Tweetworks

Ever wonder how a really cool service went from an idea to a reality? Me too. Last week I had the privilege to see Roger Wu of Klickable.TV speak at Social Media Breakfast in Boston. His product is awesome but his story captivated me more and I had to get the rest of it. So here it is.

Marketing related forums are growing on Tweetworks. In this episode, Mike Langford takes you through a small sample of some of the groups and how people are using them.

Note: You can be in episode 27 if you come to tonight’s @WBUR tweetup. Tweet @MikeLangford if you get lost or can’t find us.

Search Tweetworks for Marketing groups and here’s what you’ll see. Results!

Featured Groups:

1. AdWords (created by @DavidCoveney) – AdWords Marketing – Find a Professional – Share Marketing Ideas – Ask Questions
2. AttractionMarketing (created by @ProfitMinute) – For Small Business owners looking to ATTRACT more clients
3. B2BMarketing (created by @B2BSpecialist ) – Conversations about…well….b2b marketing!
4. BookMarketingOnline (created by @ZimblerMiller ) – Share book marketing info with other writers or publishers.
5. CollaborativeGrowthNetwork (created by @PC4Media) – CGN is a network of business owners and marketing professionals working collaboratively to grow their respective businesses.
6. DirectMarketingAssociation-Atlanta (created by @KFranco1) – The Direct Marketing Association of Atlanta is the leading trade association of businesses and nonprofit organizations using and supporting direct marketing tools and techniques. The Power of Direct. Relevance. Responsibility. Results.
7. EbayCauseMarketingAuctions (created by @ericgazin) – News and links to the latest eBay celebrity, cause marketing, and charity auctions from Auction Cause
8. GreenMarketing (created by @sribeiro) – For professionals interested in green marketing strategies
9. InboundMarketing101 (created by @JustinLevy) – Let’s chat about everything related to inbound marketing, PR, social media and anything else that comes up!
10. Marketing4Coaches (created by @Life_Enthusiast) – For Coaches who are playing in their marketing and want to share tools, resources, strategies etc…
11. MobileMarketing (created by @IAW1) – Discuss mobile marketing? And someone PLEASE create a Starbucks locator app for the iPhone!

In Episode 20, Mike Langford took you through two examples of how business owners can use Tweetworks to engage with their target market more effectively than using only standard Twitter clients. In this episode he encourages business users to participate in groups beyond the obvious. He uses the example of @BurnTees, who sells T-Shirts, and points out that it would be wise for him to participate in discussion in groups where the other participants are likely to wear t-shirts frequently. In short, talk about things other than t-shirts. Talk about what your customer cares about and the opportunities to sell tees will present themselves.

Mike also announces some powerful new enhancements such as search and key words for groups. While he originally thought these features would be available today, they will not be installed until Monday February 2nd. Ugh! It’s tough to install new stuff right before the SuperBowl.

And of course, there was Mike’s special “How you doin’ Killer?” to @pprlisa.

Featured Groups:

1. Superbowl-XLIII (created by @Loreen72) – Live tweet the Superbowl without hashtags.
2. Foodies – (created by @chrisandrew) – “What munchies do you have planned for the Super Bowl?” asks @alangford. Drop by the thread and share yoru favorite SuperBowl fare.
3. ScottBorasIsTheDevil (created by  @chadnorthrup) -The Super Agent is holding up the resigning of Red Sox Captain Jason Varitek. Chad is right, Boras is the devil.

How can you use Tweetworks for business?

In episode 20 of Tweetworks TV Mike Langford takes you through a few examples of how two new users, @CoffeeCupNews and @BurnTees, can leverage the topical groups on Tweetworks to engage their target market. The most important thing to realize Mike says, is that the conversational focus of Tweetworks means that your target market is self identifying and making easier for you to find them and interact in ways that are relevant to your business. While listening on Twitter and building a big following can be good, going right to the conversations that meaningful to your customer is much smarter and efficient. It is also much more likely that your message will be heard because Tweetworks group toon out the noise.

If you are a marketer or business owner Mike recommends that you get involved in leading the conversations on the relevant Tweetworks groups now while they in their early stages. Establish yourself as a thought leader and go to person by tweeting every day in the groups that matter to you most.

