With an estimated 100,000,000 active accounts and an average of 230,000,000 tweets sent just in September alone, Twitter is undeniably a tempting choice for marketers and companies alike. Invariably, the conversation begins with somebody saying, “Hey – we need to be on Twitter!” So an account gets created, people start tweeting and then bammo, instant huge followership, right?

Well, not exactly. While Twitter is an excellent tool for building and monitoring your brand, and demonstrating thought leadership, it absolutely has to be done in the right way. Twitter, like all social media channels, is about developing conversations and even better, relationships with people. But if all you are tweeting are corporate announcements and/or self-promoting, you may find your audience diminishing – and fast.

Here are a few best practices I’ve learned over time:

1.  Create a branded presence. Develop a background that’s interesting and lets people know who you are right off the bat. If it’s a personal twitter account, always go with a personal profile photo rather than an avatar – remember, people want to know you and a picture communicates that so much better than a cartoon. Leverage your profile description to communicate clearly what kind of company you are, or where your interests lie.

2. Think about your content strategy. What are you trying to accomplish and who are you trying to reach? It’s easy to push out random announcements about your company or activities. But what is really interesting to the audience you’re trying to develop?  Relevant industry news, best practices and thought leadership articles are all great resources to draw upon.

3. Be very careful of what you say. It takes a while to build an audience, but it can take just moments to lose them. Case in point, Oscar producer Brett Ratner’s recent thoughtless remarks incited a firestorm of controversy…and a lost job for Ratner. In that same vein, no one really wants to hear what you’re having for lunch…need I say more?

4. Consistency is king. Yes, it does matter that you have a consistent showing of tweets. One, you’re establishing that you’re engaged and providing value. Secondly, if someone comes to your profile and sees that there’s a month between tweets, you’re probably not going to capture much of their interest. At a minimum – once a day is nice.

5. No spamming. Period. We’re all pretty familiar with tweets that are either a blatant sales pitch or regurgitation of content – both no-no’s. Another less talked about one is posting multiple tweets all in a row. This will really tick people off – seriously. A better game strategy is to space your tweets out over the course of a day. If you don’t have time to manage this, there are some great platforms on the market now that will allow you to schedule your tweets.

6. Engage. Find some really great people to follow and comment on their tweets. BUT, please do not simply regurgitate their content. Add a personal comment or spin to your retweet to show why you’re interested and/or found value. And be sure to reference where you got the content from by using “RT” and the user name, or in the case of multiple sources, “via” and the user names.

7. Pay attention. When someone comments on or retweets your information or sends a direct message, they’re engaging with you. No matter if it’s good or bad, responding in a timely fashion is really important. And, you’d be surprised how much people appreciate it when you say thank you.

Want more great tips?  You can follow Launch Marketing on Twitter at @launchmktg and Nancy Rush at @nancyrush.  Happy tweeting!

I recently attended a conference where @Joshuabaer spoke about what he would do differently if he started a company today. As an entrepreneur with a host of technology companies under his belt that he founded, plus countless other start-ups he has mentored or invested in – he had a lot of great thoughts to share with his usual disclaimer – these may not work for everyone but they would definitely work for him! Here is a recap of Joshua’s Top 10:

1. Pick a problem you have personally or one you see repeatedly

When you start a company, you will invest a lot of blood, sweat and tears in it so pick something you are truly passionate about. Often this means you would be the user of the product or service too – which means you really understand the pain and the need.

2. Find a cofounder

As every entrepreneur knows, starting a company is hard and there is a lot to do. Finding a cofounder or several can help your idea become even bigger and better than originally anticipated because of the unique perspective they bring to the table. It is important to note though, co-founding a company is like getting married, so pick well!

3. Have as few secrets as possible

Although this may seem like it goes against the grain of traditional entrepreneurs, talking about your idea has huge upsides. When you share what you are thinking about, you will likely get good feedback, additional ideas and new connections that are relevant to helping your business get off the ground. The downsides are minimal, unless of course, you are starting a company with Mark Zuckerberg – then you may want to keep things quiet. But hey, Facebook is new to Austin so we should be in the clear.

