On Christmas Eve, as I was wrapping the last gifts and uploading some video to #HRCarnival, I had a bit of a social media epiphany. The message “Have a great Christmas” came up in my twitter stream from @ChrisBrogan. Not to me exclusively but to the many thousands that follow Chris . Unless you live under a rock somewhere, you will have heard of the name Chris Brogan. You’ve probably also read his excellent book on social media, “Trust Agents.” (I read it recently after a great review by Andy Headworth in Sirona Says.)

In the spirit of Christmas I sent a reply returning the wishes and thanking him for his work  during the year. I have learnt a lot from his blog.   I also commented that I did not expect a reply.

I did this because Chris has received some bad press in a few blogs recently for not replying to tweets. I don’t really get that. I understand the point that is made in “Trust Agents” that you need to engage and be involved, but if you are being followed by 113,624 people and are following 93,550 people, outside of a select group how can you really do that?

I have a following of 3252 on twitter and follow 2991. I know how busy my twitter stream is. I get between 150 and 200 mentions or messages a day on these numbers. Sometimes it is hard to keep up and reply or comment on all but I try. On like for like figures that means Chris must get at least 30 times the messages and mentions I do (and I’d guess it’s many more.) That means about 3150 messages and mentions a day, impossible to reply to more than 1/10th of that number I would think, and that is before we start talking Facebook, You Tube, Blog etc.

With this in mind, I was somewhat surprised to receive a tweet back stating “Happiest to you too, Bill. Do good things. : 0″.  When you’re following a real social media rock star (who coincidently does not use the words guru or expert in any of his bio’s), this means a lot. It doesn’t take a lot of time, it contains no real earth shattering facts but it does bring the network and the following on to a basic human level, person to person. However big or small your network is, it means a lot to the people who follow you.

I thanked Chris with my next tweet, thanking him for taking the time to reply and got the following response “ I do what I can. Hard to reply all the time, but I do what I can. : )”.  We probably won’t communicate again, but it did remind me of the best way to build a network. Keep it personal and reach out when you can even if it is just to say Hi! You don’t need to make every tweet earth shattering or full of revelation, remember people are people, and some help, acknowledgment or a kind word will go a long way to building a great network in whatever community you wish to belong. Never think you don’t have something worthwhile to say, treat your network as a group of close acquaintances with a few friends thrown in.

This was an epiphany for me, because in all the talk of R.O.I, science and technique it reminded me of what the real key is. Simple human conversation. So, Happy Christmas Chris Brogan and have a great New Year. The same to everyone who takes the time to read my blog, follow my tweets or follow me in any way.

Be ambassadors of conversation, have a great one with your loved ones.

Bill

Those of you on Twitter recently saw the addition of “Lists”. And although there was of course a learning curve and a little confusion at first, lists have now become a great way to organize your followers. Being listed has also become (alas) somewhat of a status symbol.

Why a status symbol? Well, when a follower has listed you it means that they want to be able to easily find your tweets. When they click on the list that they’ve made, it brings up all the tweets of everyone that they have placed on their list.

Other people also have the ability to follow that entire list. So if you want to follow people in the auto racing industry, for instance, you can easily find lists where people have already organized their racing peeps and follow that whole list under your account. This will save you a ton of time.

It also means that they have categorized you. Of course, that can be good or bad. Yesterday I realized that one of the lists that I am on is called “sort later”. Someone is procrastinating-and for once it’s not me.

You will see that some of the top dogs on Twitter (such as Guy Kawasaki, founder of All Top) are listed many, many times (Guy’s count is at over 9,000 lists). New Marketing guru, Chris Brogan, is listed over 4,000 times.

As you grow in relevance on Twitter, you will be listed more. And to do this, I recommend that you are genuine, that you interact with peeps and that you tweet information that is informative to your followers. And-don’t forget to make your own lists. Peeps will see that they are there and appreciate it.

