. You have no writing skills. Blogs aren’t terribly difficult to write, especially with the advent of spell check and grammar check.
However, you may need to touch up your writing first. Or, maybe you should have another person in the organization write the blog for you. Not a bad way to loop one more person into the process.

6. You’ve tried it for 6 months, and still see only negligible benefits. Maybe your efforts should be focused elsewhere. What are your goals in writing a blog? Personal? Financial? Organizational? Evaluate effectiveness by your expressed goals.

7. Your blog is always focused on attacking others. I’ve seen these blogs. I don’t read them, so please don’t write them.

8. You can’t handle others attacking you. A blog is your voice. The more people that hear your voice, the more likely you will receive criticism. If you blog consistently, just get ready to be slammed a few times.

9. You only want a one-way conversation. Blogs, in my opinion, are meant to be a dialog. I write my blog so that others will comment. In fact, I completely redid my comments section to enhance debate. If you want a one-way conversation, go talk to your car.

What do you think? Are you convinced that blogging is for you? Or maybe you’ve decided against it? My goal is to help you think.

Are you blogging? Will you start? Will you share your blog address with us?

To blog or not to blog

November 10, 2009 / Ben Reed / 14 Comments

Ever considered starting a blog? Need some motivation to get one started? Blogs aren’t for everybody, but here are a few reasons starting a blog might be for you.

Reasons you should blog

1. It gets your message out. It gives you a voice. Depending on the nature of your blog, you get to talk about exactly what you want to talk about! Now, whether others will read it or not is another story…

2. It gets your message out quickly. RSS readers, Facebook, and Twitter, among other tools have made information transfer much quicker. When I post a blog, over 1,500 people know about it immediately, assuming they’re looking at the social networking sites I’m connected to. The old fashioned phone tree could take hours to do its job. Newsletters take a day or two in the mail.

3. Everybody’s doing it. Though your mother might warn you against doing something that everybody else is doing, I don’t think it’s always a bad thing. Blogs can give you a voice where others are talking, instead of just within the walls of your organization (though you have to do the work of saying things that they want to hear).

4. It’s a good way to connect with others concerning topics that interest you. The people who will read your blog posts will be those who find your topics of interest to them. It’s a great way to start up dialog about mutual concerns.

5. It forces you to flesh out your thoughts into a format that is understood by others. Writing a blog post can help to flesh out my thoughts and communicate them in a way that others can understand. I have to do a little bit of research, too. I can’t just say whatever I want. I need to be ready to be challenged on my claims.

6. It helps with your writing skills. Long, drawn-out blogs are, in my opinion, ineffective. That’s why my blogs are short. I try to keep them less than 500 words. With a blog, less is more.

7. It shows people another side of you that you wouldn’t necessarily have the opportunity to talk about. I’m not able to sit down with everybody over a cup of coffee and communicate what God’s been showing me. Or talk about something funny that’s happened. Or talk about what I think the role of parents is. Or tell them about an upcoming chili cook-off and how my chili is better than theirs. I’d love to, but I just can’t.

8. It fosters relationships. I’ve been able to maintain relationships with folks I would have lost touch with had it not been for my blog.

9. It helps your business or organization gain credibility. You’ve got an expertise that others could benefit from. Tell us about it, and in the process, you can convince me to hire you instead of that random company in the yellow pages.

10. You’re tired of printing and sending a company newsletter. 1998 called. They want their newsletter back.

Convinced that you should start blogging?

Although there are probably many more reasons you should blog, there are also reasons you shouldn’t. Tune in tomorrow for reasons you should not blog.

5 Reasons I go to Conferences

October 5, 2009 / Ben Reed / 6 Comments

I’m headed to Catalyst Conference in Atlanta this week. Conferences are often the bane of the office worker. Conferences mean meetings all day, then working in the evenings to catch up on normal work missed because of said conference. Conferences mean being away from family. Conferences mean learning new skills, which means more responsibilities when you return.

While the above may be true, I go to conferences for a different reason, and I think that my outlook on them changes my experience when I attend.

5 Reasons I Go To Conferences

1. Conferences get me out of my normal work environment. When I sit at my office desk day after day, doing the same thing week after week, things become stale. Traveling to a different city helps me to think outside of the box and re-energize me.

2. Conferences offer great networking possibilities. Conferences are a great place to connect and network with other folks. I’m a huge proponent of networking. It’s something that the workplaces undervalue and overlook. Read more about what I’ve written on networking HERE.

