Thursday, May 21, 2009

My First Twitter

I've been reluctant to get going with Twitter.

As you may have guessed, I don't fear technology. Nor do I fear change.

Basically, I have avoided Twitter for three reasons:

  1. I *do* fear committing myself to things I can't maintain. I don't want to get into something and then drop it.

  2. Time bandits are a major hot-button for me. If you've heard me speak in the last year, then you've been exposed to the Gospel of Non-Interruption. I don't hang out in IM. I don't hang out in the news groups. I don't check my email constantly. Twitter seems like the absolute epitome of interruption.

  3. Finally, I wanted to figure out where the money is. Let's be honest: If I just want to waste time there's beer in the fridge and a BBQ on the patio. I'm in business to make money.


But yesterday I made the plunge.

You can find me Twittering at www.twitter.com/karlpalachuk.

I don't expect to overwhelm you. If I do, I hope you'll follow the Gospel of Non-Interruption and stop following my Tweets.


So why the change?

Well, it's interesting. Two recent stories tipped me over.

First, the AP had a story about people actively making money with Twitter. See http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iYVMbyRjOQOeodQP66nnEsVQMIswD986SAA80. If that link dissolves, Google "Foodies flock to Twitter-savvy food trucks."

What do I mean by actively making money? Well, these roaming chefs don't show up in the same place every day like roach coaches. Instead, they wander L.A. and Twitter their menu and location so that people can find them. When they twitter, people show up and spend money.

Now, don't think you can do this tomorrow. There's a whole business model behind it that takes some work. But the point remains: When they tweet, they make money.

That's something I can figure out.

The second story was about a man who saved a life with Twitter a few days ago. See http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2009/05/17/twitter_atlanta_councilman.html or Google "Atlanta Councilman uses Twitter to assist woman."

This guy sees a woman having a seizure and can't get through to 911, so he sends a tweet and asks others to re-retweet. Evenutally, someone got through to 911.

So that's just powerful technology.

And I'm going to stop ignoring it.

- - - - -

For quite some time people have somehow found me on Twitter (because I'm registered there). And from time to time I get a message that one more person is following me.

But I wasn't twittering!

So Wednesday I decided to pave the path where people want to walk.

I sent my first Twitter:


I do not Twitter.
But I can Twitter, I guess.
It won't always be in haiku though.


And I learned that Twitter removes the carriage returns, so haiku is out.

Please give me a chance on Twitter. If it's useless, you can always drop.

www.twitter.com/karlpalachuk

:-)

6 comments:

  1. Welcome to Twitter!

    Karl, you only have a 50% solution going: You aren't following anyone. So why would you want to follow someone?

    1. Learn how others use and leverage Twitter. @problogger, @mashable are good Twitterers.

    2. Receive fresh, exciting news about world events, technology, social media, cooking, spirituality, etc. You can look up people that you may be interested in following in a Twitter directory like www.wefollow.com.

    3. Discover information that you would never discover on your own. People are always tweeting about things they read that are interesting, relevant and applicable.

    4. The power of Twitter is in the "retweet." If you receive a good tweet, retweet it to your followers. Conversely, if you send a good tweet, hopefully YOUR followers will retweet it to THEIR followers. That can be a very powerful way to drive traffic to your blog or website or to get your name out there.

    5. Tip: You can turn on a setting to automatically follow people who follow you.

    Good luck!

    Jake Nonnemaker
    CEO/Founder
    AXICOM, Inc.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the tips, Jake.

    I'll prove my newbie-ness by saying that I've looked all over the twitter site and can't find that setting to follow those who follow me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Karl - you might find the web-site http://www.tweetlater.com/ useful for some advanced features like auto-following your new followers, sending welcome Direct Messages (DM's) to new followers, and regular keyword search reports.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Karl,

    Correction about autofollow: You need to use a 3rd party service like twollow (autofollow based on keywords) or as Ric mentioned, tweetlater (autofollow people who follow you).

    Jake

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the info.

    Seems like there's more hidden time-wasting than I thought there'd be.

    :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Karl - there's alwayshidden time-wasting! I find that the actual amount is usually up to me.

    ReplyDelete

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