How to Twitter (no charge)
My discovery yesterday (maybe I’m innocent) that people are charging companies/individuals to teach them to use twitter wasn’t followed by a discovery that people are charging for fresh air this morning.
This is a short post as the good news is, there is nothing to learn.
These people are just slightly shy of shysters fresh air salespeople but of course thats only my opinion but as someone who is on twitter longer than most of these combined I would hope you would take it seriously.
If you are still nervous buy a book by Laura Fitton Twitter For Dummies, but I think that isn’t even necessary.
Yes there are lots of Irish companies on twitter and I 100% believe that it will benefit your business but only as part of an overall strategy and this is where most people could do with some help from a professional.
Alexia Golez has a nice list to get you started, jump in, get your feet wet, sign up here.
You’re not too late and people wont bite but please keep your hard earned cash in your pocket.
One final tip, believe no one who tells you they can help you get more friends/followers on twitter, it shows how much they have completely misunderstood the medium
Me
Pat, you have no idea what a chord you struck with so many with that tweet yesterday! Or may be you do
Anyone with half-decent literacy and half a brain can fiddle and figure most things out. Hell, my oldest friend on Facebook is 70 and even he is figuring out that FB etiquette is not quite the same as IRL. What of Twitter then..
I had coffee with someone recently who wanted to pay me to teach them how to use Twitter, it felt weird and uncomfortable.
I told him I could explain it over the coffee we were having now and that really, ultimately – he could use it however he wanted.
He couldn’t understand why I didn’t want to help him.
Agh!
The point on guidance on using Twitter as part of an overall strategy is well made and the most important distinction between the ‘fresh air’ merchants and new media marketers with something valuable to offer.
The company that prompted your tweets yesterday really should be named and shamed – especially for their promises of large numbers of followers. Anyone can get followers, it is attracting ones of value which requires some experience, thought and consideration – all of which are free
Well done on your tweets.
Amazingly enough, people think there’s an overriding strategy – to be fair, some want to know about automated blog posting etc – but usually this can be covered in a simple chat.
Well this is something that has been irking me for a long time and I am so pleased to see you bring it up Pat. I mentioned it myself in a blog post I wrote last week, it is becoming a common practice on Twitter. Like you I have many international people following me on Twitter and I have heard of this happening in many places.
I have spoken (again for free) to many of my clients about twitter since they knew I joined in 2007, back then they laughed at me, now they want to know more about it, what I always tell them is try it out and find your way, expect to hate it until you have a good few followers who are tweeting regularly and talk to everyone.
Look I bring fuck all to the table when it comes to twitter yet people continue to follow me, all I am doing is talking and listening to what people are saying, twitter really is that simple.
I saw Claires reply to you on twitter about people needing a guiding hand to get started because they may not be as tech savvy as you or her, but as Kevism brilliantly put it, if they are expecting to be coached through skype, which they obviously have signed up to, they should have no problem in getting started on Twitter!
I’m not really on board with this. It strikes me as slightly elitist to presume people should just be expected to ‘get it’. There are health and safety training courses that tell you how to lift a box. I don’t hear anyone criticising them.
If someone wants to spend money on a course to help add to their confidence in using a technology then why not? It is their money to spend – not yours.
What if you can’t find someone to go over the basics with you over a coffee? Its nice for you if you can (and I guess you should take up the opportunity) but if you can’t – are you expected to just whistle for it?
You could argue that all training is redundant. You can pretty much find out how to rewire an atomic bomb online without having to resort to a training course these days – but that just isn’t some people’s style. They prefer to go to a course, get some coffee, have a morning off from work and learn in a classroom.
I don’t myself offer or endorse any of these training courses myself but it gets my goat a little that there is an intolerance towards people who aren’t as down with the kidz as the ‘old timers’.
@James Kennedy
I see your point, but I think you misunderstand where the tolerance lies – there are actually a great number of “old timers” (that handle won’t do you any favours) who use twitter very well and with great purpose. “the kidz” actually tweet little else but drivel.
it’s more about getting it, full stop – strategy and business use aside, it’s hardly a complex system to master.
the training courses that offer strategy, getting followers, how to integrate; I can see why they’re offered, but I don’t think twitter’s going to be a great tool for business unless you use it in a semi-personal way, and do actually get it (the point and reason).
plus, don’t forget with twitter being touted by our MPs, there are a lot of silly people for said companies to target.
@James Kennedy
I forgot to mention – I criticise the aforementioned Health and Safety guides daily, although I completely understand their necessity.
If you don’t lift a box right, you put your back out.
