Okay, at least four times in the past week or so someone has actually said to me that they don’t have time for “Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and all that stuff.”
Right. All that stuff.
They don’t have time for it.
I have a few things to say about that.
Huh. I can’t wait to hear what your plan is.
I am convinced that these people who “don’t have time” are mostly the same people who come to me wanting to know how to get people to read their blog.
Well, let’s just say that there’s a pretty large overlap in the Venn diagram.
Here’s what they want me to teach them:
How to get traffic. How to get readers. How to get comments. How to remind people that you exist so that they’ll hire you and buy stuff from you.
Uh ….
I can’t help you.
Because normally a big chunk of my answer to all of those things would be: Twitter*.
*If you haven’t read my post about how Twitter actually works, you might want to do that.
But you don’t have time for that. Let’s talk about what you do have time for.
That’s cool. Let’s talk about time.
So I would normally recommend that you spend 5-10 minutes a day on Twitter, but you don’t want to do that.
Let’s see then. So as far as I can tell your other options are:
- Spend half an hour a day leaving smart, insightful comments on other people’s blogs. No, wait. That actually takes longer.
- Spend three hours a week crafting careful, deliberate, strategic letters to other bloggers trying to convince them to let you guest post there. And then another few hours writing said guest posts. No, wait. That actually takes longer.
- Go to two live networking events each week. Let’s see, each thing is probably at least two hours, plus another hour to get there and find parking.
Plus another hour to shower and decide what the hell you’re going to wear. Plus another hour to transfer the contact information from people’s business cards into your [whatever you use for that]. Hmmmm. 8-10 hours a week. I’m going to go out on a limb and say: that actually takes longer.
And there’s no guarantee that any of those people you meet will end up reading your blog or leaving comments or buying stuff from you, so it’s not only a large investment of your time and energy, it’s also a huge risk.
But I get it. Not everyone has five minutes to hang out and goof off online.
Alright. You don’t have to do any of this social networking stuff.
But there’s a catch.
There’s a story my parents delight in telling — despite their complete inability to apply the point of it to their own lives — about me going to the doctor.
I was little. Little enough that my memories of this exist, but only somewhat vaguely. But here’s the story.
I was a strong-willed kid who didn’t like being sick. And refused — vehemently — to take medication. My parents tried every trick in the book and I fought back with new ones.
Eventually, after all of their cajoling and threatening and bargaining didn’t pay off, they took me to the doctor in the hopes that this figure of authority would tell me I had to.
It didn’t quite work the way they wanted it to — I was both vindicated and thwarted.
But it did get the desired effect.
Here’s what the doctor said:
You don’t have to take the medicine. But then you don’t get to complain.
I took the medicine. It was worth it not to have to stop complaining.
You can decide that you’re not interested in being on Twitter. That “all this” social networking stuff is not for you. But you don’t get to complain that nobody reads your blog. You don’t get to complain that people don’t come to your website. And you don’t get to complain that you don’t have any clients or customers.
This metaphor starts to get weird, though, because Twitter is actually not like medicine at all — it’s crazy fun and I would do it if it had no impact on my business at all.
Why it’s important.
I heard Seth Godin say once that you need to have your presence reflected equally in different spaces. Well, he said it in a much more articulate way than that.
The point, though, was that you want to be giving people the same message across the board. Being on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter is a way that you tell people 1. yes, I exist and this is a real thing, and 2. this is who I am and what I do.
It’s about being present and consistent. Which are two of the most important qualities you need (or at least be working on) if you want to get results in pretty much anything.
It’s as true in business as it is in a meditation practice.
How much time it actually takes.
Not. Very. Much.
Obviously, your mileage may vary. But there’s no reason to spend an insane amount of time on “all that stuff”.
And you know what? It’s not even “all that stuff”. These social networking tools or whatever you want to call them are drastically different animals. You don’t have to use all of them. And different people use each one differently.
