Central VA TweetUp #1
Live in or near Lynchburg, VA and want to meet other people who are using social networking sites for business? Then meet us for the first ever Central Virginia TweetUp - a meeting of people who may only know each other by their @Twitter nick names. In this case, the gathering is being extended to include users of other social networking platforms (like LinkedIn, Plaxo, Plurk, Identi.ca, Facebook, etc.) as well.

Day/Date: Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Time: 5:45 p.m.
Location: Charleys Restaurant, Lynchburg, VA
Cost: Dutch treat, separate tabs
Food: Appetizers and drinks or dinner, whatever floats your boat

Other: Wi-Fi is free (thanks Rob & MJ) so bring your laptops if you want. We’ll get to know each another, see who’s doing what and if there are ways we can connect. Come ready to share your favorite blog sites, viral media stuff, new iPhones (and old if you want to sell) and whatever else is on your mind. Feel free to bring a friend! Pass this link along or trackback to your own site.

RSVP: By Monday, 7/14 via Twitter (@ or dm me), LinkedIn, Plaxo, Facebook, FriendFeed, comment below or you can always use good old fashioned email, text/phone 434.258.2448.

Sponsorship Opportunities: Attention progressive companies in Central Virginia or beyond, have a chance to meet talented folks on the cutting edge. Get a little company visibility on this site, and others (as applicable) and at the event. Pick up the tab - that simple. And if you have free stuff you want to pass out, that’s always good! If you’re interested, please contact Cheryl Smith by email or call 434.258.2448.

What am I missing? What suggestions do you have for the TweetUp? Who can you bring with you? Leave your feedback by clicking on the comment button below.

Recognition: Central VA TweetUp idea and initial conversations with @frankmartin and @nicktripp. TweetUp design by Lee-Graham.com

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been rolling a post around in my brain about how and why I choose to follow people on Twitter. Last night Grant Griffiths tweeted the question and we decided to do a tandem post about the subject. You can read his post here. It’s good.

I use Twitter as a business tool so my reasons for choosing who I follow are based on my own business goals of keeping current on business issues, technology, trends, marketing, social networking, writing, and staying in tune with the non-profit and faith-based organizations. Here’s my Twitter Follow Strategy:

Observe others. I first heard of Twitter from Chris Brogan. Initially, I followed his conversations. If he communicated with someone, I figured he or she might be a good person to follow. Thankfully I found Becky McCray, Jon Swanson and Liz Strauss and many of the folks on my list. From there, I began watching those people’s conversations and used the same strategy.

Find like minds. At some point, I was doing a last name search to see if any of my relatives were Twittering. Though I’m not related, I stumbled upon Michael Hyatt. I’m interested in writing, publishing and faith-based topics so following him was a no brainer. Next I wanted to know who he was following so I looked through his “following” list. I read the bios, reviewed the tweet history, and checked out websites/blogs and About pages.  I didn’t want to seem like a weirdo stalker person, so I didn’t follow all of his following. Instead I picked a few and continue to add others over time, based on conversations and tweets.

Search keywords. I’ve recently started running so I want to follow people who are into running as well, so I can learn from them. I did a search on Summize and found @beyondjems. What a small world – she’s also connected to @michaelhyatt! As Grant notes in his post, you can now also search easily using Tweetdeck.

Follow backs. When I receive a new follower on Twitter, I look at his or her tweet history, bio, website/blog, and followers to following ratio. I make a “follow” decision based on what I see. Grant does a good job of explaining this in his post so I won’t duplicate. Here’s what I will say: don’t automatically discredit a new Twitterer. We were all new once, right? Maybe we should all make it a matter of practice to follow at least one new Twitter person a week. Just a thought.

One of my favorite books is Vital Friends by Tom Rath. In Chapter 2 he states,

“If we have already spent significant time on self-development, is it possible that most of the magic – our room for rapid personal and professional growth – lies in developing our friendships?”

As strange as it sounds to someone who doesn’t use or understand Twitter, in four short months, I feel as though I’ve seen rapid personal and professional growth, partly as a result of new Twitter “friends.”

• To my following: Thank you. Thanks for allowing me to follow your updates and learn from you. You are enriching my life.
• To my followers: My prayer is that in some small way, I am doing the same for you.

How do you grow your Twitter following? How have the people you’re following on Twitter enriched your life?

P.S. Click here for “Six Ways You Can Use Twitter Today” and here for “Tweople You Must Follow.” And of course, if you’re not already, follow me on Twitter.

In recent months, I’ve talked with dozens of real-life friends and business acquaintances about Twitter: what it is, why and how I use it and why they should as well. Twitter updates can be found on my Facebook page, my Plaxo Pulsestream and on my blog. I’ve spoken about Twitter in presentations and conversations.

