Tweet

In theory, if you are an avid Twitter user, you can learn to plan and host your own Twitter party. I mean, we weren’t born hosting parties — it’s something we learned to do. At first glance, Twitter parties and chats are pretty simple: pick a date and time, a hashtag, and start promoting. However, while it sounds simple enough, there are many reasons why you should enlist the help of a professional.

Why go with a pro? Because putting together a party for the first time can be a challenge. If this is something you want to do regularly, then get help initially from someone who is experienced and learn from them. Here are some responses from clients we have helped with parties:

“I didn’t realize how much time it took to plan a party.” Twitter parties take a lot of planning. A host can help with brainstorming party ideas and themes, devising discussion topics, creating hashtags, setting up a registration page, writing legal copy, promoting the party, training new/guest hosts on how to best attend, e-mailing subscribers about the party, hosting the party, fulfilling prizes, writing press releases, creating a post-party recap post, and providing sponsors with post-party stats. If you have time in your schedule to do all of that on your own — great! If not, you might need some assistance from a host.

“I didn’t know how to promote it.” Sometimes a sponsor decides to have a party to increase their number of followers and fans. An experienced party host comes to the table with a following comprised of those users who like to attend parties and tweet about them. We promote parties via Twitter, Facebook, our subscriber list, blog, and even sometimes paid ads. If you do not already have a strong social media presence, you might want to consider working with someone who does to give your following a boost.

“I was nervous during the party and at times, didn’t know what to tweet.” Some people are a little anxious when hosting their first Twitter party. For an hour or two, you are the center of attention and you must lead others in what you hope will be a thought-provoking and entertaining discussion. You usually have to start discussions, field many questions, chat with attendees, giveaway prizes. An experienced host has done this many times before, knows what to expect and how to conduct a party. They are confortable with being a host and are good at conversing with attendees. It helps to have someone ‘emcee’ the event-start discussions, conduct giveaways-while the sponsor might remain on hand to answer questions and converse with attendees. If you don’t want to be overwhelmed for your first live event, it might help to go with a pro for peace of mind.

“I overlooked a key component of the party.” A regular party host knows everything you need to do to put together a successful party. If this is your first time hosting, you might forget something important. We have helped people remember to include important information on the info/registration page or in a promotional tweet, or to include disclaimers or other legal wording necessary for a giveaway. Someone who has ‘been there, done that’ with regard to planning a party will know what needs to be done to make the party a success.

If you are going to invest time and effort into planning and hosting an online event, consider having TweeParties help. For more information about our affordable Twitter party & chat hosting services, visit our hosting page at TweeParties.com!

Tags: plan Twitter event, social media marketing, TweeParties, Twitter party

I love a writer who not only writes well but also who inspires at the same time. For me, one such writer is Bob Hall. Mr. Hall is a printing industry veteran and every month he writes an insightful column that is published at the beginning of every Quick Printing magazine.

It just so happens, I picked up his magazine this morning, just as I was getting down.

With the beginning of every new year, the prognosticators come out in full force. This year, many forecasts have focused on social media, specifically how social media can or cannot help a business succeed in marketing. The entire concept of using Facebook or Twitter for marketing purposes is so new, no one is 100% certain what the long term gain might be, though some may think they know. A few experts are calling it a fad. Some are saying it’s a waste of time and resources. A big ol’ flash in the pan.

This month, Mr. Hall’s column focuses on past predictions from the experts of their time. Here are just a few the highlights:

• 1880: The lightbulb is a ‘conspicuous failure’
• 1897: Radio has no future
• 1904: Airplanes are interesting toys, but of no military value
• 1916: The cinema is little more than a fad
• 1936: A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth’s atmosphere
• 1961: There is no chance satellites will be used to improve telephone service in the U.S.
• 1962: Transmissions of documents via phone lines (fax) is possible, but not practical

There are so many experts out there who have formed opinions about social media. Some of these experts believe there is no value for a company to get involved in Twitter or Facebook. These experts want hard numbers-sales figures and ROI-and without them right now, they say venturing into social media for a business is pointless and a waste of time.

Some experts have also been critical of events such as Twitter parties, Twitter chats and Tweetups. They question the value of such events, once again claiming that these are a waste of time and money for a company to get involved in.