Let’s talk about how much time it actually takes. Or at least, how much time my duck and I spend on each one.
LinkedIn:
Maybe five minutes a month. I don’t really use it. Some people like it. I’m not one of them. But it doesn’t matter, because it’s about owning your name and owning your brand and showing people that what you do is a real thing.
It is absolutely worth investing at least half an hour or so in writing a good profile. Kelly Parkinson from Copylicious has a terrific post about how not to screw that up.
(You’ll also want to read her post about how she used LinkedIn to get a 41% response rate and six new clients. Uh huh.)
So I’m probably a complete idiot for not using LinkedIn more, but that’s where I am with it.
I only connect with people on LinkedIn when I actually know them well enough that I would recommend them to people in my network. If you’re a blog reader and want to hang out with me, don’t approach me on LinkedIn. Twitter. We can hang out on Twitter. I’d like that.
Facebook:
Between two and five minutes a day, at most. I don’t use Facebook for business, though it does sometimes (accidentally) have that result.
On the other hand, I know lots of people (thinking of Dana the Spicy Princess right now) who use it successfully as a way to stay in touch with clients and customers. Which is great.
Personally, I’m only interested right now in using it to stay in touch with old friends. I connect with people on Facebook when I know them well enough that I don’t mind them seeing pictures of me from fourth grade. For me, it’s more of an intimate space to keep in touch with people I already know really really well.
Again, if you’re a blog reader who wants to hang out with me, not Facebook. Twitter. Let’s get to know each other there for a while.
Twitter.
I love Twitter. I’m only on about 10 minutes a day because I can’t use my arms and I need people to help me do it.
I would pay for Twitter. It is where I goof off. It’s where I complain. It’s where I have fun. It’s where I remember why I do what I do.
Oh, and it’s also where I make about a third of my income.
Don’t get me wrong here. I would still hang out on Twitter if it had zero impact on my business. In fact, I would still be there if it had a negative impact on my business.
Because it’s just that great. It would be totally worth it to me to lose clients and customers by being obnoxious on Twitter.
But here’s what actually happens, I get clients from Twitter. I fill classes on Twitter. The “where did you hear about us?” box in my online shopping cart more often than not says Twitter.
Most of the people who comment here …. friends from Twitter.
But I get it. Who has time for stuff like that?
Oh, time. I have issues with it too. And yet …
You have time to write a noozletter. You have time to deliberate over what typeface you’re going to use on your business cards. You have time to have coffee with that guy you met who maybe knows someone at that one place.
But you don’t have ten minutes for this.
Here’s what I think. It’s pretty hard to be successful online without hanging out there.
It doesn’t have to be a lot — a few minutes a day will do it. Of course you can choose not to. You can decide you don’t have time. You can decide that it’s not your thing. You just can’t hire me. Because the first thing I will do is make you get on Twitter.
Follow
Brilliant! I look forward to throwing this in the face of the people who pester me with exactly these questions. My favorites are requests like this where they won’t listen to or consider the answer. “Social networking? No, I don’t have time. So tell me about that other way to do it with no effort and doesn’t involve actually meeting with or interacting with these people I hope will admire me or hire me. I want that silver bullet solution I’m sure you’re holding back.”
As for your medicine story, I’ve heard stories like that before. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t doubt it happened to you. I’m sure it did. I think that was an old pediatrician’s trick. And it needs to be resurrected for adults I think.
Joe Schmitts last blog post..joeschmitt: HR is now following me on Twitter, so everyone switch to the secret code you received earlier in the envelope marked Anplay Ebay.
I love to laugh & learn all in one breath. Thank you!
Here’s what I notice about ‘new’ technology’. The excuse is ‘time’, the underlying emotion is ‘fear’.
It’s new and different. “High-tech, High-Touch” is a stretch for those who’ve been “Low-tech, High-Touch”.
