Tricks of the Trade for Building a Twitter Following

In the past couple of months, building Twitter followings for my marketing clients has become a part of my everyday workload in the way that can only be compared to myspace 'friend adding'. If done improperly it can be enormously time consuming and extremely frustrating. Here are a few tricks that I've picked up in my own work that I am confident will make the process easier for you.

First and foremost you must understand your options for identifying people with common interests within the Twitter network.

Tweepsearch allows you to search Twitter profiles-- specifically what people have written in their name, location and 1-line bio. It does not search actual tweets but can be extremely useful, especially if you are hoping to target people in a specific city or state, or people whose primary reason for being on Twitter revolves around a specific purpose (as described in their 1-line bio).

Search.twitter.com allows you to search tweets but not profiles. Be sure to use the 'advanced' option in order to limit your search to specific phrases and keywords. The advantage here is that when you search, those who have written updates containing your search term recently show up in the results. It lists them in order, in fact. This helps because you will waste less time searching through profiles of people who have abandoned Twitter months ago.

Now that you know where to search, here are a few tips on HOW to search and who to follow.

1) Only follow people whose most recent update was posted within the last 2 weeks. If somebody has not logged into their profile since early 2008, they are probably not going to log in the next day to follow you back.

2) Only follow people who appear to be real people; avoid following accounts that appear to be business, informational or promotional. These profiles certainly have a legitimate place within the Twitterverse, but the truth is that most are exclusively interested in their own product or service and have no interest in learning about yours. This includes other artists. Instead, follow those who have a profile picture or name that identifies them as a real person.

3) Do not follow profiles that appear to be sex-oriented. This can be signified by the letters 'XXX' within the person's username, by an erotic profile photo or through updates. These folks are only interested in one thing and it isn't you.

4) DO follow people who are already following somebody with an interest very similar to your own. Underneath the 1-line bio on every profile you can click on the 'followers' number and link. If you find somebody whose followers you feel would be interested in learning about you, this link will bring up a list of that person's followers. Using the rules above, simply click the 'follow' button to the right of each person's username. I find that this strategy is the most time-efficient because unlike searching on Tweepsearch or Search.twitter.com, you do not need to open a new window to follow somebody.

5) DO follow people who appear to be posting in your own language. The return-follow rate for users in other countries is simply too low to be worthwhile, even if you are promoting a product or service with international appeal. This is the only difficulty with finding people via #4 above.

6) Do not follow people whose 'followers' list drastically outnumbers their own 'following'. This is the case with many promotional and business related profiles. Tweepsearch allows you to see these numbers before clicking through to a profile; definitely worth a glance.

5 Questions for Eric Michael Hopper

If in the past few years you have taken even a casual glance at the myspace unsigned artist charts you have no doubt come across the profile of country artist and top 10 mainstay Eric Michael Hopper. With over 2 million song plays and 100k 'real' friends I just had to dig deeper and put together 5 questions specific to his substantial self-marketing success. A big thanks to Eric for taking the time to respond.

5 Questions for Eric Michael Hopper

DM: You have consistently ranked among the top artists on the myspace music charts for as long as I can remember. To what do feel you owe your enormous popularity on the site?

EMH: There are a number of different factors. Social networking and new media have changed the way artists and fans interact. I have a more immediate relationship with my fans and friends online than what was possible in the past. I also believe the new media paradigm allows for a more level playing field in terms of what content the public decides to embrace. We are migrating back to a situation where content can be king again. The intersection of these points gives me a sense of obligation to be sure not to let my fans and supporters down. I really do try my best in the creative process because of this. I understand that everything else hinges on the quality of what you are putting out there.

DM: I found it interesting that you appear to be much more active through your personal facebook profile (3400 friends) versus your fan page (800 fans). Can you explain your reasoning behind this?

EMH: 1) Although facebook is a social networking site, it is not geared toward multimedia discovery. 2) My approach has never been to simply take the role of artist or celebrity figure. I have always focused more on the relationship of myself with my fans and friends online, rather than as the artist as a figure. I embrace the "fans" for what they really are... my online friends.

DM: As a marketer I can't help but notice the dramatic increase in 'clutter' on myspace; sometimes it feels like there are more spam profiles, businesses and artists trying to promote themselves than actual people. With over 100,000 friends, what do you do to weed out and communicate with your true fans?

