More About This Show

The Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It’s designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing.

In this episode I interview Peg Fitzpatrick, the co-author of The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, which she wrote with Guy Kawasaki. She is also a social media strategist and an expert in visual marketing. Her clients include Motorola, Audi, Google, Virgin and others.

Peg will explore Instagram marketing ideas that are easy to put to use right away.

You’ll discover tools to use for your Instagram images.

Listen as Peg Fitzpatrick shares what marketers need to know about standing out on Instagram.

Share your feedback, read the show notes and get the links mentioned in this episode below.

Instagram Images

How Peg got started on Instagram

Peg first discovered Instagram when looking for apps for her iPad. This was shortly after the iPad first came out. She loaded Instagram and loved it, but no one she knew was on it.

Then, when Pinterest came out, Peg, like a lot of people, thought Pinterest and Instagram were the same, because they were both about images. Although she initially chose to focus on Pinterest, after she learned more about both platforms, Peg discovered how different the two were.

When Peg went back to Instagram, she saw it was a great place for people to have conversations.

Peg was an early adopter of Instagram.

Even if you know lots of people on Facebook, Peg believes Instagram is where you can build a community. As a blogger or entrepreneur, it’s the kind of place you want to go to meet new people.

Listen to the show to learn about why more people didn’t get on Instagram immediately.

Instagram challenges for marketers

Peg believes social media is challenging for marketers because they want to look at things in a more traditional way: how to get people to do x, y and z. The newer platforms, like Snapchat and Instagram, are even more challenging. It’s not easy to write a viral blog post or post a YouTube video that goes viral.

Instagram is limited, Peg says, because you just get that one link in your bio and there are no links in the comments.

While a blogger might not see the value in Instagram (“Why should my blog be on Instagram if there’s no link for people to click every day?”), brands are getting more engagement on Instagram than any other social platform. It creates brand awareness that leads more people to your business, events and products.

Instagram creates brand awareness. Image: Shutterstock.

The biggest mistake marketers make, Peg says, is they aren’t posting enough. On a recent panel, Peg heard Instagram people who have 500,000+ followers say they post multiple times per day. One of them posts 8 or 10 times per day. And they post excellent content.

It takes more time to create an Instagram post. Although you can share a blog post immediately, with Instagram you have to create the image, write the text and figure out all of the things that go with it.

On Facebook, people don’t post enough either. On Martha Stewart’s Facebook page they post every hour. Of course she probably has the biggest backlog of content of any person ever, Peg adds.

Listen to the show to discover why Social Media Examiner doesn’t do much on Instagram.

Ideas for what to post

Peg says there are basic things to post on Instagram, such as pictures of what you’re doing or where you are. If you’re at an event, it’s fun to post pictures of people you meet or do selfies. You can post a day in the life at your blog or business, pictures of your team or behind the scenes at your company.

Show pictures of wherever you happen to be to give more of a human connection with your company.

Post Instagram images at events.

For example, Peg explains how she uses Instagram to promote a webinar before it starts to give people one more chance to click and join. She’ll share a photo of her computer monitor with something related to the webinar on it.

Before a Google+ hangout, she’ll take pictures in the green room to share. She’ll either take a photo with her phone or do a picture of the screen. For example, if she’s about to do a Google hangout with Guy Kawasaki and Gary Vaynerchuk, she’ll take a behind-the-scenes photo that’s interesting and funny, and also chronicles what they’re doing.

It’s part of creating and sharing your journey, as well as celebrating the things that go on.

Listen to the show to hear what picture Peg posted when she was a guest at the first Social Media Marketing World.

What to put in an Instagram post

Peg explains her method for creating Instagram posts for her blog content.

She creates a square image and then treats the description as a mini blog post, rather than a quick update. It’s important to give enough information in the post that people will get a sense of it and start a conversation.

Start with a good image. While 640 x 640 pixels is the official Instagram biggest size, they will scale it down. You never want to have them scale images up, because that’s when they get blurry. Peg does a 735 x 735 image.

Next, write an intro in the text. Peg will ask a question, add a couple of sentences and then ask a closing question. She also writes “click the link in my bio” in the description, as well as in the “location” for the photo.

When sharing a blog post image on Instagram, Peg includes tips from the article in the description.

Instagram allows you to add a location. If you’re somewhere else, that’s one thing. However, if you’re at home or in your office, you can put a call to action in the location section manually. It will save to your phone too, so you can pull it up again.

Another option is to put the link as text in the comments. This is especially easy, given the way Instagram looks on desktop. Rather than say “cut and paste this,” write it as a call to action that reads, “If you’re on desktop or mobile, just cut and paste this.”

When you add that in your comments, it stays on your Instagram post. So next week when you switch your main link to a different blog post, someone who’s looking back through your old content will be able to cut and paste the exact link.

Listen to the show to discover what kinds of behind-the-scenes photos we took while getting ready for Social Media Marketing World.

Instagram marketing strategy

Peg says you don’t want to build your entire Instagram marketing plan on quotes, but they really are popular. She tries to put her own spin on everything, so if she does a quote, she asks a question with it. Just make sure the content you’re sharing relates to your business goals somehow. There needs to be a reason to share it, other than to post a quote.

Infographics and anything with bullet points or lists are also good. For example, on list posts, share a few tips and tell your audience to click through to read the rest.

Another idea is to put multiple pictures together using a tool like Canva. If you take a bunch of photos at an event, just make a collage to share, rather than overwhelm your audience (and yourself) with tons of photos.

Peg suggests branding your Instagram images. Unless you do this, when people repost your images, their audience won’t know they came from you. Include a watermark with your URL or a line at the bottom with your logo or website.

Listen to the show to learn about Iconosquare and the Facebook Mentions app.

Instagram tools

Peg doesn’t take photos in the Instagram app, because they don’t save on your phone. If you take a few pictures and only share one, the others could get lost.

Instead, she takes pictures in SmugMug’s Camera Awesome app for iOS and Android. It has a grid, plus you can crop and edit photos in the app. Peg doesn’t spend a lot of time editing. She’ll just take the photo and use one filter in Instagram.

Peg also likes the Over app, also for iOS and Android. It takes photos and adds different fonts and overlays. For example, if you’re a coffee fan, they have coffee art. They also do seasonal updates for things like back to school or holidays.

Word Swag, a popular iOS app, allows you to add your logo to photos. Word Swag looks templated because there are tons of things you can do with it, and Over looks more personalized and customized.

Add text to images using Over or Word Swag (pictured).

Peg also mentions a video tool called Phhhoto, which makes animated GIF videos that are perfect for Instagram.

As far as scheduling is concerned, Hootsuite came out with a brand-new Instagram integration. Now, you can load images for your Instagram account into Hootsuite ahead of time.

Although Hootsuite calls it “scheduling,” what it actually does is send a message to your phone telling you to post. Then you go into the app, and manually post the image to Instagram. This is great for brands that have several people posting for them.

Listen to the show to discover how to find people to follow on Instagram.

Discovery of the Week

Katch.me is for all the diehard Meerkat and Periscope users who want more functionality from those apps, and are frustrated with some of their limitations. For example, you can’t have replays after 24 hours on certain apps and there isn’t a quick way to easily share. Katch offers solutions.

Katch records your Meerkat and Periscope broadcasts and makes it easy to share them.

Sign in to Katch, connect it to your Meerkat or Periscope account or both, and it will collect your broadcasts in one place with cloud storage and instant replays.

It works automatically, as long as the account is hooked up. Shortly after you finish your broadcast, Katch sends out a tweet to watch the replay.

Katch is a free app.

Listen to the show to learn more and let us know how Katch works for you.

Other Show Mentions

Today’s show is sponsored by Social Media Success Summit 2015.

Want to improve your social media marketing? Need to prove your efforts are working? Join 4,000 fellow marketers at the online mega-conference, designed to inspire and empower you.

Discover the best and newest ways to market your business on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest. Find new ways to improve your content and measure your results all from the comfort of your home or office.

You’ll be led by dozens of top social media pros, including Mark Schaefer, Mari Smith, Christopher Penn, Amy Porterfield, Neal Schaffer, Ian Cleary, Viveka von Rosen, Jon Loomer, Andrea Vahl, Steve Dotto, Amy Schmittauer, Peg Fitzpatrick, Brian Fanzo, Sue Zimmerman, Kim Garst, Andy Crestodina, Pam Moore, Martin Shervington, Donna Moritz, Ron Nash, Michael Stelzner and more. We have selectively recruited the top experts on every major social network to share tactical, step-by-step, hands-on information.

Peg Fitzpatrick is the only person speaking twice at the Social Media Success Summit. She will be doing the Instagram productivity tips panel on how to create a workflow that flows. Since there isn’t a way to schedule, you need to find a great process to create content, manage it and get it all out on Instagram. The second session is how to create a visual style for social media images. It’s on how to create brand guidelines for your blog, so when people go to your blog and see your social media, you look as professional as possible.