The way to work through is be w/ the fear and find it’s opposite (because that is there too in this polarized world. As in LOVE? Really – love twitter – as you do. Love it and fear it and see which emotion wins.
Soleil*
Soleil Hepners last blog post..Have we gone Techno-Crazy?
Twitter keeps me in more-or-less continual (albeit not continuous) contact with my main main @MarkHeartOfBiz. And with you. And with my art-chick friend whose work my nine-year-old daughter adores. And with @OhioCityTim, whom I have never met but who lives half a mile from me and hipped me to the trailer shoot for the Film Festival–in which I participated with said nine-year-old daughter.
It’s not just the tweeting, it’s the listening. Silver talks about cultivating a “willingness to be surprised.” Twitter is an ideal tool for maintaining a perpetual state of surprisedness.
And, for me, that’s where it comes back to you, @Havi. 🙂
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Thanks for a great rant. You hit on a really important point here: that you can complain all you want, but if you won’t *do* anything to change the situation, you have no business complaining. I’m a big believer in the fix-it-or-go-home philosophy. When I hit roadblocks in my life, I’ll complain, sure, but I also start looking at how I can change things so I don’t have anything to complain about anymore. Some folks, though, just seem to like complaining, and refuse to do anything to fix the situation.
By the way, thanks for sharing Kelly’s post. She’s brilliant.
i still haven’t found anything USEFUL about twitter… but then i don’t work… i follow a few fun folks… i follow a few tech folks… i follow one of my US Senators… but mostly i do NOT get the point… its a mess of completely unorganized comments …
I was introduced to your blog today via @chrisguillebeau on Twitter, and I love this post. I’m looking forward to reading more!
Dee Wilcoxs last blog post..Get Your Creative Groove On. Week 16: Ask a Novice
Yup. Totally agree with both you and Joe. (Surprise, surprise, surprise…)
It’s funny that people who haven’t tried Twitter have problems understanding why anyone would want to waste their time on it. Those who hang out there can’t understand why everybody doesn’t want to be there. It’s a conundrum (wrapped in a a veggie bacon enigma).
The folks you were talking to are probably the same ones who buy exercise gadgets and get rich selling real estate DVDs from late night TV. The truth is that everything requires effort to effect changes. You can’t get something for nothing–if you want people to be interested in what you’re doing you have to be interested in who they are.
(Oh, and the medicine thing sounds like what my father told me about voting: If you don’t vote, you can’t bitch.)
Hope you’re having a splendiferous day today!
Hm.
Another thought. Those social network side-thingies. can be very, very scary. Twitter at least means putting yourself, as a person out there. (Unless you’re just spamming peoples timelines with senseless quotes or “lookatme!!!” tweets. Buh!) Anyway, you’ve gotta show character.
You can hide behind a newsletter and a blog (that works wonderfully) – both in a newsletter and a blog the initial communication stream is one directional – from the newsletter/blogwriter to the audience.
Now, Twitter is far more personal. There’s no writer/audience difference, you’re just one of many twitterers. And it’s real time. You may get unompted FEEDBACK. People can tell you stuff without you prompting it. You lose control over who initiates the whole conversation thingy. You lose your position as “The author! (insert thunderclap here)”
I know that when *I* whine “I don’t have time!” I often really mean “I don’t wanna do that scary stuff!”
Carina Kadows last blog post..Lessons learned in the gym
Havi, I’m inspired! You walk your talk! Thank you! This is just what I needed to hear as a newbie on Twitter. And the fun part is that 12 hours ago I didn’t know you or your work, and since then, this is the 2nd time I’ve run across your name by women who inspire me. The first time I came across your name was last night when I clicked two links in from Facebook to the retreat you’re doing with Jennifer Louden (http://http://www.comfortqueen.com/workshops-retreats/writers_spa – sounds awesome!). The second time was this morning on Twitter through @GretchenRubin linking to this blog post. @marymarcdante
PS. Love the duck. Mine sits on my bathtub ledge and is from Hotel Triton in San Francisco ten years ago (I opted for the duck instead of the robe or towels. 🙂
Mary Marcdantes last blog post..Inspired by Waves – Clark Little Wave Photography
It’s possible that I’m the oldest person I know who got on Twitter of my own volition. And I admit that I was dubious when I did. But no more.