4. Outsource as much as possible

“Entrepreneurs wear many hats” is a statement you hear pretty commonly. True – but there is only so much room on someone’s head! As a founder or co-founder, Josh recommends you focus on the aspects of your technology and company that will impact your business the most and that you are really good at. The rest should be outsourced, like accounting and marketing. He also noted that where you can use SaaS, do that option instead of getting software to put on your server.

5. Raise as little as possible

Joshua’s philosophy is only take what you need and aim for a business that does not require a lot of money. Having started several companies [some bootstrapped , some angel backed], and now as an investor himself, he knows that fundraising is not that much fun and it takes away from running the business.

6. Get customers to pay in advance

So often entrepreneurs think no one will pay for what they’re building – especially when it is still a concept. Yet if you are solving a real problem for a customer, they often will consider paying in advance because they see the benefit it will have to their organization. At the conference I attended, there were several entrepreneurs who had used this approach very successfully so I know it works!

7. Build mobile first

Mobile is where the growth is in the market, so Joshua recommends that if you have a problem you are addressing with your soon to be built software, design it to work in a mobile environment. Another bonus of this approach – building mobile first forces you to focus on what matters the most from a product development perspective because you can only have a few key buttons, etc. on the page.

8. Build in the cloud

Being a cloud-based company provides significantly more flexibility from a development perspective. As an example, in the cloud it is feasible to clone everything on new instances and run simulations to uncover problems in a matter of minutes or hours. In contrast, trying to do this using on-premise servers wouldn’t be easy or very feasible to do given the additional capital requirements and resources needed to set it up.

9. Build in Rails

Joshua shared that Rails programmers want to build beautiful and elegant code, which also means it is easy to read and easy to change. It is the language he prefers for his companies.

10. Go through an accelerator program

If you are just getting started on your start-up, be it your first time or your third company, he recommends going through an accelerator program as you’ll be around a bunch of other startups. Being surrounded by other entrepreneurs will add a lot of value to your growing business and the mentors there can help guide you on the path to success.

Austin has several great resources for entrepreneurs including Capital Factory [which Joshua is a Director of], Tech Ranch and Austin Technology Incubator. Looking for accelerators in other cities? Here is a good list with application deadlines included.

Social media platforms aren’t just for personal use or B2C marketers anymore. According to a recent study by BtoB magazine*, 93% of B2B companies are using social media tools as part of their online marketing campaigns with LinkedIn being the most important platform (25%), followed by Facebook (20%) and blogging (19%).

As this study shows, social media marketing is continuing to emerge as a great way for B2B companies to create awareness, generate leads and engage customers. Whether you are social media savvy or just starting out, below are five ways to tweet, post and blog your way to new customers.

1. Establish a Plan of Action

A strong plan of action will help keep your efforts focused on your goal – measurable results and brand awareness. This plan should be the “who, what, when, where and why” of your social media marketing strategy.

2. Create Relevant Content

Relevant and interesting content will keep your audience engaged and coming back for more. Some ideas for strong posts include:

• Links containing industry news
• Compelling third-party articles
• Details regarding upcoming trade shows
• Interesting market research results

3. Start a Conversation

While interesting and relevant content is crucial, social media marketing is much more than just a one-way sharing of information. Ask questions and engage your audience on topics that are important to their industry and businesses.

4. Be Frequent

Social media works best when it is updated often with a steady stream of communication to your audience. Doing so will keep them interested and your business top of mind.

5. Leverage your Brand

B2B social media marketing is an extension of your company’s brand and is often the most frequently heard voice of your company, so be sure to carry your company’s distinct brand messaging into your social media marketing just as you would with your offline marketing.

Contact Launch Marketing

Whether you are already engaging in social media or just starting out, Launch Marketing can help you enhance your social media presence and tie it to measurable results. Contact Launch Marketing today to learn how we’ve helped our clients use social media to connect with current and prospective customers.

Be sure to check back often for more insight into “How Launch Sees It.”

*BtoB magazine: Emerging Trends in B2B Social Marketing, April 2011

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