Twitter Training

Just wondering what everyone thinks of JNTO’s goal of getting 10 million tourists to Japan by 2010, and then on to 20 million in 2020. Do you think that, looking at current numbers and trends, it is achieveable, or even conceivable?

Reasons for:
– The tourism board has set up a Facebook and Twitter account to reach and attract people
– 2010 has been announced as a ‘Visit Japan’ year
– A new ‘Visit Japan 2010′ website has been launched
– Increased tourism budgets
– London Underground advertising campaign
– Competition held for US citizens
– Information packs being sent out to the US citizens who took part in the contest
– Pop culture (Anime, Manga, music, video games, movie) interests increasing abroad
– English more widely used
– Growing Asian market

Reasons against:
– Cost of a trip there is very high
– Considered a racist nation by some
– Peoples perceptions are different from the actual place
– Language barrier
– Too confusing a place
– Options of cheaper package holidays (especially popular in Britain)
– Lack of interest
– Youth (particularly in my country) deteriorating e.g. spending all money on drinking etc
– The ones with the strongest interest in going are too young to do so, and by adulthood, may have changed their minds
– It has taken 3 years (2004 – 2007, about 6 million to about 8 million) in the past to achieve the 2 million tourists they need to hit the 10 million mark, while they now expect to do that by the end of this year

It’s no way achievable now.

Did you check the number of tourists who visited Japan in 2009? It fell dramatically from 8.4M in 2008 to 6.8M in 2009. This is because of global recession and yen’s sharp rise.

I think it’s impossible to have 10M in 2010 as the economy does not recover much.

I just wrote this(yes it is a super-early rough draft) and I would like some help with beefing up my essay with more analogies, logos and pathos and syllogisms and all that good stuff. I had to write this quickly because I was in a bit of a time crunch, so I know it needs a lot of work.

Although I really appreciate your enthusiasm please do not re-write the whole essay or sections of it: I merely want suggestions and ideas and maybe a few examples and pointers as to where and how I can make this a more convincing argument.

BTW it’s supposed to be an editorial and be no more than 1000 words.

Here is the prompt, and the essay follows:

"In the social media age, teens and young adults comprise an important demographic. According to the pew institute, 65% of online teens use social media. To many in this age group, sites like Facebook and Twitter are vehicles for modern self expression. However, in september 2009, President Obama advised a group of virginia students to carefully use facebook because ‘in the YouTube age, whatever you do, it will be pulled up again later somewhere in your life.’ Is the president Correct? Should Minors be heed this warning? or do they understand the weight of having a permanent and detailed online record of their lives?

Is the solution to ban minors from social networking sites–until they are of age and responsible for their own choices? Write and editorial voicing your opinion about restricting young people from using social media websites…"

Essay:

To network or not to network?

That is the question. There is a great debate these days about the internet and whether or not teens should be allowed to use social Networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace. The Theory is that in this modern digital age anything posted on the internet will indefinitely remain there forever, and come back to haunt you when you are older. But are Theories always correct? Of course not. This is an important time in every teens life, one when they must learn to make good choices, and learn to live with their mistakes, and social networking sites should be no different. Teenagers Should be allowed to use social networking sites, as they are a valid form of self expression, communication, and promote a feeling of community.
Everyone has to live with their mistakes, and teenagers are no different. We are at the point in our lives when we need to learn to make good choices, and learn to live with our mistakes. Why should the internet be any different? Making good choices is an extremely important part of being an adult, and what better place to start with than the internet to prepare and train ourselves for adulthood?
Also, why let one apple spoil the Bunch? Just because a small percent of kids make mistakes, or lapses in judgment, why ruin the fun for everyone? Instead of, say more closely monitoring the internet usage of those kids? Although it is possible that some things may be pulled up at a later date, there is absolutely no guarantee that it will be the ruin of our applications to colleges. Chain reactions like that don’t automatically happen to everyone.
Most importantly, trying to eliminate or restrict usage of social networking sites is akin to trying
to eliminate the criminal record of a person: if the person has done shameful things in their lifetime,
then they have to live with them, if the person has done nothing wrong, they have nothing to worry
about. Although Criminal Records and social networking sites and the internet seem like night and day, they are actually quite similar: both are relatively permanent, both can seriously help or hurt you in the future, and both can store information about your Criminal history, and more importantly, both can be accessed by almost anyone, such as college admissions advisers, potential employers, and the like. And I don’t see anyone campaigning to eliminate criminal records forever.
Fine, You know what, lets stop usage of social networking sites, that should solve the potential
problem of a permanent record, right? Wrong-what about the countless YouTube videos and personal blogs and photo diaries on Flickr? Might as well restrict usage to those as well. In fact, since almost anywhere on the internet can be used as a personal diary of sorts, we might as well eliminate internet usage all together. I don’t think so. Although that solves the problem of “internet diaries” people-kids in particular-will always find away around, whether it be by cellphone, “old fashioned” paper notes, or some other method. What do you do when your mom tells you not to eat a cookie before dinner? You eat a cookie before dinner. Attempting to restrict usage of Myspace and Facebook just makes defiant teens (almost all teens are defiant) more likely to join in an act of rebellion.
Although this may seem like a hopeless situation, small steps can and should be taken to
eliminate potential hazards teens fa

