Successful Blog

25 Signs #yourenotreallyontwitter

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Twitter Is Pencil and Paper

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Don’t get me wrong. I’m a first grade teacher. I see Twitter as a 21st Century version of pencil and paper. I do believe that we can invent millions of ways to use paper and pencil. No rules are the right way to use it … draw, write, scribble, make circles over and over, be a poet, be a novelist, make a journal. Twitter is just as open and flexible.

I’ve never been one for rules.

What prompted this list was not a rant.

Here’s what happened.

About a week or so ago, on a Saturday, I was going through the people I follow on Twitter — people I’ve met at events, people I’ve talked to on Twitter, or people who follow me that I follow back. Over the course of a few hours, I reviewed 61000+ accounts to find those who were no longer active. I started by sorting out those who hadn’t tweeted for 90 days or longer. Then I started looking at their tweet counts — some tweeted less than once a day. That’s less than 365 tweets in a year!

As I was deleting the Twitter Quitters, I started thinking of people — some of them on TV — who say

  • “I tried Twitter and I don’t get it.”
  • “No one would talk to me.”
  • “It’s stupid and silly.”

or things like that. Which led me to think, they weren’t really ON Twitter, meaning some people leave Twitter before they figure out what all of the excitement is about. They never get the Twitter experience. And that happens because they approach thinking it’s supposed to be something different than conversation.

And at some point memories of Jeff Foxworthy’s litany of ways to tell “You’re a Redneck” popped in my head and I was suddenly channeling him and tweeting with the hashtag #yourenotreallyontwitter and some folks joined in.

  1. If you average less than 1 tweet a day, #yourenotreallyontwitter
  2. If you haven’t tweeted since 2011, #yourenotreallyontwitter
  3. If you never tweet about anything but yourself, #yourenotreallyontwitter
  4. @mikeyb95 pointed out: If you haven’t connected 2 total strangers #yourenotreallyontwitter
  5. If your avatar is still an egg 6 months after you got here, #yourenotreallyontwitter
  6. @jfouts noted: If you don’t reply to mentions. Ever. #yourenotreallyontwitter”
  7. If your avatar is a picture of someone else, #yourenotreallyontwitter
  8. @ValaAfshar added: If you use twitter as a megaphone, instead of a telephone, then #yourenotreallyontwitter
  9. If your only follower is an account you also own, #yourenotreallyontwitter
  10. If someone else tweets for you, #yourenotreallyontwitter , they are.
  11. @Tivitamivita added: If you never tweet about anything but #social media bla bla, #yourenotreallyontwitter
  12. If you’re only talking to certain people because you know it will raise your klout score, #yourenotreallyontwitter
  13. @MaureenAlley contributed: if all you tweet are Pinterest-only tweets #yourenotreallyontwitter
  14. If your every tweet is 1 link and 9 hashtags, #yourenotreallyontwitter
  15. If you think of your follower group as your “list” my guess is that #yourenotreallyontwitter
  16. @CraigFifield cited: if you tweet a large % of famous quotes #yourenotreallyontwitter #youareactuallyboring
  17. If your last 40 tweets went to strangers you don’t follow and all say “buy from me,” #yourenotreallyontwitter , you’re a spammer
  18. @Theatresaurus made the observation that: if you think you know the rules of twittering #yourenotreallyontwitter
  19. @erin_mcmahon threw in: If you think you can make one-size-fits-all rules about what it is to be on Twitter, #yourenotreallyontwitter
  20. and I replied: and if you think there aren’t any rules #yourenotreallyontwitter — treating people like people counts here too. 🙂
  21. @CarltonHawkins remarked: If your every tweet is 1 link at 9 hashtags, #yourenotreallyontwitter
  22. If you only ask for retweets from famous people #yourenotreallyontwitter
  23. @mikeyb95 stated: If I can’t learn about you from your bio #yourenotreallyontwitter
  24. And finally, if you unfollow someone as soon as they follow you back …. #yourenotreallyontwitter but you already knew that.

    25. And one for those who already know all of those –

  25. @NarissaTweets reminds us: If you’ve never made a #TwitterTypo #yourenotreallyontwitter

    26. Now of course if you have a Twitter account and a password that hasn’t been hacked by a phishing scam link you clicked in an AutoDM discussing the nasty things being said about you, you’re probably on Twitter.

    What I hope is that you’re talking to folks, finding great content, learning things you wouldn’t find anywhere else, and building a neighborhood on the Internet that reflects you most uniquely and doing it just the way you find right.

    After all my Twitter isn’t your Twitter and you get to pick. 🙂

    But I hope you won’t be a Twitter Quitter until you find out what it could be about.

    Be irresistible.

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

Engagement: Five Keys to Get People Inside What You Write

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You Already Know This

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After decades of print publishing, writing publicly was never a big deal for me. I didn’t have a shy moment about my first blog post. I still consider it fine writing. I did watch my stats to see whether anyone read it. Waited days on end for my first comment from someone I didn’t know.

But I was surprised to find the difference of having an audience show up soon after I wrote.
And there was the difference in how they responded.
When I’d been in publishing, people responding had always been responding from a work point of view.
This responding to ideas because they were important, interesting, thought-provoking, or intriguing was something new.

