25 Twitter Do's and Dont's

Unlike Facebook and many other closely monitored social media outlets, Twitter is a lawless community where anyone can post anything. And while some people take advantage of that wild-west-ish world for spam and other unruly or exotic calls-to-action, many of you are just looking for some general guidelines to tweet by and/or tips for growing your network. For those of you that fall into the latter category, here are twenty-five do's and don't for Twitter:

DON'T...

1. DON'T Complain about work. 
2. DON'T Tweet about religion.
3. DON'T Tweet about politics.
4. DON'T Be afraid to express your opinions.
5. DON'T Be too personal or negative.
6. DON'T Repeatedly post the same link or tweet. 
7. DON'T Abuse trending topics or hashtags. 
8. DON'T Over sell your own stuff.
9. DON'T Over share your own stuff.
10. DON'T Post more than one #FF per Friday.
11. DON'T Use corporate rhetoric and jargon.
12. DON'T Exceed five tweets per day. 
13. DON'T Post a picture you wouldn't want to see on the front page of the newspaper.
14. DON'T Post similar messages over multiple accounts.
15. DON'T Say anything you wouldn’t say to someone’s face or to a TV camera.
16. DON'T Publicly mention and thank everyone who follows you.
17. DON'T Follow someone today and unfollow them tomorrow.
18. DON'T Send automated/scheduled tweets and replies. 
19. DON'T Just post a URL with no supporting text.
20. DON'T Follow more than 25 new people at once.
21. DON'T Follow hundreds of people at once and remove all who don’t follow you back.
22. DON'T Send a canned direct message whenever someone new follows you or your company.
23. DON'T Make your account settings private.
24. DON'T Be guilty of the self-congratulatory retweet.
25. DON'T Forget to reply to mentions.

DO...

1. DO Complete your profile.
2. DO Add a picture of your face or logo.
3. DO Have a sense of humor and be funny.
4. DO Follow hashtags (#) when attending events/webinars.
5. DO Collect people’s Twitter names just like you do phone numbers and email addresses.
6. DO Create hashtags (#) for your own events.
7. DO Promote new tools/resources.
8. DO Establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
9. DO Follow thought leaders and bloggers in your industry.
10. DO Follow people your followers are following.
11. DO Follow people suggested in #FF (Follow Friday) tweets. 
12. DO Make your Twitter usernames easy to find.
13. DO Make your tweets useful resources so people need you.
14. DO Interact with those people you follow who don’t follow you back yet.
15. DO Use the “Favorites” feature as a list of testimonials.
16. DO Link to your own resources/articles as well as others.
17. DO Direct Message people instead of sending them an email.
18. DO Develop relationships with reporters, bloggers and other media people through Twitter.
19. DO Respond to concerns people tweet about you, your company or products.
20. DO Use your company account to update customers as well as prospects.
21. DO Be sure to follow back everyone who follows your Company Account.
22. DO Integrate your Twitter efforts with your other marketing initiatives.
23. DO Follow the celebrities you’d want to be friends with, the newspapers you read, the products you use, the restaurants you eat at, the designers you wear, and the athletes you root for.
24. DO Tweet at your favorite celebs and people you don't personally know.
25. DO Follow @RyanPratt ;)

Mention or direct message me if you have any questions, comments, additions, or concerns.

Trive Drew

Have you seen WALL-E? Well with my next great idea I will single-handedly create that disgusting world of thousands of fatasses floating around in fully automized Lazy-boys, because I want to create the ultimate drive-thru.

The ultimate drive-thru, or Trive Drew, is six full-service drive thrus in one. Need a hamburger? Order from the fast food window. Want a 6-pack of Bud Light? Just show 'em your ID. Thinking ahead? Order some Krispy Kremes for tomorrow morning. Need a refill on your diabetes medicine? Just pull through the pharmacy. No rain in the forecast? Get your car washed. Order the latest Blu-ray online? Just have your receipt ready.

The Trive Drew - Everything you need. Never leave your car.