Follow us on Twitter

Friend us on Facebook

Link with us on Linked-In

Social Marketing Group on Facebook

Chris Brogan recommended read: Why social media freaks people out social media crm cem http://ping.fm/7qVmr

Related articles by Zemanta

• What it Takes to Be an Overnight Success (chrisbrogan.com)

Found at http://smallbiztrends.com/2009/12/customer-service-trends-2010.html

Related articles by Zemanta

• Another customer manifesto: Chris Brogan video reviewof BAM-Customer service (book review) (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
• BAM- Customer Service Done Right- Review (chrisbrogan.com)

Trust Agents

Make Your Own Game: Whatever the risk, challenge the status quo, change the rules, find another “box,” stand out, etc. to achieve worthy objectives sooner and better.

One of Us: Immerse yourself in a community by sharing its interests, values, goals, and concerns; nourish mutual respect and trust.

The Archimedes Effect: Use your unique talents and abilities to enhance whatever you do and strengthen those with whom you do it; leverage your strengths as well as theirs in creative and productive collaboration.

Agent Zero: Locate the center of wide, powerful networks and cultivate acquaintances, then increase the number of relationships and nourish each; be able to reach the right people at the right time in the right way(s).

Human Artist: Support and empower others by recognizing and celebrating their strengths while acknowledging their weaknesses and limitations; improve relationships when you can, back off when you can’t.

Build an Army: Recognize that you cannot do it all (or even most of it) alone; recruit collaborators and combine strengths, challenging yourself and them to contribute more, to push a little more, creating an “avalanche.”

To sum up, being a Trust Agent is about standing out, belonging, leveraging, having access, understanding, and developing critical mass.

I’ve sold 10 books this month, and not once have I mentioned any of them in my Blog posts or elsewhere (with the exception of one Tweet that I can remember.)

The point is this: When I got started with Social Media, I read books like Crush It! and read Bloggers like Chris Brogan and David Meerman Scott first. I watched Gary Vaynerchuk’s insanely entertaining and inspiring videos to learn how the Social Media game is played. And these guys taught me this:

1. Thank You Economy. One of Gary Vee’s favorite phrases is the “Thank You” economy. I try to follow this rule by creating really good content and giving it away for free. No strings attached. People say “thank you” by supporting my brand, my “stuff” as it were. Even if that means buying novels I wrote about baseball, golf, time travel or a book of personal essays from my days as a syndicated columnist.
2. Pull, don’t Push. You pull people into your Blog with amazing content, Tweets, comments on others’ Blogs, YouTube videos, etc. Once people land on your Blog and see they really like what you have to say, they tend to support you and your products. I literally bought a book (Socialnomics) based off a cool YouTube video. Author Erik Qualman didn’t say “Buy my book!” anywhere in the video, but the content was so well done I knew I wanted to hear more of what this guy had to say on Social Media. Same with Gary V, Brogan and David Meerman Scott. I’ve bought their books, read their blogs and (perhaps most important) spread the word about them to all my friends and colleagues in PR via Social Media channels and regular conversations.
3. The Brogan Rule. Chris Brogan is great at practicing what he preaches – constantly pointing out cool stuff other people are doing. On the surface, it seems silly for Brogan to be driving eyeballs off his Web site to another blogger (sometimes a competitor!) or Social Media guru, but Chris has it figured out. (A) His content and talent speaks for itself, and he doesn’t need to toot his own horn. Others will do it for him. (B) He’s so passionate and on the ball with Social Media trends and thought leaders that I know as a reader of his I’ll always get the biggest scoops and coolest new ideas – even if they aren’t Chris’ to begin with. That makes me a loyal Brogan follower and brand supporter.
4. Be authentic – or else. We all hate a phony, and heaven knows Social Media (especially the Twitterverse!) is filled with self-promoting loudmouths offering yet another Amazon link to their books disguised as a Tweet or telling everyone how their new moneymaking program will have you earning thousands from your office chair in mere minutes. I think it’s awesome that the more honest and authentic a person is on Social Media, the better he or she seems to do. Not only does it resonate with readers/viewers/followers, but it reveals your true personality and style – which to me is what separating yourself from the rest of the Social Media pack is all about!

