Twitter According To J-Mo (Some are not gonna like this)

[Jason Moffatt]

I've been getting asked a ton lately...

"JMo, why don't you follow me on Twitter?"

Truth is, I don't follow alot of my own friends. However, i do still communicate with people and do keep tabs on some that I don't follow as well.

I understand my way of using Twitter is not the only way. However, I do think it's the smartest way for long term branding, and longevity. And I also think that the way 90% of marketers use it is very impersonal, and is about the equivalent of a link farm or reciprocal linking. There is little authenticity in it for many marketers, and it has just become another spam tool or way to try and hock some stuff.

I also think it's fine to put in affiliate URL's. If you give enough value, your "true followers" will gladly check out what you're recommending. Of course, many Twitter Nazi's will unfollow you as you've broken their Twitter etiquitte rules. Whatever, screw those guys! If someone is going to unfollow you for recommending a resource you believe in them, I wouldn't give it much worry.

I'm all about building "True Followers", not psuedo stat increasing.

Anyhow, I know not everyone is going to see eye to eye on this, but I've been getting asked a lot, so I've replied in the best way I know how...

A honest video.

See below...

YouTube - Unfollow Jason Moffatt On Twitter!

[Jeremy Kelsall]

lmao - Again, one of the most entertaining videos I have ever seen!

I think you hit a lot of good stuff there though...I'm trying to get into twitter, but find it unpleasant because of the way that a lot of others use it.

[Steven Wagenheim]

Jason, you're priceless.

When you're right, you're right.

There's nothing else to say.

[JamieBing]

Jason... I get more entertained every time I see one of your crazy flipped out vids.

You make an excellent point... If you followed 3k hits you would never make a dime!

[Simon_Sezs]

Absolutely priceless man. This is the reason why I don't twit as a marketer.

[Ryan Orrico]

awesome dude

[Dylan Jones]

Good video man! I might try twitter - I never actually used it yet, but I have some friends who are not really tech savy at all, and their using twitter! So i guess its not only for the techies anymore.

[mjbmedia]

Jeez you lost weight since the last vid, all that healthy eating and crap ;-)

[Corwinnx]

ROFLMOA----- Dude, ya got balls. I don't twitter probably becuase I don't cotton to the idea of being a 'twit' but hey, that's just me. Hell of a great usage of negative phrasing though. Nicely done.

-Marcus.

[SeanIM]

Nice vid man...the sound effects were groovy.

Concept is sensible foo shoo.

However, a follow-on discussion could be...how can someone personally reach out and connect with their 'large list' since really we're just talking about a communication medium here. I think some people want to treat it as their list, and some prefer as their personal/private interaction medium.


Every glass has it's purpose:

eg; a few friends or associates on skype, customers in a help desk, prospects on your 'list', etc




PS: What's this Ghandi Diet you've referring to btw? vegan? raw?

.

[J.Knight]

Funny dude...

I didn't think to check your stats, but did your little competition boost your following at all?

JK

[LonNaylor]

I'm with ya Jason!

And speaking of Twitter Nazis...how about this?

YouTube - No Twitter for Hitler

[danhughes]

Wrong... Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Social Media, as it's name suggests, is... *social*. Can you imagine walking into an office and only talking *at* your co-workers or customers, not to them or with them? Or dare I say, listening to them? It might work in the short term, but pretty quickly you're gonna fade into the background.

The web 2.0 explosion is based on the very genuine human desire for connection, and belonging. The only difference is that we can now do in in our underwear. In 2008 we are all told, "We appreciate your business", "have a nice day" and "have I answered everything to your satisfaction" so many times each day, that it is now just noise. That means, to express that feeling, or any other, you have to be hyper-authentic.

As you have said, the very reason you have seen the success you have is because of your unique and authentic style of video. If you had shared the very same information in a polished / produced way, it would have probably gone by unnoticed. The YouTube response video of you playing guitar and thanking the man that taught you, screamed authentic, and that's why it was successful.

Twitter isn't YouTube. No matter how it's branded, it isn't really blogging. It's a lot more like a really big AOL chatroom... without the porn. In other words, it's a two way street. Your not a leader by standing in the corner and shouting, but by inciting and encouraging conversation.

Following someone is really just an offer of a hand shake. Most people who see someone offering them a hand respond with theirs. Shaking someones hand does not mean you're going to have a deep and meaningful relationship with them, it just means you are open to developing one.