Here’s My Take
I’m not the expert. In fact, I’m still learning. And maybe that’s precisely the reason I felt compelled to write this post. I’m an average person seeking to understand this whole new twitterverse and what the implications are for my business, my family and friends, my community/country/world and my faith. So far, I’ve discovered at least six ways you can use Twitter today:

1. Level the Playing Field. You can use Twitter to follow decision makers of online shoe stores, major publishers, wine retailers, technology companies and business owners. You can follow famous authors/speakers, sales gurus, coaches, politicians, entertainers and some of the brightest marketing minds anywhere. No gatekeepers. No barriers.
2. Find New Ideas. Some of the smartest, most creative and innovative leaders in the world are on Twitter. You can ask questions and get a variety of responses from people based on their areas of interest/expertise. You also have access to thoughts and conversations that are different from your own or those of your peers/colleagues. You can even use Twitter for online brainstorming.
3. Catch Breaking News. By following @breakingnewson and @cnnbrk and others, you can learn about earthquakes across the country/world, tornadoes in your backyard, primaries and concessions (or not) and more. And you can get this news FAST - typically before it’s available through traditional media outlets.
4. Research and Identify Trends. When you read updates from more than a handful of people about a particular product or subject, you see emerging trends. You can also use Twitter to determine if trends are isolated to people within a certain geographic region, demographic, psychographic or market segment.
5. Generate Visibility. Use Twitter to gain additional visibility for your business (or personal brand) and generate traffic for your website. This has happened for me when “tweople” with small, moderate and large followings have tweeted about @CherylSmith999.
6. Enjoy the Water Cooler. While working from home has many great advantages, solopreneurs can sometimes feel isolated or disconnected. Twitter is like an online water cooler or break room, providing you with a venue for conversations about daily happenings.

What Others Are Saying
Social media expert Chris Brogan has written five posts specifically related to Twitter and dozens more that touch on the subject. Read Chris’ Newbies Guide to Twitter or How he uses Twitter. Check out Rafe Needleman’s comprehensive newbie’s guide to Twitter. From the C-Suite, Thomas Nelson’s President & CEO, Michael Hyatt, has a great 12 Reasons to Start Twittering post. People all across the blogosphere, the twitterverse and even main stream media are talking about Twitter. Just maybe Twitter is more than a novelty or geekfest.

Not yet using Twitter? Try it out. It will probably feel awkward at first but chances are, in no time, you’ll get the hang of it. Who knows, you may even come to rely on it.

Already a believer? How do you use Twitter? When people ask you for info about Twitter, where do you point them? Leave your comments here and broaden the conversation.

Photo credit: Leo Reynolds - Creative Commons: Attribution, Non-commercial, Share alike.

If you’re in business, you’ve heard the phrase “under promise, over deliver” more times than you can probably count. After a particularly poor customer service experience at a Chinese restaurant, I even explained the concept to my 10-year old son. The ability to exceed a customer’s expectation(s) is a vital aspect of providing superior customer service. The topic is one component of CultureSmith Consulting’s half-day workshop, Select Squared.

Late last night Twitter made a huge promise on their blog. With the opening of Apple’s 2008 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) and Steve Jobs’ highly anticipated keynote address, (and possible new iphone announcement), Twitter is expecting ten times the traffic today on their site. Given the fact that Twitter has had dramatic downtime over the last few months, they’ve “made some plans to accommodate this dramatic surge.”

They’ve also set some pretty high expectations for reliability in the minds of users across the twitterverse. Time will tell if they have under promised and can over deliver. Or if the reverse is true. I hope they can pull it off!

I have really come to value Twitter as a business resource. I can’t say that I’ve come to “rely” on it completely, due to the aforementioned downtime. But I really want to!

When is the last time you were pleasantly surprised by customer service? How do your customers want you to succeed? Have you set the bar too high for your own organization and left your customers with unrealistic expectations of your ability to deliver?

You never know what might happen when you take the time to handwrite a note. The other day I wrote to Chris Brogan, thanking him for the impact he’s had on me at this phase of my business. I sincerely appreciate his willingness to share information, not to mention the fact that he’s a genius! I expected nothing in return. On Friday, Chris surprised me with a blog entry about the CultureSmith notecard and even included the above photo. Already, it’s generated some additional traffic to my website and helped me add a few more followers on Twitter.

St. Patrick’s Day Meeting
On March 18, 2002 I received a handwritten note that changed the course of my life. Just the day before, on St. Patrick’s Day, I was returning to Lynchburg from Dallas after presenting at a statewide conference for chamber of commerce professionals. My itinerary included a brief layover in Pittsburg.

It was there that I first noticed a tall man with two small children. When I say “noticed,” I mean because he was 6′5″ tall. I’m 5′11″. It’s not every day that I see men I have to look up to. I wasn’t really thinkin’ anything else. I mean, he had two small children with him, right?