The lesson is this: Social Media success is based upon creating and/or pointing out really useful, cool and helpful content, and sharing it in a way that makes it (A) Easy for others to digest and (B) Easy for them to pass it on. How do I know it works? Look at the screen grab above! I haven’t lifted a finger with any direct book marketing this month, and I’ve sold 10 books in 15 days! Sure, I won’t be bumping Stephen King off the bestseller lists anytime soon, but it’s enough in royalties for a nice night out with the family.

How about you? What Blogs do you follow? Have you experienced the “Thank You Economy” or see The Brogan Rule pay dividends with your own brand/product?

My twitter feed sent me a new prediction from @mktgdouchebag

He says that in 5 years, 1ooo’s of 20-somethings will turn their back on digital…this article is a example of the beginning of this shift…no evidence that those vinyl junkies are not immediately turning the songs into mp3’s so they can scratch the shit out of the song without using and wrecking the album..

Another twitter upchuck, @EatPizza from my NOLA list has predictions for the TBA headliner of the 2010 New Orleans Jazz Fest, he’s hoping for Prince but for a fest that already includes Dr John, Levon Helm, Allman bros w Derek Trucks and BB KING, I dunno if it matters who headlines.

Oh, Richard Bernstein of Richard Bernstein Richard Bernstein has some predictions to make…that the Democrats will gain seats!!!??!  No he “hedges” and says they will do better than people think…which people, the Wall Street Journal, AP polls, the people that he talks to, reporters on the news

Another guy who seems to read too much Chris Brogan, makes predictions that social media will finally rule the world, and use all that data they’ve compiled on users to make their valuations look reasonable.   He also renames Social media to something much more boring and predicts Google will spring a trap and take over the social media space..

The short answer is maybe. Will you become a millionaire? Probably not. Sure some folks have made a lot of money from the Internet, but they did a lot more than just set up an online presence.

How do you make money on the Internet?

1. Selling a product or service.

2. Placing ads on your website.

Hundreds of books are out there and they all tell you how to make easy money online. A quick Amazon search for making money online, showed 37 books.

I just finished reading “e-Riches 2.0″ by Scott Fox. In this second book, Scott outlines all the online marketing tips and tactics you should use to get your product noticed. He talks about:

- websites
- social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn
- viral marketing
- blogs
- email
- RSS feeds.

Scott writes very clearly so that even a non-technical person can understand and implement these tactics.

But just because you’ve done all these things and have an online presence, doesn’t mean the money will just start rolling in. Chris Brogan, a top social media expert, says that even though his blog is one of the top rated ones, he doesn’t make any money on it. His blog gives him credibility and establishes him as an expert in his field. It also doesn’t hurt that he has a best-selling book, “Trust Agents.” He makes his money from speaking and consulting engagements.

What else do you need to do to make money online?

1. Have a product or service that people want and that they are willing to pay for.

2. Have lots of traffic to your website. This is much easier said than done. It helps to have written a best selling book.

In conclusion, you’re more likely to build credibility with a strong online presence, more so than make money.

*Photo from Ian Britton, on FreeFoto.com.

Hola amigos! After removing those cobwebs, finally, I could write a post. To let you know, I’m in my third week of internship now. I am pleased with my work for they are relevant to my internship goals.

Here are my objectives:

• To discover the job scope of Corporate Communications
• To write for the media
• To be involved in media events
• To be involved in media liaison
• To be involved in networking

I have been given assignments that required me to do research. I believe we should thank the Internet. It’s easy to search online but a good search ensures good work ultimately.

Due to my work, I have to face the laptop everyday. Likewise, I’m prone to check what people are twittering and blogging about. I get lots of different ideas when I visit these social media platforms.

Currently, I like Chris Brogan. His blog is user-friendly and interactive. I like the way he communicates on his posts. It’s as if he’s conversing and I believe that’s good style of blogging.