I follow about 1000 people. About 1500 people follow me. Every time someone follows me, I take a look at their profile and their history and see if they are likely someone I'm going to have some common interest with. Just like in real life, I don't talk to everyone all the time. Some people I may only say 1 or 2 things to. Other people I have got to know really very well.

Having 3000 follows and only following 50 tells me this. The 50 or so people are the only ones you are interested in developing a personal relationship with. The 3000 followers are your mailing list. It follows the traditional numbers game style of marketing. If you share your message with X number of people, X% will respond. With tracking and testing you can improve the response rate, but you can't improve the relationship.

If MC Hammer, Brittney Spears and Shaq have time to talk to me, so do you. If you really don't have the time, do what Seth Godin does and just don't Tweet. I appreciated hearing his authentic reason as to why he doesn't use Twitter.

No, I am not going to unfollow you. I've seen your profile and read your history. You have said some things that I have found interesting, or useful or thought provoking. I encourage you to do the same with me. twitter.com/dan_hughes - Come by and say hi some time.

[Dana_W]

When I see someone who has 5000 followers and follows a dozen or so people, my perception is that this person wants everyone to hear what they have to say - but doesn't feel like listening to what most of their followers have to say. I don't knowingly follow anyone who isn't following me back.

And of course I don't expect to be able to carry on personal conversations with everyone who I follow. But I do jump in to Twitter several times a day and interact with as many people as I can. I like the social aspect of it, I get a lot of business from it, and I'm forming several JVs as a result. I don't believe I would accomplish that if I only followed back a special select few dozen people out of the thousands that follow me.

[Thomas Belknap]

Do you have conferences in the bathroom as well.

[Steve Peters Benn]

Well said Dana, I think the rules change depending on how "desperate" others are to follow you. Someone like the right honourable J-Mo is not really playing in the same league as a lot of other Tw-tters.

[Thomas Belknap]

Originally Posted by Steve Peters

Well said Dana, I think the rules change depending on how "desperate" others are to follow you. Someone like the right honourable J-Mo is not really playing in the same league as a lot of other Tw-tters.

What league is that? It is twitter we are talking about right? I may need to run the video again to make sure it is twitter he is talking about.


I didn't know there was leagues in twitter. lol

[Alice Seba]

Jason, do you have your Twitter account set to see @ replies from everyone? I must admit, I unfollowed you recently because I on several occasions I spoke directly to you and even asked you questions, but you never replied.

Now, I don't expect everyone to follow me...that's totally cool, but for me it's pointless to follow someone if they completely ignore me. Waaaa! :-( But seriously, it's a waste of my energy to to keep talking to someone if they're not listening.

I don't take the stance Dan takes. It's too extreme. I follow over 1000 because I used just follow most people back all the time and I rarely seek out people to follow (Jason - you were one of the few that I did seek out, interestingly enough). Anyway, it's become too much for me and I actually regret that I started by following just about everyone back.

Now I simply add people as they engage me in a dialogue or people that I already know. It's nothing personal to anyone. If they want to talk to me, they can @ me and I'll pay attention.

Just my take on it and of course, everyone can do whatever they like. It's the great thing about Twitter. We can follow who we want and get rid of anyone we don't want to follow. So when I share an opinion, it's just a reflection of what I prefer on my Twitter screen and I know other people feel differently.

Alice

P.S. Don't ignore my post here, Moffatt! My ego will completely shatter if you act like I don't exist once again. Hehehehe.

[Dana_W]

Alice, seriously, I had no idea and I feel badly. I try to reply to everyone who says anything to me! I may do it in a DM if a whole bunch of people have tweeted to me, just so I don't hog up the Twitter home page by replying to 10 people one after the other, but I always reply.

I do apologize. As far as I know I have Twitter set up so I can see @replies from everyone, I don't think there's any other way to use it.

Follow me back - I will pay better attention!

Originally Posted by Alice Seba

Jason, do you have your Twitter account set to see @ replies from everyone? I must admit, I unfollowed you recently because I on several occasions I spoke directly to you and even asked you questions, but you never replied.

Now, I don't expect everyone to follow me...that's totally cool, but for me it's pointless to follow someone if they completely ignore me. Waaaa! :-( But seriously, it's a waste of my energy to to keep talking to someone if they're not listening.

I don't take the stance Dan takes. It's too extreme. I follow over 1000 because I used just follow most people back all the time and I rarely seek out people to follow (Jason - you were one of the few that I did seek out, interestingly enough). Anyway, it's become too much for me and I actually regret that I started by following just about everyone back.

Now I simply add people as they engage me in a dialogue or people that I already know. It's nothing personal to anyone. If they want to talk to me, they can @ me and I'll pay attention.

