Thursday, September 8, 2011

10 Top Twitter Tools

bit.ly home page image from Bobby Owsinski's Music 3.0 blogHere's a recent post that I spotted on the great Hypebot blog regarding the "Top 10 Twitter Tools Used My Social Media Experts," which originally came from KISSmetrics. You don't have to be a social media expert to take advantage of these tools, and at least some of them you'll find very useful if you're a Twitter user.

1. Bit.ly
Bit.ly is just a URL shortening service right? Wrong! Used by @techcrunch, and @problogger, a free Bit.ly account will give you access to a dashboard where you can shorten and share links to multiple Twitter accounts. You can also see the stats for any Bit.ly links you share through your dashboard and plug your Bit.ly API key into Tweetdeck, Twitterfeed, or Seesmic to get stats for links you share through those applications as well. As an added bonus, you can even create your own custom short domain to match your brand so you can have branding similar to Mashable’s on.mash.to and Amazon’s amzn.to custom URLs.

2. Buffer

Buffer is deemed the smarter way to tweet, and is used by @tweetsmarter, @jaybaer, and @askaaronlee. It allows you to simply schedule your tweets to be spread throughout the day so you don’t go through a reading spree and inundate your followers with 20 tweets within an hour. You can also get great analytics on your tweets which will help determine what your audience loves, or doesn’t, out of the content you share as well as the times of day you get the most action on your tweets.

3. CoTweet

CoTweet, used by @nealschaffer, @chrispirillo, and @emarketer, is considered a Twitter marketing tool for companies who want to engage, track, and analyze conversations about their brand. The free version allows you to manage your Twitter accounts, collaborate with multiple users, track clicks and limited analytics, schedule tweets, keep conversation history for 30 days, and more. The enterprise version (starting at 1,500USD a month) allows integration with Salesforce, advanced user roles and permissions, workgroups, and full analytics.

4. HootSuite

HootSuite is one of my personal favorites as far as Twitter management is concerned, and is also quite popular amongst the social media elite including @chrisbrogan, @tweetsmarter, and @tamar. It is a freemium tool, meaning that you can use the free plan if you have fewer than five social profiles to manage. But the Pro version for unlimited social profiles including enhanced analytics isn’t too steep at only 5.99USD per month.

5. Paper.li   

Paper.li is a unique application that allows you to collect tweets and curate them manually or automatically in a newspaper-style format which can be automatically shared daily on your Twitter account. Used by @scottmonty, @guykawasaki, and @leeodden, this app is a great way to collect the top tweets from your followers, people on a specific Twitter list, or even anyone who mentions a particular #hashtag. It does drive a nice bit of traffic to sites mentioned by top users, so while some people may not like to be mentioned, others greatly appreciate it!

6. SocialOomph  

SocialOomph is another freemium service used by @mike_stelzner, @smallbiztrends, and @jeffbullas that allows you to schedule tweets, track keywords, extend your Twitter profile, and much more with an unlimited amount of accounts for free. If you choose to go professional for 29.97USD, you get additional features such as Facebook scheduling, tweet via email, have others update via email, manage DM spam, broadcast DMs to all Status.net followers, and again, much more. Plus, for an additional 3.97USD you can automate following those who follow you and sending welcome DMs to new followers.

7. Triberr

Triberr is an invite only community used by @lewishowes, @seanmalarkey, and @nealschaffer that allows you to join “tribes” of like-minded bloggers in order to expand your reach on Twitter. Simply plug your RSS feed in and members of your tribe will tweet each new post. As a member, you can set yourself up to do automatic tweeting of other member’s posts or manual tweeting when you have reviewed and approved of the posts. I personally just copy my Triberr tweets into HootSuite for full scheduling control.

8. TweetDeck

TweetDeck is a desktop Twitter management tool used by @jasonfalls, @problogger, and @marshallk. It has features similar features to HootSuite in terms of creating columns to organize your Twitter activity as well as the ability to send longer messages using their Deck.ly service which creates a shortened URL that directs followers to the rest of your tweet beyond 140 characters. I love the interface of this one, but since I use multiple computers, it makes more sense to use a browser-based application instead of one you have to install on a local machine.