Likewise, his posts have interesting contents. I enjoy reading his advices and updates. He communicates good deeds on using Twitter and blogs. He encourages improvement on the way you twit and blog.

I know some people like to twit or blog about their daily rantings. If you’re still doing that, I think you’re still in last season. Get ahead of time my amigo, or at least, follow it.

Last weekend I watched The Botany of Desire. In this PBS documentary I streamed off Netflix, Micheal Pollan (the foodie hero who brought us The Omnivore’s Dilemma, a book also called The Botany of Desire, and the documentary Food, Inc.) examines the natural history of the spread of four plants: apples, tulips, potatoes, and marijuana, but with a twist– he tells the story from the plants’ point of view.

Man, I love stuff like that. By switching the perspective, Pollan is able to show how each of these plants has manipulated humans into propagating it far and wide throughout the world. For example, apples are indigenous to the mountains of Kazakhstan and potatoes to Peru, but now both can be found pretty much everywhere. And wait ’til you watch the section about marijuana, a plant that has managed to get many humans to raise it better than their own children.

I thought it might be interesting to take Pollan’s trick, but rather than apply it to plants, apply it to ideas. Get all anthromorphic and consider how ideas get us to spread them.

There are tons of people out there looking at how ideas spread, probably most famously/recently Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point. But what if, for a second, we take the perspective that the ideas might be using us the same way flowers use bees.

Early in human history, ideas weren’t particularly good at getting us to do their bidding. Heck, the idea for inventing paper first showed up in Egypt over 5000 years ago, and it couldn’t even get humans to take it one continent away to Asia. The idea for inventing paper appeared in China independently about 3500 years after it appeared in Egypt, according to what Wikipedia tells me.

The ideas got better at it over time. As paper spread, ideas started to propagate themselves better too. The printing press helped, universities and libraries helped too. Fast forward to today, and ideas are now ridiculously good at getting us to do their bidding.

A few weeks ago, John Poelstra’s blog pointed me to a Chris Brogan post entitled “Are we addicted to giving our own opinions?” In it, Brogan points out that now that we have these incredible social media tools like Twitter and blogs and whatnot at our disposal, we are giving our opinions more than ever– almost viewing our ability to do so as a right.

Maybe this is what the ideas had in mind all along. Get humans to invent better and better tools to spread them.

5000 years ago, an idea couldn’t make it from one continent to another. Now millions of ideas pass across every continent on the planet every second. It used to be that only a few select people could spread ideas– people that published books, taught school, people who traveled, for example. Now almost every person on Earth with a computer can, as Poelstra and Brogan point out, spread an idea to any other person on the planet, whether it is an idea for solving world hunger or an opinion about Tiger Woods’s extramarital affairs.

Impressive– the potatoes would be proud.

A final thought: I wonder if the open source way is just another tactic by ideas to get us to spread them faster and further. After all, one of the things that has caused ideas to die is getting them stuck inside the walls of one company as intellectual property.

Maybe open source is one more killer move by ideas to escape and propagate.

I have been listening for quite some time to the hype of social media. Here is my favorite social media experts list.

Chris Brogan – Community and social media

Amber Naslund – Altitude…brand elevation through social media

Gary Vaynerchuk – place to talk about his passions, hustle, wine and business

Eric Qualman – Socialnomics, Social Media blog

Share with me your favorite social media experts or tell me who I am missing.

Claude Oggier

Twitter Linkedin Facebook

The topic My Children will Do it Differently is a tough one. Maybe since we don’t have kids yet. Or maybe because it led to a long reflection process on the last couple of months – my job search, the economy, visa, business school, and more.

I decided to leave all of these to other posts and write about a subject that I am sure will be important to my children as it is to my parents and to my wife and me – knowledge and studying. I tried to think of some ways that these will change in the future:

Their books will be interactive – They will include text, video, music. Think of a version of  Where the Wild Things Are which allows the reader to view video from the movie or listen to the president reading it.