Nicely done.

Just small things I noticed, at the beginning you speak of "mistakes" and follow it with "no different" and a few lines down you repeat "mistakes" as well as "no different". You may not be repeating yourself but using the same wording so close creates a sense of dejavu. Perhaps synonyms?

Is "potential hazards teens face" the end? If so, I’d suggest adding that it shouldn’t be to the extreme of banning social networking, etc. or something to that effect. Simply because, if left as is it sounds slightly contradictory to everything else you’ve said. It’s well written so don’t let your ending fizzle out.

Can you? Do you have to just update what u are doing or can u send personal messages? if so how

Personal messages are called "direct messages." They are private and no one can see them but you and the person you sent it to.

All you have to do is type:
d username message

in the update field.

The d tells twitter that is a direct message and the username tells twitter who to send it to.

You can also just click the "Direct Messages" link in the right side bar of your homepage and do it from there.

However, you can’t send a direct message to someone if you’re not following each other. This is to prevent spam and such.

You can also do @reply username in the update field, but these messages are public and can be seen by everyone.

I hope that helps :].

The Virtual Assistance Industry Has Experienced Tremendous Growth in 2008;
VAs are Revolutionizing the Way Business Services are Delivered, Everywhere.

The Media’s Virtual Assistant Survey found at http://www.vanetworking.com/survey conducted by VAnetworking.com gives us a deeper insight into the virtual assistance industry, which has experienced tremendous growth in 2008. The mysteriousness behind the term virtual assistant has been replaced with intrigue and fascination. To professionals such as speakers, author’s, business coaches and online business owners – having a virtual assistant has become main-stream. Small scale businesses are able to achieve large scale growth and higher sales volumes simply by outsourcing to a virtual assistant.  Business Services etc., http://bsetc.ca, a virtual assistant company in Canada was able to increase a clients’ subscribers list by 4,000 and generate $40,000 in sales over the same 4 month time period.

With the shift in the global economy and the pressing environmental issues facing the world, the general consensus is on conserving both money and energy. Not only does the virtual assistance industry contribute to the conservation of both of these global factors but it also allows professionals to leverage people and strengthen systems and resources.

In a localized business environment there may be one person who is responsible for the daily operation of the administration and marketing. What happens when that person is not seeking or given the opportunities to network with peers and enhance their skill sets? It is vital for businesses to be able to assess their options and participate in marketing activities such as social media marketing.

It is customary for a virtual assistant to explore multiple social media and traditional marketing strategies and implement these into their business successfully and those of their clientele. This practice is both extremely cost effective and yields noteworthy results.

The general mindset of a virtual assistant is typically technical in nature.  Because they work virtually their whole foundation is built around technology. Every major breakthrough online contributes more and more to their success. The affects of social media tools such as blogs, facebook, and twitter have been profound.

