Valuable Tweets That May Be Costing Your Business Money

If you’re an avid Twitter user, you likely scan your “mentions” and “interactions” on Twitter on a daily basis (if not more frequent than that). But, if you tweet for a business, you may be overlooking a valuable tool on twitter. 

Not to sound alarmist, but there may be conversations happening on Twitter right now about your business that you aren’t aware of.  Compliments, complaints, questions, you-name-it.  How is this possible? 

Reasons you may be missing tweets about your business:

• People often assume your Twitter name instead of looking it up.  If your business is ABC Sign, most will assume @ABCSign instead of a variation of that, like @ABC_Sign or @ABC_Sign_Co or @1ABCSign, is your Twitter handle.  

• People may not use your Twitter name (“handle”), but instead may simply type in your business name, such as “ABC Sign.”

• Others may hashtag your  business name instead of using your handle (example: #ABCSign)

How can you get involved in conversations/tweets about your business on Twitter when people are not using your Twitter handle? There is a simple solution, called the “search” (or “saved searches”) tool.  Tutorial below.

How to Create a "Saved Search" on Twitter

1. Go to https://twitter.com/#!/search-advanced.

2. Complete the “exact phrase” search field. 

Important Note: Don’t fill in the “exact phrase” and “hashtag” fields in one search.  Instead, save as separate searches.

3. Select “English” from the language if you wish.

4. Click “Search” (example below)

5. Any tweets related to your search will appear.  You may be surprised to find more than a few! Or, perhaps there aren’t any recent tweets.  Either way, you’ll want to save the search by following the next step.

6. Drop down the settings tool on the right-hand side of your results and a “save search” option will appear.  Click on it.

7. Your search is now saved, and you can easily scan this saved search by clicking on the search magnifying glass on the top right-hand side of any of your screens on Twitter to reveal your saved searches.  Highlight the search of your choice and your results will appear.

I’ll also be posting a Hootsuite tutorial on creating and saving searches if you tweet using that platform instead of directly on Twitter.

Laura is a marketing professional and blogger who has been active in social media since 2005.  If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to this blog via Email or  RSS. Laura can also be found on Twitter (@LauraCatherineO), Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Are You Twitter Listing?

By now, you're likely tweeting away! Whether you're a twitter newbie or a veteran, Twitter lists will prove to be most helpful, especially as you grow the number of people you follow on Twitter.
Someone recently asked me how I seem to find goodness-filled tweets when I'm following 4,000 people. My answer: Twitter lists.

Thank goodness, I had enough insight when I was new on Twitter to create and use Twitter lists. Sure, it was somewhere between follower 1 and follower 1,000 that I realized how essential the lists would prove to be.  Yep, there were a few long days where I had to back-track and list each person I was following so that my streams were super-organized. 

Example: Out of 4,000 people, nearly 500 are Charleston marketing and public relations professionals.  And I have them all in their very own list.  That means at any time of the day or night, I can jump over to that list (on my computer OR phone) and see what's going on with these talented peeps.

Same goes for artists...I have close to 200 artists whom all took "Flying Lessons" with Kelly Rae Roberts in their own organized list.

Twitter gives you up to 20 lists of your very own.  Think about how your followers break down (do you tend to follow authors, inspirational folks, house and home peeps, jewelry makers, mommy bloggers, tech bloggers, etc?) - make lists and start listing! And if you're late to the list party? Trust me, it's worth adopting lists today, and even going back to list your tweeps.

Need a tutorial on how to create a Twitter list? I'm reposting a link to this updated tutorial, previously shared on this blog but still very handy.

Are we following each other? Tweet me @lauracatherineo and tell me you read this post.  I'd love to meet you!

Enjoy!

Laura is a marketing professional and blogger who has been active in social media since 2005.  If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to this blog via Email or  RSS. Laura can also be found on Twitter (@LauraCatherineO), Facebook, and LinkedIn.
 