They will attend global classes – With today’s advance in education technology and universities offering classes online, the future classes can reach students from around the world simultaneously. A good example from a somewhat related technology is the live broadcasts of event in USTREAM . A combination of video streaming and twitter feed allows people from all around the world participate watch a lecture, and discuss it.

They will use social media in school – What if a school create a network on Ning and allow kids and their parents to join? They can share photos from class activities, exchange links to online content related to the class, organize meetups for Sundays and more. All under a close environment, utilizing only the good aspects of social networks.

They won’t wait for the morning newspaper -  Growing up, reading the fresh newspaper was the most expected moment in my morning. Today, I get my morning use straight from my google reader. I still enjoy the fresh stream of data, but there is no excitement about it, just routine. I wonder what morning excitement can we create.

If you enjoyed the post, please consider sharing it or leaving a comment, and come back tomorrow for the next post in The 100 Posts Challenge.

It’s  important to read social media success stories and other business’ online marketing plans to help modify and build your own plan. This you hope, will ensure the success of your brand and business. Along with that, I want to stress the importance of reading blogs that post about the social  media world in general and also teach you certain tips and tricks on how to properly implement social tools to any business or brand. My first two blog suggestions to read are  Edward Boches’ blog “Creativity_Unbound” and Chris Brogan’s blog “Community and Social Media.” Edward Boches is the Chief Creative Officer and Chief Social Media Officer at Mullen in Boston, MA. Chris Brogan serves as President of New Marketing Labs, which is a new media marketing agency. Both are huge social media influencers and provide great information for any professional or business.

Edward writes about the social media world as a whole, and about what he observes and predicts about the current industry. Chris on the other hand, tends to post specific tips and tools to use  in order to integrate social media into your brand. Basically, I would advise you to read Boches’ blog for an overview of what businesses are doing with social media and the direction social media is moving in and then read Brogan’s blog to implement those ideas and visions for your own business/blog.

I believe Edward is a little more effective is conveying the social media world and the future of it because it is a more broad subject. Therefore,  he can attack the subject in many ways. Chris has a difficult task of creating very specific tips and tools  for very niche questions and concerns about social media. This can make his blog seem very spread out and often difficult to navigate to find what is useful to your business.

The one idea I found most compelling in one of Boches’ blog posts is his idea that we can’t “afford to lean back anymore.” This is the notion that denying the growth and presence of social media is absurd and it can only hurt the future of a business and leave it in the dark. He says, “I don’t think anyone can afford to lean back anymore; not the jobless creatives sitting in the Brattle Theatre watching a movie, not yet to be employed students slouching in their classroom chairs. If you do, you’ll just get blown away.”

In Chris’ blog I was most intrigued by his post about what you can do with an extra half an hour. He really showed how much power you can have with social media in just a short amount of time.

One idea I found on Edward’s blog that I would slightly challenge was on his post about “Selling Detroit With a Print Ad?” I definitely understand his idea that they should have made the competition more digital and interactive because that is where marketing is moving but at the same time maybe a print ad competition is powerful so that we can learn how to use traditional media to reach out to the younger audience. Although a brand must adapt a strong online presence to move forward, I think people are still impacted by a good print and still moved by a well developed TV commercial.  I don’t think we are ready yet to completely get rid of traditional media. This competition is working to continue it.

The one idea I would challenge on Chris’ blog is his breakdown of how much time you spend with the different elements of social media for your business. I think more time should be dedicated to creating. It is  obviously important and CRUCIAL to listen to what people are saying about your brand and then respond to it, but I think more time should be quickly overviewing it and then molding it into something tangible.

Do you read either blogger? If so, let me know what you think? Have their posts and tips helped your business?

Also check our my class’ facebook fan page to join in our ongoing discussion on Why Social Media Matters.

The New York Times Best Seller with Julien Smith

Click on the book and get connected to Chris Brogan’s blog!

Trust Agents

Last week, I finished reading Chris Brogan and Julien Smith’s highly touted book, Trust Agents.