The 3 key areas that have experienced significant growth within the virtual assistance industry in 2008 are:

1. Collaboration/Leadership/Professional Development

Take for example the milestones achieved by the leadership of Tawnya Sutherland at VAnetworking.com, with over 10,000 members worldwide this association reached its fifth year anniversary and won 1st place in the Startup Nation’s Baby Boomers Back in Business award.  Providing training, mentoring, and networking opportunities for both new and aspiring virtual assistants.

And as stated by Erin Blaskie of BSetc.ca, “2008 saw the emergence of more multi-VA Teams”. Virtual Assistants that offer clients a “one stop shop” are building solid teams and implementing comprehensive project management strategies that enable them to effectively service multiple clients. Michelle Jamison, founder of MJVA.ca a multi-VA company in Canada has been in business since 1998 and authored a book titled, “The Virtual Assistant’s Guide to the Multi-VA Business” which shares everything Michelle learned and everything one needs to know in order to create a successful and fulfilling multi-VA business.

Seasoned virtual assistants and others who specialize in Internet Marketing are developing niche specific training and coaching packages designed towards educating newcomers to the profession and coaching them to success.  Like Mary-Lou Ashton of Virtual Strategies, vatp.ca, who has been a pioneer in the Virtual Assistant profession in Canada since 1997. She provides coaching services to virtual assistants through her coaching business Vision to Action. Also, the VA Coach, TheVACoach.com, Erin Blaskie offers a variety of solutions for new and seasoned virtual assistants in both group and self study training formats.  And for those looking for industry specific training in Internet Marketing and Social Media the VAclassroom.com, founded by Craig Cannings offers an affordable and comprehensive certification program.

More and more industry specific Forums and Conferences are presenting hands on development opportunities for virtual assistants. Barbara Lang, of Virtually Anything-Administrative Services, virtuallyAnything.ca, started the Forum On Virtual Assistance (FoVA) in 2008, which presents virtual assistants with the opportunity to exchange ideas and information and gain valuable insight in facilitated discussion groups and workshop formats. This event was so well received that FoVA 2009 is a highly anticipated event within the industry.

2. Tools/Technology

Social Media Marketing and web based collaboration tools and software have totally transformed business.  Having the ability to connect real time with such tools as twitter means that we are able to reach out to millions of people. Managing multiple projects with virtual work teams using web based project management systems such as Basecamp, Skype, and a variety of Google tools is a snap. Not to mention how productive and easy it has become to track time across multiple projects and give clients the ability to log in from virtually anywhere to view and pay their invoices seamlessly with tools such as Freshbooks.com. Armed with the knowledge, passion, and desire for success entrepreneurs such as Kathie M. Thomas, an Author, Blogger, Speaker and Virtual Assistant Coach & Trainer, who founded A Clayton’s Secretary, vadirectory.net, in 1994, are able to achieve successes such as gaining a spot on the Top 100 Australian Blogs list. Also, Danielle Guérin owner of VADG, vadg.ca, a fully bilingual (English/French) multi-VA company in Canada, won the Young Self-Employed Worker of Quebec award in the 2008 ARISTA Provincial Competition. This award celebrates Danielle’s talent and accomplishments. The winners were selected based on rigorous criteria and succeeded in impressing the jury with their professional achievements, creative spirit and involvement.

3. Clientele

A variety of people are now outsourcing multiple projects ranging from personal assistance to the management and operations of their entire business. It need not matter if you run a service based company, an actual brink and mortar store, are an entrepreneur, franchisor, or large corporation people are now keenly aware of the benefits that a virtual assistant will bring to their business. Seeking ways to overcome challenges, be innovative, save money, and participate in online collaboration and marketing are the common factors that the majority of clientele share.  Like Terry Green owner of Fastype VA Services, Inc., myfastype.com, a full-service multi-VA company with a team of qualified associates specializing in providing quality administrative and executive support to Professional Speakers and Coaches worldwide. Their clients span the globe from across the United States and Canada, to as far away as New Zealand, Antigua and Singapore.

The forecast on the virtual assistant industry for 2009 and beyond is remarkable. With the ongoing commitment, drive, and passion to provide extraordinary customer relations while presenting the best possible options to service their clients, virtual assistants are revolutionizing the way business services are delivered, everywhere.