The thing is, the folks who’ve draw the line in the Net (email and web browsing – yes; Twitter & Facebook – no way!) are missing So Much.
I’ve Twitter-met people that I’d never get to meet otherwise. I save time by hooking my Tweets into Facebook. I get up-to-the-moment headline news in my field.
Yet, so many people my age (Boomers) are resistant. Afraid, even.
RhondaLs last blog post..Congratulations, Aaron!
So funny. I just recently started using twitter, and I can tell that a lot of good things can come from it. I’m trying to build my community there. I just opened my etsy store, and I have sold quite a few pieces from mentioning it on Facebook, which is mostly friends/family. I didn’t even think about announcing or linking on Linkedin, because I just don’t use it that much, but it doesn’t make any sense not to put it up there if I’m already on Linkedin.
This whole internet world is so wide and interesting. And there are so many ways to pull those strands of the weaving.
Thanks for the reminder.
rowenas last blog post..Flying Girl in the Land of the Ghosts, or Let it Go
Wow, 10 minutes a day is totally doable! Why is it that I only think of Twitter if I have a couple of hours to spare? Thanks for the pep talk!
P.S. The other thing LinkedIn is really great for is as a contact manager. I don’t have to wonder what so-and-so is up to or if I’ve got the right info for them. It’s great for marketing-manager-type clients, since they often change jobs and don’t often have websites.
Havi, This is another fantastic post! I love it and totally agree with it.
Where did I hear about this post? Twitter.
I hope this helps to make your point.
Jeff@MySuperChargedLifes last blog post..How We Judge Success Determines Our Happiness
Loved the doctor’s quote – that’s a keeper!
Suggestion regarding your need for help in Twittering:
If you haven’t already, you might want to take a look at Jott, which is a service that allows you to use your voice (via phone call) to send email, text messages and other things.
They charge by the month now and I do not use it, but I had taken a look at it while in a free Beta and it was pretty good.
http://jott.com
I resisted Twitter for quite a while, but I’m glad I finally succumbed.
I wish I could only spend 10 minutes a day on Twitter! But people post links to all sorts of relevant news and art items. I’ve found loads of wonderful and wacky things by following links from Twitter. I finally feel genuinely connected to the art world. So, it’s much more than 10 minutes for me. But it’s worth it.
Barbara J Carters last blog post..New Paintings: “Dots 7″ and “Dots 8″
thanks havi for turning me on to twitter way back in the day…what? nine months ago?
where else would i come across so many crazy characters saying so many crazy things in just 140 crazy characters? people who pep me up, people who crack me up, people who piss me off!
twitter is the bush telegraph! it’s the real-time indicator of what people are really talking about, thinking about. how the hell can anyone stay in business if they don’t know what the hell people are talking about?
and has anyone else ever noticed that the iphone is always in the top ten trending topics? investors take note! people really like talking about their iphones! and tweeting from them!
god bless twitter. god bless tweeters. and god bless you, havi!
chass last blog post..monday morning motivator!:18, the energetics of mood
I had THE BEST TIME EVAR at SXSW because of the people I know from Twitter. The initially loose and shallow connections of Twitter can become deep and powerful.
Now I can show up in Canada, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Arizona, and most of the East Coast and already know people that would love to have a beer with me.
For whatever reason, deep personal connections seldom happen with blog commenters, newsletter recipients, RSS subscribers, etc.
Important: this kind of goodness happens when you use Twitter like a “real person” and not a self promoting marketing bot.
