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40 Tweeps Answer "What 3 Tools Should Any New Twitter User Adopt?"

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Not What You Expect, But Delicious

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Truth is I had a plan for an entirely different blog post today. Then, I was working on a slideshow for a client tonight. I threw out a question …

What are the first three tools any Twitter user should adopt?

The answers were so awesome I decided to change my plan and share the answers with you instead.

The three tools suggest for any new twitter user are:

  1. @Silver_Craig said: a hammer, a crowbar, and a shotgun.
  2. @RonaldWilsher said: Faith, hope & love.
  3. @longstride said: 1) open mind – 2) good nature – 3) brevity 😉
  4. @RandyLivingston said: AllTop, Adjix
  5. @jonathanfields said: truth, courage & wisdom
  6. @harrisja said:Twitter search, hashtags and Seesmic Desktop
  7. @jfouts said: Tweetbeep, Seesmic or Tweetdeck and Lazyfeed
  8. @dustyhawk said: i would say twitfox, followed by tweetdeck and err i forgot
  9. @karmacom said: brevity, wit and value-add 🙂
  10. @alexchantastic said: A mobile twitter client
  11. @digiphile said: First tools a Twitter user should adopt? Here’s my take, in podcast form: http://bit.ly/gpUZo | Search, mobile & desktop clients
  12. @MiNutrition said: Evernote, Twitter Twerp Scan
  13. @vanillacokehead said: 1st, a personal set of rules of engagement for using Twitter. 2nd, an open mind. 3rd, a good Twitter client like TweetDeck
  14. @Asfaq said: For the tools bit, I’d say: Tweetdeck, a camera enabled phone and a cheaper mobile data plan 🙂
  15. @TweetThisBabe said: 1) Manners – be polite and courteous to all 2) Learn the lingo but don’t be afraid to ask some1 3) REFRESH pg always 🙂
  16. @DigitalWoman said: 1st 3 Twitter Tools: Seesmic Desktop or Tweetdeck to manage tweets, Bit.ly to shorten urls, & Tweetie or TwitterBerry for mobile
  17. @FreeRangeMom said: 1st three tools for any new twitter user: TweetDeck, pick one url tracker supported by Tweetdeck, and a clearly defined POV
  18. @JoeCrockett said: Dictionary of abbreviations and small words, grammar/spell checker, sense of humor?
  19. @ChicagoDiane said: Tweetdeck, Twitpic and I guess Tweetie or UberTwitter. Need a URL shortener, but incl w/Tweetdeck.
  20. @Lazy_Libra said: tweetdeck, twitter search, bit.ly
  21. @binarywolf said: Seesmic/TweetDeck, Twitter Search, Twitpic
  22. @mcb927 said: Better interface w/ org/mgmnt tools (TweetDeck); add’l connectivity (Twitterberry, etc); tracking tool (ie Monitter)
  23. @patty_reiser said: Good relationship building skills, the ability to communicate effectively, no following spammers.
  24. @bethbellor said: I would be lost without TweetDeck.
  25. @dave_lo said:localtweeps (or some other local search tool), wefollow, tweetdeck Localizing your Twitter early on helps new users to stay engaged and continue building their niche. Also cool to hang out
  26. @adamstahr said: 1) Twitter search 2) Tweetdeck 3) Mobile app (if applicable)
  27. @RealHomeLogic said: replies, direct messages & the ability to converse w/ others are 3 crytical tools to master on Twitter.
  28. @NicoleJensen said: a good desktop client (twhirl or tweetdeck), cleaning app (like friendorfollow.com or twitoria.com) and @twtapps. More than 3 🙂
  29. @nironash said: The best tools for me are: respect, ethic, truth, intelligence, knowledge, communication competence and etc. Sorry no answer!
  30. @mgharavi said: Tweetdeck, bit.ly (for tracking clicks), and ReadItLater. Honorable mention: mobile app compatible with their phone
  31. @StoryAssistant said: My FIRST 3 tools 4 Twitter R all around finding the right followers: 1) @TweetLater (keyword search), 2) @Twellow & 3) @MrTweet
  32. @brianjohnriggs said: an awesome question. What are the first three tools any Twitter user should adopt? a schedule and adopting a no fear apprch
  33. @ZackLuby said: tweetdeck, twellow, and a link shortener that has analytics. Also NOT an auto follow tool 🙂
  34. @btrandolph said: 3 tools: !)tweetdeck @) topify 3) bit.ly account
  35. @stevegasser said: That is a great question. Here are a few I recommend: TweetDeck, a great Firefox Extension, Twellow
  36. @deafmom said: Listening, sharing, caring.
  37. @reese said: I like that the tools ppl suggest aren’t all ‘techie.’ 🙂 here are mine: 1. generosity 2. curiosity 3. value
  38. @KimSherrell said: First 3 Tools for Beginner [1] Twitter Search [2] http://hashtags.org [3] http://wefollow.com
  39. @photobiz said: three best early twitter tools : tweetdeck, twitterchat, twellow
  40. @allanschoenberg said: Just 3? Fine, Tweetdeck, bit.ly, Twitpic

The point is that we all have our own way of looking at this social tool and our own way of using it.

Kind of like we have our own way of making use of paper and pencil … it’s all in the messages and connections that come through what you do with it.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Buy the ebook. Learn the art of online conversation.

Should the Conversation with Big Brands Be Going Two Ways?