EMH: It's pretty simple. I really just dont accept or add anyone that appears to be a spam or solicitation myspace page. It doesn't take long to be able to recognize these profiles.

DM: I just saw a Facebook status update inviting friends to join your mobile fanclub. Which service do you use? What do you like or dislike about communicating with fans via mobile messaging as opposed to the web?

EMH: The deliberation is still out on this matter so I'd rather not mention any sites.

DM: I've seen you on the popular live video/webcam network Stickam.com. Many artists and celebrities steer clear of web shows because of the vulnerability inherent to appearing in a live, unedited, un-moderated chat setting. What has your experience with live webchats been like?

EMH: For me it's been great. It has allowed people to see that I am a real person and not just a management company running my sites. Vulnerability is not always such a bad thing. We're all just people. It's really been more of a reciprocal relationship between myself and my friends online.

5 Rules for Successful Artist Newsletters

With the advent of social media and the ease of managing relationships with fans provided therein, many artists these days see email communication with fans as a thing of the past. I, however, still find the monthly newsletter to be a relevant part of the overall marketing objectives of most artists. Probably the most difficult aspect of digital marketing for artists is the fact that in this day and age people interact with music and artists online in a plethora of ways and places. I think that it is important to respect fans decisions to interact with you when and where they choose to do so and to accommodate them accordingly. Email is still an important part of most people's everyday lives, and if fans choose to offer up their personal address to you it is your responsibility to give them what they want and deserve. In no particular order here are 5 rules for getting the most out of your email newsletters.

Rule #1: Limit Frequency
When considering how often to send out your newsletter it is important to keep your position in the recipient's life (and Ipod) in perspective; Do not assume that every single signup is a superfan who wants you to bombard their work email account every day of the week with what you ate for breakfast that morning. On the contrary, assume that the majority of signups are content to hear from you once in awhile and use your newsletters sparingly. My recommendation is once per month; definitely no more than twice. If you overwhelm your fans inboxes they will simply stop opening the message, rendering your newsletter ineffective. If you are facing a quiet point in your activity as an artist and you have nothing compelling to say in a newsletter, wait until you've got something exciting to send it out.

Rule #2: Provide Original and Compelling Content
You must give your fans a reason not only to sign up for your newsletter but to open it once it arrives in their inbox each and every time. Without at least some small tidbit of original content that does not exist elsewhere online, what is the incentive? Always include something that is exclusive to the newsletter; a personalized note from the artist; a sample of a new track in the works; exclusive photos. You can also use this content as an excuse to promote your newsletter via your web properties. Another idea is to offer giveaways such as free CDs to random signups; do this once per week if you are able and announce the winners in the newsletters to show that the giveaway is real.

Rule #3: Promote Effectively
Provide an easy way for your fans to sign up for your newsletter and feature it prominently on every web property available. The easiest way to do this is with an email collector widget-- the type offered by ReverbNation and other services. I also like to draw added attention to the newsletter by creating a custom banner that sits on top of the widget. The banner can invite fans to sign up and provide the incentive you've created for doing so. On Facebook, use the Gigya Mystuff Application to add your collector widget. Cross-promote the newsletter through mentions on Twitter once in awhile and remember to include your incentive for signups. If you are using myspace comments to communicate with fans, plug the widget and banner into your comment code and invite all new friends to sign up.

Rule #4: Limit Sales Pitches
A common artist mistake is to overwhelm web properties with sales pitches; ie. links to purchase on Itunes AND rhapsody AND CDbaby AND Amazon, etc. It's easy to take for granted the fact that your fans are knowledgeable about purchasing music whether digital or physical and will have no problem finding it should they decide to do so. Use your newsletter to announce new single and album releases; encourage fans to listen to and enjoy your music and make their own purchasing decision when the time comes. After your music is available steer clear of overwhelming pleas to purchase. Also relevant to this, be very careful not to overemphasize tour dates that are only relevant to a small percentage of those who signed up (ie, a newsletter to promote your big show in NYC when only 10 of your signups live there).