Plus, Vincent Ng of MCNG Marketing will be presenting on how to use Pinterest analytics to grow your Pinterest reach.

One exciting area we will be covering is video. Tim Schmoyer is talking about how to optimize your YouTube videos for search
, Brian Fanzo is talking about how to create Periscope and Meerkat live mobile broadcasts
, Steve Dotto is talking about how to use YouTube to grow your email list and Amy Schmittauer is talking about how to create video content marketing plans with YouTube.

We’re not just covering video and visual marketing, we also get into every major social network.

Social Media Success Summit is an online conference. It’s 36 different sessions spread across 4 weeks. There are three sessions per day, three times per week, over four weeks. And it’s on every conceivable social media platform you can imagine. Check it out. Visit SMSS15.com for significant early bird discounts.

Social Media

Instagram Images: How to Stand Out on Instagram

More About This Show

The Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It’s designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing.

In this episode I interview Peg Fitzpatrick, the co-author of The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, which she wrote with Guy Kawasaki. She is also a social media strategist and an expert in visual marketing. Her clients include Motorola, Audi, Google, Virgin and others.

Peg will explore Instagram marketing ideas that are easy to put to use right away.

You’ll discover tools to use for your Instagram images.

Listen as Peg Fitzpatrick shares what marketers need to know about standing out on Instagram.

Share your feedback, read the show notes and get the links mentioned in this episode below.

Instagram Images

How Peg got started on Instagram

Peg first discovered Instagram when looking for apps for her iPad. This was shortly after the iPad first came out. She loaded Instagram and loved it, but no one she knew was on it.

Then, when Pinterest came out, Peg, like a lot of people, thought Pinterest and Instagram were the same, because they were both about images. Although she initially chose to focus on Pinterest, after she learned more about both platforms, Peg discovered how different the two were.

When Peg went back to Instagram, she saw it was a great place for people to have conversations.

Peg was an early adopter of Instagram.

Even if you know lots of people on Facebook, Peg believes Instagram is where you can build a community. As a blogger or entrepreneur, it’s the kind of place you want to go to meet new people.

Listen to the show to learn about why more people didn’t get on Instagram immediately.

Instagram challenges for marketers

Peg believes social media is challenging for marketers because they want to look at things in a more traditional way: how to get people to do x, y and z. The newer platforms, like Snapchat and Instagram, are even more challenging. It’s not easy to write a viral blog post or post a YouTube video that goes viral.

Instagram is limited, Peg says, because you just get that one link in your bio and there are no links in the comments.

While a blogger might not see the value in Instagram (“Why should my blog be on Instagram if there’s no link for people to click every day?”), brands are getting more engagement on Instagram than any other social platform. It creates brand awareness that leads more people to your business, events and products.

Instagram creates brand awareness. Image: Shutterstock.

The biggest mistake marketers make, Peg says, is they aren’t posting enough. On a recent panel, Peg heard Instagram people who have 500,000+ followers say they post multiple times per day. One of them posts 8 or 10 times per day. And they post excellent content.

It takes more time to create an Instagram post. Although you can share a blog post immediately, with Instagram you have to create the image, write the text and figure out all of the things that go with it.

On Facebook, people don’t post enough either. On Martha Stewart’s Facebook page they post every hour. Of course she probably has the biggest backlog of content of any person ever, Peg adds.

Listen to the show to discover why Social Media Examiner doesn’t do much on Instagram.

Ideas for what to post

Peg says there are basic things to post on Instagram, such as pictures of what you’re doing or where you are. If you’re at an event, it’s fun to post pictures of people you meet or do selfies. You can post a day in the life at your blog or business, pictures of your team or behind the scenes at your company.

Show pictures of wherever you happen to be to give more of a human connection with your company.

Post Instagram images at events.

For example, Peg explains how she uses Instagram to promote a webinar before it starts to give people one more chance to click and join. She’ll share a photo of her computer monitor with something related to the webinar on it.

Before a Google+ hangout, she’ll take pictures in the green room to share. She’ll either take a photo with her phone or do a picture of the screen. For example, if she’s about to do a Google hangout with Guy Kawasaki and Gary Vaynerchuk, she’ll take a behind-the-scenes photo that’s interesting and funny, and also chronicles what they’re doing.

It’s part of creating and sharing your journey, as well as celebrating the things that go on.

Listen to the show to hear what picture Peg posted when she was a guest at the first Social Media Marketing World.

What to put in an Instagram post

Peg explains her method for creating Instagram posts for her blog content.

She creates a square image and then treats the description as a mini blog post, rather than a quick update. It’s important to give enough information in the post that people will get a sense of it and start a conversation.

Start with a good image. While 640 x 640 pixels is the official Instagram biggest size, they will scale it down. You never want to have them scale images up, because that’s when they get blurry. Peg does a 735 x 735 image.

Next, write an intro in the text. Peg will ask a question, add a couple of sentences and then ask a closing question. She also writes “click the link in my bio” in the description, as well as in the “location” for the photo.

When sharing a blog post image on Instagram, Peg includes tips from the article in the description.

Instagram allows you to add a location. If you’re somewhere else, that’s one thing. However, if you’re at home or in your office, you can put a call to action in the location section manually. It will save to your phone too, so you can pull it up again.

Another option is to put the link as text in the comments. This is especially easy, given the way Instagram looks on desktop. Rather than say “cut and paste this,” write it as a call to action that reads, “If you’re on desktop or mobile, just cut and paste this.”

When you add that in your comments, it stays on your Instagram post. So next week when you switch your main link to a different blog post, someone who’s looking back through your old content will be able to cut and paste the exact link.

Listen to the show to discover what kinds of behind-the-scenes photos we took while getting ready for Social Media Marketing World.

Instagram marketing strategy

Peg says you don’t want to build your entire Instagram marketing plan on quotes, but they really are popular. She tries to put her own spin on everything, so if she does a quote, she asks a question with it. Just make sure the content you’re sharing relates to your business goals somehow. There needs to be a reason to share it, other than to post a quote.

Infographics and anything with bullet points or lists are also good. For example, on list posts, share a few tips and tell your audience to click through to read the rest.

Another idea is to put multiple pictures together using a tool like Canva. If you take a bunch of photos at an event, just make a collage to share, rather than overwhelm your audience (and yourself) with tons of photos.

Peg suggests branding your Instagram images. Unless you do this, when people repost your images, their audience won’t know they came from you. Include a watermark with your URL or a line at the bottom with your logo or website.

Listen to the show to learn about Iconosquare and the Facebook Mentions app.

Instagram tools

Peg doesn’t take photos in the Instagram app, because they don’t save on your phone. If you take a few pictures and only share one, the others could get lost.

Instead, she takes pictures in SmugMug’s Camera Awesome app for iOS and Android. It has a grid, plus you can crop and edit photos in the app. Peg doesn’t spend a lot of time editing. She’ll just take the photo and use one filter in Instagram.

Peg also likes the Over app, also for iOS and Android. It takes photos and adds different fonts and overlays. For example, if you’re a coffee fan, they have coffee art. They also do seasonal updates for things like back to school or holidays.

Word Swag, a popular iOS app, allows you to add your logo to photos. Word Swag looks templated because there are tons of things you can do with it, and Over looks more personalized and customized.

Add text to images using Over or Word Swag (pictured).

Peg also mentions a video tool called Phhhoto, which makes animated GIF videos that are perfect for Instagram.

As far as scheduling is concerned, Hootsuite came out with a brand-new Instagram integration. Now, you can load images for your Instagram account into Hootsuite ahead of time.

Although Hootsuite calls it “scheduling,” what it actually does is send a message to your phone telling you to post. Then you go into the app, and manually post the image to Instagram. This is great for brands that have several people posting for them.

Listen to the show to discover how to find people to follow on Instagram.

Discovery of the Week

Katch.me is for all the diehard Meerkat and Periscope users who want more functionality from those apps, and are frustrated with some of their limitations. For example, you can’t have replays after 24 hours on certain apps and there isn’t a quick way to easily share. Katch offers solutions.

Katch records your Meerkat and Periscope broadcasts and makes it easy to share them.

Sign in to Katch, connect it to your Meerkat or Periscope account or both, and it will collect your broadcasts in one place with cloud storage and instant replays.

It works automatically, as long as the account is hooked up. Shortly after you finish your broadcast, Katch sends out a tweet to watch the replay.

Katch is a free app.

Listen to the show to learn more and let us know how Katch works for you.

Other Show Mentions

Today’s show is sponsored by Social Media Success Summit 2015.

Want to improve your social media marketing? Need to prove your efforts are working? Join 4,000 fellow marketers at the online mega-conference, designed to inspire and empower you.

Discover the best and newest ways to market your business on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest. Find new ways to improve your content and measure your results all from the comfort of your home or office.