Featured Groups:

1. Coffee (created by @CoffeeCupNews) – Do you enjoy a nice cup of coffee or are you raging caffeine fiend who’ll do almost anything for a fix? In either case tweet it up about favorite roast, coffee shop or use this group a support network for your addiction. Jason was brilliant to not name this group CoffeeCupNews and instead opt for naming it just Coffee. It is a much broader term and should allow for a much larger audience.
2. T-ShirtJunkee (created by @MikeLangford) – If you think collared shirts are evil then this group is for you. One of the longest threads (funny) in Tweetworks history was started by @Pleasedressme (@garyvee and @ajv’s T-Shirt joint). The show sort of evolved into a Gary Vaynerchuk infomercial with so many references but the examples worked well. BurnTees has an opportunity, if he is smart about his use of Tweetworks, to engage with the printed tee wearing public on the same level of PleaseDressMe.

Mike also mentioned that @chrisandrew is coming to Boston in February. A Chacarero trip is in order for all you foodies. The BBQ Chicken, extra hot, ranks as the number one sandwich on the Mike Langford list of World’s Greatest Sandwiches. Would you like to join us?

Despite the down economy, the green movement is still very much alive and the groups profiled by Mike Langford in episode 18 are a testament to the excitement in the air about making the world a better place.

Special thanks to @Alexa for prompting the idea to profile the green group in this episode.

Mike also answers a community question submitted by Sean “Just Sean” who asked “How exactly are you planning to get more active users?” Sean noticed that the group activity is relatively slow on Tweetworks. This is natural for a site that is only 3 months old and still developing it’s feature set. But there are a few things the user can do to help increase activity in his favorite groups and Mike takes you through a few.

HubSpot’s “State of the Twitterspere” report highlights that 70% of all Twitter users joined Twitter in 2008. That’s huge growth, Mike says “Twitter was a ghost town in 2007″ so we should expect some ramp up time for Tweetworks as well.

Featured Groups:

1. GreenLifeSmartLife (created by @newscaster) – Thought exchange for how families can make “their” environment better for “the” environment by making sustainable choices in their home, their technology, their food and their life.
2. GreenMarketing (created by @sribeiro) – Marketing green products in a tough economic environment where consumers are cost conscious presents many challenges. Connect with other green marketers and share tips and tricks on how to sell green in a down economy.
3. GreenMedia (created by @dcarli) – Media is where the message meets the customer. Are you a media producer for green products or causes? This is a group for you.

The new tag line is here! The new tag line is here!

Tweetworks TV: Talking the Talk!

You use Tweetworks to talk about the stuff you like to talk about with other people who like to talk about the same stuff. In short, you want to find community. Episode 10 is all about community.

There are two basic elements of community:

1. A common interest – This is what first comes to mind when people think of community. “People who have something in common.” is a typical answer to the question “What is community?” But, being a bald guy in a room full of bald guys isn’t enough to have community.
2. A conversation – A community becomes a community when we commune or communicate. Conversation is key and that is why we have structured Tweetworks to maximize the power of conversations.

Groups Featured:

1. WineTweets: Big thanks to @RobertDwyer of Wellesley Wine Press for letting us know about the discount to the Boston Wine Expo.
2. CatLovers: A purrrrrfect example of a leisure/entertainment community. People love their kitties. As you can see @JourneyCoach able to find and interact with others interested in kitty talk pretty easily.
3. BTTradeSpace: Some communities are built around business interests. @BTTradeSpace set up this group as an extension of its arleady vibrant community.
4. PanMass: A good friend to Tweetworks, @DougH is riding in the Pan Mass Challenge again this year. We set up this group for him and all other Pan Mass participants and supporters. What a great idea for a mission/cause community. Riders and supporters can tweet about raising money, training ideas and sometimes just cheer each other on.
5. SM4SC: @GradonTripp is truly onto something amazing with the Social Media for Social Change group. The mission is simple, pick a cause and put the full power of your social media might and muscle behind it. Join the group and see how you can make a difference in your neck of the woods.