By now I’m sure you are aware of Twitter and maybe you are using the micro-blogging service to post what you are doing right now or what you ate for lunch. Over the last year every major news and media outlet has jumped on the Twitter wagon to pump out their consent as well as used it to communicate with their followers. The first time I heard CNN say. “lets check out our tweets to see what people are saying right now” I knew he game had changed. The ability to communicate instantly with anyone anywhere is huge.
Additionally, every marketing, public relations and big mouth in the world is touting how to make money and promote your business and brand using social media.
So since I am a big mouth, I felt it proper that I tell you some of the cool ways I use Twitter and social media. Some of which were accidentally.
Troubleshooting
After upgrading my Firefox browser, Silver Light content no longer worked. So I tweeted. “Upgraded FireFox now Silver Light is broke.” Within a half hour a Microsoft tech tweeted back. “We have a fix for your problem.” and provided a link to get the patch.
Getting Answers
Recently I was shopping at a local electronics store and was having trouble deciding to buy Rock Band or Band Hero. So again went to Twitter and asked. “Rockband or Band Hero? Why? Are the instruments compatible?” Before I even left the store I had 3 replies with good reasons to choose one over the other.
Bartering
I’ve lived in Columbus pretty much my whole life and had never been to the memorial tournament. So I decided to see if I could offer my services in exchange for a couple passes to the tournament. Posted to Twitter and FaceBook: “Help with your blog in exchange for Memorial Tournament passes.” The next day one of my Twitter friends said she would love to get help setting up a blog and a little training for some passes.
Discount Offer
(This one actually happened unexpectedly.) A local news reporter Tweeted the she wasn’t feeling well and thinks she might be getting a cold. I tweeted back that as soon as I have symptoms of a cold I use Zicam. The Zicam Twitter account replies to me saying. “@blantonious Could have said it better ourselves. Coupon? and a link to an online coupon.”
Using Search
When something big is happening that I want to keep up with I use the Twitter search at search.twitter.com. To take it a step further you can use the advance search to narrow down tweets that are local to the event. So if I want to hear the latest announcements from Mac World. I would search keyword MacWorld and limit it to within 20 miles of San Francisco CA.
Find the hard to get Christmas items
This is just like that last one but thought it was appropriate for the time of year. Search for a phrase like “We have Zhu Zhu” (thats the hard to find robot hamster this Christmas season. Then limit the search to your area using the advance search at search.twitter.com
You can also take out the location part and do a broader search and see if anyone is selling them online.
Meet people to partner with
I don’t know exactly how this all transpired but over the last couple years I have met several people to work on different projects and partnerships with. My blog Greatest City of All is a multi-author blog consisting of myself and 6 others (Kelly Gingery, Cheryl Harrison, Michele Savoldi, Tiffany Eckhardt, Megan Hoffman, Anna Harper-Hess) all of which I met on Twitter. I am also co-producing a web show, FlickChick.TV with Kelly Gingery, also met on Twitter. I am co-organizer of WordCamp Columbus and PodCamp Ohio with Alvin Borromeo that I met on Twitter. And finally I am involved in TasteCasting founded by Dan Harris whom I met on Twitter. TasteCasting is a social media PR group that helps restaurants get word out about their establishments.
Build your Resume
In addition to tweeting about what you’re doing you can also send updates from Twitter to your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn just added the ability to send selective Tweets to your LinkedIn profile. So now when I Tweet about something I am working on personally or professionally I add #in at the end of the update and it automagically updates my LinkedIn status so my professional contacts see what I am doing.
**Updated**
Finding great recipes
Have another to add. This morning I posted on Twitter: “Need a couple of over the top recipes for Thanksgiving side dishes. Suggestions?” A few hours later I have about a dozen great ideas people sent to me. Hard part is going to be deciding which ones to make.
Ok so those are some ways I use Twitter and social media. What am I missing? Do you have some other cool things you use Twitter for? Leave a comment and let us know about it.
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