If you tweet incorrectly… I’m trying to find the major downside to this… You have to retweet later? Short of forgetting to DM something vital, and putting it in the public domain (in which case you should’ve emailed it), the nature of the subject speaks for itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o
And if you can’t work it out on your own after that then use this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS_9mkizFys
Nobody will be teaching you anything different
I’m pretty sure that every time I’ve been on one of those how to lift a box health and safety courses I (and everyone else on it) has criticised it.
My objection is not with people wanting to some understanding of twitter use (particularly if there a PR or Marketing person who’s been instructed to use it), but with the people trying to make a quick buck out of their ignorance.
Comparing twitter use to rewiring an atomic bomb is glib. Millions of people have managed to use twitter without the aid of training, most people would require years of study to learn the intricacies of an atomic bomb.
Let them off I say. I would not pay to do a course on any social media, but I flog email newsletters and some people think they can do it for free or for $10, people have different expectations.
Good luck to Claire or anyone else who can may a buck doing this, nobody really questions other more popular bloggers and so called social media experts.
I have to agree with James on this one. You can learn all you want about using Twitter and other social media platforms free of charge if you take the time to learn how. But the vast majority of ‘normal’ people (as some would call them) don’t have a clue how to perform the most basic functions and will never try it out or they will try it out and give up after their first tweet.
You can learn to swim by jumping in a river over and over again but you will learn faster if you take lessons. You can drown in a Twitter stream also so why not take a lesson if it speeds up the process of learning?
It’s your choice, it’s your money, it’s your time. Do you waste money and save time or do you waste time and save money?
As regards buying fresh air, It’s not for everyone but try scuba diving without it.
I see both sides of this: To those of us who grokked Twitter long ago, it can seem unfathomable that anyone can’t just dive in and get it. Then you see all the companies and individuals who have made a right hash (not hashtag, Pat
) on Twitter and it’s clear that common sense isn’t all that common. Different people are at different points of the learning curve.
But that’s not what I find objectionable, and I think Pat – with all due respect – is conflating two different things:
1) Those who can help individuals or organizations learn to use Twitter effectively, avoid PR nightmares and listen more than they talk.
2) Those who are self-pimpers and will do anything to promote themselves, caring more about their image and bank balance than about what people can really achieve with Twitter (both personally and professionally).
The second irks me. The first is inoffensive and perfectly fine – in fact, needed.
Last night, I met someone for dinner at a restaurant that is on Twitter but had failed to tweet that they were closing today for renovations. I saw the notice and said, “I hope you tweeted that.” The maître d’ gasped and said, “You’re right. We need to call them.” Call whom? The people who run their Twitter account. I mean, seriously.
This stuff is daunting for many people, and I don’t think it is helpful or moral to shame them or those who do help them out of a genuine desire to see Twitter used well and not as a spam or troll tool. The ones who deserve the derision are the narcissists who are so besotted with themselves and their supposed expertise. They are two different things.
Funnily enough, the same person got loads of PR out of her dog getting “lost” and then “found” through the power of Twitter. That’ll help promote the Twitter courses.
@ian
Some people need help with twitter (and word, and wordpress and buying a ticket on ticketmaster). Some of those people may be in business. Some of them may be a way of looking to grow their business that doesn’t cost too much money. Some of them may be willing to learn something new and some of them may realise that by saying or doing the wrong thing online, you can have your reputation savaged. I’m no expert, but I’ve seen people make stupid avoidable mistakes that have damaged their brand. They are not stupid people, they just made mistakes. Who knows, maybe I’m making one now.
You may not be one of those people – but if you are – a course could be helpful. If you are not – good on you. I wouldn’t look down on anyone if they were able to admit they needed some help and I’m guessing you wouldn’t either.
So lets assume there is ‘a need’ out there. I’m not sure if there is – but lets assume there is.
@nialh
How should these people learn? I’m no expert, but people I trust tell me that different people learn in different ways. Books work for some, audio for others and video for others still. That doesn’t mean there aren’t people who just like the reassurance of personal coaching.
I know how to do a push-up but I still know if I hire a personal trainer for a month I’ll be fitter at the end that I would have been otherwise. Maybe I’m lacking some moral fibre in not being able to pull myself up by the bootstraps. Fair enough. Many people are in the same boat.
So – there is a need and there may be some people who want one-to-one help.
@colm
The atomic bomb example was just my way of saying that you can learn anything you want online. That doesn’t mean there can’t be training courses on the same subject matter.
One caveat. I’m not going to try and defend ‘bad’ training. ‘Bad’ training of any type is – well – ‘bad’. For the purposes of discussion lets say that ‘bad’ = doesn’t deliver a ROI or actually loses you money. Lets assume that those providing the courses do so in good faith and will endeavor to make sure attendees make a return on their investment. I’m sure some but not all do this.