We’ve all witnessed the continued adoption of the Web as a crucial communications tool. What continues to lag behind in the PR/Marketing world is thorough understanding of how human communications patterns and relationships translate to the Web.

Anyone who majored in communications in college was likely required to take either an interpersonal communications or public speaking course. Professors in either of these courses likely harped the importance of nonverbal communication. Most studies show that humans typically base 70-80% of communication with one another on nonverbal cues. This obviously becomes an issue with the Web being a primarily text-driven medium.

Becoming an effective online communicator seems pretty simple – just be human. Unfortunately, this is much easier said than done when you throw brands into the mix. Too often, companies assume the Web is broadcast-only medium and issue template language to protect their brand. In other cases, tempers flare and messages are misconstrued through emails – the list goes on and on. Without the luxury of nonverbal cues and direct human contact, one needs to adapt and be smart to come across as desired online. What’s the key to making this happen?

Building Trust.

Chris and Julien do a superb job of outlining how the Web can be a crucial leverage tool along with the host of key traits that make people stand out as effective online communications pros. To summarize a few of Chris and Julien’s overarching tips:

• Create Your Space – It’s crowded online and to stand out, you need to bring your ideas and personality to life and be willing to experiment and try something new.
• Belong - You need to be involved and connecting with your audience. It’s unlikely that people will haphazardly find you. Instead, you need to be willing to devote the time and effort to become a trusted member of your desired community.
• The Web is Powerful – The Web is your access point to creating leverage and actionable results. Take advantage and build your base.
• Be a Resource – In order to make the Web work to your advantage, you need to put in the time and energy to helping others first. We’re human – we like to have help and to reciprocate when helped.
• Know People – We’re dynamic, complicated beings. As such, earn other people’s trust by knowing when to assist with other people’s weaknesses and bolster their strengths.
• You Need Help – Success is driven through collaboration and the social Web is your tool to put that network in place.

I’ll end by saying that this book is well, well  worth they hype. An easy, relatively short read that is broken down with logical tips and action reminders, it’s a shoe-in for the perfect gift for your co-workers or clients. OR a perfect distraction from that inevitable holiday flight delay.

Enjoy,
Scott

If you love a list, now is your chance to get your fill as we move into Review of the Year mode.

This year I am taking part in a group blogging project run by Daniel at Daily Blog Tips so I hope you will check out some of the other lists that look back at all aspects of 2009.

Mine is very personal as I am going to look at the things that made a big impact on me as I made my way through the last twelve months.

1. Spotify. How did we ever live without it ? Spotify came into my life early in the year and transformed my music listening. For the first six months I compulsively created playlists of every forgotten teenage track that I no longer own. Then I started on all the albums I should have bought, before hitting new music and other people’s playlists. Spotify is now the sound track to my life. Brilliant !
2. Twitter. What’s yours for ? Those 140 characters are the gateway to endless possibility which I explore with great enthusiasm in my …..
3. Blog. Like Twitter, blogs are ultimately about people and I have come across so many interesting communicators who are willing to share their knowledge and insights. There is a generosity at the heart of the blog movement that I find very encouraging.
4. Chris Brogan. All round social media god.
5. Radcliffe and Maconie. The availability of Internet radio means I make no apology for including these British radio presenter who have a nightly show on BBC Radio 2.  They talk with wit and knowledge about a huge range of music from early punk to folk to northern soul. They never patronise the audience and always tell me something I didn’t know.
6. Lady Gaga. My love for that hat-wearing hyper head-case is total. She may be pop but she’s also extremely clever and very subversive. In a world where personal branding is everything, she has taken hers and pushed it to the point of insanity. Hooded leotard anyone, hat that covers your face so you can’t see where you are going ? But don’t be fooled, she’s a trained musician and writes and plays her own stuff.
7. One Day a novel by David Nicholls. The best thing I read all year. Not a masterpiece of literature but wonderfully affecting, with a sweet, witty, intelligent heroine and a charming waster for a hero. I fell in love with them both and then I wept.
8. Rock Choir. 2009 was the year I joined my first ever choir. I loved the challenge of learning to harmonize, the huge sound we made when we got it right and the excuse to do jazz hands in public.
9. Scrabble on Facebook. I have always hated Scrabble so imagine my surprise when I got hooked on the e-version ! I love the fact that you can post a running commentary while you play.
10. X Factor. I tried to leave it out honestly but it has been such a huge part of my life for the past month because I have been watching it with my two daughters. Each week we sit down and chat about disappointment, what it means to lose, why having an iron grip on the music industry is really really bad………………..you get my drift ! it’s the final this weekend and we are going to have coke and crisps and just go wild !