9. Twitterfeed

Twitterfeed, used by @sengineland, @amyporterfield, and @cindyking, allows you to add RSS feeds (yours and others) to be shared automatically through your Twitter, Facebook, and other social media accounts each time there is a new update to them. You can customize the tweets to show the title of the new post, the link (shortened by your preferred URL shortener), and even add a RT @username or via @username so you let the blogger know you’re always tweeting their posts. It’s a great way to curate content for your audience automatically, but just be careful that the blogs whose feeds you use always publish quality content.

10. Visibli

Visibili is a free service used by @brett, @davepeck, and @denisewakeman that lets you create a custom sharing bar that goes with any links you share through their service. This custom share bar can have your name and social sharing icons as well as links to your website and even a Tweet button which recommends your Twitter accounts and Facebook Like button that connects to your fan page. It can be connected to your Tweetdeck or Seesmic desktop apps, installed on your blog for outgoing links, and installed as a bookmarklet on your browser bookmark toolbar as a quick way to share with your customization at the top of every link!
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You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for daily discussion of music, recording, and production tips and tricks.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

The 3 C's Of Networking

Power Circle image from Bobby Owsinski's Music 3.0 blog
Here's some great advice for networking online or good old-fashioned person to person. Whenever someone helps you out with an introduction or a referral, it's customary to reward that person with one of the "3 C's."

What are the 3 C's?

1. Credit. Give the person that gave you the introduction the credit for the referral every chance you get.

2. Contacts. A good way to compensate someone who gives you an introduction is to give him a contact back. Everyone could use some help in one way or another, and this is a great way to reciprocate.

3. Compensation. If and when it's appropriate, there's nothing wrong with an exchange of a gift, finders fee, or a little cash bonus.

I've heard these also termed as the "3 R's" as well (recognition, referrals and revenue), but whatever you use, keep in mind that nothing is for free, and even if it's not expected, it's a common courtesy to reciprocate when someone does you a favor.
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You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for daily discussion of music, recording, and production tips and tricks.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Artist Roadmap To Social Media

Here's a nice infographic from receptivemusic.com that covers just about every aspect of using social media in Music 3.0. It's simple and to the point and only lists the major players in each category (although it does miss some others), but it's the best way to see in a glance the services available to an artist or band today.
Artist Roadmap To Social Media image from Bobby Owsinski's Music 3.0 blog
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You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for daily discussion of music, recording, and production tips and tricks.

Monday, September 5, 2011

10 Reasons Why YouTube Beats TV For Marketing

YouTube music discovery image from Bobby Owsinski's Music 3.0 blog
Here's an interesting list from reelseo.com regarding 10 reasons why YouTube is better than television for marketing. Obviously most artists and bands aren't going to use television to marketing themselves unless a major label is involved, but the same reasons also apply to radio as well.

1. There is no need to be at home to watch it. In pubs the television is usually on in the background only but groups will often look online for certain things while they are out.

2. YouTube is free. Television advertising can cost a great deal and the more popular the program the more expensive it will be. It is hard to target as so many people watching will not be interested.

3. More effective advertising. With television, many people use the advertisements to leave the room to make a drink or a phone call, so often times the advertisement will be screened to an empty room.

4. Some people don’t bother with television as much as they used to. As television programs can be watched on a computer, some are choosing to watch a lot of programs online. As there have been developments with the ways in which programs are watched many either fast forwarded the advertisements or in the case of Catch Up TV they are taken out altogether.

5. Variety of content. YouTube has short to the point clips that have plenty of similar clips attached. If you pick a clip you are interested in there is a ready prepared list of others to view without the need to start searching for them.

6. “Always on“. TV may show a lot of repeats but a YouTube clip can be watched as often as you want.

7. Consumer presence. The Internet is a good research tool and many look here before they make a purchase so a YouTube advert will be seen by them.

8. YouTube is less restrictive. Television will not allow certain things to be broadcast but as long as it is legal it is very likely that you can say what you want on YouTube.

9. Links can be sent from YouTube. If something is on the television it will be seen once and then gone. There will be the chance to tell others but not send them a link. This way even people who are not watching YouTube can get the information.

10. Anyone can put up a video. If you have a happy event that you want to share you can put it on YouTube. Most people could not put a wedding video or a day when the cat was being playful on the television but with YouTube it is easy.
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You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for daily discussion of music, recording, and production tips and tricks.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

The Rock Timeline

Here's a funny but true infographic about the music biz through the ages. They say a picture tells a thousand words, and that's certainly true here.

Rock Timeline image from Bobby Owsinski's Music 3.0 blog
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You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for daily discussion of music, recording, and production tips and tricks.

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