Oh, it looks good!

If you haven't seen this quick clip from Conan O'Brien you need to -- it's hilarious! But beyond that, there's actually a very valuable lesson to be learned.



Despite being an editor for two years of my life -- constantly changing and tweaking content for the better, always redrawing the line between perfection and deadlines -- I have finally learned the secret to life is a simple phrase: "Looks good!"

Those two words can have so many positive effects on your life, whether it be in relationships with friends and loved ones, success at the workplace, or on your own personal self-esteem. Instead of always critiquing yourself and others, just simply say, "Oh, it looks good!"

• What do you think of this report? "Looks good!"
• Do you think we need to make any changes? "Looks good!"
• How does my butt look in these pants? "Looks good!"

Now don't thank me, thank Conan!


Here is the full clip and origin of the Captain America "Looks good" sketch:

Celebrities using Siri

You may have noticed a few new Apple advertisements promoting Siri -- no big news -- but the fact that these ads include some of the biggest names and faces in showbiz is. Though Apple products have always been for the "cool" kids, it has never needed celebrity endorsements to market its products. So what's changed?

Outside the obvious, the passing of Apple's own celebrity CEO Steve Jobs, the company has also recently posted record quarterly earnings. With new leadership, and more cash than Scrooge McDuck, the formula has most definitely changed, but the expectations for results have not. And Siri hasn't exactly been the game-changer everyone expected. For many iPhone 4S owners Siri is a gimmick to show off at a party, and though a useful concept on paper, its a novelty that's rarely used. But if Apple hopes to revolutionize another product set like it did for phones (iPhone) and tablets (iPad), it is depending on Siri. And unless she becomes the next big household "name" from Cupertino, it won't.

If Apple doesn't have widespread Siri adoption by the time it unveils its television set (not to be confused with its set-top box, the AppleTV), it will have to fallback on other "innovative" features yet-to-be-named. And who knows if those will pan out?

We've already seen a few un-Jobs-like decisions seep through the cracks (i.e. the new AppleTV interface). That same day we learned that the iPad 3 was actually just the "new" iPad -- departing from the numerical product release system used in the Jobs era. And these new Siri commercials starring Samuel L. Jackson and Zooey Deschanel are no different. Apple needs Sam and Zooey to sell Siri. And they'll probably need a bigger celebrity army than that. The only question now is, who do you think we'll see in the next Siri ad?

Dr Garage MD

Just as Web MD is the Dr. Gregory House of internet diagnostic tools for human health; there should be a Garage MD for diagnosing car troubles. And, there should be an app for that.

Imagine this, a web-based tool that can be accessed via a computer browser, mobile browser, or mobile app that takes all of your car's symptoms and diagnoses the problem for you. Or even better, listens to your car sounds (i.e. Shazam) and can tell you exactly what is wrong. How awesome would that be?

I honestly hope someone steals my idea and makes it happen, they don't even have to give me any credit, I just want the app to exist and work properly.

Update: But if you want to throw some cash my way I am NOT closing the door on the idea.

If you could fly...

... It wouldn't be nearly as cool as teleportation. Sure, the idea of soaring like a bird is neat. And it certainly sounds wonderful to never have to sit next to that smelly obese man on the plane, fight over the arm rest, and awkwardly squeeze by him to go to the bathroom. But teleportation is one step better.

Just think about all the time you spend travelling. On average, Americans now spend more than 100 hours per year commuting to and from work. Add to that the time you spend driving the store, movie theater, and restaurants; flying on vacation; and even the time walking to the mailbox and you begin to understand the value of quicker modes of transportation. Well nothing is faster than teleportation.

Yet, more often than not, the ability to fly beats out teleporting in super power surveys. In a recent poll by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, 16% of U.S. residents stated they'd want to fly -- while only 11% said they wished they could teleport. Millennials responded similarly, 22% and 18% respectively.

I'm not surprised. But I am disappointed. So now I am wondering, what super power would you most like to have?