Marketing and Management Thoughts

With the rise of twitter (and their 140 character limit) there has been much confusion over what should be considered appropriate and what should be avoided. As I’ve read blog after blog on the subject these are the top 10 ideas the bubble to the top.

1. Define your purpose for this account, and be interesting
   When you clearly understand what your account is for everything will fall in line. People who follow you will understand the content you are posting, and will understand what content is coming in the future. This will attract the followers that you want.
2. Posts that have pass-along value
   When posting something decide if it has value that someone else might pass along. This would exclude comments about what you had for breakfast or what you are doing at this very moment. Unless of course what you are doing would have value to those you are interacting with on twitter.
3. Be a part of the Conversation
   Don’t just simply follow people. Talk to people about what is going on in life. There will be people you don’t know, and people you do. If you begin to interact you’d be surprised to watch some of these relationships make the online to offline jump.
4. Remember it’s Public
   Be smart about what you post. Remember that anyone out there can read your tweets. To avoid subjects that would be seen as culturally taboo, unless there is a purpose for it.
   
5. Not for chatting
   We understand that people want to chat. There are several services out there for chatting online. Remember #4, that that conversation is completely public. People seeing this conversation will likely be turned off by it.
6. Response to someone RT your tweet?
   Its flattering and encouraging when someone retweets something you posted. As a best practice send a private message to those who you can. Otherwise a short reply (@username) saying thanks goes a long way.
7. When you RT from someone else
   Let people know that you are re-tweeting their post. It’s really simple, all you need to do is write ‘RT: @username -’ and then post the tweet. If it is to long when you re-post, see if there aren’t words you can shorten or take out.
8. Keep your content Fresh – NO Repeats!
   Don’t keep posting the same thing. People will stop following you since they believe they already know everything you are going to share with them.
9. Get an Icon, good description, and Custom Background
   There are very few customizable options on twitter, so use the ones you have! Use an icon people will recognize, and same goes for the background. Keep it simple. Make your description a sort of vision statement for your tweets. If you say you’re a Web Developer you should have posts about being a developer. If you say you’re a pastor you should post pastoral tweets.
10. Watch the self promotion!
    If you are posting good and original content then the need to self promote should be minimal. This includes bragging about the number of followers that you’ve gotten to. Keep the content fresh and relevant and people will understand your value.

Thats my top 10 list. There might be something that would be added to the list. Anything you want to add to it? Leave it in the comments or reply to us on twitter @nineteen05.

Related Post: Twitter and 50 Ways to FAIL

Sources: NetworkWorld, Adam Copeland, Brandflakes,

While many churches never think twice about Intellectual property when it comes to what they use. Even fewer look at protecting their own intellectual property. For many they might see it being to expensive or not worth the time.

The reality is that it can be quite cheap, and will be worth it if problems arise later down the road.

Common Fallacies:

1. it’s not worth the time or effort to secure intellectual property rights.
2. Once I get a trademark, my brand is safe.
3. Having a patent gives me the right to produce something.
4. If I have a patent or trademark in the United States, I don’t need to worry about the rest of the world.

The first 2 points

It is these first two points I want to touch on quickly, since the last two aren’t particularly relevant for the church.

If your organization does any sort of mass mailing it is smart to at least get a trademark of your logo. This can be as cheap as a couple hundred dollars, but it will allow you recourse if someone modifies your mark to defame you. Having trade marks can help give you the necessary leverage to protect your brand and identity.

This protection is all the more important for the church since culture so closely identifies our ‘brand’ (for lack of a better word) with that of Christ.

Read the full New York Times article here.

Twitter is quickly becoming one of the easiest social networking platforms out there today. While the membership numbers aren’t as high as Facebook the sheer portability of it, and the nice mobility of it make it worth while to me. Not to mention the ability to integrate our blog, twitter, and Facebook all together (How to is here).

Lee Odden (a man with nearly 14k followers on twitter @leeodden) wrote  a piece about the common mistakes he sees on twitter that dilute your following. Below are his top ten, and check out his blog for another 40 submitted by his followers.

Top Ten Ways to Fail on Twitter

• Don’t auto reply follows with a link to your free piece of crap ebook.
• Don’t provide an obscure description of who you are and what you do
• No photo or an image that only makes sense to you and your imaginary friends
• Don’t mention a great resource with no link
• Not customizing your background
• Don’t post 10 messages in succession (also repeated below)
• Don’t follow over 1000 people in a 2 hour period
• Don’t write about the cat/hamster/potted plant over and over again
• Don’t swear often and expect business people to take you seriously (Unless you work for Outspoken Media)
• Don’t over-abbreviate.

Final Thoughts

I feel like the last one here is most important for churches, and would add to it using insider lingo. If you have a nickname for locations or people, don’t use them in your twitter feed. Doing that will only make people feel unwelcomed and on the outside.

Make sure to check out the full list over at his blog.