Happy Christmas and have a great New Year,

Lucy

Droid Update- moving into week 2:

Still loving my Android but I have to say that I was quite spoiled with the level of sophistication of the Twitter and Facebook apps I was using on my iTouch.  Tweetie was wonderful and the iTwitter for androids seems to black out in the middle of usage every once in a while.  Also having issues with the android Skye app- it seems to stop working occasionally as well.  It only allows for chatting via text, no voice over IP capabilities at all.  I love being able to talk to international friends on my iTouch via headset with mic for free whenever Wi-Fi is available.  Spent many conversations on the hammock in my back yard using Skype and getting a tan at the same time.  See what Chris Brogan had to say about Droid HERE.

Will say that being a Smart Phone-enabled chick is causing me to be addicted to social media even more.  Was  soooo tempted to check my notifications and tweet a bit last night during a wonderful performance at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, but was surrounded by many seniors in their late 70’s and 80’s and thought better of it.  Not sure if it was our location- had some of the best seats on the floor, or whether this is a marketing issue for the CSO, but I really didn’t see any younger people around at all.  They really need to address this issue.  This year the CSO  eked into the black with higher attendance, but 2008 took a big hit. Just saying……

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra featuring Pianist Ingrid Fliter

So you want to help others.

Well that’s an ambitious cause – but do you have the know-how to find the people who need help from you? Sure. You can go around clicking the “new tweets” bar all you like – but you’ll probably find that only 3 out of every 100 tweets is actually a question.

I was faced with this quagmire just a little while ago. I had just gotten back from Blogworld, and wanted to start helping other people improve their Facebook and Twitter activity, and help boost their strategy. I grew tired of typing out into the twittersphere “anyone need help?” and getting nothing – so I asked Chris Brogan what he thought I should do. He said I needed to find people who need help – not just passively ask who needs help. So I set out to do just that!

Now before I get into specific tailored questions you can search for, here is a short explanation as to how search operators work. They’re identical to Google search queries, and the Advanced Twitter Search actually spells out options with check-boxes. So here are just some examples of useful queries:

“Quotation Marks” will give you results that have those two (or more) words in that specific order, meaning the word “Marks” right after the word “Quotation” – click the link to see it in action!

No Operator gives you all results with those two words in them regardless of whether they are connected to one another or in any specific order.

The OR Operator gives you all results with EITHER word.

The “-” Operator gives you all results with the word you’re searching, minus whatever word you put the minus sign in front of. Click here to see the querie: twitter -trending (which shows the query for twitter without the word trending)

You can find all of the operators as explained by twitter themselves here: http://search.twitter.com/operators

I started to craft very specific searches to find the questions I’m looking to answer. Below are just a few examples, and you can feel free to substitute words like “LinkedIn”, “Twitter”, or “Facebook”

“How-To” questions:

“How do I” Facebook?

“How can I” Twitter?

“Why?” questions

“I don’t understand” Facebook (with or without the ?)

“Why does” Twitter?

General Questions in statement form (these are good for when people are asking a question but phrase it as a statement)

“Having a problem with” Twitter

Recommendations

“What’s the best” LinkedIn?

“Anyone know” NYC?

These are just a few of the endless types of search queries you can type into twitter to filter the millions of tweets into exactly what you want to see – questions you can answer!

So give it a whirl, and let me know how it worked for you!

Go help people!