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Print Edition StoriesFriday, October 3, 2008
What are you doing? Twitterers want to know
NECN: Scvngr tours explore cities, campuses by cell phone
Eight years ago, Jack Dorsey wanted a fun way to know what his friends were doing and created the initial concept for Twitter. In 2006, Twitter became a project inside San Francisco-based Obvious and was launched to the public in October of that year.
Today, Dorsey is the CEO of Twitter Inc.
So what is Twitter? Here’s the elevator pitch: “Twitter is a free social networking and blogging service that allows users to share information via ‘tweets’ limited to 140 characters.” The practical answer is more interesting. For many, Twitter represents the “water cooler talk” of a traditional office. Others who “tweet” — as a Twitter post is called — promote websites, share photos or coordinate events in creative and effective ways.
On the promotions side of things is Bin Ends Wine, an off-price wine business. Recently, Cape Cod-based web designer Chris Gillis of Saltline Studio helped them create “Twitter Taste Live.”
“We wanted to connect the consumer with the actual producer and importer,” he said. “So we thought, ‘How do we create that direct connection?’”
“Wine drinkers are taking on technology now,” Gillis said. “They’re tracking their sellers online. We were going to use Twitter to promote deals, so we came up with the idea of doing the online wine tasting through Twitter. The 140-character limitation lets everyone get a piece of the action.”
And what action they have seen. Participants buy the featured wines from Bin Ends as a discounted “Twitter Package.” The start time and tasting schedule are posted on the Twitter Taste Live website.
The fun begins as tasters share their impressions live, via Twitter. In August, 10 countries participated. “We had no idea it was going to blow up like this,” Gillis said.
Twitter Taste Live demonstrates one way a free social application can be used to create international customers and generate online buzz. But it isn’t just vendors who are seeing benefits.
A cottage industry of software has spawned clients like Twitterrific from the North Carolina-based the Iconfactory. Co-founder Gedeon Maheux describes Twitter and his company’s future.
“Twitterrific is our most widely recognized piece of software, which is weird since it started out as a ‘one-off’ that we thought we’d create and be done with. With the birth of the iPhone App Store, the software has opened up a whole new revenue stream for us that didn’t previously exist.”
Initially, Gedeon and his co-workers found Twitter’s web interface cumbersome. So, programmer Craig Hockenberry created an in-house application that was eventually released to the public. Last July, Twitterrific for the iPhone won an Apple Design Award.
As for his company’s future with Twitter, Gedeon is optimistic. “Twitter has opened new doors for us and expanded our audience beyond anything we had previously. So many more people know about The Iconfactory now than before we released Twitterrific. Add to that the amazing potential of growth via the iPhone platform and you have a business model made in heaven.”
Now, you might not be in the wine or software business so how can other businesses benefit from Twitter? I’ve assembled five tips to get you started.
1. Monitor what others are saying about your business. Summize is a free online tool that monitors occurrences of a keyword on Twitter. Receive an “online buzz report” in your feed reader daily.
2. Address customer concerns. The folks at Freshbooks excel at this. I once expressed an issue I was having and a representative produced the unsolicited solution within minutes.
3. Get answers. Recently, I was having trouble with an installation of WordPress. After a fruitless Google search for the solution, I posed the question to my Twitter followers. Within minutes, I had the answer.
4. Promote your website wisely. Simply posting “Check out my website” will annoy your followers. Instead, ask a question like “What’s your favorite way to use Twitter for business?”
5. Encourage tweeting at events. Encourage your event’s attendees to share their experiences via Twitter for a free, enthusiastic marketing team.
From an idea scribbled on a sheet of legal paper to a service Wired Magazine called “incredibly useful” and Time Magazine called “the next killer app,” Twitter humbly asks, “What are you doing?”
How will you answer?
David Caolo is a co-editor of The Unofficial Apple Weblog and operates Kaylow Media. He can be reached at dcaolo@mac.com
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