Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Review – Twitter for Dummies

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twitter for dummies51GY-XBFhfL._SX106_Starting out with a handy, tear-outable list of Twitter Don’ts (Don’t follow 100s of people when you first sign up.), Twitter Do’s (Listen to what your Twitter friends are saying) and a great list of shorthand commands (stats – get your followers and following count)…and ending with a handy glossary of terms useful for Twitter users to understand, Twitter for Dummies, by Laura Fitton, Michael E. Gruen and Leslie Poston, is a book that is chock full of information for anyone who uses (or wants to use) this terrific social networking platform.

In the introduction, the authors point out an important aspect of using Twitter – Learning to communicate in 140 characters or less (as required in “tweets”) may very well help you communicate more effectively as your writing “becomes shorter and more to the point.” Personally, I have found this to be true, and a real benefit of being a power Twitter user. Let’s face it – less is more, and learning to get to the point quickly and succinctly has many benefits.

Laura, Michael and Leslie also remind readers that “Twitter is a living, breathing and constantly changing dynamic community.” Their book offers a snapshot of tools and tricks to use it well, but it is up to the user to take advantage of the ideas and to stay up-to-date going forward.

No useful Twitter manual is complete without a discussion of “finding your Tweet voice” and information about using Twitter for business. I love the author’s answer to the question, “What’s the business use of Twitter?” Laura replies, “What’s the business use of email?” (p. 177). I laughed out loud, because that is exactly what my friend Stephanie A. Lloyd and I reply to Twitter skeptics! (Another reply we offer – Do you make time to use the phone?)

The book is directed at first-time Twitter users. It offers step-by-step instructions that give you the tools to become a true Twitter expert. The user who has the patience for extremely in-depth information will find a plethora of information – enough to really become a power user. However, for the more casual tweep, the level of information may be a bit overwhelming. I would recommend focusing on one or two topics at a time, mastering them, and moving on.

Definitely get a copy of Twitter for Dummies if you are the type of person who likes to know everything about a topic and you have the bandwidth to get through a fairly intensive guide. You can be sure that you’ll be a real pro once you learn everything that Laura (@pistachio), Michael (@gruen) and Leslie (@geechee_girl) share. You can also follow @dummies for up-to-date information about the book.

Need some help getting your job search going? Find out how I can help you look for a job the right way, with optimized materials and a forward focus.

Review of The Twitter Book

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thetwitterbook4166iaPKDKL._SL500_AA240_You didn’t think you needed another social network to propel your job search? You’re on LinkedIn – isn’t that enough? If you are a regular reader, you know that I am a bit of a Twitter evangelist! I think that Twitter is a terrific resource for job seekers, entrepreneurs and all professionals for connecting and network expanding.

While I think of using Twitter as second nature, there are many “ins and outs,” and it really is not all that obvious to everyone. So, I was excited to receive The Twitter Book, by Tim O’Reilly and Sarah Milstein. As the authors note in Chapter 1, “Twitter lives a dual life. On one hand, it’s a simple service. Besides letting you share and read very short messages, it has few bells and whistles. On the other hand, it can be surprisingly hard to figure out. The screens aren’t particularly intuitive and the jargon and symbols are obscure.”

So, I read the book both as an expert user and as a coach looking for resources to help my clients become more frequent and successful Tweeps. I was not disappointed on either count!

For new users, the book offers a tutorial on how to get signed up and started and how to create a profile. I was surprised and delighted to find that Sarah and Tim actually quoted my Twitter profile as an example of a bio that tells a story (see page 23)!

The book covers all of the terminology that Twitter users need to know and provides pictures and examples throughout. Need to know how to find people? Done. How to tweeet from the road? Done. What’s a RT (retweet) and can you edit it if it is too long to send? (Yes, but consider using “via” if you change it substantially,” p. 115).

Power users – did YOU know that there is an opp called 140it that “uses common cutting conventions to whittle down” your posts if they are too long? (It doesn’t work for every post, but I had never heard about it, and I’ve been tweeting up a storm for a while now.)

Suffice to say that any detail you need to know is available in this handy, easy to use reference.

But, using Twitter successfully requires more than just a list of “how to,” practical concerns. There are many nuanced aspects, and Sarah and Tim don’t forget about them in this book. Included in the book: discussions about how many people to follow, how to have great conversations, how to @ reply so the user will know what you mean, how often to tweet and how to go beyond “what are you doing?” to be a contributing member of your Twitter community and more.

I’d recommend this book to anyone hesitant to try Twitter because it seems overwhelming and current “tweeps” who would like to pick up some tips from the pros. You can follow the authors at @timoreilly and @SarahM and you can follow the book’s hashtag (“demystified” on page 41) -  #twitterbook.