My prediction: I believe social media is here to stay, not just to interact with family and friends but also with businesses. I also believe that a company that does not get its feet wet now will be scrambling to catch up later. I believe in the power of social media to help us better connect with people whether they are acting as a friend or a consumer. I believe in the power social media can give a company to help it open doors and start conversations that one day will ‘pay off’ down the road.

Will sending one tweet today get you a big sale tomorrow? Probably not. Will throwing one Twitter party next week instantly give you thousands of followers? I doubt it. But this is about relationship-building, about long-term engagement. Isn’t that what I learned about years ago in a class about traditional selling? That it was not about a quick, one-time sale but rather about developing a long-term relationship with the consumer?

I think one of the points of Mr. Hall’s column was that none of us really knows what the future holds for social media. We can make all of the predictions we want, listen to ‘the experts,’ try to be experts ourselves, but until those predictions are proven or not, we really don’t know. That’s why we at TweeParties will continue to forge ahead with our goal of providing companies with the tools they need-at a fair and reasonable price-to hold events on Twitter and inform all of those users who are interested of the who, what, where and when of these events the best we can. Maybe I am a fool and someday the joke will be on me. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, I take all of the prognostications with a grain of salt. And I thank Mr. Hall for another dose of inspiration.

Tags: Facebook, social media marketing, Twitter

Every business that uses social media constantly looks for ways to measure the success of its marketing efforts. We check our follower counts and monitor hashtag performance to determine how many times our message is mentioned. Another statistic of interest to marketers is that of ‘reach,’ or ‘the maximum number of Twitter users who possibly could have seen our message.’

For example, say you have 100 followers. Send out one tweet and your reach is 100. If one of those followers retweets your tweet, and they too have 100 followers, your reach extends to 200 people.

Calculating reach can be difficult (if not impossible) to do alone. The more your hashtag is tweeted around the Twitterverse, the more adding up of recipients you would have to do. If you don’t like to be driven to the brink of insanity, then it’s best to leave it to the experts. Tweet Reach helps determine how far your hashtag, keyword or url spreads across Twitter. They can run reports not only to determine reach, but also to interpret how many times in total your message was received by all users (called ‘exposure’ — this number includes how many times one tweet was received multiple times by the same user), and  also who exactly tweeted or retweeted your message to their followers (for a more detailed description of these terms and their meanings, check out Tweet Reach’s definition page). By compiling these stats, you not only will learn how many times your keyword/hashtag/url was mentioned, but who was interested in it enough to mention it to their followers—which could help in determining who to contact for future campaigns.  

So just how important is a statistic like ‘reach?’ Just because your tweet had a reach of 200 doesn’t mean 200 sets of eyes actually saw and read your tweet. Reach is all about possibilities. ‘How many people did I reach?’ would then turn into ‘How many people actually read my tweet?’ followed by ‘How many people read my tweet and took action because of it?’

And that is the key here: we want to expose our tweets and share our information with as many people as possible. We want people to take notice of our messages and in turn, hopefully take notice of us and our products and services. If you have a specific goal in mind for a Twitter campaign, definitely keep an eye on reach, but also include a call to action. When we tweet about an upcoming Twitter party, we include a link to a party RSVP page. Our goal is to get as many people to sign up as possible. Another tweet might be to encourage people to take part in fundraiser for a non-profit. Or order something today and get free shipping with a special code that is included in the tweet. Here social media meets traditional marketing: having a call to action helps track how many people not only saw your message but reacted to it. 

I think of reach as being like the circulation of a magazine. Knowing the circulation of mags helps advertisers decide which one gets their ad business. However, with magazines it’s not strictly about the numbers, and it should not be in social media, either. Advertisers like big numbers, but they also look at the types of readers who comprise that circulation. No sense for a kayak manufacturer to place an ad in a magazine that reaches 500,000 subscribers who are into fashion (unless the fashion is limited to Teva sandals). Better for to place an ad in a paddling magazine that reaches 50,000 hard-core kayaking enthusiasts.

