Everyone starts somewhere in Social Media. Tips and tricks we’ve all learned along the way can be especially helpful to those still navigating uncharted waters.
This interview series features twitter accounts in and around the construction industry, a growing population within the Twittersphere. My only disclaimer is that I do not always agree with the advice.
Stats:
Twitter Name: @DoverProjects Twitter Bio: Former Art Director of BUILDER & BIG BUILDER magazines. I share my home improvement & DIY projects. I’m not an expert. I do this because I love it. Hi! City/State: Dover, NH Main Website: www.doverprojects.blogspot.com Facebook Page: facebook.com/DoverProjects Admin Name: Peter Means LinkedIN Profile: http://linkd.in/qjqVW9 Klout Score: 62 Followers: 1,339 Following:Follower Ratio: 1.12 As seen on TV: Renovation Realities, The DIY Network, “The Means Job” (a comedy):1. When did you start your twitter account?
Thursday, Jun 11, 2009 at 16:22:55 PM. No, I didn’t remember that, but I just found out that TweetGrader will show you exactly when you started your account. That said, I signed up for Twitter and was boggled and frustrated by it at first and, thus, left my account dormant for a year.
2. What was your biggest obstacle in twitter?
I couldn’t understand how it seemed that people were having back-and-forth conversations. I had been a long time Facebook user where the conversations where bundled neatly under posts, which made sense. But these little “tweets” flying around threw me off. How could anyone be having a conversation in all this chaos? I had a little bit to learn.
When I send my first tweet, I had zero followers, and I can remember thinking “OMG! I just put something out there that the whole world can see!” Panic set in immediately!
It wasn’t until I got TweetDeck and a good book that Twitter started to make sense to me. It took me about two months of solid Twittering before I really got it. I remember very clearly the day when I go so immersed in the conversations and personalities behind the accounts that, for the first time, I was not looking at a screen, rather I was deeply immersed in a rich 3D world of lively, real-time interaction. I liken it to being so engaged in a movie that you completely forget that you are in a theater.
3. How often do you tweet? Do you have a schedule?
I do not have a schedule. My tweeting is based on my desire to do so, which means I’m on there much too often; I love it! Mostly, I’m on there reading other’s tweets. I try to avoid over tweeting. If I have too much to say at a given time, I’ll space out my tweets using the scheduling feature in TweetDeck.
4. What is your recommendation to new people on twitter?
If you are new to Twitter and your first take isn’t “Twitter seems like a complete waste of time, it’s all useless gibberish,” then you may want to have your head checked (I got that from Guy Kawasaki).
It’s so true! There’s a learning curve, but it’s not that steep. I’d tell people not to worry too much about the formatting of their tweets or other rules. It’s hard to go wrong if you use common sense. Watch others, and learn from them and, remember, it’s a conversation and not a bull-horn to market your products and services.
For people that are not yet sold on Twitter, I tell them Twitter is like IM but the whole world can tune in to your conversations and you can tune in on theirs. How cool is that!?
But really the best advice I would give is to stick with it, until it clicks! Then you will feel sorry for those that are not on Twitter. Can you imagine!
5. What is your favorite hashtag and why.
#DIY, of course; I’m not a pro. I’m a regular Joe homeowner that does a lot of DIY projects on our 100 year old New Englander. Before I take on a new project, I research the hell out of it. By the time I’ve researched and actually done the project, I may or may not feel comfortable sharing my experiences. I only share projects that I feel would benefit others, and I only share projects that I feel I have a firm understanding of the information I’m providing.
6. Did you have a twitter mentor? How did that come about?
A friend, Betsy Sanderson, showed me how to make my first tweet to my zero followers. Oh, and @katonahgreen also helped me get my feet wet. She is great, by the way, and worth a follow. Mostly I learned by watching others that I respected.
7. Can you recommend a twitter account that we should be following?
There are too many to mention, of course. I’m sure everyone says that. Hmmm, I’ll give you @buildingmoxie if I have to pick just one. Rock-on brotha!
Additional Comments:
Stay tuned for more from me on my Facebook page and on Twitter. It will be interesting though because we are just about to move for a year to Blacksburg, VA. We are renting out our house and renting a little place in VA. Not sure how I’m going to blog and tweet about DIY projects in a rental place. Maybe the landlord has a lot of projects they’ll want me to do?
Oh! And you can catch my wife and I on our TV episode: Renovation Realities on the DIY Network now in reruns and streaming online!
Thanks for the opportunity to share. What you put in to social media is exactly what you will get out of it.
More Featured Tweeters
Thanks for the opportunity Bridget! Just got Internet and bought a small table for the computer, as our furniture hasn’t arrived yet in the new, small rental in Blacksburg, VA. The question people are asking now is, “will there be a Blacksburg Projects, or will Dover Projects be the name”. Ha! For right now, first things first. We need a coffee pot! (ours is still on a moving truck, out there somewhere.). Thanks again Bridget!—Peter
Ah, the harsh days of moving. Yes, where is that coffee pot?
Thank you for participating. We all really appreciate it.
bridget