You’ll be led by dozens of top social media pros, including Mark Schaefer, Mari Smith, Christopher Penn, Amy Porterfield, Neal Schaffer, Ian Cleary, Viveka von Rosen, Jon Loomer, Andrea Vahl, Steve Dotto, Amy Schmittauer, Peg Fitzpatrick, Brian Fanzo, Sue Zimmerman, Kim Garst, Andy Crestodina, Pam Moore, Martin Shervington, Donna Moritz, Ron Nash, Michael Stelzner and more. We have selectively recruited the top experts on every major social network to share tactical, step-by-step, hands-on information.

Peg Fitzpatrick is the only person speaking twice at the Social Media Success Summit. She will be doing the Instagram productivity tips panel on how to create a workflow that flows. Since there isn’t a way to schedule, you need to find a great process to create content, manage it and get it all out on Instagram. The second session is how to create a visual style for social media images. It’s on how to create brand guidelines for your blog, so when people go to your blog and see your social media, you look as professional as possible.

Plus, Vincent Ng of MCNG Marketing will be presenting on how to use Pinterest analytics to grow your Pinterest reach.

One exciting area we will be covering is video. Tim Schmoyer is talking about how to optimize your YouTube videos for search
, Brian Fanzo is talking about how to create Periscope and Meerkat live mobile broadcasts
, Steve Dotto is talking about how to use YouTube to grow your email list and Amy Schmittauer is talking about how to create video content marketing plans with YouTube.

We’re not just covering video and visual marketing, we also get into every major social network.

Social Media Success Summit is an online conference. It’s 36 different sessions spread across 4 weeks. There are three sessions per day, three times per week, over four weeks. And it’s on every conceivable social media platform you can imagine. Check it out. Visit SMSS15.com for significant early bird discounts.

Do you give presentations or speak to clients?

Want to illustrate your knowledge with better stories?

To discover how to improve your stories, and your storytelling, I interview Michael Port.

More About This Show

The Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It’s designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing.

In this episode I interview Michael Port, the author of NYT best seller: Book Yourself Solid. He also teaches workshops called Heroic Public Speaking, where he applies the craft of acting to public speaking. His latest book is Steal the Show: From Speeches to Job Interviews to Deal-Closing Pitches.

Michael will explore how to find, use and create stories in your marketing.

You’ll discover tips to improve the delivery of your stories.

Listen as Michael Port shares what marketers need to know about the art of storytelling.

Share your feedback, read the show notes and get the links mentioned in this episode below.

The Art of Story

Michael’s story

Michael shares how he started his career as an actor. He has a master from the graduate acting program at New York University. Michael worked professionally on the shows Sex and the City, Third Watch, All My Children, Law & Order and 100 Center Street, as well as in the films The Pelican Brief, Down to Earth and The Believer. He earned a living doing commercial voice overs for companies including AT&T, Pizza Hut, Braun, Coors Beer, MTV and others.

After he left acting, Michael says he decided to talk his way into a job for which he was completely unqualified. He pitched himself, got the job and worked his way up in the fitness industry on the business side. He credits his post-acting success to being an actor, as he was able to perform during life’s high-stakes situations.

When the spotlight and eyes are on you, the way you perform will determine the quality of your life, Michael says.

After Michael left the fitness industry, he went into consulting for businesses and started writing books, and he saw it more and more. Over the last 13 years, Michael realized he had to meld his experience and training as an actor, his experience as a professional keynoter and what he knows about the business world.

Learn more about Michael at MichaelPort.com.

That’s what Steal the Show is about, Michael says. Half the book is on the techniques associated with being a great public speaker and the other half is focused on performing during life’s everyday situations.

Listen to the show to learn more about how Michael coaches speakers, as well as why he originally resisted helping people with their public speaking.

Why people love stories

People love narrative, wonder and imagination, Michael says. Stories can get us out of our own head and into another world. We turn everything into a story, he continues. Politics, religion, love, our success or our failures become stories. Sometimes the stories we tell actually get in our way and sometimes they can change the world.

Michael talks about a researcher named Jonathan Gottschall, who studies the neuroscience behind stories. Jonathan says the constant firing of our neurons in response to fictional stimuli strengthens and refines the neural pathways that lead to skillful navigation of life’s problems.

Listen to the show to discover in what way projects are stories.

How to find your stories

People sometimes draw a blank when they start to work on a presentation or prepare for an upcoming meeting, because so many things have happened over the years. Those experiences and stories are not top of mind, since you are more likely thinking about today and tomorrow.

Michael shares one of his techniques for how to uncover your stories. Image: Shutterstock.

There are four different prompters for the discovery part of the process. Take a piece of paper and write out four columns, one for each of these categories. Then, when you go to craft a speech or presentation for a sales pitch, you’ll be able to go back to this sheet, search through the stories and see if any of them apply. Look to the message in those stories. See if there is a metaphor or analogy you can use.

The first category is people. Go through your mother, your father, your best friend, your high school girlfriend, the girl that got away, etc. Then come up with stories that relate to each of these people.

Now, go through places. Did you have a vacation home or a particular place your family went to in the summer on a regular basis? Has anything ever happened there that was unique? Once you think about one story, another starts to come.

Remember, your personal stories tie into the business side of things. There is no difference between our business and our personal stories, since we are the same person. All marketers know that marketing is storytelling, Michael adds. Seth Godin wrote a book about it. Stories give you a way to illustrate a technical concept in a way that reminds people of their experiences, so they can connect to it.

Next, think about things. For example, think about your first car and stories around it.

Finally, go through particular times in your life and events. Look at things like weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, confirmations, graduations, anything that was important to you will start to bring up stories. That’s how you source them.

Create a library of stories for yourself that you can then craft. Just because you you experienced it doesn’t mean it’s ready to share yet.

Stockpile story ideas you can work on. Image: Shutterstock.

Listen to the show to hear why the discovery process is more fun with other people.

Elements of a story

Whenever Michael is going to tell a story in a professional setting, he uses Aristotle’s three-act structure to sculpt it. Most plays, movies and TV episodes, as well as almost any story and many jokes, use the three-act structure.

It goes like this:

Act 1 is the given circumstances. It’s the time, setting and place. The things you need to know in order to understand what’s about to happen. If that exposition is lengthy, non-specific and goes on for a long time, the listener usually checks out. If there’s not enough exposition, the listener is confused by the second act, and then checks out. You need to have just enough information for the audience to understand what’s about to happen.

Act 2 is the conflict. This is where an inciting incident happens. This is something that occurs that creates conflict. Usually when a conflict occurs, some action follows. Then that action produces another conflict, which often produces more action, which produces another conflict and then more tension.

What makes a story rich is you have the protagonist, who is going after what they want but is thwarted by the hurdles, boundaries and roadblocks that get in their way. They keep trying to overcome them, Michael adds. The more tension, the better the story.

Act 3 is the resolution. The people in the story lived happily ever after, everyone died in the end or, if it’s a joke, it’s the big punchline. The resolution (or payoff) has to be worth the exposition and all of the conflict. Act 2 is usually the bulk of the time, as it’s 85% of the story.

Michael suggests trying to put the stories you’ve uncovered into that structure. Write them out. Eventually you’ll memorize them. You might tell them a little bit different each time, but you’ll have your go-to stories, your core stories, that you pull out when you are in a sales meeting or even when you are on a first date. These are the stories that make you look good, but not so good that it seems like you’re bragging.

The best stories are the ones people don’t even know they’re in until it gets to the conflict. The best theatrical experiences are the ones where the audience is excited to find out what’s next.

Listen to the show to discover why you need to be careful when you tell other people’s stories.

Tips for delivering a good story

Michael talks about the mediums and environments (on camera versus in person) that present benefits and challenges to speakers.

When you speak to a camera, there is no one else there. You can control the timing very well, because no one interrupts. However, you don’t get the human interaction, the dynamic of another person or other people to help you create the timing via the energy in the room.

With a speech you have a lot of energy present to use, if you can control it, to own the timing. However, there are a lot of people and things going on that you need to be aware of and manage, so that the timing is not taken away from you.

Humor especially is very difficult straight to camera, Michael explains, which is is why historically sitcoms have audiences. Without the audience it’s very hard to get the timing.

Timing is very important. The ability to sit in silence in different parts of your story is key. The most important part of the story, that often gets silence, is right before the resolution.

Learn how to deliver your story. Image: Shutterstock.

It’s called a pregnant pause, Michael continues. It’s a beat. And in that beat people fill it with their energy, their expectations. The audience is waiting for what’s to come and that’s exciting. So speakers need to feel comfortable drawing that out. You can use the rule of three. Count to three in your head. Wait wait wait. Now deliver.

Pacing, rhythm and volume are also important. If you tend to be very monotone, it’s often because you like to play things safe. It’s less likely that you are going to mistake in what you say, you are going to offend anybody, you will trip yourself up, because you are speaking slowly and measured.