Just my take on it and of course, everyone can do whatever they like. It's the great thing about Twitter. We can follow who we want and get rid of anyone we don't want to follow. So when I share an opinion, it's just a reflection of what I prefer on my Twitter screen and I know other people feel differently.

Alice

P.S. Don't ignore my post here, Moffatt! My ego will completely shatter if you act like I don't exist once again. Hehehehe.

[Dana_W]

Originally Posted by Steve Peters

Well said Dana, I think the rules change depending on how "desperate" others are to follow you. Someone like the right honourable J-Mo is not really playing in the same league as a lot of other Tw-tters.

Yes, once someone has established a name for themselves in internet marketing, a lot of people will follow them just to see what they have to say.

But Willie Crawford, John Reese, Joel Comm, a bunch of other IMers - they follow me back, and they follow lots of other people as well. And they interact, and reply to people, and I think it benefits them.

[Alice Seba]

Originally Posted by Dana_W

Alice, seriously, I had no idea and I feel badly. I try to reply to everyone who says anything to me! I may do it in a DM if a whole bunch of people have tweeted to me, just so I don't hog up the Twitter home page by replying to 10 people one after the other, but I always reply.

I do apologize. As far as I know I have Twitter set up so I can see @replies from everyone, I don't think there's any other way to use it.

Follow me back - I will pay better attention!

LOL Dana...is your name Jason? Read my post above. :-)

You can set Twitter to only show replies from your followers if you wish and that's what I had the feeling Jason had it set at...or he was ignoring me. LOL.

For the record, I follow you Dana. That never changed.

[Alice Seba]

Originally Posted by alliance1

That makes sense, otherwise you are just blindly becoming his " stool pigeon" while he enjoys a star status.

stool pigeon definition | Dictionary.com

Huh?

Alice

[quiescen]

If you want to see someone who really knows how to use Twitter, check out EZA owner Chris Knight's page at Twitter / ChrisKnight This guy gets it.

[Steven Wagenheim]

You know, I watched Jason's video and I said to myself, "Makes perfect
sense." How can you possibly follow thousands of people? I can just about
keep up with the few who I am following me now. And mind you, I'm not
very comfortable with Twitter yet.

And yet, I've got these new people following me daily and most of them I
don't even know who they are. Some, I've never seen make one tweet.

And then I started going through some of the people following me to see
when their last tweet was.

Some haven't had one since last year.

Some haven't had any at all.

What's the purpose of following somebody who isn't even around? And if
they are, what are they doing there? I have to even wonder why they're
even following me in the first place.

And then I look at the few who are following me who are sharing pieces
of information that I am finding valuable or helpful, or are just flat out
making me laugh.

These are the people I want to follow and know what they're up to.

And somehow I feel that these folks are in the minority, that just like
everything else, 95% of the folks who sign up for something never use it.

Isn't that really the way it is?

So what's the purpose of having 5,000 people following you or you
following 5,000 people? I honestly don't see the point.

Having said that, I've also listened to the arguments against Jason's
hypothesis. Some actually make some sense to me. It is a social
environment and you do want to leave yourself open to the possibilities.

What if somebody who I don't know, for whatever reason, follows me,
contacts me and it turns out to be a JV that makes us both millions?

Can't happen you say? I've seen crazier things happen.

And what if we just turn out to be good friends who help each other out?

After all, that's how I made a lot of the friends I've made at this forum.
Had I not come here, I'd never have the relationships that I have now.

But you see, that's the difference between the forum "herd" and the
Twitter "herd".

Here, there is no official follow or unfollow, though you can choose to
actually ignore people. But those you don't ignore, you see everything
that they post.

But at Twitter, it's a little different. There is that official "follow me" thing
that quite honestly, I don't get. Why can't we just see everything that's
going on?

Well, after seeing the speed at which Tweets go by, I can understand
why that wouldn't work. I walk away for 10 minutes and I miss two pages
of stuff...and that's just with the few people I'm following.

I honestly don't have the answer to this interesting thread. I see both
sides of it. For practicality reasons, and because I am so busy I am hardly
on Twitter anyway, I probably lean more towards Jason's way of thinking.
But I can understand why people might feel differently.

One thing I can say is this. Everybody who has sent me a direct DM
asking me a question, I've responded. But that's easy to do with only 300
followers. What do I do if it ever reaches 3,000?

I can see where Twitter can become quite unmanageable, especially for
somebody who doesn't spend a lot of time there. Right now, it's all I can
handle and I'm just beginning.