Quotes:

“The online world is evolving. Being simply a virtual assistant that offers administrative services is no longer enough. With the emergence of social networking and social media marketing, it’s vital to any online business to stay on top of these changes. For the growth of my business, I took the certification course to become a Social Media Specialist. I will achieve the certification in January. It’s not only internet marketers that need this service anymore. Every business, from Realtors to Entrepreneurs to Ebayers will be using Social Marketing to attract business. I heard an interesting quote recently. The Internet is a buyer’s market where sellers aren’t welcome. Sellers need to adapt.” ~ Crystal Pina, VisionsVirtualAssistance.com

“Working virtually is not the future anymore, but an everyday reality that has now taken its rightful place!  As a Virtual Assistant and owner of Virtual Managing Associates, working virtually throughout 2008 brought in many developments on a multitude of levels, may they be professional or personal.  To some it all up in a few words I would only say: Working on a virtual basis is not only a frame of mind, but also a possibility to offer to your existing customers and associates your undivided attention, and a proactive outlook on the work at hand.” ~ Christiane Jechoux, VirtualManagingAssociates.com.

Frances Palaschuk
http://www.articlesbase.com/outsourcing-articles/virtual-assistants-are-revolutionizing-the-way-business-services-are-delivered-everywhere-690434.html

Twitter is not just a free social networking site but is also a great marketing tool and can be used in many other ways. This article will explain you some of the creative ways to use Twitter.

For starting, set up a Twitter account. Make sure that your profile has your picture, a short biography of yours with an attached link to your website. After this, I suggest doing a search for your friends on Twitter. The search is focused towards finding the people whose updates you want to follow, people that relate to you and your business. Spamming while promoting your business through updates on Twitter strictly needs to be avoided, as people do not like spamming.

Twitter could also be used directly to post updates, but there are other sites also where one can do this. Tweetlater is one such website, which allows users to schedule their future updates/tweets, and acts as a great timesaver for the people who don’t have much time to post regular updates on Twitter throughout the day. It allows you to save a customized welcome message which is automatically sent to the new followers on tweetlater as well. Try to keep your updates interesting.

Another great time-saving option is provided by the websites like Hellotxt or Jabber which allows users to send updates not only on Twitter but on other social networking sites like facebook, dig as well at the same time. One can send their followers direct private messages; which allow them to meet and network with new people.

Linking twitter with your blog, Squidoo: explore lenses, Facebook or MySpace accounts and many other websites is another creative method of using twitter. When you send an update on Twitter it is automatically also sent to your followers on these other linked sites. Bloggers can use Twitter Feed to post blog updates and articles in their twitter account. When one of your articles goes live it automatically sends an update to all your followers on twitter. For using Twitter Feed you just need to log in using your open id and then put in the URL of your blog feed, and how frequently you want to post it to twitter.

These were some of the ways in which you can use twitter creatively and for promoting your business.

Manu Vikram Singh
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/methods-to-use-twitter-creatively-697179.html

Social networking according to the latest online reports is more and more well-liked than email has ever been. There are lots of social networking sites but there have only been a handful which has become really successful social sites such as Twitter. Businesses today are associating with Twitter more and more so they can send excessive high class Twitter traffic to their sites.

So what are the benefits of Twitter? Can Twitter really send traffic to your online business? Yes you can drive twitter traffic to your online business however you will need to think about particular aspects and build a Twitter marketing plan. Below are 3 crucial steps which will assist you to send huge amounts of traffic to your site using Twitter?

Twitter Step#1: You will need to open a Twitter account and start to follow others. Lots of people will begin to follow you back and this is how you create a list of followers within twitter. Signing up is free and the quantity of traffic depends on the amount of followers you have.

Twitter Step #2: Begin posting Tweets to your Twitter account! Always keep in mind that your Tweets must have information or ought to catch the attention of followers and other Twitter users to visit your website.

Twitter Step #3: Participate in reading other people’s posts and comment on them. Find out how other people are performing within Twitter. Start to follow people with large followings and build content or posts so that you will gain popularity.