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I love Twitter, and I’m one of those people who feels like I never have time for anything. Some things deserve an exception. Twitter is one of them. Oh, and yes, I’m one of those people who found you on Twitter – thanks go to @joeschmitt for retweeting this link.
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I’ve definitely noticed a pretty sharp uptick in blog readership since I joined Facebook and started being more active on Twitter. “More active” meaning “participating more often than once every few months”. And since mine is a knit-related blog, I get a pretty good stream of readers from Ravelry, too.
Anna-Lizas last blog post..Pollyanna Clues You In
This is absolutely wonderful, and oh so true. Admittedly, I only started treating Twitter seriously within the last couple of weeks. TweetDeck, for me, made all the difference. Already I am starting to see the fruits of my labor, if labor is even what you’d call it.
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I find it interesting when people my parents’ age make comments about people my age wasting time on Facebook (not sure if they’ve heard of Twitter). “How do you have the time?”
Just like you can choose to watch twenty hours of TV or one, you can choose how much time you spend on social networking sites.
@twitterites, aside from following other people, any suggestions for getting started with Twitter? I finally took Havi’s advice 🙂
You know, I am suspecting that when some people said “I don’t have time for Twitter”, it really means, “I don’t have time to read all the 500 things those 100 people I am following said today!”
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So interesting!
I’m very much only just starting out: I just decided properly this weekend that I’m going to try to make a go of “the writing thing” (no, really, make a go of it) and before I even think about marketing I need *words*. But this is interesting all the same.
I really don’t get the marketing thing on any level and it’s something I really need to learn if I’m going to be a professional writer with any kind of career at all. And this is a little foothold. A tiny little foothold.
In fact, I’m debating using my writing name on Twitter, now.
Well put.
I pretty much do whatever I can to claim Twitter time as work time. I actually started a blog so I could have a reason to claim tweeting was improving my bottom line and contributing to productivity.
Now, if only Twitter could wash my dishes, mow my lawn and do my taxes…
I hear what you’re saying, but having been on Twitter now for a couple months, I would venture to say that if you are indeed able to do anything useful with Twitter in 10 minutes per day, you are in the vast minority. My guess is that most people spend way more time on Twitter on a daily basis.
That’s not to say that it can’t be productive time in the sense of building relationships, etc. It certainly can be and no doubt is for some. For most people, however, those with the average level of discipline, Twitter is a time sink waiting to happen.
I just think people need to be aware of that going in and develop a Twitter strategy accordingly.
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@John The Geek: I think you’re right about strategy … and I also think it applies to so many other things that are also huge potential time sucks. Email. Reading posts. Contributing to a forum.
Something can be insanely valuable and still suck you in more than you’d like. So that’s a really important point. And at the same time, I think a lot of people guilt themselves about their Twitter-time, when in fact that time is essentially marketing, networking and growing a base.
Having a way to get in and out, and then not going into guilt mode … both equally important.
@randomling: that would be fantastic if you used your writing name on Twitter. And the nice thing (for me, at least) about Twitter, is that it IS so casual. So it’s not like “ooooh, marketing”, it’s just hanging out, which makes that whole semi-icky world so much more accessible and less intimidating.
It really gives you a way to do things in your own “no, really, this is just me being me” style.
@Rhonda, Carina, Soleil – you guys are so on target with the fear thing. It’s always about fear. Which is completely legitimate, obviously.
And every time we peel away the excuses (maybe more gently than I did today, in my rantiness), it gets easier to talk to the thing at the core. Loss, hurt, sadness, anger, fear, need.
Once we know it’s about fear, it’s a lot easier to be patient with that fear and find out what it needs to feel safe again.
@gilcarvr: I don’t know how long you’ve been twittering it up … so this might be completely irrelevant and if so – sorry! I didn’t get much use from it either the first couple months, really until I was interacting with a lot of people and making sure not to have people there I didn’t like.