Anyway, that's my take on this whole thing.

Time will tell how I will ultimately feel about it and whether or not I will
even continue with it.

The next year should be an interesting one to say the least.

[Adam Carn]

Cool Video Jason, it actually made me laugh! I understand what you're saying but I actually follow everyone back. I do that for two reasons. 1, it feels like the right thing to do. 2, I can actually see what everyone is talking about and join in when I like. This is a great way to meet new people and build relationships.

Alice, Jason does actually reply when he can, he's replied to me a few times and not responded a few times too but that's understandable. He's a popular guy. I'm sure his DM box is filled with gazillion messages and he'd rather go surfing than read them all lol.

Actually people like John Reese, Frank Kern, Mike Filsaime don't respond much either but again it's understandable, they're busy people with a lot of fans.

Adam

[entrepenerd]

So funny that this all came down today. I actually won the J-Mo Twitter trivia contest (yay! for me), and have been following for quite some time. J-Mo direct messaged me on Twitter to let me know what to do and I couldn't respond back because he's not following me . That was a bit of a pain, but luckily good old email is a great fallback.

I have to 100% agree with Jason on this. I don't see how anyone can follow thousands of people and get any benefit out of it. I follow 29 people right now and that is almost too much. I also have a little over 100 people following me which I truly appreciate. But, I also have to question how many of those are following me just because they are trying to game the Twitter system to get more followers for themselves. I believe that many of my followers are truly interested (even though I often wonder why), but I also know that many of them couldn't care less.

I personally get more OUT of Twitter by following those that I'm truly interested in than I ever will put IN to Twitter by tweeting myself. I hope that my tweets are helpful or at least interesting, but like Jason said I think it's more important to only follow those that you are truly interested in, and get rid of the ego stat chasing.

But, as the old saying goes, different strokes for different folks.


PS: Thanks J-Mo for the hookup for the trivia contest. You rock!

[Adam Carn]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

Why can't we just see everything that's
going on?

Hi Steve, I recently noticed that if you click the "Everyone" link on the right hand side navigation on Twitter, you see tweets from ALL Twitter members. But when you refresh, you miss about 10 million pages lol.

Adam

[Dana_W]

Originally Posted by Alice Seba

LOL Dana...is your name Jason? Read my post above. :-)

You can set Twitter to only show replies from your followers if you wish and that's what I had the feeling Jason had it set at...or he was ignoring me. LOL.

For the record, I follow you Dana. That never changed.

Oops.

Er, yes, my name is Jason - where in the name Dana W can you NOT see the word Jason??

I feel much better now! I was worried that maybe I was missing people's comments to me.

[esr]

OMG! What an awesome video!!! Not only did I laugh my ass off, but you made me realize that I'm not as clueless as I thought.

I kept thinking "why am I not getting it? Why is everyone using this Twitter, and understanding it, but I just see a bunch of junk that disturbs my while I'm working?"

Thank you so much Jason. Again, awesome video!!!

[Alice Seba]

Originally Posted by Adam Carn

Alice Jason does actually reply when he can, he's replied to me a few times and not responded a few times too but that's understandable. He's a popular guy. I'm sure his DM box is filled with gazillion messages and he'd rather go surfing than read them all lol.

Actually people like John Reese, Frank Kern, Mike Filsaime don't respond much either but again it's understandable, they're busy people with a lot of fans.

Adam

I'm not upset about it. I'm just saying that if I try to engage someone in a conversation a few times and there's no response, it's not a good use of my time. It's a waste of my energy to be one part of the conversation when I could be talking to someone else who is listening.

It doesn't matter to me that Jason didn't reply. I believe we are actually friends...it's all good. I was more wondering if he had his @ replies turned to friends only because there was no response, even when I asked a question. And if he has it set that way, there is REALLY no point at all in talking on Twitter with someone who doesn't follow you and has that setting.

Interestingly enough, from what I've seen - Reese and Joel Comm are very responsive. Frank is a snob and am not sure about Filsaime (not sure if I follow him).

I hope my post didn't paint me out to be a baby because I don't expect a reply to every @ post and nor do I give them to each and everyone. However, if there seems to be a pattern, I ask direct questions and still feel like I'm talking to myself...I gotta turn off the one-sided conversation.

Alice

[Jason Moffatt]

Originally Posted by Alice Seba

Jason, do you have your Twitter account set to see @ replies from everyone? I must admit, I unfollowed you recently because I on several occasions I spoke directly to you and even asked you questions, but you never replied.