So here is the punch line. I agree 100% that people shouldn’t be ripped off. I’ve been on courses where I felt ripped off and some I thought were good. It was my call. I paid my money and I took my chance.
Perhaps there is a sense that the people selling courses are taking advantage in some way. I’m sure they wouldn’t put it that way. It is hard to tell unless you have been on one of the courses.
I’m guessing no one here has been.
I think there is a place for people who teach others to do stuff they don’t know how to do. I, like many people, prefer to learn in a class setting than to reading it from a book. I, unlike many people, can figure things out for myself in most cases. I have a few colleagues and friends who have been on Claire’s Twitter courses and found it immensely helpful as they had no idea how to do it and it saved them tons of time figuring it out by going on the course. I think it’s a bit nasty referring to people who teach these courses as Shysters (actually it’s spelled Sheisters). Not very nice at all. If people want to learn in a particular way what does it matter to you?
@maya
there is nothing to learn, a course on twitter will not make you “better” at Twitter than someone who has not taken a course in my opinion.
“How to get followers?” FGS
interesting content will get you interested followers.
If you can set up am email account you can use Twitter, are we now going to see a Twitter elite?
One more final question?
What qualifies you as a Twitter tutour? How do we know that Claire’s way is the right way.
Do you go to a Twitter twollege?
How many points do you need?
Reality check: Why are so many here assuming that getting loads of followers it the point of Twitter?
Better to have five high value, high yield followers than 500 half-interested, non-useful followers (nevermind the spambots). If you are teaching people that it’s all about follower numbers, you need a Twitter course yourself.
@jackie
So what you are saying is that there is no place for courses that offer bad advice. I can’t argue with that.
Is there a place for a twitter course that offered good advice?
@Jackie
==
==
Precisely! (unless you’re a celebrity)
James Kennedy: Did you read my first comment?
Jackie: Sorry. I didn’t put 2 and 2 together there. I think you have hit the nail on the head.
James, no worried. I’m just far too lazy to re-type.
I think Jackie hit the nail on the head in an earlier comment.
Some people need guidance, so assisting them is perfectly legitimate. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Twitter or any other “social media” or anything involving the “online” realm. What may seem “obvious” to the “in” crowd won’t be to an outsider.
If you signup for Twitter and try to use the web interface you probably won’t get a lot from it, as the UI is terrible and confusing.
The same could be said about blogging or anything else. Just because it’s obvious for some people doesn’t mean it’s obvious and easy for others.
If people are willing to pay to learn more about Twitter or anything else and the people offering the training aren’t conning them, then I don’t see the issue.
As for the entire “follower” argument – people with highly visible online profiles (not necessarily celebs) probably don’t need to worry about it and can’t understand what the “deal” is about other people’s fixations with numbers. Like anything else the number of followers, tweets, retweets etc., are metrics that people can relate to. How much impact those figures actually have isn’t something that anyone selling the popularity services is going to concern themselves with
Pat,
I personally don’t see the need for these courses but you and I are not the type of people they are aimed at. As people have stated above you can teach yourself how to use anything these days by simply searching the web, should you have the time and inclination, but unfortunately some people simply don’t.
I recommend to all my clients they use Twitter and indicate ways it can benefit their business and, if they ask, how they can enjoy it from a personal benefit. But every time, without fail, the people who don’t use or understand Twitter always
fall into two groups: firstly, they are those that aren’t tech/internet savvy and don’t understand blogs, how their own website works, other forms of social media or SEO, or secondly they are people that are simply too busy to set one up and use it for their business, as they see it as part of marketing whilst they want to concentrate on fee-paying work and are also not interested in using it on a personal basis. I don’t charge for this guidance specifically but it is simply part of my role as their PR representative to teach how all forms of communication work the same way I explain to clients how TV, radio, press, blogs etc operate, as I see one of Twitter’s many facets as being a communication tool.
There is a definite demand for these courses from people who want a shortcut quick-guide on how to use Twitter, but I think this comes more from businesses than private individuals and businesses are often too happy to cough up the cost for these courses especially when there is so much hype and misunderstanding around Twitter, plus at €25-€50 it is not a big cost.
I think the problem comes when these Twitter for business courses are too basic, miss the point and don’t give value for money. For instance where they miss the point is showing how Twitter can be beneficial for each business and I don’t think can be done as a group because it comes to down to the individual needs of a person or business e.g. a restaurant or author using Twitter will have different needs to a recruitment firm or a solicitor. That’s why when people come to these courses they can’t see how useful it is to them and often I don’t think the person giving the course is aware of this or the needs of the people who are attending.