I use it not only for business-related stuff but to get recipes, get answers to questions, to get to help people who aren’t my clients and probably never will be, and to spend time with people I admire whom I’d never have a chance to talk to in real life.
My sense is that when people aren’t enjoying it, they’re usually following people they don’t find enjoyable, or it’s still at the “this doesn’t make sense yet” point which can take a few months. But maybe I’m totally off-base and it’s just not your thing. Also possible.
@NathanBowers: meeting you on Twitter (what, a year ago?) turned out to be one of the highlights of my life. I wouldn’t have even started this blog without you, or at least now in the way that I did. MWAH!
Love this post! So true that people don’t have time! However I must admit that as a newer person to Twitter I’m spending much more that 5-10 mins/day in order to get more familiar and build out my network.
Since there is SO much in a day, would be very curious which sites you hit and how you structure your day to maximize the efficiency of your online time.
Thanks!
Amanda
PS. Follow me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/amandamarvel
GREAT post!
I read this and couldn’t help but recall Clay Shirky giving a keynote at Web2.0 last year. He pointed out that during a TV interview he was asked “how is it people find time for this stuff” He couldn’t help think of the irony. Here’s a broadcaster who’s job it is to fill the airwaves with hours of mind numbing & socially disengaging content, questioning the value of finding time to interact with people thru social media.
For me, we waste more time on TV, movies, driving to and from anywhere, crossword puzzles, and standing in line. Heck between lines at DMV, the drive thru, and ticket counters we all could write a novel. Yet building relationships and connecting with people the via the miracle of the Internet is a waste of time?
Bottom line, the medium is not understood. Meanwhile I’ll be updating my Facebook status while I wait inline to watch next Batman movie.
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Great post Havi. Found your blog through Twitter. Spent a few minutes poking around your site as well. I’m diggin your vibe and philosophy on business. Looking forward to getting to know you on Twitter.
Again I find myself saying: Brilliant post!!! The only social networking site I am on is Twitter and I’ve been working it like a madwoman, networking and driving people to my blog. Some visit only once, but many come back and have become regular readers/commenters. I tried months ago to convince my friend to try twitter. She finally succombed this month and is now wondering why she didn’t sign up earlier.
You are wise to point out that in 10 minutes you can accomplish what would take you ten days (or perhaps ten weeks) to accomplish without social networking sites. Visibility is key.
carmas last blog post..Cheeseball Tuesday!!
Yep. It’s official. I think I love you. 🙂 Great rant!! I’m really happy I found you on twitter… I wish I could remember HOW I found you!!
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Heh. I tell my kid the same thing your doctor told you.
I’m in the same place with Twitter that you’re in with LinkedIn. I joined a long time ago, but it feels too jumbled and chaotic. Plus, I am so not witty. There’s definitely potential, though, if you know how to use it. For a while I followed someone who was writing a novel through tweets, which was awesome.
My networking has always been done through carefully chosen message boards and blogs. The sites you mentioned are too social for my comfort zone. I’m working on it, though. Facebook first because it’s where I know the most people I’m comfortable with.
Ok, Havi, you’ll see me there soon – as soon as I gather the tiny little bit of courage that I still need to get started (on Twitter, with a blog, etc.). Thanks for helping me getting there.
Oh, I’m totally with Tammy on the “I am so not witty” thing! Yeah, that’s one of the things I’m working on…
@Josiane and @Tammy you don’t have to be witty to be on Twitter. (I’m only half-witty and they let me hang out and interact with people.)
Just be yourself. That’s what will attract people to you and keep them coming back. Be you. Nobody else can do that like you can. And say ‘Hi’ to @CrazyOnYou. I’ll say ‘Hi’ back atya…
Thank you Havi!!! If I had a nickel for every artist I coach who told me that I be really really rich.
you hit it on the head with one big whappp!! I let go of that mission a long time ago when I decided to only work with those who “got it”.