Monitoring a statistic like reach can help you modify your campaign so that you better target the audience you’re trying to, well…reach. For example, according to Tweet Reach, if you have a low reach rate but a high exposure rate, it could mean that a small group of people are tweeting your message too many times: not a good thing if you want to reach a more diverse group and not annoy the smaller group of users who might feel as if they’re being bombarded by your message. You might need to do some research and reach out to another group of users whom you haven’t targeted before who might find your tweets of interest and tweet it to a different pool of users.

Twitter stats can help you better guide your marketing campaign and fine-tune it. But remember that while the medium has changed, the basics of marketing hasn’t: you still need to utilize traditional tools such as including special offers and incentives to signup for lists or newsletters in your message to help determine how many people actually do turn that tweet into action.

Tags: hashtag, reach, social media marketing, tweet reach, twitter statistics

Social media is booming among all age groups. Businesses large and small are finding that Twitter is a great tool to help them engage with consumers, increase awareness about their products and services, and provide users with a quick and easy way to give feedback and ask questions.

As a way to better connect with users, businesses can incorporate special Twitter events such as tweetups, Twitter chats or Twitter parties into their social media plan. While all three types of events can be used effectively by businesses as a way to connect with their followers, all three are different. So exactly what are the differences and how do you go about hosting one? Here’s a brief summary:

Tweetups Tweetups (or “Twitter meetups”) are events where Twitter users meet each other in person. They are a great way to catch up with Twitter friends, make some new ones, network, and finally put a face to a Twitter ID. There is usually a topic, theme or purpose for the Tweetup, and may include a guest speaker or two to attract people to the event. The events can be educational, informational, and fun. Businesses can organize Tweetups and host them at their headquarters or another venue as a way to bring their followers and clients (or potential clients) together. When planning a Tweetup, make sure you find a venue large enough to accommodate what could be a large gathering (events spread quickly on Twitter), include Twitter ID nametags for attendees, and provide refreshments. While the tone of the Tweetup should not be one of business promotion, simply having a helpful event could generate good PR and good will amongst your followers. For more tips on how to organize a successful Tweetup, check out this article from Mashable.com.

Twitter Chats Twitter chats are events held entirely online and are primarily used as a forum for people to exchange ideas and discuss a specific topic of interest. They are also considered a way to network with other like-minded Twitter users. Twitter chats are casual, drop in events (you often do not need to register to attend), and are usually organized by a person (or persons), an organization or company. Even if hosted by a business, the main purpose of the event is educational and informative—this is not a place to hawk your products. Organizers pick a hashtag for the chat, which all attendees must use in their tweets in order for their tweets to be seen during the chat. Twitter chats often are held on a weekly or monthly basis, with the day of the week and time of the chat remaining consistent. Usually, a group will begin a chat with just a few people, but over time—if the chat proves to provide attendees with good discussion-can grow into one that becomes popular and regularly well-attended. A Twitter chat can be held on any subject: business, education, a specific industry, social cause, or hobby. Many chat attendees use a Twitter aggregator to follow all tweets using the specific chat hashtag, which helps users focus on the discussion by filtering out tweets from their followers that do not include the hashtag. Some popular aggregators for Twitter chats are TweetChat or Twubs. Here’s an article about how to organize a tweet chat, check out this article from Lisa Barone of Outspoken Media, Inc., including a link to a tweet chat calendar listing popular chats by hashtag.

Twitter Parties Twitter parties are very similar to Twitter chats in that they take place entirely on Twitter and use a specific hashtag as the way to follow along with the party. Like chats, Twitter parties select a specific date and time for the event, as well as an interesting theme to attract users. The main difference between Twitter chats and Twitter parties is that while a chat is purely a discussion, a Twitter party’s underlying goal is to help promote a company, brand or cause. While the theme of a Twitter party can be educational and informative, there are usually mentions of the company sponsoring (or hosting) the Twitter party, as well as tweets about their products and services, special offers and product giveaways. Companies and organizations holding Twitter parties also usually have an objective such as increasing their follower counts, generating more web site traffic, gaining more brand exposure and generally connecting with and engaging their followers and other Twitter users. However, promotion of the business should not dominate the party. Rather, the theme should be front and center while promotional aspects take more of a backseat. Some popular aggregators are Tweet Grid, Tweet Deck and Tweet Chat. For more information on planning a Twitter party, visit TweeParties.