On the other hand, variation in pitch, tone and pace show you are living a little bit more on the edge. And that’s what people like to hear. While a speaking coach might advise people to slow down, Michael suggests focusing on pausing instead. There is power in the pause

.

Listen to the show to learn Michael’s thoughts on non-verbal communication while speaking.

About Steal the Show

Steal the Show by Michael Port.

Steal the Show, Michael explains, is for people who want to speak professionally, people who want to speak to get more clients or those who need to speak for their job. Plus, it will help those who you don’t necessarily speak publicly, but you want to do better in situations where people are watching.

Michael organized the book to focus on the mindset of the performer in the first part. It’s to help people find their own voice and feel comfortable with it.

In part two he goes into six performance principles. These principles not only help you perform when you’ve rehearsed, but you can perform in the moment, because your improvisational skills are top notch.

Finally, part three is a master class in public speaking. It’s everything from content creation, storytelling and a six-step rehearsal process to a section on writing and telling jokes and more.

Plus, if you go to Stealtheshow.com, there’s a whole bunch of bonuses for pre-orders.

Listen to the show to hear Michael’s guarantee to his readers.

Discovery of the Week

Want a cool way to save links for later with Pinterest? If you are already a heavy Pinterest user or looking for reason to start using Pinterest and experiment without having a full-blown commitment to it, you can use the Pinterest app on your iPhone or android, or even on the desktop, to save links to boards to read them later.

Create secret boards and use them to save links to article you want to read later.

Set up your sharing. Hit the share button, hit more and then flip the toggle for Pinterest. From that point forward, if you are on an article in your browser, you can send that link to Pinterest. Create a secret board and pin what you want to read later to it.

You can even create a secret board for links to share with someone, like your spouse. It doesn’t even have to be a secret board, it can be a “what I am currently reading” or a “articles I’ve found interesting” board.

Listen to the show to learn more and let us know how using Pinterest for saving links works for you.

Other Show Mentions

Today’s show is sponsored by Social Media Success Summit 2015.

Want to improve your social media marketing? Need to prove your efforts are working? Join 4,000 fellow marketers at the online mega-conference, designed to inspire and empower you.

Discover the best and newest ways to market your business on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest. Find new ways to improve your content and measure your results all from the comfort of your home or office.

You’ll be led by 35 top social media pros, including Mark Schaefer, Mari Smith, Christopher Penn, Amy Porterfield, Neal Schaffer, Ian Cleary, Viveka Von Rosen, Jon Loomer, Andrea Vahl, Steve Dotto, Amy Schmittauer, Peg Fitzpatrick, Brian Fanzo, Sue Zimmerman, Kim Garst, Andy Crestodina, Pam Moore, Martin Shervington, Donna Moritz, Ron Nash, Michael Stelzner and more. We have selectively recruited the top experts on every major social network to share tactical, step-by-step, hands-on information.

Martin Shervington will be presenting on Google My Business. This will be all about the research he has done into how local businesses in particular can make the most of getting more reviews and getting more customers coming through their doors.

Social Media Success Summit is just days away.

Social Media Success Summit is an online conference. It’s 36 different sessions spread across 4 weeks. There are three sessions per day, three times per week, over four weeks. And it’s on every conceivable social media platform you can imagine. Check it out. Visit SMSS15.com for significant early bird discounts.

Social Media

The Art of Story: How to Captivate an Audience

Do you give presentations or speak to clients?

Want to illustrate your knowledge with better stories?

To discover how to improve your stories, and your storytelling, I interview Michael Port.

More About This Show

The Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It’s designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing.

In this episode I interview Michael Port, the author of NYT best seller: Book Yourself Solid. He also teaches workshops called Heroic Public Speaking, where he applies the craft of acting to public speaking. His latest book is Steal the Show: From Speeches to Job Interviews to Deal-Closing Pitches.

Michael will explore how to find, use and create stories in your marketing.

You’ll discover tips to improve the delivery of your stories.

Listen as Michael Port shares what marketers need to know about the art of storytelling.

Share your feedback, read the show notes and get the links mentioned in this episode below.

The Art of Story

Michael’s story

Michael shares how he started his career as an actor. He has a master from the graduate acting program at New York University. Michael worked professionally on the shows Sex and the City, Third Watch, All My Children, Law & Order and 100 Center Street, as well as in the films The Pelican Brief, Down to Earth and The Believer. He earned a living doing commercial voice overs for companies including AT&T, Pizza Hut, Braun, Coors Beer, MTV and others.

After he left acting, Michael says he decided to talk his way into a job for which he was completely unqualified. He pitched himself, got the job and worked his way up in the fitness industry on the business side. He credits his post-acting success to being an actor, as he was able to perform during life’s high-stakes situations.

When the spotlight and eyes are on you, the way you perform will determine the quality of your life, Michael says.

After Michael left the fitness industry, he went into consulting for businesses and started writing books, and he saw it more and more. Over the last 13 years, Michael realized he had to meld his experience and training as an actor, his experience as a professional keynoter and what he knows about the business world.

Learn more about Michael at MichaelPort.com.

That’s what Steal the Show is about, Michael says. Half the book is on the techniques associated with being a great public speaker and the other half is focused on performing during life’s everyday situations.

Listen to the show to learn more about how Michael coaches speakers, as well as why he originally resisted helping people with their public speaking.

Why people love stories

People love narrative, wonder and imagination, Michael says. Stories can get us out of our own head and into another world. We turn everything into a story, he continues. Politics, religion, love, our success or our failures become stories. Sometimes the stories we tell actually get in our way and sometimes they can change the world.

Michael talks about a researcher named Jonathan Gottschall, who studies the neuroscience behind stories. Jonathan says the constant firing of our neurons in response to fictional stimuli strengthens and refines the neural pathways that lead to skillful navigation of life’s problems.

Listen to the show to discover in what way projects are stories.

How to find your stories

People sometimes draw a blank when they start to work on a presentation or prepare for an upcoming meeting, because so many things have happened over the years. Those experiences and stories are not top of mind, since you are more likely thinking about today and tomorrow.

Michael shares one of his techniques for how to uncover your stories. Image: Shutterstock.

There are four different prompters for the discovery part of the process. Take a piece of paper and write out four columns, one for each of these categories. Then, when you go to craft a speech or presentation for a sales pitch, you’ll be able to go back to this sheet, search through the stories and see if any of them apply. Look to the message in those stories. See if there is a metaphor or analogy you can use.

The first category is people. Go through your mother, your father, your best friend, your high school girlfriend, the girl that got away, etc. Then come up with stories that relate to each of these people.

Now, go through places. Did you have a vacation home or a particular place your family went to in the summer on a regular basis? Has anything ever happened there that was unique? Once you think about one story, another starts to come.

Remember, your personal stories tie into the business side of things. There is no difference between our business and our personal stories, since we are the same person. All marketers know that marketing is storytelling, Michael adds. Seth Godin wrote a book about it. Stories give you a way to illustrate a technical concept in a way that reminds people of their experiences, so they can connect to it.

Next, think about things. For example, think about your first car and stories around it.

Finally, go through particular times in your life and events. Look at things like weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, confirmations, graduations, anything that was important to you will start to bring up stories. That’s how you source them.

Create a library of stories for yourself that you can then craft. Just because you you experienced it doesn’t mean it’s ready to share yet.

Stockpile story ideas you can work on. Image: Shutterstock.

Listen to the show to hear why the discovery process is more fun with other people.

Elements of a story

Whenever Michael is going to tell a story in a professional setting, he uses Aristotle’s three-act structure to sculpt it. Most plays, movies and TV episodes, as well as almost any story and many jokes, use the three-act structure.

It goes like this:

Act 1 is the given circumstances. It’s the time, setting and place. The things you need to know in order to understand what’s about to happen. If that exposition is lengthy, non-specific and goes on for a long time, the listener usually checks out. If there’s not enough exposition, the listener is confused by the second act, and then checks out. You need to have just enough information for the audience to understand what’s about to happen.

Act 2 is the conflict. This is where an inciting incident happens. This is something that occurs that creates conflict. Usually when a conflict occurs, some action follows. Then that action produces another conflict, which often produces more action, which produces another conflict and then more tension.

What makes a story rich is you have the protagonist, who is going after what they want but is thwarted by the hurdles, boundaries and roadblocks that get in their way. They keep trying to overcome them, Michael adds. The more tension, the better the story.

Act 3 is the resolution. The people in the story lived happily ever after, everyone died in the end or, if it’s a joke, it’s the big punchline. The resolution (or payoff) has to be worth the exposition and all of the conflict. Act 2 is usually the bulk of the time, as it’s 85% of the story.

Michael suggests trying to put the stories you’ve uncovered into that structure. Write them out. Eventually you’ll memorize them. You might tell them a little bit different each time, but you’ll have your go-to stories, your core stories, that you pull out when you are in a sales meeting or even when you are on a first date. These are the stories that make you look good, but not so good that it seems like you’re bragging.

