Update: Want to get the most out of Twitter?

follow Darren Rowse or visit www.twitip.com

Article: I highly recommend this article by Jodi Mardesich (Inc.). I think it’s important to understand the value and limitations of social networking tools with respect to event marketing. Many people cram event promo down their friends digital throats and that is the exact opposite of how Web 2.0 works. Authentic conversations and newsy content sharing is at the heart of this medium; event producers need to respect their networks. Microblogs should not be used to make up for a lack of demand.

Now, when it works it’s pretty cool. Here’s a good example: NaturalPod and Mama Renew blogged about an upcoming conference their participating in Healthy Families Conference and they posed a question to their customers and readers. Based on the comments/tweets/posts they awarded a prize (a free event pass). This is great. It’s authentic, action oriented, it rewards participation, and targets an audience who is 100% in the target demographic. My name is Corwin Hiebert and I approve this message.

I’ve posted a snippet of Jodi’s article below.

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Microblogging tools like Twitter are enabling direct communication with customers. Should you be developing a Twitter strategy?

“Wow. It’s not even 9 a.m. and I got all my required things done for the day. Maybe I’ll go back to bed.“ Rich Brooks, president of Flyte New Media, a Web design and Internet marketing firm in Portland, Maine, “tweeted” that note in mid August. One of his 300 or so “followers” on Twitter, a social networking service, messaged him back, asking what made him so productive. “My secret is Pleasant Morning Buzz coffee from Whole Foods. Damn, now I have to kill you,” Brooks wrote.

Later that day, Slaton Carter, a social media coordinator for Whole Foods Market, the natural foods retailer based in Austin, messaged Brooks. His unsolicited missive, chosen as “Tweet of the Day,” had earned him a $25 gift card.

“Who says Twittering doesn’t pay?” Brooks jokes.

Welcome to microblogging, a new form of Internet communication that has interesting business possibilities. Continue reading at: http://technology.inc.com/networking/articles/200809/twitter.html