Now, I don't expect everyone to follow me...that's totally cool, but for me it's pointless to follow someone if they completely ignore me. Waaaa! :-( But seriously, it's a waste of my energy to to keep talking to someone if they're not listening.

I don't take the stance Dan takes. It's too extreme. I follow over 1000 because I used just follow most people back all the time and I rarely seek out people to follow (Jason - you were one of the few that I did seek out, interestingly enough). Anyway, it's become too much for me and I actually regret that I started by following just about everyone back.

Now I simply add people as they engage me in a dialogue or people that I already know. It's nothing personal to anyone. If they want to talk to me, they can @ me and I'll pay attention.

Just my take on it and of course, everyone can do whatever they like. It's the great thing about Twitter. We can follow who we want and get rid of anyone we don't want to follow. So when I share an opinion, it's just a reflection of what I prefer on my Twitter screen and I know other people feel differently.

Alice

P.S. Don't ignore my post here, Moffatt! My ego will completely shatter if you act like I don't exist once again. Hehehehe.

Alice,

Had I noticed a direct question from you I would surely of replied. You are one of the people who I take the time to read your blog, and value your input and perspective even though it is quite different from mine many times.

Never would I intentionally ignore you.

There were a few weeks where I was backed up with a few hundred emails, twits, PM's, facebooks, and stuff and I'm sure I missed a few and I apologize if that's the case.

However, I do make an attempt to answer my emails, and twits. I do read every @jasonmoffatt I see. I don't reply to every little chit chat. But if someone asks a question I do make a good effort to answer when I can.

Does that mean I answer everyone?

Of course not.

I simple don't have the time to do that all the time. I try, but it's not a guarantee. And considering that people pay up to $500 per hour for my time, I think it's a bit foolish for someone to think that I'm going to drop real world business and answer every single question that comes down the Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, and email pipeline.

If it's Alice Seba, I'd probably do it, but that's because she's very giving of her time and knowledge to people. And she's always been very good to me (even if she does unfollow).

I think to gain someone's time is a privilege. And when you abuse their time, well they go bye bye (kinda like Alice did to me). But to be honest, if I were to start following 500 people I guarantee my time would be wasted with too many things that don't apply to my best interests.

Am I being a Twitter snob?

Maybe.

But I'm a time snob as well. I enjoy my time, and so should each of you. Also, if I'm to follow 500 to 1000 people it takes away from me paying attention to the friends that I actually want to devote my time and interests towards.

Heck, I only follow 50 people and to be honest it's really hard to pay attention to what each one of them is up to. I can only imagine what it's like with 500. I'd be losing money hand over fist getting lost in Twitter land. It's already bad enough as it is.

Anyhow, I was just trying to explain why I don't follow a bunch of people because it's the number one question by far that I've gotten in the last month.

I don't expect anyone to like, or agree with my viewpoints.

But then again, I tend to disagree with marketers on just about everything when it comes to web2.spam, so what's new?

[Adam Carn]

Originally Posted by Alice Seba

I'm not upset about it. I'm just saying that if I try to engage someone in a conversation a few times and there's no response, it's not a good use of my time. It's a waste of my energy to be one part of the conversation when I could be talking to someone else who is listening.

Yeah I totally understand.

Originally Posted by Alice Seba

Interestingly enough, from what I've seen - Reese and Joel Comm are very responsive. Frank is a snob and am not sure about Filsaime (not sure if I follow him)

The only time FK, JR and MF responded to me was after watching these gory videos I did of them.

Frank Kern | John Reese | Mike Filsaime | Yanik Silver

Anyone would respond after watching something like that lol.

Adam

[Thomas Belknap]

I am sorry but I have to laugh at all of this. I have seen quite a few posts on here about Twitter.


I just don't get it. Why do people get so upset about this website. In fact why does it matter at all if someone isn't following me when I followed their postman all around and saw a few sheep driving a van delivering a fruit basket to Dana on Twitter.


I think I need a beer.

[Nightengale]

Interesting thread.

I've done absolutely NO social media at all -- until very recently. I'm on Facebook. But that's it.

I'm not blogging either, but I'm about to start. My web designer is installing a WordPress blog for me as we speak. So I'll be starting a blog shortly.

I'm probably just slow, but I just haven't seen all of the hype in social media like Facebook, My Space, etc. -- or blogs either. My time is very limited and like a lot of Warriors already know, it's SO EASY to waste vast amounts of time on the Internet and get nothing done: checking e-mail, checking your Facebook page, checking your blog, My Space page, general surfing, etc.