And the best I can tell is that the foundation of the resistance is really fear, fear of failing, of not “getting it right” that big neon sign that hovers in the sky flashing “beware if you fail”. Incidently just below the other sign that flashes “there is only one way…the right way”
All kidding aside, what I think we are seeing is the the debris that always happens with major change. Every revolution, every major change tends to follow the same path.
Anyway thanks I love what you do and how you write and what you say…
Yeah. I’m with you. I got on Linked In early but it never really clicked for me.
Facebook, however, I get photography clients from. Seriously. And I SUSPECT that it’s because I’ve also reconnected with people from every place I’ve ever lived there (and family is on there)…..so I’m more ME (plus, I get to show my work….)
Twitter?
I signed up over a year ago. And I used the ‘online version’ which sucked because I didn’t feel like I could converse with people and it just….didn’t work. Then I got TweetDeck and GirlPie told me how to set it up. And now?
I LOVE it. I check in a few minutes here and there throughout the day and just….you know…TALK to people! It’s a ‘smoke break’ for the people who don’t smoke or….you know…don’t work at a company where you meet around the water cooler. And it’s just…..fun!
FABULOUS post, as always.
😉
All the best!
deb
Deb Owens last blog post..referral day
I can’t remember where I heard it I think on Duck Tape but one of his interviewees likened social media to removing the awkwardness we all felt at those also extremely awkward face to face networking events.
Now when the face to face happens there is a fair degree of social intimacy and recognition already established.
@Josiane and @Tammy – You totally don’t have to be witty, promise!
Half the time on Twitter I’m making the most obnoxious puns in the entire world and the other half I’m off in innuendo, but pretty much never witty. Utterly without charm. Seriously. You’ll hate me too. It’s fine.
And so often I’ll find someone there who I personally find dull as dish detergent who has oh, 10,000+ followers. Which means: it’s not really about whether or not I find them interesting … it just means that I’m not their Right People. Because 10,000 other people find that person entertaining.
So yeah, it’s a big enough space that you can be really, really boring and just work that angle. 🙂
But my guess is that it will actually be FUN hanging out with you on Twitter. Really, you’ll find some people you like. And if not, I’ll introduce you to some of mine. Let me know when you’re on there (no rush) and I’ll hook you up with some other people I know who weren’t thrilled about getting on there at first either …
Hey Havi
I get this from people all the time. ‘Ooooh I haven’t got time for all this new fangled stuff’. But these are the same peeps wasting time looking at YouTube or playing online Sudoku.
I nip on to Twitter and Linked in every day. It takes just a few minutes. And I blog a couple of times a week. And that doesn’t take too long either. I think you just have to work it in to your working day, like making the morning tea* or opening the post.
Sarah
*we’re British, we drink tea!
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Hi Havi, today is day 3 of my 30 day challenge to build my blog! So your post about Twitter was SOoooo well timed. I found you through The Artist’s Center, which just proves that good links in a post build trust with the blogger. I would love to hire you and Selma, I’m definitely ticking all the ‘is this you’ boxes, and I’m building my brand and wondering what the heck my real niche is … but I’ll read your stuff first. How did you get your voice so clear? Must be hanging out with Seth Godin …!
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I’ve only recently entered the world of Twitter, Facebook and the lot and the value (and fun!) is starting to dawn on me.
I pay close attention to people who’ve posted interesting links and blogs and am getting better in ignoring the background noise of some of the resident ‘bar flies’. I’ve come across very helpful posts and information through people on Twitter and am also noticing that as time passes by trust develops.
I now know that some out there (you included Havi) write excellent blogs, have very valuable and different perspectives, and above all are real people that I’m starting to like more and more. When they refer someone else, I can trust that this person’s contribution is valuable, enjoyable and good also.
So ‘it works’ and I am making time for it, but most of all I’m enjoying the ride!
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Okay, this post seems to be A Good Thing, for I am now on Twitter under my writing name (now @lucyviret instead of @randomling) and have a blog at http://www.lucyviret.co.uk. In which there are two whole entries.