The best stories are the ones people don’t even know they’re in until it gets to the conflict. The best theatrical experiences are the ones where the audience is excited to find out what’s next.

Listen to the show to discover why you need to be careful when you tell other people’s stories.

Tips for delivering a good story

Michael talks about the mediums and environments (on camera versus in person) that present benefits and challenges to speakers.

When you speak to a camera, there is no one else there. You can control the timing very well, because no one interrupts. However, you don’t get the human interaction, the dynamic of another person or other people to help you create the timing via the energy in the room.

With a speech you have a lot of energy present to use, if you can control it, to own the timing. However, there are a lot of people and things going on that you need to be aware of and manage, so that the timing is not taken away from you.

Humor especially is very difficult straight to camera, Michael explains, which is is why historically sitcoms have audiences. Without the audience it’s very hard to get the timing.

Timing is very important. The ability to sit in silence in different parts of your story is key. The most important part of the story, that often gets silence, is right before the resolution.

Learn how to deliver your story. Image: Shutterstock.

It’s called a pregnant pause, Michael continues. It’s a beat. And in that beat people fill it with their energy, their expectations. The audience is waiting for what’s to come and that’s exciting. So speakers need to feel comfortable drawing that out. You can use the rule of three. Count to three in your head. Wait wait wait. Now deliver.

Pacing, rhythm and volume are also important. If you tend to be very monotone, it’s often because you like to play things safe. It’s less likely that you are going to mistake in what you say, you are going to offend anybody, you will trip yourself up, because you are speaking slowly and measured.

On the other hand, variation in pitch, tone and pace show you are living a little bit more on the edge. And that’s what people like to hear. While a speaking coach might advise people to slow down, Michael suggests focusing on pausing instead. There is power in the pause

.

Listen to the show to learn Michael’s thoughts on non-verbal communication while speaking.

About Steal the Show

Steal the Show by Michael Port.

Steal the Show, Michael explains, is for people who want to speak professionally, people who want to speak to get more clients or those who need to speak for their job. Plus, it will help those who you don’t necessarily speak publicly, but you want to do better in situations where people are watching.

Michael organized the book to focus on the mindset of the performer in the first part. It’s to help people find their own voice and feel comfortable with it.

In part two he goes into six performance principles. These principles not only help you perform when you’ve rehearsed, but you can perform in the moment, because your improvisational skills are top notch.

Finally, part three is a master class in public speaking. It’s everything from content creation, storytelling and a six-step rehearsal process to a section on writing and telling jokes and more.

Plus, if you go to Stealtheshow.com, there’s a whole bunch of bonuses for pre-orders.

Listen to the show to hear Michael’s guarantee to his readers.

Discovery of the Week

Want a cool way to save links for later with Pinterest? If you are already a heavy Pinterest user or looking for reason to start using Pinterest and experiment without having a full-blown commitment to it, you can use the Pinterest app on your iPhone or android, or even on the desktop, to save links to boards to read them later.

Create secret boards and use them to save links to article you want to read later.

Set up your sharing. Hit the share button, hit more and then flip the toggle for Pinterest. From that point forward, if you are on an article in your browser, you can send that link to Pinterest. Create a secret board and pin what you want to read later to it.

You can even create a secret board for links to share with someone, like your spouse. It doesn’t even have to be a secret board, it can be a “what I am currently reading” or a “articles I’ve found interesting” board.

Listen to the show to learn more and let us know how using Pinterest for saving links works for you.

Other Show Mentions

Today’s show is sponsored by Social Media Success Summit 2015.

Want to improve your social media marketing? Need to prove your efforts are working? Join 4,000 fellow marketers at the online mega-conference, designed to inspire and empower you.

Discover the best and newest ways to market your business on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest. Find new ways to improve your content and measure your results all from the comfort of your home or office.

You’ll be led by 35 top social media pros, including Mark Schaefer, Mari Smith, Christopher Penn, Amy Porterfield, Neal Schaffer, Ian Cleary, Viveka Von Rosen, Jon Loomer, Andrea Vahl, Steve Dotto, Amy Schmittauer, Peg Fitzpatrick, Brian Fanzo, Sue Zimmerman, Kim Garst, Andy Crestodina, Pam Moore, Martin Shervington, Donna Moritz, Ron Nash, Michael Stelzner and more. We have selectively recruited the top experts on every major social network to share tactical, step-by-step, hands-on information.

Martin Shervington will be presenting on Google My Business. This will be all about the research he has done into how local businesses in particular can make the most of getting more reviews and getting more customers coming through their doors.

Social Media Success Summit is just days away.

Social Media Success Summit is an online conference. It’s 36 different sessions spread across 4 weeks. There are three sessions per day, three times per week, over four weeks. And it’s on every conceivable social media platform you can imagine. Check it out. Visit SMSS15.com for significant early bird discounts.

Want to grow your followers without advertising?

Is Twitter working for you?

Investing in organic growth on Twitter takes time, consistency and commitment. But the rewards are more credibility and social proof.

In this article you’ll find simple steps to organically grow your Twitter followers.

Discover how to grow your Twitter following.

#1: Use IFTTT to Curate Twitter Lists Automatically

When you add people to a Twitter list, it signals to them that their tweets are valuable enough to be put in a specific category. People on your lists are likely to reciprocate by following your account.

While adding users to a Twitter list manually takes time, it’s getting easier to automate the process thanks to new technology.

Go to the IFTTT website and create an account or login, then connect your Twitter account.

Next, create a recipe that tells your Twitter account that when a new tweet is posted with a hashtag you determine, it should add that user to a new list you create. That’s it.

Use IFTTT to set up a recipe that automatically places Twitter accounts that use a certain hashtag into one of your lists.

Now, whenever people tweet with the hashtag in your recipe, they will be automatically added to your list.

Some people will follow you immediately. Send out a tweet to thank them. Connect with the others on your list with a tweet, saying that you added them to your list because you find their content valuable.

One more thing: when you’re using the automatic method, make sure you follow all of the people you add to your lists.

#2: Stay On-Topic and On-Trend

Twitter users want to view content they’re interested in, not the stuff you think is interesting. Do some research to find which topics related to your field are also popular on Twitter.

To find out what’s trending, sign into Twitter on your desktop. You’ll see the trending hashtags and topics appear on the left-hand side of your page.

Trending hashtags on Twitter.

If appropriate, find ways to contribute to the conversation by tweeting with a trending hashtag. For example, find ways your product or service relates to a holiday.

Now, I’m not saying you should tweet out your latest blog post and include a trending hashtag that is completely unrelated just to get more views. This is a pretty spammy approach.

The goal is not to abandon your brand and jump on whatever shines brightest. It’s to take advantage of any widespread trends, news and happenings that are related to your business. Ideally, find something subtle, funny and relatable. When the conversation changes, go with the flow.

Jump on the right trends and you’ll increase the visibility of your tweets and ultimately gain followers.

#3: Respond to Tweets From Large Accounts

It’s also good practice to reply to tweets posted by accounts with hundreds of thousands or millions of followers.

When you tweet actively and consistently, your tweets (and account) are more likely to get noticed (and followed).

Responding to a giant in your industry is a prime opportunity to engage with bigger crowds. Once you respond, your tweet is attached to their tweet and everyone else can see it.

#4: Thank People Who Engage With You

This should be the golden rule of Twitter: Engage with people when they engage with you.

When people add you to a Twitter list, thank them. When users favorite a tweet you’re mentioned in, thank them. When people follow you, thank them. When people retweet you, thank them.

Say “thank you” or reply whenever someone engages with you.

This goes beyond gratitude. Thank and engage with people every single time they engage with you, whether they ask a question, offer a suggestion, mention you at an event, etc.

Not only will this help you keep new followers, it also prompts them to share your stuff even more with their network, thereby increasing your visibility.

People like people who notice them and respond to them. Getting in this habit is a surefire way to organically build an engaged Twitter community.

#5: Tweet Those You Quote

Whether you write a blog post that includes a Twitter user or use a tool like Storify to compile a bunch of tweets, remember to @mention those you include.

When you blog about someone or compile a Storify and mention them, remember to tweet to them so they respond.

People like to see their names published. Tweet directly to them and tell them about it, since they’ll want to read what you said. They will also likely reply, retweet and follow you back.

When you mention and link to users with hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers, they may retweet and respond. This increases your visibility to their audience and could add numbers to your following.

#6: Embed Tweets Into Blog Posts

A great method to increase the visibility of your tweets is to embed them into your blog posts.

For example, write a blog post titled, “6 Mistakes Every Beginning Social Media User Makes.” Then, embed some of your own tweets, as well as tweets from other experts, to beef up the content.

To embed a tweet into your blog, simply click the three little dots below the tweet
 on your Twitter desktop version. Then hit Embed Tweet to get the code.

Embed tweets into blog posts to entice readers to follow you.

This shows your readers some of your tweets, and gives them examples of what they’ll get if they follow you.

