Tag: twitter

The Alternatives To Twitter

The alternatives to Twitter
(or X
or whatever he’s calling the site
today)
all currently suck.

They’re new.
They have bugs.
They don’t yet have
the customer base
to make it
worth a big company’s while
to invest time into.

And I suspect
only one of them
will survive.

I’m investing a bit
of time into them,
however.

Why?

Because some of
the big influencers
in my industry are doing the same.

And because
there aren’t many people
using the sites right now,
they are willing to follow
and promote…
me
and my books (products).

That is exposing my books (products)
to huge new-to-me readerships (customers).
And I’m building relationships
with these influencers.

Consider joining
the Twitter alternatives.

If You Want Business Builders On Your Site…

As many of us,
Romance Writers,
are looking for an alternative
to Twitter,
we’re finding
more and more social sites
that discourage
or forbid promoting our books
(promoting our products).

This might sound
like a great idea.
Outlaw promotion
and writers (business builders) will be forced
to talk about other things.

Except we’re f*ckin’ busy, Dave.
We don’t have time
to talk about random things
without, at least,
having the possibility
of selling our books
(selling our products).

If you want to attract
writers and other business builders,
you need to offer
something that will help us
sell our products or services.

We’re MUCH too busy
to socialize with complete strangers
for sh*ts and giggles.

Let us promote our products.

Having Your Own Online Space

I LOVE social media.
I absolutely love it.

Many of the venues
are great for promoting products,
especially books.

There are a variety of people
and many experts
are on social media.

But these social media sites
are controlled by other people.
I was evicted from Facebook.
Twitter is having issues.
Sites come and go.

My own sites,
my blogs,
including this one,
remain.

I have been posting
daily
for over 16 years
here
(first on Road To Forbes,
then on Client k).

I own the site.
I decide
what to do with it
and how long
I stay here.

That’s valuable.

If you’re building a business,
set up a website
or blog.
Own it.
Control it.

Ensure customers
always know where to find you.

The Need For Management Transition

There are quite a few lessons
learned
about the Elon Musk purchase
of Twitter.

One of the key lessons
is…

There should be a transition plan
for changes in management.

Musk fired the key leaders
before he knew
what the f*ck was happening
at Twitter.
He didn’t have that C-Suite’s knowledge base
or their experience.

This happens
more often than
many of us realize.
Buyers of companies
want to start fresh.
They want everything
to be new
immediately.

But starting fresh,
beginning anew
means new company revenue.

Sales are disrupted.
Customers or, in this case,
advertisers become nervous.
They decrease or stop
buying.

This decrease in revenue
is paired with
established company expenses
and expectations.

That combination
requires a lot of upfront cash.

The less expensive way
is to keep the established leadership
until the new leadership
knows the business.

Have a transition plan
for leadership.

Layoffs And Respect

Several large companies
laid large numbers
of their employees off
via email this week.

I understand
why they would choose
to end employment that way
– It’s emotionally easier
for management
doing the layoffs.
Management
aren’t put at risk
for possible violence.
Management can lock
employees out of systems
immediately.

But, if you’ve noticed,
this is ALL about management,
about THEIR comfort,
about THEIR safety.

It is cruel and cold
to the employees
being laid off.
These employees
are more likely
to self harm.
They will
never work for that company
again.
And they likely won’t
care about their next employers,
their next jobs.

It will merely be a job for them
or, as corporate is calling it,
‘quiet quitting.’
Their productivity will be
complete sh*t.

Know the consequences
when you go this route
with layoffs.

And know,
when you hire again,
that the job market has changed
due to companies
taking these actions.

The Importance Of Leadership

Elon Musk, alien extraordinaire,
bought a hefty share
of Twitter stocks
and forced his way
onto the board.

Many of us
who use Twitter
are horrified.
We know the rules
and the feeling of the site
will significantly change.

Because that is what happens
when there is new leadership.
The company changes
and often the product or service
changes with it.

THIS is why leadership
is important.
THIS is why determining
who can own a piece
of our companies
is important.

Think before
making changes
to ownership
and to leadership.

Retweet Your Own Tweets

Twitter is a fleeting medium.
Either people see your tweet
when it is posted
or they likely won’t see it
at all.

I schedule 3 tweets a day
per pen name
promoting my romance novels.
If I get super busy,
this assures I have SOME marketing
happening on that platform.

If I have a couple more moments,
I’ll access Twitter
at random times
and retweet the scheduled tweets.

I find I get more likes
and replies
when I retweet my own tweets.
And I receive
no complaints about doing this.
I highly suspect most followers don’t see
the original tweets.

Retweeting my own tweets
gives me double the exposure
for a second of extra work.

If I have more additional moments,
I post random sh*t,
comment and like other posts.

Double your impact.
Retweet your own tweets.

Create The Environment You Want To Have

When I first moved into
my current neighborhood,
very few people said hi
when I passed them on the street.

That’s not the type of neighborhood
I wanted to live in.

So I started saying hi
to everyone.
At first, they were shocked.
Then, they started
returning my greeting.

Today, a few decades later,
it is expected
that everyone says hi.
Visitors to the neighborhood
know and expect this.

When I first started
hanging out virtually on Twitter,
I was warned it was a hostile environment.

That’s not the type of environment
I wanted to promote in.

So I started posting
complimentary comments
on threads.
I thank people for providing
entertaining
or educational content.
I give people virtual hugs
when they have tough days.

I also filter my followers
and who I am following,
something I can’t do
in my neighborhood.

My Twitter experience
is now filled with joy.

This change isn’t possible
with every environment.
There are some places
that will always be hostile.
We should get the h*ll out of those environments
as soon as we can.

But some environments
CAN be tweaked to be places of joy.
Consider becoming the person
you want to spend time with in that space.