Your tweets turned into... Online newspaper!

Here is my little discovery of the week - a website called Twylah. Currently in beta (I guess I was lucky to get an invite very quick), the service allows you to create "custom brand pages for your tweets," which is pretty accurate.

What you get after receiving an invite and signing up with you Twitter account is a dedicated page, in a trendy newspaper-like layout, divided into sections based on the most popular keywords in your tweets. Just look into mine to get a better understanding of what I'm talking about.

Clicking on a tweet opens a preview with suggestions - "Related Tweets" - which is pretty engaging as well.

All in all, so far it looks like a promising and essential tool for any brand or celebrity, active on Twitter.

I didn't ever think that my stream of random tweets could start making sense so quickly.

Filed under  //  service   social   twitter  
Posted by Andrew Apanov 

40 Tried And Tested Twitter Tips

FINDING FOLLOWERS

  1. Engage, engage, engage. Repeat.
  2. Want to know how not to get somebody to follow you? Ask them.
  3. If you tweet it, they will come. Behave in the manner with which you wish to be noticed, and write about the subjects you wish to discuss. (Or do the opposite and crash and burn.)
  4. All the following systems, Twitter trains and that kind of thing are complete garbage. Don’t waste your time or (in some cases) money. However, mass following people does work. Assuming, that is, you’re happy with a large but empty network of eternal strangers, none of whom are paying the slightest bit of attention to you. Ever. Hey – at least you’re all like-minded.
  5. Strive for 100 true fans, and be remarkable. The rest will take care of itself.

TWITTER ETIQUETTE

  1. Avoid text speak – if you can’t squeeze a proper sentence into 140 characters (or, ideally, less), try, try again.
  2. Find the balance between being overly negative and happy clappy trappy. Neither camp is enormously popular except with others like them. Don’t be somebody you’re not, but if the real you is a jerk, a sap or a fraud, you should probably work on it.
  3. It goes without saying, but trolls, bullies, spammers and stalkers are not welcome. (Try MySpace.)
  4. Act as if.
  5. Don’t send people automated ‘welcome!’ direct messages when they start following you. We hate that stuff. Again, never automate anything.

Wanted to share this post I tweeted about last week once again. If you use Twitter, the full article is a must-read.

Filed under  //  management   social   tips   twitter  
Posted by Andrew Apanov 

Getting the most out of Twittering with Buffer

This is a post I sent out to my adorable newsletter subscribers a couple weeks back. Wanted to share it with the world, since Buffer actually saves me a lot of time each day.

Twitter can be awesome. Twitter can be dull. Twitter can be exhausting and confusing. How do musicians and brands make the most out of this essential social network, not spending hours on it each day?

I’ll share one of the tips on how I do it.

My little secret is a service called Buffer, and for me it’s one of the best free Twitter services out there.

Here’s how Buffer creators describe the app:

Work out all your tweets at one point in time during the day. Then fill up your Buffer with your tweets and Buffer schedules them for you. Simply keep that Buffer topped up and you will then be tweeting consistently all day round, all week long.

Being more specific, here’s how to start saving time with your Twitter promotions, and reaching as many fans as possible in the next ten minutes:

  1. Sign Up here (there are paid plans, but the default free one is absolutely satisfying).
  2. Install a plugin for your browser at the Goodies tab.
  3. Go to Settings and choose at what time of the day your Buffer tweets will be sent out.
  4. Once you are on any web page, hit the bookmarklet / plugin button (or press Alt + b) and add to Buffer either a link to the page you are viewing, or any message you want to Tweet.

That’s it, your Tweets will be published at the set time, making your Twitter activity look way more systematic (leads to more followers and retweets).

If you want more, here’s a decent Buffer review I just found. If you decide to give the service a try, sign up here (and get a free space for an extra Tweet in your Buffer).

If you’ve tried it already, let me know in the comments!

Filed under  //  apps   life hack   management   social   twitter  
Posted by Andrew Apanov 

SoundCloud Integrates with Foursquare, Facebook and Songkick

The lovely SoundCloud audio platform has announced this week a series of new integrations and features aimed at providing further sharing opportunities for sound creators. From the press release:

"From today, SoundCloud’s more than three million registered users can share their sounds on Foursquare, with the option to ‘shout out’ their recordings when they check-in using the free SoundCloud iPhone or Android app. They will also be able to sign-up or login using Facebook connect on SoundCloud.com.

"For it’s core community of musicians, SoundCloud has also integrated with concert tracking site, Songkick, enabling artists to easily add their upcoming gig dates directly onto their SoundCloud profile and keep all their tracks and tours in one place."

Additional new features include: 

Android. Track commenting and sharing to Twitter and Facebook for Android users, previously only available for the iPhone; as well as two bespoke SoundCloud widgets for the Android homescreen 

iPhone. Followers and followings can now be tracked using the iPhone app 

Mobile Web. For non-smartphone users, the SoundCloud mobile site has now been fully optimized for mobile browsers 

Desktop. Sharing capabilities to social networks are now also available on the Mac desktop app

From next week SoundCloud users will also be able to sign up or login via Facebook on SoundCloud iPhone, Android and Mac desktop apps.

Solid stuff!

Filed under  //  service   social  
Posted by Andrew Apanov