Thought I'd Get Your Opinions On A New Way To Use Twitter...

[george]

Hi everyone, I'm trying an Idea on using Twitter in an unusual way: I'm letting people post green tips instantly at: www.GreenerTweets.com and have those post sent to Twitter.com/GreenerTweets automatically.

My plan is to form a large group of Twitter followers that will want to send their Green finds, deals etc. LIVE!

What I've been doing is posting GreenTips and including a link to the Amazon product that solves the problem discussed in the Green tip:

I think this is a unique way to use Twitter, but I don't know... Can you check it out and let me know? And if you are into helping people Go-Green, go ahead and leave some Tips for my followers (and become a follower if you want to get the tips yourself).

Thanks

George Lewis

[cindybidar]

If the tweets are sent automatically, how will you prevent spamming?

[george]

I set it up so that you have to register for the auto-post form to be visible (on the right side), So, I'll get to approve people who register first...

The main goal is to get people to start following me on Twitter so my tweets will get indexed on Google... which has already started...

Plus, I went from 19 to 59 followers in 1 day!

[TraciKnoppe]

Hi George. I peeked at your Twitter account and I'm not seeing any interaction between you and those who are following you. Since Twitter is meant to be a social networking platform, one of the best ways to get more people to follow you, is to interact with those that already do.

Monitor 'green' related questions on Twitter and answer questions that people ask. Offer some helpful information and folks will naturally follow you to continue to interact with you and receive more helpful tips and information.

If everything is you only broadcasting tweets out, without any interaction, you're not likely to get many folks willing to follow or stay following.

Just some tips I've learned along the way.

[george]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm new to Twitter and what I've done is searched for twitter people in the Green niche and started to follow them... some of them 69 so far have decided to follow me, and I started posting tips on my blog - which gets sent to them... The twist I'm offering is the option to be able to tweet to MY followers using a form at www.GreenerTweets.com (the form only shows up to registered users and it's free to register)

Then, they can both follow me AND send their green tips to MY twitter followers...

I think what you're saying is that I should send individual messages by putting the # in front of their name - right? I'm so new to Twitter, that I haven't gotten around to that yet... but I will take your advice and start doing it...

Thanks again

[TraciKnoppe]

I think what you're saying is that I should send individual messages by putting the # in front of their name - right?

Hi George, not quite what I meant. I meant talk WITH your Twitter followers, not just talk TO them. Use the reply button on the Twitter web site to reply to people. Engage them in conversation, answer their 'green' questions or comment on their tweets.

When you use the reply button, whether on the Twitter web site, or via a third-party app (i.e., TweetDeck or Seesmic Desktop), it will put a @ before the Twitter username, so that person will receive your reply in their "Mentions" column.

If you click the Direct Message button (or DM), it will replace the @ with a D, which stands for Direct and it then becomes a private message between you and that person. The other person must be following you in order for you to send them a direct message (DM).

The # sign, also known on Twitter as a hashtag, is to identify topics of conversation. For example, with the upcoming NAMS event next week, we will be using the hashtag: #NAMS so everyone can follow along with our tweets about the event. If you go to http://www.twubs.com you can see what #hashtags are being used, and if there isn't a #green hashtag already in use, register it!

[jkgourmet]

Traci, thanks for the link to Twubs. I'd never heard of it before - but this list doesn't include ALL the commonly used hashtags, right? I mean, I see nothing for #food and none in the travel category, which makes no sense to me.

[Clay Franklin]

Hi George,

I think it is a great idea.
1) suggest you change your permalink structure to /%Post_id%/%postname%/
this will give you keywords and a number in your posts = great idea
2) suggest you change your Twitter bio. Instead of sentences use keywords for your niche. seperate with , or | more like >> Green living, environmentally friendly tips, etc based on your keyword research.
3) Traci has a point if you want to have an active twitter account that communicates with others you need to interact. I have one account very communicative PR4, and one that is a RSS feed with keywords in my bio. The automamated account has 4,000 followers and all I did was auto follow people that found it. it auto feeds "social media marketing"informaton. It says it is a RSS feed account with a personal touch in the bio plus has keywords people search for to follow.
Great idea! you can make it work.

[george]

Thanks for the encouragement. As you can all tell I'm really new to Twitter and don't even know all the services available (I just took a look at Twubs and will try to figure it out).

I made some changes, so that you have to register to use the auto-post feature... I'd like someone here to test that out and give me some feedback on the form.

Note that this is only one of several Green domains I'll be developing, but I want to build credibility with a loyal group of followers on Twitter and Facebook and then introduce them to the other sites like: www.Greenscious.com (a type of search engine), www.GreenInnerCircle.com (a membership forum), www.GreatGreenSites.com (a blog with reviews), VotedGreen.com (People's Choice Green Seal) and others...

[george]

It's been about a week from when I launched www.GreenerTweets.com - a new Twitter blog where people get to share their tips/solutions, and even full articles with all my Twitter followers free.

Well, it's going very well, I have over 320 Twitter followers and I've written 24 articles in my niche (Going Green). I really like writing about this topic.

I've monitized each article with pertinent Amazon links within the articles, and have been promoting my other sites to my followers as I launch them... like the Green search engine: www.Greenscious.com (Are You Green Conscious?).

Also, I'm currently looking for people who are interested in helping me launch a private Green forum: www.GreenInnerCircle.com where we can all benefit... - It is currently free to all Green enthusiasts (you're all invited).

I've never run a forum, and I have phpbb at my host for free... so I'm going to try it. If any of you use phpbb and would like to give me some pointers, I'd appreciate it... for instance, how can I keep it free and add an "Elite" option like Lynn does here...

That's about it. I really like the interactivity I've developed with the instant posting form... If you'd like to post a green article to my Twitter followers -go for it! and let me know what you think of my free service! Just go to www.GreenerTweets.com and click click on the "open instant posting form" button on the right.

P.S. I still don't fully understand Twitter, but I see how it can become addictive... just knowing that my articles are being Tweeted to over 320 people makes me more conscious of the quality of the tips and information I write about...