As for blogging, I didn't want to be obligated to post to a blog every day or every few days. I'm REALLY GOOD at starting things but not so good at finishing them. So I'm guarding my time very carefully and committing to following through on what I've started, which is why I haven't blogged or done social media.

I feel like I need to impose the discipline of seeing a return on time invested before dedicating serious time to blogging or any social media. In spite of the hype about social media, I didn't even get onto Facebook until my best friend told me she was on it and so were a lot of our other college classmates. She's not very tech savvy. She uses the Internet mainly for e-mail, surfing and research. NO IM and no interest in it. So when she told me SHE was on Facebook, it got my attention and now I'm on Facebook. (And it took my best friend of 14 years to break through the noise in my head about social media to even get me ON a social media network!)

Most of my friends on Facebook submitted friend requests to me -- not the other way around. Generally, if someone isn't interested enough to submit a friend request to me, then I'm not likely to either. My FB friend list is small -- just over 30 I think -- and I know ALL of them personally (with the exception of one). I know all of them either from work, church or college. (It's the college I've been trying to forget and erase from my life, yet most of my FB friends are from that college. Go figure! :P) I've seen people with HUGE numbers of friends -- one had over 600 and she's just a college freshman! (She was in high school when I was in college and I didn't know her all that well. I have no idea why she put in a friend request to me except to probably boost the numbers of FB friends she has. )

I have absolutely no interest in having a huge number of people following me or being my friend (or whatever the medium is calling it) if they don't really know me. I find it rather ridiculous and quite frankly, it speaks of either a HUGE ego and/or a lack of any personal relationship (or downright inattention) to their friends.

Quite frankly, it turns me off -- in a big way. I've been tempted to refuse friend requests, but I DO know all of my FB friends personally in one capacity or another, so I haven't refused anybody.

But if I'm going to use it for business purposes, obviously, I'd have lots of people on there I didn't really know personally (ideally). Ok, fine. But in that case, I run into another problem: suppose I'm on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and whatever else is out there. I'd NEVER get anything done! How would I ever keep up with it all? And if I let my Twitter or Facebook or whatever social media profile lapse, then I lose momentum, I have no credibility and nobody takes me seriously.

My time is very limited. And I really need to focus on my main business and regain the momentum I've lost in the past year. And that means making some hard choices about what I can truly handle regarding my time, commit to ONLY those projects I know I can follow through with and say no to everything else.

I DO know that blogging or the social media networks you choose will be entirely dependant on your business and target market. In my case, my target market isn't on My Space. So I'd probably start building my social business network on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

I'm about to get into blogging, but frankly I have a lot of trepidation about it for the reasons I just mentioned. I'm a writer and I'm not always so great about writing consistently. Just filling a newsletter on a regular basis (print or electronic) can be a challenge sometimes.

So I seriously wonder whether social media is worth it.

Facebook? Ok. (Maybe.) Twitter? Frankly, it just sounds ridiculous. But then, I haven't been on Twitter so maybe I'm all wet.

Any thoughts? I'd really appreciate some feedback on all of this.

Thanks,
Michelle

[J.Knight]

Listen peeps... this same junk comes up all the time in different contexts.

Like blogging. People get all freaky when a blogger like Leo from Zen Habits (just as an example) doesn't reply to their comments.

They somehow miss the 100+ other people leaving comments on every single post!

The thing is, EVERYONE is filled with their own self-importance.

J-Mo is important to J-Mo. His time, his energy, and what he wants to do is his. He respects himself enough to do what HE wants to do.

He's filled with his own importance. And that's fine. Why one earth should he not be?

On the other hand, Alice is exactly the same.

She puts her time and energy into being friends with bucket loads of people.

Is she more caring and concerning than J-Mo? Maybe. But, probably not.

Don't believe the crap people spill about 'wanting to help you'. The primary cause isn't to help people for the sake of helping people.

They help people to get noticed. They help people to build friendships. They help people to get business. They help people to earn respect.

Whatever the reason, even if it's totally down-to-earth with no bad motives, it's still for themselves, because they are filled with their own importance.

Everyone is the same.

People just gratify it in different ways.

JK

[Nightengale]

Originally Posted by Adam Carn

Actually people like John Reese, Frank Kern, Mike Filsaime don't respond much either but again it's understandable, they're busy people with a lot of fans.

You're a lot more forgiving than I am.

And this is exactly my point. The gurus want that up close and personal relationship with their fan base but don't have the time (or want) to reciprocate. They erect that wall between them and their fans (usually via support personnel, VA's or whatever). You still don't get through to the people themselves.