Twitter Launches "Recent Images"

I'm here to share a #twitter feature that has left me feeling a bit uplifted and inspired.  I think it makes great sense for today, even if it may not be officially "Twitter Tuesday" for us here in this space.







Have you noticed Twitter's latest feature? It appears as "recent images" on the left-hand side of the user profile.  You can get a sneak peek below.  Then, if you click on "view all", a page is filled with a collection of the images you've most recently shared.



I'm sharing my most recent images below.  I don't know about you, but I like the picture that this slice of me paints.  I think it shows that I'm a woman exploring her way through life with the help of art and inspiration.  Color, faces, light, happiness. 







Take a look at your images.  What are they saying about you?  It's a fun exercise! I hope your images line up with your heart and your goals.  If they don't, it may be time to regroup.



Have a great day!



Laura Catherine Otero is a marketing professional and blogger in
Charleston, SC
who has been active in social media since 2005.  If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to this blog via Email or  RSS. Laura can also be found on Twitter (@LauraCatherineO), Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Video Post: Setting Up Your Background for the New Twitter

Happy "Twitter Tuesday"! I created a YouTube video on creating your very own #NewTwitter background.  This video was inspired by my tutorial post, which continues to be one of my top blog posts.  When Twitter moved to what they call the "New Twitter" or "#NewTwitter" format, the background changed a bit for users.  Although the overall space is the same, you'll find that you have a bit less space on the far left and right hand side of the page.  This is important to note, especially for those of us who placed photographs or text (like a phone number) in this area.  It may be a good idea to take a careful look at your background on Twitter and see if it's in need of some freshening up to better fit the new specs.

For those reading by email, the video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/user/lauracotero#p/u/0/ahGlPoVKTfI

All others may wish to watch below.  Thanks for visiting!



Laura Catherine Otero is a marketing professional and blogger in Charleston, SC who has been active in social media since 2005.  If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to this blog via Email or  RSS. Laura can also be found on Twitter (@LauraCatherineO), Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

How to Add Twitter Lists to Hootsuite: A "Tutorial Thursday" Post

Happy "Tutorial Thursday"! I have a Hootsuite tutorial (specific to Twitter lists) to share and hope you’ll find it helpful.  

Hootsuite is a recurring topic in this space.  I love it for social media management, and especially love the “scheduling” feature that allows me to space tweets out over the course of a day. I’ve talked about Hootsuite and it’s features over several posts in this space.  Want a quick recap? See the end of this post.  Today we’ll be talking about how to bring your Twitter lists into Hootsuite.

Why Twitter lists?  Well, if you’re following hundreds (or thousands) of folks on Twitter, you’ve probably already realized the benefits of using Twitter lists to manage those you follow.  I’ve talked about Twitter lists before, and how to create them.  

When I first started using Hootsuite, I missed my twitter lists.  I didn’t realize (at the time) that I could bring them into Hootsuite!  I’m sharing the tutorial below and hope you find it helpful.   I’ll be back tomorrow for “Facebook Friday” together.

How to Add Your Twitter Lists into Hootsuite

1. Login to Hootsuite
2. Click on your Twitter tab
3. Click on “add stream”
4. Click on the “lists” tab in the pop-up window that appears
5. Click on your Twitter profile icon, this will display your Twitter lists
   
6. Select the list(s) you’d like to add as a stream
7. Click on “add stream”.  You'll find your new Twitter list(s) will appear in your Twitter tab as a stream (see below).
   

Other helpful Hootsuite tutorial posts:

How to Create a Hootsuite Account

How to add Your personal and BUSINESS Facebook Accounts to Hootsuite

How to Schedule with Hootsuite (this tutorial is for Twitter, but the same can apply for Facebook accounts in Hootsuite)

How to Add Your Twitter Account to Hootsuite (Plus Mentions, Direct Messages, and Pending Tweets)

 Laura Catherine Otero is a marketing professional and blogger in Charleston, SC who has been active in social media since 2005.  If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to this blog via Email or  RSS. Laura can also be found on Twitter (@LauraCatherineO), Facebook, and LinkedIn.