#twittersurvivalguide

Do You Have What It Takes?

If you're a Twitter "newbie," launching a campaign might be a scary thing. If you watch reality television, you already have significantly more knowledge than you know. The hit series Survivor has taught viewers (and us) a very important lesson for social media in the tagline: "outwit, outplay, outlast." Understanding the importance of these three things gives you an edge as you compete against other companies in the "Twitterverse."
1. Outwit: 
With the millions of messages being sent through Twitter daily, it is important to make your tweets stand out. People visit Twitter to be entertained, to learn and to interact. Creating smart messages attracts more followers and encourages real conversation. Not to mention, anyone armed with a sharp wit can achieve better interaction, increased social traction and greater credibility.
2. Outplay: 
One of the best strategies we've learned from Survivor is the importance of forming alliances. Being a team player has numerous benefits for anyone trying to make it in Twitter. Replying and retweeting others shows your acknowledgement and support. Once your audience feels appreciated, they will return the favor and spread your message. Remember, Twitter is about relationships.
3. Outlast:
Like Rome, your amazing Twitter account can't be built in a day. Don't let a lack of immediate gratification blow out your tiki torch. When you feel discouraged, the worst thing you can do is step away and leave your Twitter account unmanned. You will quickly lose contact with followers. Real online relationships depend upon two-way conversation and no one likes to be left in the dark.

Until next time, sweet tweets! 
-Kathryn & Allyson- 

#gotcreativity?

Now that you know the basics about using Twitter 

for PR, it's time to get to the nitty gritty! 

              This video provides an excellent example of how to use Twitter for more than just promotions, but also as an opportunity to participate in and receive benefits from projects that other companies and agencies are doing. This public relations tactic establishes interaction between consumers and companies, thus helping to form stronger long-term relationships.

             As consumers and budding PR professionals, there are three main reasons why we love the campaign featured above:
1. Not only does this campaign encourage interaction, but it shows appreciation for those who participate. When users show support for the agency, the agency gives back with musical gratitude.
2. It's a personalized method of promotion. Depending upon where the tweet is sent, a specific and unique musical note is played. This gives the message to the consumer and tells them their unique messages are important.
3. This shows Twitter users that a company can be more than just the "suits" that want to sell them products. Twitter allows us to appreciate creative minds and companies as well as music and the arts.

Until next time, sweet tweets!
- Kathryn and Allyson-

#140charactersorless

Twitter poses a challenge for many of us with its limited character count - 140 characters or less everytime you use the micro-blogging network. As soon-to-be professional writers, many students and bloggers find the restriction a difficult one to meet as we try to craft powerful messages. Still, Twitter is a most effective tool for disseminating information and it may pay to establish a clearer, tighter style of prose.

Solutions to the 140-character dilemma:

1. Reduce phrases to one word - Sometimes, we find ourselves writing as we would speak. We include words that (like most adjectives) that can easily be eliminated.
   For example:   "The students who are experienced at drumming may win many scholarships." A Twitter version of the same sentence might read like this: "Student drummers win scholarships."
2. Eliminate empty openers -  "There is" and "There are" often prove unnecessary. They add no value to most sentences other than taking up valuable character space.
   For example:   "There is only one chairman of the department," is grammatically correct, but " The department chair," is more concise.
3. Minimize Modifiers -  Using words like "very" and "really" are ingrained habits for many young writers, but breaking the habit will allow your writing to be more cohesive. Most modifiers are unnecessary, have little value and only lessen the impact of more powerful word choices.  For example:  "The man was very happy to see his kids." Sure, that's a proper sentence, but one written more effectively as, "He was happy to see his kids."

For more tips, visit the Owl Purdue Writing Lab!

We'll Tweet you here again next week!
-- Kathryn and Allyson --

Here, content! Good, content!

Greetings content maniacs, from Zach and Austin! 

Today we will discuss pirates, ninjas and puppies. Not really, but now that we have your attention, let’s talk about “good” content… and how to get it.

It’s true that if you pack a website or blog with keywords, it will increase your SEO but that doesn’t necessarily mean that your content is any good. So once you get them to your site, how do you keep them there? Here is what we’ve learned about creating good content.

Good content has to be created, crafted even. You can’t just “write”. Your readers want to be engaged. So engage them! 

• Write about things that are relevant- make sure you don’t have gobs of information on your site that has nothing to do with your site.
• Write with passion and conviction- write what you love to write about because you love to write about it. There’s no way it won’t be interesting.
• Write with structure and proper grammar- We cannot stress this enough! If you write well and with detail, there will be no doubt that your writing will be understood.
•  Write with accuracy- Make sure you are not giving false information. Take a little extra time to do the research. You won’t regret it. And readers will appreciate it.
• Add photos! Blogs and pictures go together like peanut butter and bananas. (Hey, if Elvis said its OK, its OK.)  Allow readers to become further engaged, a (relevant) photo gives that little something extra that they sometimes need to get through the post.

These are just a few things that we’ve learned about “good” content. Zach and I (Austin Wildmann) look forward to continuing this adventure with you into the magical world of content. Join us next week, when we will examine BAD content!!! *bloodcurdling scream*

- Austin and Zach

Austin Wildmann (left)

&

Zachary Peacock (right)