3. I get to hear from speakers not like me. At the conferences I attend, there is always one, or more, speakers that are not just like me. They don’t think like me, write like me, minister like me, or lead like me. It’s good to hear from folks like that. They stretch me in a good way.

4. I get to hear from the most skilled people in the world. At the conferences I’ve attended, the speaker lineups have been incredible. These guys communicate clearly about issues that I’m dealing with on a regular basis. They’re doing similar ministry, and speak truth to me in a way that directly connects with my role in leadership.

5. Conferences give me a chance to dream. I don’t naturally dream. I’m a task-oriented, inside-the-box kind of guy. I need to plan times to pick my head up and dream a bit. Conferences force me into that, as I hear from speakers, network with other guys, and think creatively about the future of ministry that to which God has called us as a church.

Can you add anything to this list?

Arguments against Twitter

October 1, 2009 / Ben Reed / 2 Comments

I really like Twitter. Maybe you knew that…maybe you didn’t (all of my posts related to Twitter are HERE). I’ve heard this about twitter so many times lately:

I don’t care that you walked the dog…or are heading into work…or are eating lunch now…or are sad. I don’t care, and nobody else does! That stuff just doesn’t matter to me. And it’s just a waste of time for me and for those reading it.

Have you heard this, or something like it? Frankly, I’m tired of hearing this from folks. It’s not a great argument. So few people (well…at least the ones that I follow) update about narcissistic and/or self-loathing goings-on that, to say you don‘t buy into Twitter because of those silly updates is like saying:

I can’t stand baseball. All they do is bunt, and that’s so boring.

I don’t like to read because there are so many big words.

I don’t like the Bible because the book of Revelation is so hard to understand!

The problem with this line of arguing is that people are taking a specific instance (that may or may not be true) and making a generalization about the whole. I don’t even see many (if any) twitter updates from actual people (not twitter bots) that say, ‘I’m sad.’ Here are examples of typical Twitter updates (aka, “tweets”)…this is a screenshot from my computer that I took just now:

This is a form of a weak argument called “hasty generalization.” We notice a few examples and quickly jump to broad-stroke conclusions. (HT: John Mark). It’s not an invalid argument…just a weak one. Hasty conclusions are much easier to jump to than justified ones. Not enough of these type of frivolous updates have been observed to warrant throwing Twitter out with the proverbial bathwater.

Baseball isn’t all about the bunt. Very few people, if any, understand every word of Revelation. And not every word in every book is a difficult word.

If you’re opposed to Twitter, fine. But come up with some better excuses for not jumping on board.

The Language of Twitter

August 12, 2009 / Ben Reed / 2 Comments

New to Twitter, and wondering what all of this different terminology means? Been using it a while and still unsure? Haven’t even bought in to Twitter yet, but wondering why people’s Facebook updates have crazy letters and symbols attached to them? I get asked a lot of questions about Twitter, so here’s a crash course that may help you out.

Ever seen something like this on a person’s Facebook update?

What’s the deal with the RT? Why start somebody’s name with the @ symbol?

There’s a whole language that’s developing with Twitter that, if you don’t know it, will leave you behind. Some of the language is built into the software, and some is developing organically, but all of it is foreign to you if you haven’t used it before.

A Guide to the Language of Twitter

1. Tweet – a tweet is your status update. Every time you post something to your twitter account, it’s considered a “tweet.” Sounds cheesy, I know. Their language, not mine. The goal is to answer the question, “What are you doing right now?”

2. Follow – if you want to receive people’s “tweets” when they update, you “follow” them. Sounds kind of creepy, but really it’s not. You have the option, when you follow them, of receiving their updates either via your mobile phone (Twitter utilizes SMS) or solely on your computer. If you choose to receive them on your mobile phone, then every time they “tweet,” you will receive a text message.

3. @reply – When you sign up for Twitter, you create a username. Mine happens to be @benreed. Your username is, of course, attached to your account, and anybody who knows your username can find your Twitter account. It’s as simple as going to http://www.twitter.com/________. The @ reply comes in when I want to mention somebody in my update. If I say something like this…

…then you know exactly who I was talking about. In fact, when I “mention” somebody by starting their username with @, their name shows up as a hyperlink that others can click on, seeing who really messed up some mac & cheese (see @steph_underwood’s update above)!