Remember to always write Tweets and keep posting on a regular basis, this will allow you to Make sure more people and followers follow you and That should without doubt send a lot of complimentary traffic to your website.

David Gange

i have thousands and i dont want people stalking my old tweets, i want just like 30 to show at a time

how can i mass delete over 2 thousand twitter updates? (tweets)

The only way to do it is one by one. The person the designed twitter did not think of mass deleting.

Ok, so you want to dominate the social media revolution of 2009 as the rock star you are by coming out guns-a-blazin’.  Well, hold your horses, cowboy.  You have to think of social media as a big party and therefore …

The first thing you must know about social media is that IT IS NOT A VENUE TO PITCH YOUR BUSINESS! If you can understand and apply this without worrying about your whole business going down the crapper, you will be dominate social media.

Why do you say I can’t pitch my business, Travis?  Because, when you’re at a party, do you like a stranger coming up to you and selling you products or business ideas?  Probably not.

In the same manner, people in social media don’t want your business opportunity … UNTIL you build a relationship with them.  When they know and understand that you actually care about them and want to help them succeed, then they will start buying into your product or opportunity (and this will absolutely happen).

Let me give you an example.  There are three kind of people in the world, those who like to talk about others, those who talk about themselves and those who let others talk.  Who do you generally feel more attracted to in conversation?

If you’re like me, you said the guy or girl who actually listens to you talk rather than babbles your head off.  This is the person who will dominate the social media revolution of 2009.

Just think about it for a moment.  When someone follows you on Twitter, or friends you on Facebook, would you rather be directed to a blog of theirs that has great resources and advice coming from a guy or girl who actually seems interested in YOU, or, to a capture page that has the next get rich quick scheme attached to it?  I choose the former.

If people trust you and follow you because you genuinely care and actually work hard to build a relationship with them, they will begin to wonder just what it is this guy does that makes him so appealing to spend time with.  They will also want to know exactly what it is that you do …

If you offer resources, advice, training and even sometimes just an ear, people will begin to ask you questions, it’s just the general law of attraction.  People are attracted to leaders, not peddlers.

As a foundation, and in conclusion, to dominate the social media revolution of 2009 you must not, indeed absolutely cannot, pitch your business for internet marketing success!  Build relationships with people and they will flock to you … and, you may even like it!

Travis Fitzwater
http://www.articlesbase.com/social-marketing-articles/how-to-dominate-the-social-media-revolution-of-2009-713384.html

A lot of people are confused by the term “social media marketing” and believe that it is only advertising on a social networking site, where networks monitor what users are doing and place ads next to them, hoping they will get a click. However, social media marketing is actually about different kinds of collaborations between people and finding ways that individual fans of a particular brand product or even a company can endorse it themselves on various social media sites like MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and others.

Social media marketing differs from industrial media marketing in that industrial media generally uses very expensive tools requiring a great deal of financial capital to publish its information, where as social media marketing uses fairly inexpensive tools that enables anyone anywhere to publish or access information. Both social media and industrial media have the capability to reach a small audience of one or two, or large audiences of millions. However, the time lag is generally much longer between a communications from industrial media as compared to social media when responses can be instantaneous. In addition, there are currently few, if any, limitations on social media such as on pages or hours. The audiences are encouraged to be active participants, to add comments, or blog or even edit articles or stories, as they deem necessary.

Social media optimization, or SMO, uses methods that generate publicity through social media and online community websites. There are many different types of technologies and applications for social media like blogs, vlogs, wikis, emails, podcasts, instant messaging and many more. Two of the most popular reference services are Google and Wikipedia. You can share photos at Flickr, videos at YouTube, personal music at Last.fm, microblog on Jaiku and Twitter. Besides the now universally known Facebook and MySpace, you can also go social networking on Avatars United, Youmeo and Second Life (social network via virtual reality).

Experts insist that social media is here to stay. Companies are now recognizing the need to be more involved in social media marketing, because it is through these channels that they can hear most quickly and honestly what consumers need and want. Businesses are learning that they now no longer wield absolute control over the behavior and buying decisions of their consumers. By paying attention, for instance, to a pro- or anti- product blog from a consumer, marketers have access to open customer discussions they never had before and then, in turn, open their own dialogue to be able to drive the needed change quickly.