There are valid reasons for that and yes, their time is extremely limited. (They also ration their accessibility to drive demand. It's human nature to want what we can't have.) Fine. But if they want to limit their accessibility, then I don't think they should be on places like Facebook and Twitter in the first place. It's the antithesis of what the medium is for. I think it's snobbish, condescending and it's a huge turnoff.

There are two very successful people I know whom I admire greatly and though they charge for their time and expertise, they're not above responding to a personal question or two. They're quite prompt, helpful and professional. And they answer their e-mails and other messages personally. (I also respect their time and expertise and only send incidental questions and comments. I don't try to get something for nothing.)

I know another very successful woman whom I really admire and follow closely. In fact, right now she's the top person I follow. I'm her customer and I pay VERY close attention to her weekly e-zine and everything else she does. Her e-mails get opened and read -- ALWAYS. (By contrast, I routinely delete Filsaime's, et al's, e-mails en masse.) However, I haven't linked to her in Facebook because she has a fan page: meaning that she has a FB profile (a fan profile), but she doesn't manage it personally. She outsources it. For all I know, she never even looks at it. (I'm sure that's not quite true and that she does occassionally at least glance at it. But I do know her VA's manage it.) Though I admire her a lot, in this one respect I find it condescending. So I won't link to her. It just ticks me off.

Like I said, if you want to limit your accessibility to your customers and fans (legitimately or illegitimately), fine. But then don't go around creating social media profiles. It's just not very congruent with the reason for being active in social media in the first place.

Michelle

[Jason Moffatt]

Originally Posted by alliance1

Am I worth less than the cold clown sitting in twitter-land? Ask yourself that question. Do you think some well-known Internet Marketer will come tie your shoe laces, or you give you time of the day?

He is on a EGO TRIP feeling above you all..

I kinda dig hanging out with clowns myself

If I were ego trippin I would of simply ignored all the people questioning my methods. I took the time to explain to everyone my philosophy on the matter.

Oh, and I'd come tie your shoes... that is if you wear "Velcro Shoes".

YouTube - De La Soul - Ego Trippin (Part Two)...

[Eric Lorence]

Instead of trying to follow thousands of people on Twitter-

Probably better to spend that time trying to build the next "Twitter".

[Alice Seba]

Originally Posted by Jason Moffatt

Had I noticed a direct question from you I would surely of replied.

LOL...just did a mike check on Twitter. We'll see if this works. :-)

Alice

[Adam Carn]

Originally Posted by Nightengale

You're a lot more forgiving than I am.

And this is exactly my point. The gurus want that up close and personal relationship with their fan base but don't have the time (or want) to reciprocate. They erect that wall between them and their fans (usually via support personnel, VA's or whatever). You still don't get through to the people themselves.

There are valid reasons for that and yes, their time is extremely limited. (They also ration their accessibility to drive demand. It's human nature to want what we can't have.) Fine. But if they want to limit their accessibility, then I don't think they should be on places like Facebook and Twitter in the first place. It's the antithesis of what the medium is for. I think it's snobbish, condescending and it's a huge turnoff.

There are two very successful people I know whom I admire greatly and though they charge for their time and expertise, they're not above responding to a personal question or two. They're quite prompt, helpful and professional. And they answer their e-mails and other messages personally. (I also respect their time and expertise and only send incidental questions and comments. I don't try to get something for nothing.)

I know another very successful woman whom I really admire and follow closely. In fact, right now she's the top person I follow. I'm her customer and I pay VERY close attention to her weekly e-zine and everything else she does. Her e-mails get opened and read -- ALWAYS. (By contrast, I routinely delete Filsaime's, et al's, e-mails en masse.) However, I haven't linked to her in Facebook because she has a fan page: meaning that she has a FB profile (a fan profile), but she doesn't manage it personally. She outsources it. For all I know, she never even looks at it. (I'm sure that's not quite true and that she does occassionally at least glance at it. But I do know her VA's manage it.) Though I admire her a lot, in this one respect I find it condescending. So I won't link to her. It just ticks me off.

Like I said, if you want to limit your accessibility to your customers and fans (legitimately or illegitimately), fine. But then don't go around creating social media profiles. It's just not very congruent with the reason for being active in social media in the first place.

Michelle

Hi Michelle,

I know what you mean but social media is a means of reaching more people with their promotions. This may sound a bit rough but to most, it's a case of if there's money to be made then why not. It's similar to emails I guess, you get an email with your name on it, it looks personal but when you respond to it the email either bounces or you get no response at all. But business is business I guess.