On the flight to Lynchburg, said tall man and two small children were seated in the row in front of me. Come to find out, his son was four and daughter, 18 months old. I love kids, so I played peek-a-boo with the toddler and occasionally caught the eye of the four-year old. All three of them had beautiful blue eyes.

Baggage Claim Isn’t All Bad
When we arrived in Lynchburg, passengers from our very full flight gathered around baggage claim awaiting their luggage. And then there were three. We waited…and waited. No luggage.

I’ve never been accused of being shy. My extroverted personality and customer service training, paired with networking advice from Harvey Mackay’s books and my experience in the chamber industry compelled me to introduce myself. There was a drug rep and the tall man, Peter. He and I had a brief conversation:

“Thanks for playing with my kids,” he said.
I replied, “no problem. It made me miss my own. I can’t wait to see them.”
He said, “Are they with your husband?”
“Ex-husband,” I offered.
“Yeah, me too. It sucks doesn’t it?” was his reply. I nodded.

Shortly after that, we moved to the ticket counter and filled out the necessary paperwork so that hopefully, our luggage would be returned to us in a timely manner. I recognized the lady at the ticket counter as someone with whom I used to work at Belk, a family-owned department store. We chatted for a bit and I left to go get my babies (at the time Sweet Pea was 6 and Ninja Boy was 4) from my ex.

The next day a green bag similar to mine arrived at my office. The name on the luggage tag was - you guessed it - Peter. The last name started with an M. There was a phone number, so I took a chance. I called the number and left a message saying I had his luggage at my office. Before he had a chance to return my call, someone from the airline returned with my luggage and reclaimed Peter M’s bag.

The Note that Changed My Life
On the outside of my luggage was a green envelope with the logo of one of Lynchburg’s major employers and the words “Strictly Private.” Someone had my attention.

Evidently, Peter remembered my name and that my friend worked for the airline. He went back to his office, penned the note, went back to the airport and asked my friend if she could give the note to me along with my luggage. Thankfully, she did!

A few days later, Peter Smith and I met for coffee at a Givens Bookstore. He was in the middle of a tough divorce and I had been there, done that. We talked for what seemed like hours. We shared stories and began a great friendship. Who knew four years later, we would end up married? (Part Two coming soon.)

You Never Know
Rather than click “send” the next time you want to make an impression, why not get out a pen and a note card? In our very high tech society, a handwritten may just be the personal touch you need. Postage stamp or not, handwritten notes have the ability to go farther than you might think.

How did you feel the last time you received a handwritten note from someone? When was the last time you took the time to write a personal note? Was it effective? If so, how?

While driving home from a recent lunch meeting, a weird thought popped into my mind. What would Jesus tweet? (Maybe you’re familiar with the whole WWJD craze, which admittedly, has been quite cheezy at times. Catchy though.)

Let me say right off the bat with the disclosure that I’m not a theologian. I don’t pretend to fully understand the many great mysteries of the gospel. As Paul said, “I see through a glass dimly.” This post is meant to be fun and engage people in conversation.

By way of background and according to their website, Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick (140 characters or less), frequent answers (tweets) to one simple question: What are you doing?

People use Twitter for far more than answering that one question. Twitter has become an online gathering place. According to Tech Crunch, as of March 2008 Twitter had more than 1 million users who produce more than 3 million tweets a day.

Those numbers are growing rapidly.

Perhaps before I ask “What would Jesus tweet?” I need to first ask the question, “Would Jesus even tweet at all?” After all, Jesus’ lengthy “Sermon on the Mount” couldn’t be summed up in 140 characters. Jesus engaged in real conversations and in-depth teaching.

Sermon length aside, suppose Jesus would be an early adapter and therefore, would sign up for a Twitter account in the first place. After all, Jesus often related to people in ways that differed from the expectations of those in the mainstream. And He had followers. Lots of them. How would Jesus have used Twitter?

Clearly define purpose/mission:
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
I am the Good Shepherd.
I am the Gate.
I am the Bread of Life.
I am the Vine.

Additionally, Jesus was pretty good at cutting to the chase. He challenged and encouraged his followers then, as now:

• Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind & strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matt. 22:37-38)
• Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. (Matt. 20:26-27)
• With men this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. Matt. 19:26
• Your sins are forgiven. (Mark 2:5)
• You give them something to eat. (Mark 6:37)
• But who do you say that I am? (Mark 8:29)
• With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible. (Mark 10:27)
• Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting outsiders, not insiders—an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out. (Luke 5:31)
• Which is easier to say? Your sins are forgiven or rise up and walk? (Luke 5:23)
• Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. (Luke 6:27)
• Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. (Luke 7:47)
• I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)
• A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (John 13:34)

What do you think? Would Jesus use Twitter? Why or why not? And if so, what would He Tweet? How can you follow His example to communicate clearly, in ways that make an impact in your business? In your life? In the lives of others?