Social media marketing opens up a world of fast-flowing creative experimentation where an idea can be tested online in the morning and by afternoon there is a response. Social media techniques should be combined into the marketing mix to optimize the places where the impact can be maximized. The key element in successful social media marketing is to be swift but make sure to drive change in proactive way rather than being reactive.

SEO Sapien
http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/understanding-social-media-marketing-702141.html

The world is saturated with twits, tweets, and tweeps. Everyone, from Oprah to NPR has decided that this is the most brilliant application ever devised by man. They constantly cite it, talk about it, and overhype it to the Nth degree.

The one thing they never explain about twitter is how it is intended to be used. They don’t explain the reTweet, or spambot followers. They just tell random people to get online, and drop their thoughts, in 140 characters or less, of course.

It’s not their fault, really, as twitter doesn’t really have a defined purpose. The idea is that it is supposed to enable real-time communication, sort of a text message broadcast to the entire world. The actual purpose of tweets are left up to the users’ imaginations.

It was too much for me to get my mind wrapped around when I started, that is for sure. With this in mind, I’d like to tell you a couple uses that will make twitter a valuable investment of your time.

This article will serve a very practical purpose, both for the novice user of twitter, and for those who have lost interest: It’ll tell you how, what, and why to follow certain users, along with giving you the ability to find and organize that data in a meaningful manner.

With that in mind, let’s begin. There are around 7 major types of twitter users. Your interests will determine which of these folks it would be in your best interest to follow:

1. Newsies: The New York Times, Tribune Media, Huffington Post, Drudge Report, and various other news agencies use twitter as a point of distribution for their articles. Updates commonly carry newly published content, or respond to readers of their content, which will naturally drive new readers to their site.

2. Gurus: These people, like Tony Robbin or Robert Kiyosaki(of Rich Dad, Poor Dad fame) use their accounts to push out mini-seminars. Their updates range from the inspirational to motivational, deliver news updates, and of course, push product in-between.

3. Gossip Gals: They don’t miss a single controversy. It doesn’t matter how small, these girls(and guys—think Perez Hilton) won’t let it rest. While TMZ and the Smoking Gun throw out some really interesting stuff, I wouldn’t put it in the category of “news”.

4. Info-Marketers: Pushing everything from get-rich-schemes, to plugging their latest eBook, these folks peddle all things downloadable. They are always mentioning some resource that seems designed to help you make money, but will make them money instead.

5. Regular Marketers: Generally, tweeps of this ilk are pushing a physical product, or building up that brand. You’ll see everyone from tire companies to toilet paper purveyors interacting with their customers and fans. To spice things up, fun facts and interesting news are served with soft-sell promotional tactics.

6. Power Tweeters: This is an odd group. They generally tweet about anything and everything. Most of the time, they are female in gender, and are a mixture of Gossip Gals and Newsie fare, with a spatter of hometown chatter. They never sell anything. Many times, they will live-tweet their thoughts on concerts, television shows, and fashion.

7. Everyone Else: This encompasses roughly 97% of the twitterverse. They followed a few people, didn’t learn how to link, reTweet, or even reply inside of twitter. Eventually, they get tired of the whole thing, and move back to playing “Mafia Wars” on facebook.

While there are sub-groups within every group, these are where the lines are generally drawn. The most important takeaway from this breakdown is the following: Most people on twitter are trying to sell you something. Now that you know who’s online, how can you get the most out of twitter?

Glad you asked. The first thing to get is a twitter client. For the purpose of this article, we’re going with TweetDeck, a leader in the twitter client arena. It’s easy to use. Download it, open it up, enter your username and password…and magically, you have a bird’s eye view of everything happening in twitter(or at least who you are following, and their activity).

You’ll see your live twitter feed on the far left, in-between you’ll find any replies that have been made to your messages(if you’ve just opened an account, there won’t be any messages here), and on the far right, your direct messages(private messages between you and another user that are not broadcast to other users).