Rule #5: Format Effectively
Like all of your web properties your newsletter must be formatted perfectly; use color schemes and artwork that are in line with your other pages. Proofread all text to avoid errors in grammar and punctuation. Double check to make sure that all links are functional. Use fonts that are appropriately sized and easy to read. Format all pictures and text in a way that is clean and attractive. If it's within your budget, hire a graphic designer to create a custom newsletter template for you.

Developing Themes Fighting Dragons

I came across this cool game in the course of my daily Myspace trolling on the page of Chicago area pop-punk band I Fight Dragons. IFD is the self-described 'Only NES-rock band' and this is evident in their music, artistic design and in this cool flash dragon fighting game that is consistent with their overall Nintendo theme. The game, which appears strategically at the top of the myspace layout, is simple: press the space bar to shoot bullets at falling dragons and the arrow keys to move.

Marketing genius? Let's not go crazy. Cool? Very! I love that the game contributes to their thematic material in a way that engages the user beyond music and imagery; even if a first-time visitor only plays the game for a minute, the band has left a unique and memorable impression on that visitor.

I for one would love to see more interactive web content like this from artists in the future. The obvious obstacle toward the creation of this type of content is the expense; a custom designed flash game with even very basic functionality can't be cheap to produce. I was working with Jive Records when a similar concept game called T-Pain's Cocktail Crazy was used to promote his spirit-inspired album Epiphany a couple of years ago; I wasn't told the exact production cost but it was made clear by the new media people that it WASN'T cheap. All the more reason to keep your friends close and your friends with computer programming skills even closer.

Tips for Writing a Winning, Professional Twitter Bio

In a recent social media training session with a client I found myself with the task of instructing about 10 employees of an advertising agency on how to write professional and effective Twitter bios. What I write here is specific to business professionals who wish to use the service at least in part to meet and communicate with business-related contacts in addition to friends. For bands and artists, that will have to wait for another entry.

Let's get started.

Once you've logged into your profile, under your account settings you'll see both 'Name' and 'Username'. The former reflects what exactly appears after Name on the right side of your profile page. The latter reflects both your URL and in general how you communicate with @username replies. Even if you have not been able to secure the Usename twitter.com/yourname (which I highly recommend), there is no reason that you should not list your full name on your profile with accurate spelling and punctuation. No need for underscores, abbreviations or especially caps here! Simply include your first and last name as you would in your email signature.

Also, clearly include your location-- city and state. Avoid using cute misspellings, abbreviations, and city nicknames. The reason? No matter what your motivation for being on Twitter, I'm going to assume that you want people to find you who wish to do so. To do this people will use search engines like Tweepsearch and will probably search for 'Chicago' or 'Los Angeles' rather than 'Chi-Town Baby!' or 'City of Angels'. Also, unless you truly call multiple cities home, avoid the temptation to list multiple cities in an attempt to look well-traveled or cultured. 'NYC/LA/MIAMI/VEGAS/FRESNO' tells me that you live in Fresno and you're trying to be something that you're not-- at least not yet!

For your actual Bio section, you have 160 characters to share all information not already provided. There is no need to repeat your name or location. Since your space is so limited, a good practice is to lead off with a 2 to 5 word phrase that describes you professionally-- your professional tagline. If you met somebody on the street at this very moment, how would you respond to the question 'What do you do'? Would it include, a title? A company name? If your current professional status isn't exactly where you want it to be, perhaps a word like 'aspiring' is appropriate.

Founder and CEO of My Company. Ecommerce Manager at My Company. Intern at Major Record Label and Aspiring Publicist. Sales professional. Entertainment industry professional. Freelance consultant. Urban culture and style writer.

Now think about some professional interests, skills or passions that aren't necessarily described within your professional tagline. What professional interests do you have that aren't a part of your job title?

Blogger. New media fanatic. Marketing maven. Investor. SEO Expert. Technology geek. Speaker. Author. Entrepeneur. Event planner. Consultant. Media personality. Student.

Next, come up with a few descriptors that are more personal. Not TOO personal of course, but feel free to include anything you'd share over a semi-awkward business lunch with your boss.

Proud mom. Harvard alum. Washington Redskins fanatic. Brooklyn native. Spin class rockstar. Backpacking nut. Book worm. Guitar player. Lover of nature. Favorite uncle. History buff. Wine enthusiast.

Likewise, here are a few things that you most likely would not share over a lunch with your boss and therefore have no place in your twitter bio.