#7: Install Twitter Buttons, Widgets and Apps

Visitors to your website will often look for different ways to follow you on social networks, so make sure your website is ready with follow buttons and widgets in prominent places.

If you sell products, give away free downloads or have an email subscribe option on your website, include follow buttons on your thank-you pages.

Add a Twitter widget just like this one to your website.

It’s also a good idea to get a Twitter app for your Facebook fan page to show your fans your tweets.

This is what the Twitter app for the show 24 looks like on Facebook.

This is a sleek cross-promotion method that gives fans a taste of your tweets and encourages them to follow you.

#8: Host a Follower Giveaway

Give away an item or product you offer to your followers. Simply tell them to follow your account and retweet your giveaway to enter.

Giveaways help bring new followers on board, as well as increase the activity and engagement you have on your account.

#9: Tweet Consistently

Increase your Twitter activity. When your visibility increases, so do your followers.

If you tweet 3 times per day, 3 times per week, jump to 5 times per day, every day of the week. If you’re at 10 tweets per day, go to 20.

The idea is to be seen by more eyes throughout the day and the week, increasing your chances of getting noticed and followed. Remember, it’s better to be over-seen than under-seen.

That said, according to Internet Live Stats, on average there are more than 9,500 tweets posted every second. It’s so easy to get lost in the noise and only outstanding content can cut through it.

There are more than 9,500 tweets posted every second, according to Internet Live Stats. Posting valuable content is the only chance to break through the noise.

Be mindful to make sure you deliver quality content every single time you tweet.

#10: Include Hashtags in Tweets

When you use hashtags (keywords or phrases related to a specific topic or niche), more people who are interested in the same things as you will see your tweets.

Remember, don’t overdo your Twitter hashtags. Add just a few per tweet, so you don’t look like you’re spamming.

If you’re attending a big event with an official hashtag, use it.

Share valuable content and resources from any event you attend. Be sure to use the hashtag.

Live-tweet events and be the most insightful, active and valuable hashtag event user. It’s sure to get you noticed and followed.

Remember to also connect with, follow, mention and reply to fellow attendees at events. This adds value, increases engagement and keeps the conversation going even after the event is over.

#11: Participate in Twitter Chats

A Twitter chat is a live event that focuses on one subject and is moderated by an individual or brand. People in the chat use a single hashtag and respond to the questions or comments coming from the moderator and/or interviewee.

The reason to get involved in Twitter chats is the same as for many of the other tips in this article: It increases your visibility and gives you the opportunity to share your expertise with new people. (After a while you may want to even host a Twitter chat.)

Interact with other chat attendees and gain more organic followers along the way.

#12: Share Other People’s Content

To develop relationships and start the cycle of reciprocity on Twitter, share other people’s content. Find blogs that involve your niche and broadcast their posts to your Twitter followers.

Make sure to include the author’s Twitter handle, as well as the blog’s Twitter account. The author will get a notification you shared the post and is liable to reply, retweet and maybe even follow you.

A good way to find content to share is to create a Feedly account. Search for topics that deal with your brand and pull content from Feedly to post.

#13: Ask Questions

One of the best ways to create engagement on any social media platform is to ask a question.

You could ask something like, “What’s the first social media network you check every day?” or “What do you guys think is the next big thing on social media?” and see what kind of response comes in.

Travel + Leisure asks its followers questions to drive engagement and traffic.

Questions get people talking because everyone loves to share their opinions. It’s an excellent way to start a big online conversation.

Remember to engage with and follow the people who respond to your questions.

#14: Promote Your Twitter Handle

People who are connected in one place likely want to follow you on others. Instead of posting to your followers on LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest that you are tweeting and they should follow you, here are some ideas for sharing your Twitter handle:

• Post invitations to follow you on other social networks. For example, “I’m going to be at #ACERTAINEVENT tonight. Follow me on Twitter @TWITTERHANDLE for live tweetin’, behind-the-scenes moments and great content!”
• Embed your Twitter handle on graphics and videos or the footer of your presentations, and then share them on your other social networks.
• Add your Twitter handle to your business card. Most people prefer online communication nowadays rather than a call or email, so your Twitter handle is a great contact method.
• Include your Twitter handle in your email signature.

#15: Have Fun

Sure, we like all of our content to be in alignment with our brand, but people love to retweet fun material, whether it’s interesting facts or statistics, cute videos, adorable pictures, tips or jokes. A lot of times, you just need to give yourself and your fans a break.

Cute tweets like this can get you a lot of engagement and sharing.

Brighten up your followers’ feeds with a Twitter “coffee break,” instead of the usual articles, links or niche-based content you post.

Final Thoughts

The trick to organically increasing your Twitter followers is simply to keep engaging and reciprocating. If you commit to being social and keep at it, your followers will eventually increase. Just keep trying new things and be consistent.

Social Media

How to Grow Your Twitter Following

Want to grow your followers without advertising?

Is Twitter working for you?

Investing in organic growth on Twitter takes time, consistency and commitment. But the rewards are more credibility and social proof.

In this article you’ll find simple steps to organically grow your Twitter followers.

Discover how to grow your Twitter following.

#1: Use IFTTT to Curate Twitter Lists Automatically

When you add people to a Twitter list, it signals to them that their tweets are valuable enough to be put in a specific category. People on your lists are likely to reciprocate by following your account.

While adding users to a Twitter list manually takes time, it’s getting easier to automate the process thanks to new technology.

Go to the IFTTT website and create an account or login, then connect your Twitter account.

Next, create a recipe that tells your Twitter account that when a new tweet is posted with a hashtag you determine, it should add that user to a new list you create. That’s it.

Use IFTTT to set up a recipe that automatically places Twitter accounts that use a certain hashtag into one of your lists.

Now, whenever people tweet with the hashtag in your recipe, they will be automatically added to your list.

Some people will follow you immediately. Send out a tweet to thank them. Connect with the others on your list with a tweet, saying that you added them to your list because you find their content valuable.

One more thing: when you’re using the automatic method, make sure you follow all of the people you add to your lists.

#2: Stay On-Topic and On-Trend

Twitter users want to view content they’re interested in, not the stuff you think is interesting. Do some research to find which topics related to your field are also popular on Twitter.

To find out what’s trending, sign into Twitter on your desktop. You’ll see the trending hashtags and topics appear on the left-hand side of your page.

Trending hashtags on Twitter.

If appropriate, find ways to contribute to the conversation by tweeting with a trending hashtag. For example, find ways your product or service relates to a holiday.

Now, I’m not saying you should tweet out your latest blog post and include a trending hashtag that is completely unrelated just to get more views. This is a pretty spammy approach.

The goal is not to abandon your brand and jump on whatever shines brightest. It’s to take advantage of any widespread trends, news and happenings that are related to your business. Ideally, find something subtle, funny and relatable. When the conversation changes, go with the flow.

Jump on the right trends and you’ll increase the visibility of your tweets and ultimately gain followers.

#3: Respond to Tweets From Large Accounts

It’s also good practice to reply to tweets posted by accounts with hundreds of thousands or millions of followers.

When you tweet actively and consistently, your tweets (and account) are more likely to get noticed (and followed).

Responding to a giant in your industry is a prime opportunity to engage with bigger crowds. Once you respond, your tweet is attached to their tweet and everyone else can see it.

#4: Thank People Who Engage With You

This should be the golden rule of Twitter: Engage with people when they engage with you.

When people add you to a Twitter list, thank them. When users favorite a tweet you’re mentioned in, thank them. When people follow you, thank them. When people retweet you, thank them.

Say “thank you” or reply whenever someone engages with you.

This goes beyond gratitude. Thank and engage with people every single time they engage with you, whether they ask a question, offer a suggestion, mention you at an event, etc.

Not only will this help you keep new followers, it also prompts them to share your stuff even more with their network, thereby increasing your visibility.

People like people who notice them and respond to them. Getting in this habit is a surefire way to organically build an engaged Twitter community.

#5: Tweet Those You Quote

Whether you write a blog post that includes a Twitter user or use a tool like Storify to compile a bunch of tweets, remember to @mention those you include.

When you blog about someone or compile a Storify and mention them, remember to tweet to them so they respond.

People like to see their names published. Tweet directly to them and tell them about it, since they’ll want to read what you said. They will also likely reply, retweet and follow you back.

When you mention and link to users with hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers, they may retweet and respond. This increases your visibility to their audience and could add numbers to your following.

#6: Embed Tweets Into Blog Posts

A great method to increase the visibility of your tweets is to embed them into your blog posts.

For example, write a blog post titled, “6 Mistakes Every Beginning Social Media User Makes.” Then, embed some of your own tweets, as well as tweets from other experts, to beef up the content.

To embed a tweet into your blog, simply click the three little dots below the tweet
 on your Twitter desktop version. Then hit Embed Tweet to get the code.

Embed tweets into blog posts to entice readers to follow you.

This shows your readers some of your tweets, and gives them examples of what they’ll get if they follow you.