Regardless of which path you choose, hosting a Twitter event can be a fun, low-cost way to reach out to and engage more of your followers. So dive on in and become of the life of the social media party!

Tags: business, event planning, social media marketing, Tweet chats, Tweetups, Twitter marketing, Twitter parties, Twitter party

Remember “Friends?” The t.v. show centered around the lives of Rachel, Ross, Joey, Phoebe, Chandler & Monica—six best buds who would gather at the “Central Perk” coffee shop on a daily basis to commiserate about twentysomething life in urban America. If set in 2010 NYC, there’s no doubt these friends would be hooked on Foursquare.

If you are part of a business that people can physically walk into—be it a dining establishment, a bar, a clothing store or sporting venue—you should claim your establishment and actively participate in Foursquare. Why? Just visit the Foursquare website and search for your biz. Chances are, people are already using Foursquare to “check in” to your venue. So what is Foursquare and what does this all mean? Here’s a quick overview:

Foursquare is a real-life game people play. It’s all done via the Foursquare web site or through various smart phone applications that work with and connect to Foursquare. Users sign up for a free Foursquare account, then “check in” to an establishment each time they visit it. The users then accrue points each time they check in, with the highest point earner becoming known as the “mayor” of that particular place. It becomes competitive amongst friends and regulars at a certain venue. It is also informative: friends can share tips about an establishment, and post their likes or dislikes about a venue with other friends and users. They can also see how many points a friend has earned, as well as where a friend has checked into recently.

But Foursquare goes beyond simply being a competition where the winners earn bragging rights. Users earn actual awards from businesses: special offers, discounts or freebies that they “unlock” once they check into an establishment. For example, a patron might check in at a restaurant and see that since this is their 10th check in, they’ve been rewarded with a free drink at the bar. A visitor to a clothing store might check in and see that the shop is offering all Foursquare participants 20% off on their purchases during their 5th visit. What better than to earn actual rewards for playing a game?

So why should a business get involved in all of this? First off, it’s free. Just visit Foursquare and claim your establishment. Then let the creativity begin. It’s a great way to engage people and make your brand part of the game. Keep people coming back for more by earning good reviews and giving out special offers and discounts. And remember to keep the “mayor” of your establishment happy. He or she may be your biggest fan and act as a vocal champion of your products and services on Foursquare for all other “players” to see and hear about.

Foursquare also makes it easy: it helps businesses easily develop their own specials for players to unlock, as well as gives companies marketing tools to promote their participation in Foursquare (such as a set of window clings). Businesses can also leverage their presence on Twitter and Facebook to promote their venue as Foursquare-friendly. Once a special is created, businesses can log onto Foursquare to track analytics and see how many visitors check in and used the special offer. As stated on the Foursquare site: “You’ll be surprised how effective a little friendly competition — over the Mayorship, over free fries! — is at driving customers back to your venue.”

No doubt if we could set their watches to the 21st Century, our “Friends” friends would get hooked on Foursquare. But the real question is: ‘Which one of them would be Central Perk’s mayor?’ Let the debates begin!

Tags: business tips, Foursquare, social media marketing

Each day, Twitter and Facebook gain thousands of more users. However, many businesses are reluctant to dive in and test the social media waters. Here are ten reasons why every business should consider having a social media presence:

1. It’s Free. Businesses can set up Twitter accounts and Facebook pages for no cost other than the time it takes for them to do it. If you’re looking for a low-cost way to connect with current customers or prospective ones, this is it.
2. It’s Easy. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but a custom Twitter or Facebook page can be. The learning curve for both is small. If you’re not at all technically inclined, chances are there’s someone in your company who is already familiar with using one or both social networks.
3. Everybody’s Doing It. Well, maybe not everybody, but many are—in fact, thousands more are each day. You might think your business and social media aren’t a good match, but most likely there are potential followers out there—clients, colleagues, friends—who would be interested in hearing from you. If you have a niche in your industry, you can probably seek out that niche on Twitter.
4. Social Media is Here to Stay. Will Twitter be here in 50 years? Maybe, maybe not—but the need for people to connect with each other through social media isn’t going anywhere.
5. It’s Fun. People gravitate toward Twitter and Facebook because they have fun interacting with others in those environments. And what better way to reach potential clients than in a place where people go to enjoy themselves?
6. It’s a Conversation Starter. Literally. Unlike traditional advertising methods where it might be difficult to judge just whose listening, if you send out a message on Twitter and Facebook, you’re likely to hear about your post from someone. Social media isn’t just a place to send out one-way sales communiques, it’s a great way to get feedback from users, engage them in a dialogue and learn about their likes and dislikes. It just might help you fine-tune a new product, redesign a web page to make it more user-friendly or change course with a marketing strategy.
7. It’s a News Source. More and more people get their news from users found on Twitter and Facebook. You can add to the mix by giving updates and links about news items related to your industry. The more you help people get quality information, the more willing they will be to listen to your own messages when you tweet them.
8. It’s a Virtual Customer Service Center. Many users are reaching out to companies for customer service issues on Twitter and Facebook. It’s quick and easy for them to send a tweet, and many companies respond more quickly on Twitter than through e-mail.
9. You’re Not Alone. If keeping up with a Twitter account seems like a never-ending, overwhelming task (log off and the tweets keep coming!), don’t sweat it: there are many free or low-cost, third party applications to help you manage your account. We recently fell in love with Social Oomph as a way to pre-program tweets and Facebook page updates. We still log on at least once a day to check for replies and comments to our posts (and to reply/comment back, of course!) but in case we get tied up in a meeting (or, as is typical in Chicagoland—traffic), we know our updates can still get out, even if we can’t.
10. The Possibilities are Endless. Uses for social networking sites are still emerging and changing every day. The exciting part is that they are only bound by the limits of your imagination. Have fun and come up with creative concepts to engage your followers (such as Twitter parties by TweeParties). In doing so, you just might find a new one who turns out to be your next client.

Tags: business, Facebook, social media marketing, Twitter

Yesterday I came across an old blog post someone had written about a year ago that questioned the use of Twitter parties as a social media marketing tool. The writer argued that the events tied up the Twitter stream for non-partying users. Also at issue was the effectiveness for companies. The blogger wondered if a party host could give a company tangible stats to prove that a party held gave some sort of results.

That was then and this is now. And fortunately, Twitter parties have evolved somewhat from a year ago. And they’ll keep evolving and becoming more and more useful for both the companies sponsoring them and the users attending them. Here’s why:

Cost effectiveness: I’ve spoken with many small business owners who have wanted to place ads in magazines only to discover that it would cost them thousands to do so and wasn’t in their budget. Broadcast media can be just as expensive. Pay-per-click advertising is more reasonable, but when someone clicks, are they really absorbing your company’s message or simply clicking? Maybe, maybe not. The great thing about Twitter parties is that they are low cost. You can learn to do them yourself, or have an organization like TweeParties help you for not thousands, but rather hundreds of dollars. And instead of simply posting an advertisement for someone to read or hear (or not read or hear, as they case may be), you’ll have a group of people engaged and interacting with you. People who are listening to your message might tweet about your party to their friends, and so on. How many magazine readers clip ads and pass them on to their friends?

Results tracking: In the past, it might have been difficult to track results, but not anymore. There are a number of web sites and applications that track the frequency of hashtags. Simply register your party’s hashtag in advance, and you’ll be able to see how many times that hashtag was tweeted, when it was tweeted, and what users tweeted it the most (typically the hosts during promoting phase of the event). Many hosts also do not request the e-mails of participants upon registering. TweeParties does, usually with a disclaimer that any e-mail correspondence will be limited to communications from the party sponsor and that the attendee can unsubscribe from the list at any time. In supplying a company with e-mail data from attendees, the party sponsoring the event can send a follow up e-mail thanking the user for attending, requesting that the recipient take further action (such as complete a survey) or receive a discount, special offer or product sample.

Technical issues: With any emerging technology, you sometimes hit stumbling blocks (look at the recent antenna issue with iPhone 4). Twitter is still evolving. With approximately 600 tweets per second hitting the Twittersphere, Twitter is constantly being pushed to its limits, and sometimes fails.  The blogger I mentioned above was concerned that very large parties could bog down Twitter and disrupt service for other users. Worldwide discussions about World Cup soccer bogged down Twitter; I seriously doubt a party with several hundred participants could. The only concern in the case of a party would be excessive tweeting by those several hundred participants, which thanks to Twitter’s policy of temporarily freezing accounts that tweet close to 100 tweets per hour (Twitter Jail), would be difficult to achieve. Besides, Twitter is constantly looking for ways to free up traffic. They recently announced they will expand to a large facility in Salt Lake City, Utah, in an effort to better keep up with demand and avoid outages caused by bugs. No emerging technolgy is perfect and most users understand that. Growing pains are common, but they have to be endured to grow into something even better.