People were connecting by what they said.
Minds were meeting in what they typed and what they read.

It was different than print.

Words like conversation and community took on new meaning.
We explored what they meant.

It was different from print.

I began observing, testing, asking, listening, and learning.
Yet the more I started trying, less I was succeeding.

Then, I came face to face with the answer in a short note someone wrote on his own blog about my writing. He said my blog posts were so well written the only response he could come up with was “beautiful job.”

The blog posts I’d been writing were full, finished, final and composed.
There wasn’t much room for anyone to participate in them.

I began observing, testing, asking, listening, and learning again. What I learned were four keys to keeping the conversation open. These won’t surprise or stun you. You already know them. They’re what we all do when we talk to any person we value.

Do these four things and you’ll find people getting inside what you’re writing.

  1. Come down from the podium. Talk to your audience like a people who can listen. Let them be as smart as you are, even when they don’t know what you do.

  2. Don’t tie things up with a bow. Leave what you say a little unfinished. Don’t try so hard to ferret out everything on your bulleted list. Don’t ask and answer every question. Then your audience has room to add a word in. When a talking person fills in every idea and detail before anyone else talks, that’s called a speech. The response becomes applause or an awful silence.

  3. Blog your experience. Information is everywhere, but your experience of that information is unique and interesting. People respond to what you share that’s you. I don’t have to see myself responding the way you would for what you say to resonate.

  4. Care about what you’re saying. Care so much that you write without hesitation, without apology. Don’t shy away from the true north of what it means to you. Anything less is too complicated and makes me nervous for you. If you don’t care enough to put yourself into it, why would I care enough to read it?

  5. Make the ending satisfying and about them. Let them know again why they care about what they just read. If you end with a question, think about what you’re asking. Could you answer it? What sort answer are you expecting? As a reader would you take time to answer it?

Nothing stunning. It’s remembering that the people reading are people who want to connect with us not people who want to grade our papers. It all gets easier when we remember to let people be part of what we’re writing.

Have you found things get easier when you focus on the people reading?

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

Buy the ebook. Learn the art of online conversation.

Thanks to Week 332 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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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

What to Know Before You Choose a Loan to Finance Your Business or Your Life

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Borrower Beware

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All loans are scary, because you are signing yourself over to a debt; but some loans are much scarier than others. Some are scary due to the product you are purchasing; some because of who the money is being borrowed from; and some due to their very structure. It is a sound plan to know what type of agreement you are entering into.

It is a good idea for your financial well being to avoid these loan monsters:

  1. Lifestyle loans. Whether you are taking out a loan to fund a vacation, a big-screen TV, plastic surgery, a wedding, or something completely else, loans for lifestyle changes are bad for your finances. Usually the improvement in lifestyle is short-lived, and then you still have loan debt to be repaid.
  2. Home-equity loans. Considering the way that the bottom dropped out of the housing market in recent years, its amazing that anyone would want to risk borrowing against and their home. As the economy begins to improve, it is very likely that the home-equity loan will regain its former popularity with banks and consumers alike. When a person borrows against their house, it can be a strong indication that their spending habits are out of control. Many people that do take out this type of loan do so to pay off a car loan or credit card bills, which is not wise because a home-equity loan is a 15-30 year loan being used to pay for products or services which will only be useful for a fraction of that time.
  3. Interest-only loans. Taking out an interest-only loan does not get one any closer to paying off the product the loan paid for. These loans only benefit the lender, because the consumer pays interest indefinitely, way over and above the amount they would have paid for the product to begin with.
  4. Loans with a longer term than the useful life of the product. No one wants to continue paying on a product after its useful life has ended. It’s very risky for the lender, and any borrower who would knowingly do this must be crazy. The only incentive to pay off such a loan is the threat of a lawsuit or damage to your credit report.
  5. Pawn shop loans. Pawn shops value your sellable possessions much less than you do, and thus almost never lend the full amount that the borrower wants. This is because the pawn shop wants to be able to make a profit on your electronics, jewelry, or other valuables should you not repay your loan and they have to sell your possessions.
  6. Credit card cash-advance loans. Credit card cash advance loans start charging interest immediately, not every month like regular credit card use. A person would be better off just using their credit card regularly, and paying it off at the end of the month to avoid interest charges.
  7. Debt-consolidation loans. Debt + debt = debt. Most people who get a debt consolidation loan wind up running up the credit cards again they used the loan to pay off, which completely defeats the purpose. Then they are back to having multiple payments to make. It is much wiser to compose a budget, and stick to it.
  8. Co-signed loans. Co-signing a loan can be very dangerous because it obligates you to pay off the loan, should the other party fail to pay it. Why would you want to pay for something that you didn’t own? Sometimes parents will co-sign a loan for their children to help them build credit, but a secured credit card is a much safer option for that purpose.
  9. Car title loans. Unless you like the possibility of losing your car, taking a loan from a title loan shop is not smart. If you fail to repay your loan, the lender will take your fully paid-off car and sell it. The lender also does not have to return any money to you, when they profit from selling your car.
  10. Overdraft Loans. If you need an Overdraft loan, then you should be paying more attention to your bank account. This type of inadequate attention can get you into financial trouble. Know how much money you have, and don’t spend more than that amount
  11. Tax refund anticipation loans. If you have a tax refund coming, you should never get a loan from your tax preparer. If you really need your tax refund money faster, have your paperwork e-filed, and ask that your refund be direct-deposited into your checking or savings account.
  12. Payday loans. Taking out a payday loan is the beginning of a vicious cycle of debt that is very hard to break. Payday loans are designed for very short periods of time, usually up to only a month, and have very high interest rates which make it hard for borrowers to catch up. Many only manage to pay the weekly minimum, which doesn’t even cover the full interest.
  13. Margin loans to purchase stocks. There are people out there who have made a lot of money by buying stocks on margin, but this is only when they are lucky enough to have the stock they bought increase in value. If you take out a margin loan, and your stocks decrease in value, the broker can demand cash deposits to your account to cover the loss. If the loss is bad enough (usually 25% of the amount you borrowed) the broker can sell your stocks, and you could end up owing money to your broker and having no stocks at all.

