Have you ever been stuck on coming up with writing ideas for your blog, niche site, or a client? Twitter can be a very valuable tool when it comes to generating writing ideas, if you know how to use it. Here are some ways to come up with content topics using Twitter.
Follow People in Your Niche
Twellow Directory Search ResultsOne of the best ways to find out what is important now on a particular subject matter is to follow the top people in your niche. The authorities on any given topic (most likely the users with a high amount of followers) are going to be writing or at least sharing the latest articles and news on your topic.
Everyone uses social media in their own way. While some people want to be connected with everyone, everywhere, others would rather keep certain profiles private for friends and family only. The following is for those who want to be found on social networks, or for the networks on which they want to be found.
Why You Want to Be Found on Social Networks
Think of your profile and activity on social networks as creating brand recognition. At the recent Social Media AZ event, the keynote speaker talked about how having a catalog on your coffee table increased brand awareness. Sure, that catalog may sit there for months and months, but one day when you are ready to purchase something that the company sells, that catalog will probably be in the front of your mind and lead you to hopping on the company’s website or going into their stores to do your shopping.
The same thing can be said of social media. One day, you may realize you need to brush up on your SEO, and the first resource that comes to mind is the SEO expert whose tips have been coming through your Twitter timeline. Alternatively, someone could be reminded to visit your site after seeing your name pop up in their Facebook news feed, simply thanks to your recent activity. Any reminder of your presence online could translate to a hit to your website, comment, promotion, or even a new client.
As I am on various social networks, I find myself thinking “Wow, I wish they had ___ which would make ___ easier.” So here are some of the changes I’d like to see on the social networks I use the most in 2010.
Facebook
- Checkboxes to select all groups that you want to remove yourself from, instead of having to click “Leave Group” and wait for the page to refresh after each or having to go into each group page and leave.
- Checkboxes to select all notifications that you would like to ignore / accept / block instead of having to do it one at a time.
- Applications cannot leave messages on your wall without approval – period. Especially ones I didn’t sign up for. Or one setting that I can check set to approve or deny applications posting to your wall.
- Tag photo approvals – Myspace even has an option to approve your tag in photos before it shows up on your profile / status updates.
When I started out on Twitter over a year ago (@kikolani), one of the first things I noticed was my Direct Message box. As I began to follow people, I was excited to get those private messages, assuming people were just that into contacting me after I started following them. They began as simple thank you for following messages, and eventually became a mixture of real messages and automatic ones. Now, I would guess that 90% of the items in my Direct Message box are automatic DM’s from a service that are generated every time I follow someone.
First off, I would like to say I have nothing against these kinds of messages, because after a few months of trying to send personalized messages to all of my new followers, I found that I was spending an absurd amount of time doing them, with not a high amount of results. I began SocialOomph (formerly TweetLater) to send welcome messages to all of my new followers. Just a simple message to thank them for following and direct them to Kikolani and my portfolio as well.
I have decided to change it up, and I thought maybe I would take a stroll through my own overflowing Direct Message box to see the current trend in Direct Messages. The following are the types of DM’s I found awaiting me in my inbox.
Thanks for Following
This is quite common, just a simple little “Thanks for following me” message. While those are sincere and to the point, I think I kind of like getting a little more information about them, like what they do or are interested in.
Twitter Lists are the new feature on Twitter (still in Beta) that allow you to organize particular Twitter users into lists and view only their Tweets. For example, you can create a list of inspirational Twitter users by following these easy steps:
How to Create a New Twitter List
During the beta period, you should see an announcement for Twitter lists at the top of your homepage. Click the “Create a New List” button.
Alternatively, you can click on the “New List” link in your sidebar, right above the Trending Topics section.
Choose a name for your Twitter list, and whether you would like it to be public (so that others can follow your list) or private (a list for only you to see). Choosing a public list will also let the Twitter members you add to that list know that they are being listed, whereas they will never know if they are in a private list.