#7: Install Twitter Buttons, Widgets and Apps

Visitors to your website will often look for different ways to follow you on social networks, so make sure your website is ready with follow buttons and widgets in prominent places.

If you sell products, give away free downloads or have an email subscribe option on your website, include follow buttons on your thank-you pages.

Add a Twitter widget just like this one to your website.

It’s also a good idea to get a Twitter app for your Facebook fan page to show your fans your tweets.

This is what the Twitter app for the show 24 looks like on Facebook.

This is a sleek cross-promotion method that gives fans a taste of your tweets and encourages them to follow you.

#8: Host a Follower Giveaway

Give away an item or product you offer to your followers. Simply tell them to follow your account and retweet your giveaway to enter.

Giveaways help bring new followers on board, as well as increase the activity and engagement you have on your account.

#9: Tweet Consistently

Increase your Twitter activity. When your visibility increases, so do your followers.

If you tweet 3 times per day, 3 times per week, jump to 5 times per day, every day of the week. If you’re at 10 tweets per day, go to 20.

The idea is to be seen by more eyes throughout the day and the week, increasing your chances of getting noticed and followed. Remember, it’s better to be over-seen than under-seen.

That said, according to Internet Live Stats, on average there are more than 9,500 tweets posted every second. It’s so easy to get lost in the noise and only outstanding content can cut through it.

There are more than 9,500 tweets posted every second, according to Internet Live Stats. Posting valuable content is the only chance to break through the noise.

Be mindful to make sure you deliver quality content every single time you tweet.

#10: Include Hashtags in Tweets

When you use hashtags (keywords or phrases related to a specific topic or niche), more people who are interested in the same things as you will see your tweets.

Remember, don’t overdo your Twitter hashtags. Add just a few per tweet, so you don’t look like you’re spamming.

If you’re attending a big event with an official hashtag, use it.

Share valuable content and resources from any event you attend. Be sure to use the hashtag.

Live-tweet events and be the most insightful, active and valuable hashtag event user. It’s sure to get you noticed and followed.

Remember to also connect with, follow, mention and reply to fellow attendees at events. This adds value, increases engagement and keeps the conversation going even after the event is over.

#11: Participate in Twitter Chats

A Twitter chat is a live event that focuses on one subject and is moderated by an individual or brand. People in the chat use a single hashtag and respond to the questions or comments coming from the moderator and/or interviewee.

The reason to get involved in Twitter chats is the same as for many of the other tips in this article: It increases your visibility and gives you the opportunity to share your expertise with new people. (After a while you may want to even host a Twitter chat.)

Interact with other chat attendees and gain more organic followers along the way.

#12: Share Other People’s Content

To develop relationships and start the cycle of reciprocity on Twitter, share other people’s content. Find blogs that involve your niche and broadcast their posts to your Twitter followers.

Make sure to include the author’s Twitter handle, as well as the blog’s Twitter account. The author will get a notification you shared the post and is liable to reply, retweet and maybe even follow you.

A good way to find content to share is to create a Feedly account. Search for topics that deal with your brand and pull content from Feedly to post.

#13: Ask Questions

One of the best ways to create engagement on any social media platform is to ask a question.

You could ask something like, “What’s the first social media network you check every day?” or “What do you guys think is the next big thing on social media?” and see what kind of response comes in.

Travel + Leisure asks its followers questions to drive engagement and traffic.

Questions get people talking because everyone loves to share their opinions. It’s an excellent way to start a big online conversation.

Remember to engage with and follow the people who respond to your questions.

#14: Promote Your Twitter Handle

People who are connected in one place likely want to follow you on others. Instead of posting to your followers on LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest that you are tweeting and they should follow you, here are some ideas for sharing your Twitter handle:

• Post invitations to follow you on other social networks. For example, “I’m going to be at #ACERTAINEVENT tonight. Follow me on Twitter @TWITTERHANDLE for live tweetin’, behind-the-scenes moments and great content!”
• Embed your Twitter handle on graphics and videos or the footer of your presentations, and then share them on your other social networks.
• Add your Twitter handle to your business card. Most people prefer online communication nowadays rather than a call or email, so your Twitter handle is a great contact method.
• Include your Twitter handle in your email signature.

#15: Have Fun

Sure, we like all of our content to be in alignment with our brand, but people love to retweet fun material, whether it’s interesting facts or statistics, cute videos, adorable pictures, tips or jokes. A lot of times, you just need to give yourself and your fans a break.

Cute tweets like this can get you a lot of engagement and sharing.

Brighten up your followers’ feeds with a Twitter “coffee break,” instead of the usual articles, links or niche-based content you post.

Final Thoughts

The trick to organically increasing your Twitter followers is simply to keep engaging and reciprocating. If you commit to being social and keep at it, your followers will eventually increase. Just keep trying new things and be consistent.

Do you struggle to keep up with your Twitter activities?

Interested in tools to improve productivity?

Managing your Twitter account doesn’t have to consume all your time. There are tools that can make the work easier.

In this article you’ll discover five Twitter tools to boost your productivity.

Discover five productivity-boosting Twitter tools.

#1: Schedule Content via Tweet Jukebox

Tweet Jukebox is a free scheduling tool that allows you to load a “jukebox” with content, schedule when you want tweets to go out and then sit back and let it do the job for you.

You can create more than one jukebox, load it with thousands of tweets and then send out as many as 100 tweets per day. Your account comes preloaded with two jukeboxes, one with photo content and one with quotes, to get you started.

You have the option to tweet jukebox content once, regularly or until a specific date.

Add a name for your new jukebox, choose how often to tweet and then turn the jukebox on.

Tweet Jukebox allows you to set schedules for different times on different days of the week. When it runs out of content, it automatically starts tweeting again from the beginning.

The scheduling engine is very flexible. Set a scheduled tweet once a year on a specific date (think holidays and annual events), or choose to tweet by frequency. You can also set a time for each tweet to go out, depending on user engagement.

Choose a frequency for your tweets.

Tweet Jukebox also lets you track who has mentioned you. This can be visualized by the tweets themselves, or shown in a graph format. Choose from mentions in the last 7 days, 30 days, month or previous month.

See your mentions for different time intervals in graph format.

The Jukebox Store allows you to download preloaded jukeboxes with content from other high-profile users.

Download preloaded jukeboxes from influential users.

Another handy feature is the ability to thank up to 50 users every Friday.

#2: Create Text Overlay for Images Using Spruce

Spruce is a free, easy-to-use tool that allows you to quickly create images with custom text for Twitter (and Facebook). Choose an image from the library, add your text, preview your post and publish it. It’s as simple as that.

Spruce makes it easy to find images and add your own text.

Spruce allows you to upload your own images and download completed images for later use. You can check the post and add text before publishing it.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to tweet using the service, so you can create and add them to your scheduler, too.

#3: Manage Followers With ManageFlitter

ManageFlitter is a highly useful tool for managing your followers and posts. The functionality of the free account is pretty good. Or you can choose from two levels of paid accounts to get more features, including analytics.

In the left column of the main dashboard, find out more about your followers by exploring different views, such as Not Following Back, No Profile Image, Inactive, Fake (Spam), Influence and Muted Users. This allows you to easily unfollow accounts that don’t offer any benefit, identify spam followers and more.

For example, suppose you want to find people you’re following but who aren’t following you back. Choose the Not Following Back option to see a list of users to check out and unfollow if necessary.

Use ManageFlitter to see accounts you’re following but don’t follow you in return.

Hover over a user’s name to bring up details about that person, including his or her bio, location, language and average number of tweets per day.

Hover over a user’s name to view details about the account.

You can use ManageFlitter to post using the PowerPost feature, which tells you the best times to post based on users’ activity.

Use PowerPost to tweet at optimal times.

Additionally, you can post suggested content that’s based on your niche, add an RSS feed to find further content (although you can’t post it directly to Twitter) and view your queued content so you know what’s scheduled.

You can also connect your Google+ account so that it posts straight to Twitter for you.

#4: Manage Relationships Using Commun.it

Commun.it is a Twitter relationship management tool. There are three paid plans to choose from, depending on the features you need. You can also access and use the free account, with limited functionality.

The dashboard is full of useful information. The view below shows the Actions tab, which allows you to see at a glance who to follow, unfollow or engage with based on the tool’s suggestions.

The Commun.it dashboard provides insight about your Twitter relationships.

Influencers and engaged users are labeled so it’s easy to identify who will share your content, extend your reach, etc.

Influencers and engaged users are labeled to make it easy to identify them.

The Community tab gives you additional engagement options by displaying a prioritized feed that brings important users to your attention. You also see a list of well-performing tweets you might want to share.

See a list of suggested tweets to share with your followers.

On the left side of the screen, there’s a menu with options to help you choose people to engage with and to unfollow. You can also see who has mentioned or retweeted you, new followers and more. The categories are helpful for identifying influencers who may share your content, as well as for finding your most engaged followers.

