Introducing #CROchat Every Thursday on Twitter

Time: 1pm-2pm EST, every Thursday
Location: Twitter, just follow the #CROchat hashtag

You know that conversion optimization would greatly help your online efforts, but don’t know where to start? This is your chance to get expert feedback from authorities in the field. Don’t miss out and I’ll see you there!

The Popularity Contest That Is Now Twitter

Just like any real-life social scene there will always be the annoying boys & girls who feel it their life mission to be “popular”. In Twitter this means getting as many followers as possible. Somehow they derive satisfaction from knowing that thousands of people are aware of who their favorite character is on The Hills or how much they hate going to work on Mondays.

To these people I say “Quit following me!” Your tweets are worthless to an exponential degree. We have no common interests. I don’t want to learn how to make money in my pajamas working from home. I don’t want to join your MLM company. And I know that in 3 days you’ll unfollow me because I had the audacity to not follow you back. The nerve!

Who I Do Want To Follow

As I’ve gotten more and more followers I have become more selective in who I follow. I want relationships and engagement. If I met you in person I would want to know at least one thing about you (that isn’t common knowledge) so we could have a conversation. Common hobbies, work interests or a random funny link. Something! Also, I love following people who @ me. I appreciate the fact they went out of their way to initiate a conversation so there is a surefire way to get me to follow you (but make it good).

Don’t misunderstand, I love my 800+ followers. I try every day to tweet something interesting and valuable. I know it won’t be interesting or valuable to everyone, but I guarantee it will be interesting and valuable to someone. So if you find me interesting I would love to have you follow me. If I find you interesting I will be happy to follow you too.

My Friend

Last night I was chatting with a friend on Facebook. Pretty typical stuff about work, life, etc. When we were talking about her job she mentioned that she was looking for a better job but felt like she couldn’t find much out there. I could have offered a few consoling words and left it at that, but instead I thought “Hmmm. What can I do to help?”

My Network

I don’t mean to brag, but I realize that with just over 850 followers on Twitter I have more than the average bear. Amongst those is a cool guy who I know works in PR. I send over a DM and ask him if he knows about anyone looking for an ambitious, young PR person. (Keep in mind that the discussion with my friend and the Twitter DMs are happening simultaneously.) A couple minutes later I get a DM back asking for her resume that he can send along to a couple people. I hit my friend on Facebook chat and she emails me her resume. I forward it along and within just a few minutes her resume is in the hands of a well-connected PR guy who’s looking to pass it around to see if there’s any interest.

Okay, this story doesn’t have a happy ending yet and in no way do I want anyone to feel I’m showing off. This experience just reinforced a very simple principle I’ve been thinking about lately. The quickest way for us to get out of this recession is if we help each other out. Everyone has skills and connections, we just need to use them more often to help others. It can be as simple as getting a resume to new contacts or as complicated as setting up a non-profit. So what are you doing to help people out?

How Did It Go Wrong?

I now cringe while booting up my TweetDeck each Friday knowing that I will be deluged for the next few hours by a constant stream of worthless #followfriday recommendations. You know what I’m talking about. 140 characters worth of @RandomNewFollower @MyBuddy @ClientTwitterAccount @Girlfriend/BoyfriendWhoSucksAtTwitter followed by/preceded by #followfriday with the hope of pumping up the follower count of the aforementioned Tweeple.

But what is wrong with that you say? These are my friends/clients/followers and I really do think you should follow them.

Okay.

Great.

But why? Why should I follow these people? I know you only have 140 characters, but throw me a bone here. Tell me that @RandomNewFollower is an awesome mountain biker. Tell me that @MyBuddy is the best Guitar Hero drummer you have ever seen. Tell me that @GirlfriendWhoSucksAtTwitter is really into sewing. That way I know that I want to follow @RandomNewFollower because we share an interest in mountain biking and I don’t want to follow @MyBuddy or @GirlfriendWhoSucksAtTwitter. I’m sorry if it hurts your feelings or hurts their feelings when I don’t follow them. Get over it.

How To Fix It

All I ask is for you to put a little thought into your #followfriday tweet and tell me why I should follow the Twitterer you’re recommending. Allow me to demonstrate – “@BuyPlumbing to get great deals on faucets, toilets, sinks & tubs. #followfriday”. See, pretty easy. Not to mention that the followers your friends get will already have a starting point for their conversation. Now go, and sin no more!

Hook A Twitta’ Up

Before I know it I get a DM from these guys congratulating me on being one of their 50 first followers and to send them my address for some free jerky. Hey, I love jerky and I love free, so I responded right away. My expectation was to get a little 1 or 2 ounce package, snarf it down and be happy. However, @ObertoAlpha doesn’t roll that way. They believe it’s “Go big or go home.” They live like an Alpha and this is what they actually sent.



The butcher paper packaging gave the feeling that you were about to grill up two fresh steaks from the local butcher and it wasn’t far from the truth.



Inside there were five 3.5 ounce packages of Oberto beef jerky in four different flavors, two coasters and a note explaining what it means to “Eat Like An Alpha”.

From Follower To Rabid Fan

This promotion was successful for many reasons. First, I’m writing this post! They could have made me jump through hoops or do a little dance to get free jerky, but they didn’t (though I would have done it). They gave it away and built the relationship. Second, they have an entire mini-site built around the “Eat Like An Alpha” concept. Lastly, they have continued to engage me with the same voice ever since. The messaging is always very alpha-like and I hit them back with very alpha-like replies.

If you’re sick of hearing about @ComcastCares and @DellOutlet as the models of successful business Twittering, give @ObertoAlpha a look because they were the ones who turned a follower into a fanatic.