By the way you're a very eloquent writer!

Adam

[Norma Holt]

Originally Posted by Dana_W

When I see someone who has 5000 followers and follows a dozen or so people, my perception is that this person wants everyone to hear what they have to say - but doesn't feel like listening to what most of their followers have to say. I don't knowingly follow anyone who isn't following me back.

And of course I don't expect to be able to carry on personal conversations with everyone who I follow. But I do jump in to Twitter several times a day and interact with as many people as I can. I like the social aspect of it, I get a lot of business from it, and I'm forming several JVs as a result. I don't believe I would accomplish that if I only followed back a special select few dozen people out of the thousands that follow me.

Dana,

I just bought you WSO but did not get it. What's the deal?

Norma

[Dana_W]

Broken download link. I just signed up for 1shoppingcart so I can finally fix this. Send me your email address, I wil lget it to you right away.

[Sylvia Meier]

Personally I don't care if someone follows me or not. And if they only tweet crap, whether they are following me or not, I unfollow them. I personally have become fond of Twitter as I have developed some relationships I dont know if I would have otherwise. It is a great social tool, whether or not all marketers see it that way.

[Lance K]

Originally Posted by Jason Moffatt

I kinda dig hanging out with clowns myself

I was thinking about it until I saw that eTrade commercial where the baby rented Bobo.

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by Sylvia Rolfe

Personally I don't care if someone follows me or not. And if they only tweet crap, whether they are following me or not, I unfollow them. I personally have become fond of Twitter as I have developed some relationships I dont know if I would have otherwise. It is a great social tool, whether or not all marketers see it that way.

Sylvia, that's really the key to the whole thing.

If you're going to be there, regardless of how many you follow or how many
follow you, if you don't provide value to the community as a whole, they're
not going to care what you do.

[Brad Spencer]

This video is freaking hilarious...I'm officially a huge fan of yours now

Thanks for being original in a sea of copy cats!!!

Cheers,

Brad Spencer

[J.Knight]

Originally Posted by alliance1

...people like me, who are honest, and contribute valuable advice everyday.

At least Kern and Moffatt are tongue-in-cheek when they tell people they should follow them, or when they say 'they're the best' or whatever.

You, on the other hand, it appears have such an ego problem that you can't let others do things the way they like.

'Value' is perceived differently by everyone.

To be honest, your post made me check your Twitter profile just to make sure I'm not following you.

JK

[Rob Lee]

Great video Jason. I agree totally with it.

[Li Weng]

I think ultimately, there's no right or wrong to any approach, as it all comes down to what your primary intention is in using twitter in the first place. If your intentions are commercial (mostly likely they are), then let the results/sales speak for themselves.

[Jason Moffatt]

Ya know,

I didn't make that video or this post to be a prick.

The fact is, a few people were getting upset with me for not following them back, or responding, and taking it very personal. Others just thought I was some elitist pig or something.

I do understand that.

And I also understand that people like Dana probably do provide a bunch of value to her network even though she does follow a ton of people. She cares enough to nuture her following and is appreciative of what Twitter has brought her.

But sadly, many of the people that are buying her info aren't that concerned with really connecting and making a positive difference. Too many are just trying to game the system and do anything they can to make a buck. I understand that. I don't exactly like it, but I do understand. I'm not trying to get in the way of anyone's hustle. However, I just personally feel that it offers little value to approach something like Twitter, Facebook, or a variety of web2.0 properties with nothing but "pure monetization" in mind. It defeats the purpose of what the networks were built for, and the users generally reject that behavior.

Like I said, I think Dana and many of you do provide great quality and do pay attention to your inner social media circles. But I also recognize that not everyone has attributes and qualities like she does, and these people soil these sites and make them what I call... "Spam2.0".

My goal is "Long Term Branding". I want to be in this game in 10 years, and the decisions I make today are ones that are catapults to tomorrow, next week, and next year.

Therefore, I'm very careful about who I associate with, who I follow, who I mingle with, who I JV with, etc. etc. etc. To me, web 2.0 and social media are a very long term strategy, not.... "Here's how I got 725 followers in the time it took me to pick a booger".

I'm not interested in that. I'm interested in developing a following that will be curious what I'm up to today, tomorrow, and next year. In my mind, trying to go for quick cash with web2.0 is the wrong strategy for me. I'm all about TRUE FANS! Fans that were acquired from trust, values, and a genuine appreciation.

And I'm very humbled and grateful to know I have many of those here. Thx!