The first thing you should do is find twitterers who meet your basic informational needs. For that, I actually prefer to use google, as it generally does a better job of finding who, or what you are looking for than twitter’s native search service. Google your local station’s call sign and add twitter to the end.(e.g. WKPY twitter). Let’s say we were searching for a our local station in New Mexico. We’d follow @KOBTV. That will be useful for weather alerts, local news, and community events.

Next, get a national news feed you trust. CNN, MSNBC, and Fox all have twitter feeds kicking out news at the speed of type. You can now see what is making waves at the national level, along with any upcoming special reports.

Now comes the fun part…your interests. Love tech…grab @TechCrunch. Need your daily fix of stats and scores: Follow @ESPN. Pick 2-3 twittering entities that don’t overlap. For instance, unless you just love too much information, don’t follow ABC, NBC, and CBS news.

From there, it’s time to find interesting people to follow. See if your favorite celebrities, nobel laureates, or trashmen are online. Check out their profile online, either by searching google with their name, followed by twitter, or by going to their website, and finding out what it is. This is probably the greatest chance at interaction with the rich and infamous that you will get. Rainn Wilson(Dwight Schrute of “The Office”) is one celebrity with particularly interest thoughts, links, and conversation.

You have a base of good, solid tweets that you are now following. Here comes the fun part. There are people around the world having conversations about the latest news, movies, restaurants, whatever. Now, you just have to find them. Pull up the search feature in TweetDeck. There are two ways to search: hashtag, or plain text. Hashtags denote a post in a certain category. For instance, if you were looking for all the updates that include the President, but don’t actually mention him in the body, this is the easiest way to search. If you are just looking for all mentions of Barack Obama, you would enter his name in plain text.

Searching in TweetDeck will open a column that automatically updates each time the search term is mentioned. For instance, you could keep a column opened for any topics you are interested in, and monitor them in real-time. I like to keep an eye on precious metals, mining, and tire news(boring, I know). When I am monitoring twitter, I keep a #gold, #silver, #mining, and #tires tab open, so that I can keep abreast of what is happening. It’s like a stock ticker. Glance, see something you like, and read any article links that come through. If I see someone who is tweeting regularly about a topic I am interested in, I follow them, so I can see any of their general tweets as well. Rinse and repeat for each topic you have an interest in, and the list of people you follow will be over 100 in no time.

Now, for the bad part: Taking out the trash. Twitter is full of people who will spam you, by doing the most flattering thing of all: following your account. Since twitter sends you an email notification that someone is a follower, your curiosity makes you want to check them out. Many times, they will masquerade as a female in a bathing suit(or less). Their names will often be followed by a dash with a 4-digit number. You should immediately go to your follower page, and hit “report as spam”. This helps twitter eliminate them from the roster, and keeps any of your followers from checking their garbage out.

On a lesser note, I try to clean out people I follow from time-to-time. Some of them have reverted to inane chatter, instead of providing important news. Even worse, they are tweeting more often, and saying even less. If you are spending time in twitter, make sure that dump a few people to keep things uncluttered.

Some of you might be wondering how to get legitimate followers. It’s simple advice: Be you. If you are chatty, be chatty. Talk about your interests. ReTweet things from others that you find interesting. Be consistent. Spend time on twitter. The more you are engaged with others, the more likely it is that people will like, and follow what you have to say.

Now, let’s recap how to get the most out of twitter:

1. Know the major categories of Twitterers. Filter them out based upon your interests.

2. Get a twitter client, like TweetDeck, to help you manage the vast streams of information coming through.

3. Make sure you are following a local news station, national news station, and sources that cover any informational gaps that you might have.

4. Follow celebrities that are active and intelligent.

5. Use search and hashtags to sort out topics and people to follow that are of interest to you.

6. Take out the trash regularly to make sure your feed isn’t overloaded with garbage. Block or report bots as spam.

7. Gain more followers by contributing to the conversation, and being yourself.

That’s all for now. There are far more advanced methods of tweeting, following, and being heard. Most of those methods are custom rules, developed by each user. You wouldn’t think publishing a message would need rules. After all, how complex should sending out 140 characters be?

Evidently, as complex as we can possibly make something that has no definable purpose.

Kurt Hartman