I do not believe that a company should have one Twitter party and be done with interacting with its customers. It is just one piece of the puzzle, but one that I truly believe in. Social media does just that: it helps people socialize. Companies with a presence on social networking sites should keep finding ways to engage their clients. We at TweeParties believe that a Twitter party is a great way to open up conversations with consumers and keep them interested in your brand. Have Twitter parties, talk to your followers, answer their questions, come up with other contests & events to hold on Twitter and Facebook (or Foursquare). When it comes to social media, it’s all about engagement. Otherwise, you might as well drop $25K on a glossy magazine ad and be one with it.

Tags: Facebook, Having Twitter parties, interactive advertising, social media marketing, Twitter

Twitter parties are all about the #hashtag. If you’re new to Twitter and not familiar with the term, you soon will be. It’s a vital component of the social networking site.

A hashtag is a keyword with the pound (“#”) sign in front of it. In a tweet you might see something like this: Party Tonight! Check it out at TweeParties.com! #tweeparties Notice the bold portion: #tweeparties. This is a hashtag in action. In Twitter, if you see a hashtag and click on it, you’ll see a list of all tweets recently posted using that hashtag. It makes searching for specific topics easier by uniting similar tweets with a specific keyword. Without hashtags—one specific keyword picked out just of the party and used by all attendees’ tweet—we wouldn’t have Twitter parties.

You can follow a party in Twitter alone. Just search the right sidebar for the hashtag. However, in order to view the most recent posts, you would have to keep hitting your “refresh” button. So rather than tiring out your mouse, try a Twitter aggregator program. An aggregator program is free software, either available through your web browser or for download. Programs such as Tweet Chat, Tweet Grid, Tweet Deck and Hootsuite make it easier to keep up with a party by automatically refreshing your timeline. First off, to do any of this, you’ll need a free Twitter account. Pick a user name that sums you up and get tweeting!

The first party I ever attended, I attended on Twitter, so don’t feel badly if you give it a go that way! Depending on the maneuverability of your fingers, you might do just fine. Or the “refreshing” might drive you a little crazy (as it did me).

The next time, I tried Tweet Chat. This is a great one for beginners attending their first party. Visit Tweet Chat’s homepage and you’ll get a quick 3-Step guide to using the program. It’s free and all you need is a web browser to use it. You’ll sign in using your Twitter account. Then, enter the party’s unique hashtag in the box at the top (following the “#” sign) and hit “Go!” A one-column list will appear showing all of the tweets using that hashtag in reverse-chronological order (most recent first). Two benefits: 1) the timeline will automatically refresh itself (no manual refreshing!); 2) Each time you tweet, the hashtag will be added to your tweets for you (you don’t have to type the tweet each time! So you don’t have to worry about making a typo and having a tweet miss being seen during the party! The single-column format provides less confusion to a party newbie. But watchout! When that list refreshes, it might list a ton of tweets at once. If you want to make sure you don’t miss one sent specifically to you, have two windows open: one for Tweet Chat and the other for your Twitter account. Then occasionally refresh your “@” button to see if anyone has responded to one of your tweets.

You could also use Tweet Deck or Hootsuite. Both of these are different from Tweet Chat in that you can have more than one column. So you can set up one column to follow the hashtag, another to follow the party host, and another to follow your own account (which helps to see when people are replying to your tweets). Both are free. The only difference is that Tweet Deck is a program you download and install on your computer and Hootsuite is something you can use via your browser alone. I’ve tried both. Both have real benefits in day-to-day tweeting. However, when I’ve used them during parties, I felt they didn’t automatically refresh often enough.