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Flashback: We were sitting in a lovely Italian Trattoria. I was hot-shot Executive Editor in my thirties with my editor team having lunch with the President of the company. He asked us what we thought of a competitor’s product.

Replies came from around the table. All responses were negative observations.

He listened without remarking until every person had finished their critiques. Then he simply asked one question, “If their product has so many flaws, why do you suppose they sell 100,000 copies of each of the 104 little book in the series every season?”

One question pointed out that we didn’t know as much about our competitor as we thought.

What about Big Brands Are Social Media Folks Missing?

After SOBCon and BlogHer and recent conversations with Becky McCray, Stephanie Smirnov, and Sheila Scarborough, that story has been coming back to me. We’ve been talking about how big brands have been going after bloggers with a clearer intent to capture our page view and sometimes even gather our ideas.

For some of us, it’s become a heady experience. For other’s it’s lead to some regrettable behavior — we all know the stories.

What stands out is that the focus seems to have shifted hugely in one direction. Sometimes it can appear as if new social media folks are only here to learn. We know the culture. They don’t.

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Hmmm.

My curiosity leads me to my own questions …

If the big brands are so confused about serving customers, how did they get to be big brands?

If we only see what we’re good at fixing, we’re overlooking a huge opportunity for cooperative learning.

Flash Forward: Now I sit at a meeting table with a Branding agency, a PR agency, a traditional marketing firm, a direct mail expert, an email expert, a radio and TV person, and two other support team members. We’re writing the strategy and tactics for a huge product launch. Most of them don’t know much about social media beyond that it exists, but they know their own specialities deeply. But they build on what each other has planned and they learn from what each other has to say.

Presentation is a one-way communication. We talk and they listen. We broadcast and call them to action — in a mainstream advertisement or in a meeting, the goal is the same.

A conversation is a two-way communication. Both parties talk and listen. No one is in control.

Have we stopped listening to the big brands? Is it time to start listening again? Should the conversation with big brands be going both ways?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Buy the ebook. Learn the art of online conversation.

Beach Notes: You Don't Always Have to Own It to Enjoy It

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by Guest Writers Suzie Cheel and Des Walsh

We sometimes walk around the area out back of where we live, on the Anchorage Islands in Australia’s beautiful Tweed River, and we see boats from the local fishing fleet at the wharf across the river and a lot of more leisure-type vessels riding at anchor in the river.

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While we don’t have a boat ourselves, we can and do relish the spectacle that is there each day for us. We don’t have to own one of these craft to enjoy them. And if we were seized with a desire to go out on one it would not be a problem to hire one with someone to do all that stuff with sails and anchors and steering, for much less cost than actually owning one (or having a bank own one for us to use).

One of the things we notice is that some of these very valuable boats never seem to leave their moorings, which suggests that someone else may be getting the pleasure of looking at them, mixed with the work of maintaining them. We get that old 70’s dream, the pleasure without the responsibility.

What do you enjoy that you don’t have to own?

Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh

Thanks to Week 197 SOBs

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Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

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macbikegeek
mom-it-forward
supernova

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

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Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

More Upbeat Now Conversation with Raj Setty – Part 2

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Finding and Upbeat Path and Online Strategies We Miss

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As you might recall, I’ve known Rajesh Setty followed his wisdom for many years. He started his writing as a child in India at the young age of 9 and published his first book by the time he was 13.

I interviewed Raj the first time when he released his book Beyond Code. You’ll find the five days of our conversation introduced here.

This year I had the honor and the pleasure of being part of launching his new book UpBeat Now! at our SOBCon09 conference in Chicago. I’m more than delighted to share it here with you now.

This is the second part of the conversation we had …

Hi Raj, Now that we’ve found “the trap” and unfinished projects that befall us. How might online entrepreneurs use “the discipline” to get on an upbeat path?

For me, the discipline required for online business is like the discipline you require in any other business – probably a bit more, actually.

If you think about it, even when you are NOT solving a real problem, you might get a lot of people interested in your online business. It does not mean that they are willing to transact with you.

Add to that – the threat of competition from new players and incumbents.

Add to that the fact that people really don’t want to change easily.

Add to that the fact that somebody will offer the same (or stripped down version)of your service for free.

Add to that customers and prospects requesting features day in and day out feeling entitled.

Add to that the fact that one small bug gets blown out of proportion via blogs and forums.

Without discipline, one can get carried away and focus on everything except making their customers WIN in a big way.

The way to stay UpBeat in an online business is simply to make rockstars out of your customers. If they win, they will make you win.

Which part of strategy do online business builders seem to miss most often?

Creating the right ecosystem for their business.

Online or offline, without a solid ecosystem, businesses cannot scale. It is easy to miss that as you may not notice the need for a solid ecosystem in the initial stages of the online business.

If you could suggest one action that would make a difference in most online businesses what would it be?

Listening without filters

Most often, we listen with our filters and think and assume what the customers “might” want. If you simply “listen without filters” you will notice that customers and prospects will share their trials and tribulations, what they like and dislike about the product, what problems do they want to solve with your product/service, their wishes and their wants.

if you relentlessly focus on your customers, you will win sooner than later – listening without filters is the first step to do just that.

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Raj, what you said in just these five short questions today and Wednesday has been a primer on how to steer clear of some pretty serious business faux pas.

This only a taste of the insights and wisdom you’ve pulled together in your book!

I so recommend everyone should buy UpBeat Now!

Thanks Raj! Talking with you is always a pleasure!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Buy the ebook. Learn the art of online conversation.