I still need to do some actual writing, of course. But it’s strange how “here I am under my writing name” motivates me to get on with producing the words.
randomlings last blog post..A writing assignment!
I have exactly the same problem that I consume a lot of time in different places and this creates stress, as in my blog I am talking to artists and market their art for themselves, wanted to talk about how to organize their time in networks, then your article I thought was going to give some secret formula, ha, ha, ha, but I see that you just have to be there so if you thank you because if I found it enlightening and educational as ever, but the reality is that if that have to spend quite some time, I think, at least at first, and then things come more shot.
Sorry for my bad english.
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Havi–
I love 99% of what you write about, but here’s something I don’t understand. I think one of your gifts is being so accepting to people – helping them to accept and make peace with who they are and their “stuff.” Why is Twitter an exception to this? I feel like you are quick to criticize people who don’t want to be on Twitter. Why? (I hope this doesn’t sound snarky – I don’t mean it that way – I really am wondering what’s different about Twitter that you don’t seem to accept not wanting to be on it as a valid choice.)
I love the post and agree with most of what you say, except it seems there is a contradiction…you don’t follow back on Twitter?
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Hi Havi, I’m new to your blog.. love your stuff. Am excited to read all the old posts.. Just joined Twitter 🙂
thanks for being Havi!
-Vinodh
Vinodhs last blog post..Ever feel like giving up?
Social networking is today (and has been since 2004) what a suit and tie were in the 50s-70s; what a pair of Birkenstocks, suspenders, and oddly dyed hair were in the 80s; what corporate t-shirts, a “personal URL”, and a synergistic attitude were in the 90s and pre-crash 2000s. It is now The Method for being an official high-tech Person.
I am totally on board with the time estimates you quote—4 minutes a week on Twitter, tops, about the same for LinkedIn updating what I’m up to, maybe a bit more for Facebook because it’s actually social. But it is worth it to keep in mind what these activities are for, and to keep in mind that they will be supplanted in a few years’ time. The point is to keep up.
(He says, looking at his suspenders sentimentally)
great post, as about 95% of yours are.
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@Melissa – It sounds like you’re feeling upset because you’d like there to be room here for people to not want to use Twitter.
And that’s legitimate. Anyone can give it a try (or not) and decide it’s not a good fit.
And at the same time, if someone really wants to biggify online, I don’t know a better or faster way to do it. What I was trying to do here was point out that sometimes underneath the “no time” thing is some other stuff that’s worth exploring. My problem is not people not using Twitter, it’s the contradiction of “I don’t know how to get people to pay attention to what I do, but I refuse to learn about the best tool for that job.”
Obviously there might be all kinds of reasons why someone wouldn’t want to do that work, most of them probably not about time. Once we acknowledge that this isn’t the real reason, we get to do the work on what is.
@Nathan Hangen:
–> “
I love the post and agree with most of what you say, except it seems there is a contradiction…you don’t follow back on Twitter?”
Hmmm, I’m not entirely sure what you’re referring to, so it’s hard to know how you landed at this particular conclusion.
Because I’m on email sabbatical, I don’t get updates about who follows me.
My assistant does, though, and she goes and looks at whoever has followed me and decides if she thinks I’d like them. Since she knows me pretty well, that usually works okay. And if she misses someone, they can @ reply me and we start a conversation.
Sometimes it takes a few days to catch up, if a few hundred people follow me in a day.
Are you referring to a specific instance where someone followed me and I didn’t follow back? Maybe my assistant hadn’t gotten to it yet. Or maybe she clicked through to the person’s site and she figured we aren’t each other’s right people. Or or or. I don’t know.
Seems like you may have jumped to a conclusion prematurely though.
Either way, following people I find enjoyable but not necessarily following everyone … no contradiction there for me. It’s using social media in a way that works for me, which is really the only way I’ll end up using it.