What seems to be the most popular party aggregator is Tweet Grid. It is not without occasional problems, but in contacting the programmer, the problems lie with Twitter, and hopefully someday will be resolved. Tweet Grid makes it easy to follow parties (in fact, many party hosts create custom links to the grid—all you need to do is click on the link, enter your Twitter ID, and bingo! You’re in). On the welcome screen, just enter the hashtag, the Twitter ID’s of the party hosts, and your ID. A new screen will open up revealing the three columns, and you’re in! When you tweet, you don’t need to include the hashtag—it will include it for you. Also, you can upload photos via Tweet Grid and send DM’s much like being in your own Twitter account. You also could create more columns to follow another hashtag, if needed.

Sometimes when using Tweet Grid the center column freezes up—the party host column. One way to get the column moving again is to try removing the “from:” that’s before the Twitter ID in that column. You will now see all tweets mentioning that ID, including those from other users, but at least you won’t miss anything from that ID and the column will start refreshing again.

The bottom line: use whatever method is most comfortable for you. And have patience. New technology doesn’t always work brilliantly 100% of the time (insert a Twitter ‘fail whale’ here!) But with a little know-how and some practice, you’ll be able to find your own path to Twitter party enjoyment! (Any questions/comments, please leave them here!) Happy Tweeting!

Tags: hootsuite, social media marketing, tweet chat, tweet deck, tweet grid, twitter aggregators, twitter party tips

So much talk these days about social media and how it applies to businesses.

Companies large and small are scrambling to incorporate Twitter and Facebook accounts into their marketing plans—if they haven’t already done so. Some have succeeded in converting tweets into more business, while others are struggling, wondering if the buzz is worth the fuss.

A study released this week by digital marketing agency 360i examines this Twitter business/consumer dynamic. One of the results from 360i: “Only 12% of all marketer tweets demonstrate active dialogue with consumers, signifying that most of them aren’t tapping Twitter’s full potential.”

People use Twitter and Facebook to connect with other people. To have conversations. Advertisements or “hard sells” are a turn off. If you are a company that tweets one-way messages and does not engage in a dialogue with your followers, you’re missing the boat, and potentially the revenue. Your followers might keep following you, but they might not pay  much attention to what you have to say.

In a recent article in a marketing magazine that I read religiously each month, one columnist recommended using an automated tweet service and taking a few hours each month to pre-program a month’s worth of tweets, as a time-saving measure. That’s fine. I use auto-tweet service Twuffer to spread out my tweets and reach different people at different times of the day. But I still sign in to Twitter frequently to see who’s responded to my tweets and I try to reply to as many as possible. I have conversations, not advertisements. Besides, the conversations are much more fun than ads, aren’t they?

Social media is exciting and fun to use because it’s comprised of people conversing in real time. And that’s what it’s all about. Not not one-way messages, but dialogue. Engage your followers in one and they’ll be more likely to listen to your company’s message when you tweet it.

Erin

Tags: business, social media marketing, tweets, Twitter

Some people launch companies. But this feels more like a birth of sorts.

I’d like to announce the birth of TweeParties, Inc., a social media marketing company specializing in creating and hosting unique online events, such as Twitter parties.

TWEET!

My goal is to help businesses engage their customers in real-time through the planning, promotion and execution of social media events. I love social media and marketing. Sites like Twitter and Facebook have unlimited potential for companies to better connect with consumers, build brand awareness and gain exposure in a fun environment. I am excited for the future of social media and excited for TweeParties’ role in it.

This has truly been a labor of love, albeit sometimes a late-night labor of love fueled by Dr. Pepper and corn chips. I have to give credit to my husband, Brian, as the creative mastermind behind the name TweeParties, a take obviously on “Tweet” and “Tea Parties,” which explains why on our web site you will find many birds hanging around and sometimes even in tea cups, hopefully not deciding to leave their “mark” behind on any of them (fingers crossed).

And thanks to the many friends and family members who previewed the site and gave constructive comments and criticisms to work out the bugs! It really does ‘take a village’ to raise a child, in this case, a child having HTML for DNA.

I look forward to hearing from both Twitter party attendees and companies alike. I hope to use this blog as a way to impart information to both entities: party tips and information for partygoers and social media marketing news and helpful information for companies interested in harnessing the power of social networking.

So, “Happy Birthday, TweeParties!” Welcome to the world!

Erin

Tags: advertising, social media marketing, TweeParties, Twitter party