4. RT – This is shorthand for “ReTweet.” A “tweet” is an update that you post, either via your mobile phone (Twitter utilizes SMS) or your computer. If you read somebody’s update, and like it, and want to share it with those who follow you on Twitter, thus creating a “viral” message, you can “ReTweet” it. Think of it as a mass FWD that you want to share with others…except this one is much shorter than those you receive in your email inbox. Here’s what I mean:

So, as you can see, I “ReTweeted” the post of Cary Branscum. You can quickly know it’s the famed Cary Branscum, from http://caryperks.wordpress.com, by clikcing on the hyperlink created when I started his username with @. Still follow?

5. # (hashtags) – Though some people espouse that Twitter is a mass of one-way conversations with nobody, I don’t find that to be true. Hashtags are a great example of how Twitter opens up dialog and creates networking conversations. Here’s what I’m talking about:

Hashtags help you to categorize ideas and topics. So, although reading lots of different church signs may not be the highlight of your day, when I preceded the word “churchsign” with a “#,” it unites me with everybody else who is posting about church signs, making it a searchable topic.

6. DM – this is shorthand for “direct message.” This is a message sent privately to only one person, in contrast to an @ reply (also known as a “mention”), which is broadcast as public information. To send a direct message to a person, simply start your update with the letter ‘d,’ followed by the person’s username. The message is then sent to that person and only that person.

The language of Twitter will continue to develop and grow. This is a list of the basics as they stand right now. Are there any I left out?

The Validity of Virtual Community

July 23, 2009 / Ben Reed / 2 Comments

I’ve read the blogs. I’ve listened to the arguments. I had even tried it out…a little.

But I hadn’t fully experienced online community.

I would say that there has been some level of “community” developed for me through Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. Community, for me, though, is one of those things that was always developed in person. Sometimes it’s on a biycle, other times it’s with my small group, and other times it’s at a coffee shop with a few guys.

I unexpectedly experienced community yesterday morning after I read this update from Alan Danielson:

@alandanielson: I’m praying for NOW 10 more minutes. Reply with your prayer request or join me for live prayer via @TokBox

There was a link after the update, and I clicked on it. There was Alan, sitting in front of his computer screen, praying for his friends. I shared my request with him, and he prayed for me on the spot.

Alan then invited me to “hang on the line,” and he was going to invite some of his other friends into the conversation. As the other 3 men joined, they began to share their experiences from their prayer time. They, like Alan, had prayed for their friends during that 20 minutes, and invited people to share requests with them. As they finished sharing their stories from the prayer time, they shared their own requests with the group. I thought that it would be a bit cheesy, even cold-feeling because we were so far spread out across the country, looking at each other on a tiny screen. But real, gut-wrenching requests were shared. Nothing fake. No masks. No walls of separation. Real, honest, vulnerable requests. And it all happened while I sat in my office chair alone.

Twitter and Tokbox helped me fulfill this today:

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. -Romans 12:11-13

I felt a real burden, prayed a real prayer, and was really encouraged after talking with these men.

What do you think of online community?

Is it real community? Or is community only formed while sitting in the same room as the other person?

Disappointment

July 10, 2009 / Ben Reed / 7 Comments

Can I be honest with you for a minute? I’m a bit disappointed. Though you would think that an increase in blog traffic would leave me excited, in reality it leaves me shaking my head.

Most of the time, my blog posts have substance. Though a few, such as “A Waste of 3:41,” “Do you ChaCha?,” and “John Piper and Michael Jackson” were of no substantive value, the vast majority of my posts carry some weight. In one way or another, they are written to effect change in you, the reader.

A change in action.

A change in thought.

A change in attitude.

A change in direction.

A change in leadership.

However, my latest post, “Caption this and win!,” though it gave me the chance to highlight one of our small groups, brag on one of our small group leaders, and have a laugh at her expense (sorry, Katrina!), it did not ask anything of the reader beyond posting a funny comment caption. So what’s the problem with this?

This post received over 2.5x the number of hits as compared to my normal posts.

I’m not opposed to bloggers giving prizes away to promote traffic to their blog. Really, I’m not. But it bugs me that shallow content often receives more attention than weighty. An “easy” (fluffy content) read seems to be preferred over a “difficult” (challenging content) read.

I’d like to say that I know the answer to this, but I don’t. I’m just throwing it out there.

Have you found this to be true for you? In your blog? In your sermons? In your teaching? In your small groups? In the daily conversations you have at work? At home? On vacation?

Maybe we as a culture prefer comfort over conversations of value.

What do you think?

Category: Social Media (page 8 of 10)

9 Ways to Increase your Twitter Influence

9 Reasons you should not blog

Reasons you should blog

A Guide to the Language of Twitter

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