Need help getting started using Twitter for your job hunt? Your resume isn’t doing the job it needs to do? Click here for informtion about how I can help with your search.

A discussion of social media for job seekers

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Interested in some great tips about how to use social networking for your job hunt? Wonder why you should conduct vanity searches regularly and what to do if you have the same name as a death row inmate(!) Do you know about pipl.com and why you should incorporate it into your search? I have just the resource for you…

I hope you’ll listen to the High Velocity Radio Show, guest hosted by Stephanie A. Lloyd of Radiant Veracity. I was a guest along with  Jenny DeVaughn, Senior Talent Consultant with Talent Connections. (There we are in the picture at lunch after the show.) We talked about using social media for both recruiters and job-seekers. Listeners will gain lots of inside tips and tricks!

You can listen to the show by clicking HERE.

We were joined in the studio by Lee Kantor, co-host, who runs Business RadioX, “an Atlanta-based internet radio network that helps entrepreneurs and business owners connect with their prospects and dramatically grow their businesses by hosting their own radio show and podcasting it on the internet.” If you are in Atlanta, be sure to review Business RadioX to learn about opportunities to host a radio show!

Do you need help with your job search? Follow this link to learn how I can help propel your job hunt!

In Atlanta? GA is expecting 10.1% unemployment. Get ahead of the game so you will be prepared to search for your next opportunity with local job search interventions: http://youneedajob.org/.

Plan your job hunt using The Vision Board to guide you

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Regular readers know that I usually stick to highly practical job search advice – I want to offer a toolbox of practical job hunting tips and advice. But, my tag line is “Encouraging, enlightening and empowering job seekers for success.” So, with that in mind, I want to suggest a book that job seekers and all professionals may want to consider reading!

Joyce Schwarz’s visually beautiful and inspiring book, The Vision Board, reminds readers of a key life lesson. As she says in the introduction, “Your time is now.” She shows her readers how to take the bull by the horns and take hold of their own destinies by offering moving stories of people (and families!) who have used vision boards to improve their lives.

For those of us who have never engaged in this type of work, Ms. Schwarz offers step-by-step instructions that not only help readers know what to DO, but also make the concept of the Law of Attraction understandable and attainable to even the most skeptical of audiences.

By offering her own framework to help the reader engage in this work (GRABS), which stands for Gratitude, Release and Receive, Acknowledge and Ask, Be and Believe and Share, the author helps readers really understand their roles in what she calls their own “quantum leap.” She literally offers readers a “passport to possibility” by describing how to get started both from a spiritual perspective (offering accounts of personal stories, sound advice and tips for expressing gratitude) AND from a practical perspective (even suggesting what type of adhesive to use).

One of my favorite things about this book was that it leads the reader to understand and agree with the premise without seeming preachy or “out there.” For example, who can’t understand the value of stopping during the day for a short walk or a coloring break with kids? Ms. Schwarz offers these as examples of ways to “say thanks for your body and the power of your mind.”

Having read The Vision Board, I suggested that my business mastermind group work on our own vision board projects to help us solidify our goals and propel our plans forward. I  recommend it to anyone who wants to jump-start his or her plans, even if you aren’t already a believer in the Law of Attraction!

Need a little help ramping up your search? Read how I can help get you going!


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Can you find a job on Twitter?

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twitterbirdLindsay Olsen recently posted about how to help recruiters find you on Twitter. She should know, because she is a recruiter sourcing candidates on Twitter!

In any case, she shared some data from a recent survey from Hubspot on the state of the Twittersphere.

Of Twitter users:

  • 79.79% failed to provide a homepage URL (My tip: use your LinkedIn URL if you have nothing else.)
  • 75.86% of users have not entered a bio in their profile
  • 68.68% have not specified a location
  • 55.50% are not following anyone
  • 54.88% have never tweeted
  • 52.71% have no followers

Honestly, I was not all that surprised to see this data. While Twitter has grown exponentially in terms of people who have profiles, I think many join because they can’t turn on the TV without hearing someone talk about Twitter,  but they don’t know what to do once they get there. I often talk to certain Tweeps about the fact that Twitter fanatics and uber-users (Twuber users?) forget that this social media “stuff” isn’t second nature for everyone!

So, what is a job seeking Twitter wanna be user to do?

First of all, take a look at my intro to Twitter for the job search HERE. Then, take a look at some suggestions of applications you might want to use HERE. Finally, some people to follow for your job search HERE. Stay tuned for my review of The Twitter Book, by Tim O’Reilly and Sarah Milstein, a resource to help “twanna be” users become Tweeps in their own right!

Need a little help ramping up your search? Read how I can help get you going!