Party girl. Reality TV junkie. Magic the Gathering fanatic. Danielle Steel nut. Liberal democrat. Conservative republican. Lonely single guy. Shopoholic.

Of course there is nothing wrong with any of these but one should definitely save the most personal items for later in the conversation. Much, much later.

Finally, close with your reason for being on Twitter. Who would you like to meet? Are you looking to network with other professionals in a specific industry? Individuals in a certain location, or with a shared interest (business or personal)?

Looking to meet......

New interesting people. Other hospitality industry professionals. Other creative types. Local photographers. Other aspiring actors. Rhode Islanders.

One thing to avoid here is an obvious alterior motive or marketing message.

Someone who will hire me. People who will patronize my new restaurant. Fitness nuts to buy supplements from me. CEOs to hire my ad agency. Philanthropists to support my cause.

You normally only get one chance to invite someone into your world on Twitter; use your bio to make them feel at home by appealing to a shared interest, profession or common goal. Your profile simply is not the right place for a sales pitch or marketing message.

Combine everything you came up with above, squeeze it into 160 characters or less and you've got a winning Twitter bio.

Social Media Revolution

The Do's and Don'ts of Custom Myspace Layouts

One of my first jobs as a marketing consultant for indie artists is often to tackle a disastrous myspace layout, either by conducting a simple content cleanup (removing excess content, resizing images, fixing poorly worded text, etc) or by hiring one of my talented professional designers to start from scratch.

Bringing in a professional artist to revamp the look and feel of your myspace page is one of the best investments that any independent artist can make in their online presence. This isn't to say that more time and attention should be paid to myspace than to other web properties, but at a time where people are quickly deserting to Facebook and Myspace is overrun with other indie artists trying to garner attention, your best shot at standing out from other artists is by making a positive first impression with the remaining 'real people' through a professional layout.

A few things to keep in mind. First of all, in spite of myspace's declining thunder, it is still the one place where an artist is most likely to make their first impression with potential fans online. This is true for a couple of different reasons. For one, for anyone who 'googles' you, your myspace page is still very likely to appear at or near the top of search results. Also, because of a myspace profile's somewhat predictable layout and structure, people know that myspace is still the quickest and easiest way to listen to your music and view your pictures.

Here are a few rules to follow as you work with your artist to create a custom layout.

DO create a custom header (i.e. any content above the advertisements and menu bar) that incorporates key imagery, artwork and your page's primary call to action. A primary call to action is the single thing above all else that you want anyone visiting the page to do beyond simply listening to your music. Is it watching your new video? Downloading the new album on Itunes? Joining a fan club? Following you on Twitter? No matter what it is, your custom header is the best opportunity to make this request.

DO NOT include an overwhelming amount of content in your custom header. A visitor should be able to fit all header content into a single screenshot. The reasoning behind this is simple; as I stated above, people visit myspace music pages for the predictability factor. They do not want to have to scroll through an overwhelming amount of custom content to find what they're really looking for-- especially your music player and link to view more pictures.

DO place key profile elements in predictable places. These include the music player, basic info, profile picture, blog entries, tour dates, top friends and comments board. Again, people are visiting your page specifically to find this content; make finding it as easy for them as possible!

DO include simple flash elements in your custom header if it's within your budget. A flash-savvy designer may be just what you need to give your page the extra 'pop' it needs! However, DO NOT include flash elements that take more than a few seconds to load on the page. People simply will not stick around to wait for it.

DO include custom links or buttons directing fans to your other web properties. However, DO NOT make this your primary call to action. Be respectful of fans that choose to connect with you on myspace; those who want to find you on Facebook, Twitter or Youtube know how to do so without your direction.

DO use stationary background art. Background content should never scroll down with other content. Also make sure that all page content is viewable on top of background artwork (i.e., no white text on a white background).

DO NOT allow your artist to place a large 'Designed By' logo and link on your page unless you agree to this. If you choose to allow this, make sure that the logo is small, subtle and works well with other design elements.

DO make sure that your artist incorporates stylish, current fonts in your design. If the font doesn't look and feel professional to you, ask your artist to try something else. Remember- you don't have to be an artist to know what you like and what looks good.

That's all for now. Next I'll discuss a few guidelines for the 'about this artist' content on myspace pages.