View user information to decide whom to follow and engage with.

Commun.it gives you a basic, three-day reporting feature on the free account. If you sign up for a paid account, you can set custom ranges.

The Campaigns tab allows you to set up scheduled thank-you tweets for top followers and retweeters, daily thank-you tweets and Friday follow-ups. These are all free to use and loaded into your account.

If you don’t want to use the preloaded text, you can craft thank-you tweets that better suit your brand by clicking the New Campaign button.

Set up your own customized thank-you tweets.

#5: Research Hashtags With RiteTag

RiteTag is a hashtag tool that allows you to view statistics on hashtags to find the best ones for each post. With the free account, you can connect one Facebook and Twitter account, while the paid accounts allow you to connect multiple accounts.

After you install the browser plugin, go to the site you want to share and click the RiteTag icon on the browser’s toolbar. This brings up a dialog box with the site URL and description. You can then add text and hashtags.

Use the RiteTag plugin to open this dialog box.

There are tools in the dialog box that enable you to research hashtags and get statistics. This gives you an indication of how popular specific tags are and how likely you are to get engagement.

You can also schedule a post from within the dialog box so you don’t have to leave the site that you’re on.

Click the graph icon to open a new window with additional details on a particular hashtag. This brings up stats about the hashtag based on its engagement in the last 24 hours.

View detailed stats about a particular hashtag.

Scroll down to see which influencers have used the hashtag, how often it’s been used in images and mentions and what other tags it’s been used with. A simple legend shows you whether your hashtag is a good choice.

A color-coded legend makes it easy to evaluate your hashtag.

On the site (not the plugin), use the My Intel tab to track hashtags and see what engagement they’ve received, in which tweets and at what times.

Using the Research tab, you can search a database of more than 11 million hashtags to see their stats.

Research individual hashtags on the RiteTag website.

You can monitor tags you use frequently (such as your brand tags) and get alerts when they’re mentioned on social channels.

Create alerts for specific hashtags.

The scoring of hashtags helps you determine when a tag has become overused so you can choose another that will work better for your brand.

Conclusion

Finding time to successfully manage your social media accounts can be challenging. This is especially true if you’ve built up a decent-sized, engaged following.

There are plenty of well-known time-saving tools that others will recommend, such as Hootsuite, Buffer and Rignite. This article focuses on some of the lesser-known tools for boosting productivity on Twitter.

Social Media

5 Twitter Tools to Boost Your Productivity

Do you struggle to keep up with your Twitter activities?

Interested in tools to improve productivity?

Managing your Twitter account doesn’t have to consume all your time. There are tools that can make the work easier.

In this article you’ll discover five Twitter tools to boost your productivity.

Discover five productivity-boosting Twitter tools.

#1: Schedule Content via Tweet Jukebox

Tweet Jukebox is a free scheduling tool that allows you to load a “jukebox” with content, schedule when you want tweets to go out and then sit back and let it do the job for you.

You can create more than one jukebox, load it with thousands of tweets and then send out as many as 100 tweets per day. Your account comes preloaded with two jukeboxes, one with photo content and one with quotes, to get you started.

You have the option to tweet jukebox content once, regularly or until a specific date.

Add a name for your new jukebox, choose how often to tweet and then turn the jukebox on.

Tweet Jukebox allows you to set schedules for different times on different days of the week. When it runs out of content, it automatically starts tweeting again from the beginning.

The scheduling engine is very flexible. Set a scheduled tweet once a year on a specific date (think holidays and annual events), or choose to tweet by frequency. You can also set a time for each tweet to go out, depending on user engagement.

Choose a frequency for your tweets.

Tweet Jukebox also lets you track who has mentioned you. This can be visualized by the tweets themselves, or shown in a graph format. Choose from mentions in the last 7 days, 30 days, month or previous month.

See your mentions for different time intervals in graph format.

The Jukebox Store allows you to download preloaded jukeboxes with content from other high-profile users.

Download preloaded jukeboxes from influential users.

Another handy feature is the ability to thank up to 50 users every Friday.

#2: Create Text Overlay for Images Using Spruce

Spruce is a free, easy-to-use tool that allows you to quickly create images with custom text for Twitter (and Facebook). Choose an image from the library, add your text, preview your post and publish it. It’s as simple as that.

Spruce makes it easy to find images and add your own text.

Spruce allows you to upload your own images and download completed images for later use. You can check the post and add text before publishing it.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to tweet using the service, so you can create and add them to your scheduler, too.

#3: Manage Followers With ManageFlitter

ManageFlitter is a highly useful tool for managing your followers and posts. The functionality of the free account is pretty good. Or you can choose from two levels of paid accounts to get more features, including analytics.

In the left column of the main dashboard, find out more about your followers by exploring different views, such as Not Following Back, No Profile Image, Inactive, Fake (Spam), Influence and Muted Users. This allows you to easily unfollow accounts that don’t offer any benefit, identify spam followers and more.

For example, suppose you want to find people you’re following but who aren’t following you back. Choose the Not Following Back option to see a list of users to check out and unfollow if necessary.

Use ManageFlitter to see accounts you’re following but don’t follow you in return.

Hover over a user’s name to bring up details about that person, including his or her bio, location, language and average number of tweets per day.

Hover over a user’s name to view details about the account.

You can use ManageFlitter to post using the PowerPost feature, which tells you the best times to post based on users’ activity.

Use PowerPost to tweet at optimal times.

Additionally, you can post suggested content that’s based on your niche, add an RSS feed to find further content (although you can’t post it directly to Twitter) and view your queued content so you know what’s scheduled.

You can also connect your Google+ account so that it posts straight to Twitter for you.

#4: Manage Relationships Using Commun.it

Commun.it is a Twitter relationship management tool. There are three paid plans to choose from, depending on the features you need. You can also access and use the free account, with limited functionality.

The dashboard is full of useful information. The view below shows the Actions tab, which allows you to see at a glance who to follow, unfollow or engage with based on the tool’s suggestions.

The Commun.it dashboard provides insight about your Twitter relationships.

Influencers and engaged users are labeled so it’s easy to identify who will share your content, extend your reach, etc.

Influencers and engaged users are labeled to make it easy to identify them.

The Community tab gives you additional engagement options by displaying a prioritized feed that brings important users to your attention. You also see a list of well-performing tweets you might want to share.

See a list of suggested tweets to share with your followers.

On the left side of the screen, there’s a menu with options to help you choose people to engage with and to unfollow. You can also see who has mentioned or retweeted you, new followers and more. The categories are helpful for identifying influencers who may share your content, as well as for finding your most engaged followers.

View user information to decide whom to follow and engage with.

Commun.it gives you a basic, three-day reporting feature on the free account. If you sign up for a paid account, you can set custom ranges.

The Campaigns tab allows you to set up scheduled thank-you tweets for top followers and retweeters, daily thank-you tweets and Friday follow-ups. These are all free to use and loaded into your account.

If you don’t want to use the preloaded text, you can craft thank-you tweets that better suit your brand by clicking the New Campaign button.

Set up your own customized thank-you tweets.

#5: Research Hashtags With RiteTag

RiteTag is a hashtag tool that allows you to view statistics on hashtags to find the best ones for each post. With the free account, you can connect one Facebook and Twitter account, while the paid accounts allow you to connect multiple accounts.

After you install the browser plugin, go to the site you want to share and click the RiteTag icon on the browser’s toolbar. This brings up a dialog box with the site URL and description. You can then add text and hashtags.

Use the RiteTag plugin to open this dialog box.

There are tools in the dialog box that enable you to research hashtags and get statistics. This gives you an indication of how popular specific tags are and how likely you are to get engagement.

You can also schedule a post from within the dialog box so you don’t have to leave the site that you’re on.

Click the graph icon to open a new window with additional details on a particular hashtag. This brings up stats about the hashtag based on its engagement in the last 24 hours.

View detailed stats about a particular hashtag.

Scroll down to see which influencers have used the hashtag, how often it’s been used in images and mentions and what other tags it’s been used with. A simple legend shows you whether your hashtag is a good choice.

A color-coded legend makes it easy to evaluate your hashtag.

On the site (not the plugin), use the My Intel tab to track hashtags and see what engagement they’ve received, in which tweets and at what times.

Using the Research tab, you can search a database of more than 11 million hashtags to see their stats.

Research individual hashtags on the RiteTag website.

You can monitor tags you use frequently (such as your brand tags) and get alerts when they’re mentioned on social channels.

Create alerts for specific hashtags.

The scoring of hashtags helps you determine when a tag has become overused so you can choose another that will work better for your brand.

Conclusion

Finding time to successfully manage your social media accounts can be challenging. This is especially true if you’ve built up a decent-sized, engaged following.

There are plenty of well-known time-saving tools that others will recommend, such as Hootsuite, Buffer and Rignite. This article focuses on some of the lesser-known tools for boosting productivity on Twitter.