For the sake of your pocketbook, avoid these loan monsters. More often than not, they do more harm than good on the borrowers side.

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Author Box
George Martin is mortgage loan expert also he provides expert advice on credit card balance transfer and credit card management.. He provides advice on high interest credit card and sensible credit transfer.

Thank you, George, for this practical advice.

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

How to Leap from Taking Directions to Professionally Presenting Ideas

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In order to move up the professional ladder, a person must not only prove to be an excellent worker, he or she must also be a leader. After years of doing what others tell you to do, the only way to get to the next level professionally is to assume the role of a leader – an idea man or woman.

In order to assert yourself and make a bigger impact within your company or with clients, you will need to take that leap from following directions to suggesting a whole new set of directions to follow. Furthermore, it is not good enough to have a great idea – you need to be able to present it successfully as well.

Here are some tips to get your ideas not only heard, but also to gain respect as you learn what appeals most to the audience you want to influence and persuade.

Know Your Audience

If you are going to impress your audience, know who you’re addressing. In many cases, you are not pitching these ideas directly to the “boss.” Make sure you’re bringing your idea to the people who have the power to put it into motion or take it to the next step.

Once you have chosen the right audience, get to know what makes those people tick. Find out what appeals to them and what benefits you need to stress in order to capture their interest in your idea. Once you know who is in the audience, you will be able to perfect the presentation of your idea for them.

Perfect Your Presentation

Sharing ideas is not something that should be taken casually. If you really want to show that you are serious about an idea, it’s best to plan it out and present it immaculately. A simple mention of your idea beside the water cooler just won’t do in most cases. Prepare your presentation and if the venue allows, enrich it with visual or multimedia aids. It’s much easier to keep interest when your presentation is multifaceted and includes more than you speaking while your audiences imagines what you’re proposing.

Don’t shy away from rehearsing your presentation either. Just like you wouldn’t sing a song at a talent show without practicing, you shouldn’t be presenting a serious idea without practicing your talk. The better prepared you are, the more confident you will be, and that can make all the difference in the world.

Be Ready to Answer Questions

Whenever you are presenting an idea in a business setting, you may be met with questions about the downside of your idea. People will want to know how to fund it, what resources it requires and any and all weaknesses that might get in the way of success.

Think ahead about the parts of your presentation that could be unclear to your audience, and address them beforehand. Consider questions that good business people ask and objections that are common in your business and from your audience. Have a proper justification and reason for everything you suggest. Be prepared to explain the reasoning behind every aspect of your idea and plan.

Bring Variations

It helps to be flexible going in. Know which facets of your idea that can be changed or altered without sacrificing the core of the plan. Bring some suggested alternatives with you in your initial presentation.

Use Rejections Constructively

If and when your idea is turned down, see it as an opportunity to learn more about the goals of your audience. If you always quit on your idea after one rejection, you’ll never gain the respect of the people you’re trying to convince. Think through the feedback as you listen to it. Is the problem the idea or the execution of it that you suggested? If you’re not sure, find out. Sometimes the people you’re addressing have information that you didn’t have.

Be Ready to Go Back to Work

Find out whether the idea is dead or can be revised. Some ideas are too expensive, too labor intensive, or make more work than they’re worth. That doesn’t mean that parts of those ideas aren’t worth exploring further. If you hear that there’s still a chance, go back to the drawing board and apply what you’ve learned. Implement changes in your idea to address the objections that were voiced during your presentation. When you’re confident in your new plan, ask for a meeting to share the revised plan.

Remember, the goal of setting out an idea in business is to enlist support for a project you believe will help the business grow. People will be looking for how well you listen as much as how well you present. If you’re truly interested in the goals of the audience and what works for them, you’ll get noticed as someone who is not only interested in his or her own success, but in the success of the business as well.

What advice do you have for enlisting people in your ideas?
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Author’s Bio:
David Lazar is a blogger at CometDocs.com. With a background in journalism, he enjoys writing about and following a variety of topics, including careers, technology and new media.

Thank you, David!

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