Twitter needs to be discussed within the context of the overall needs of an individual business and how can it can provide another means of communication, customer interaction, promotion, marketing, a research tool, whatever the business would find beneficial and how this ties in with the businesses other means of communication, customer interaction etc.
I have seen a couple of self-proclaimed social media gurus trying failing to spout on about these courses (BTW Pat obviously I’m not in away including you in this) but it makes them look immature and insecure, whilst their unprofessionalism belies the fact that they don’t appear have the slightest bit of business acumen to show how these tools can be applied either.
Simon.
Pat,
I personally don’t see the need for these courses but you and I are not the type of people they are aimed at. As people have stated above you can teach yourself how to use anything these days by simply searching the web, should you have the time and inclination, but unfortunately some people simply don’t.
I recommend to all my clients they use Twitter and indicate ways it can benefit their business and, if they ask, how they can enjoy it from a personal benefit. But every time, without fail, the people who don’t use or understand Twitter are always
fall into two groups: firstly, they are those that aren’t tech/internet savvy and don’t understand blogs, how their own website works, other forms of social media or SEO, or secondly they are people that are simply too busy to set one up and use it for their business, as they are concentrating on fee-paying work and are not interested in using it on a personal basis. I don’t charge for this guidance specifically but it is part of my role as their PR representative to teach how all forms of communication work and I see one of Twitter’s many facets as being a communication tool the same as I explain to clients how the TV, radio, press, blogs etc operate.
There is a definite demand for these courses from people who want a shortcut quick-guide on how to use Twitter, but I think this comes more from businesses than private individuals and businesses are often too happy to cough up the cost for these courses especially when there is so much hype and misunderstanding around Twitter, plus at €25-€50 it is not a big cost.
I think the problem comes when these Twitter for business courses are too basic, miss the point and don’t give value for money. For instance where they miss the point is showing how Twitter can be beneficial for each business and I don’t think can be done as a group as it comes to down to the individual needs of a person or business e.g. a restaurant or author using Twitter will have different needs to a recruitment firm or a solicitor. That’s why when people come to these courses they can’t see how useful it is to them and often I don’t the person giving the course is aware of this or the needs to the people who are attending.
Twitter needs to be discussed within the context of the overall needs of an individual business and how can it can provide another means of communication, customer interaction, promotion, marketing, a research tool, whatever the business would find beneficial and how this ties in with the business other means of communication, customer interaction etc etc.
I have seen a couple of self-proclaimed social media gurus trying and failing to spout on about these courses (BTW Pat I’m obviously not in anyway including you in this) but it makes them look immature and insecure, whilst their unprofessionalism belies the fact that they don’t have the slightest bit of business acumen to show how these tools can be applied either.
Simon.
I read all of the above comments and felt insulted by many of them. Somehow I am an idiot because I requested help to use twitter among other insults to my intelligence and all because I was helped aboard by Claire. I employed a web designer also . I recently joined a group to learn meditation. Surely I must be an idiot when all you have to do to meditate is close your eyes.
Do I need help?
You of you who are so quick to judge Claire, take the mote out of your own eye first. This says more about the little judge hovering inside of you than about Claire. .
@kate
you seem to have completed missed the point of the post and the comments
website design, grab an expert 100% agreed
meditation-again a taught skill, grab an expert
twitter-grab a username and off you go.
Having to be taught twitter is like needing teaching to wake up in the morning.
Your idiocy is your own concern in my opinion.
Must be great to know everything !
I still think its ironic that people who are the “victims” of the digital divide are trying to learn and grow but limited by the money hungry people that want to charge for a skill that was probably learned by trial and error on their part. Why not do what teenagers do and try it for themselves or if all else fails… Google it
Thanks pat for putting up this link. Its great to see some people are not wasting there money on “twitter tutorials”. Especially in these economic times, wasting money on something like that when they could easily google it and find out…Thanks for the help
@Pat, @Sheena
I really liked your post about the Online Marketing scam being run by Pat Slattery etc. I also really hate the twitter scams and affiliate marketing programmes that go on the web all the time.
I think James Kennedy hit the nail on the head and I’d like to add: I hire people all the time. I studied accountancy for a long time, but I’m not an accountant. I have to hire accountants for different businesses and different reasons. I sometimes know more than my accountants in certain ares, like tax relief but less in areas of day to day mundane things. I hate accountancy and I prefer to pay someone to do my books so I can get on with the business of what I do.
I have a good few clients who are terrified of the web and tools like twitter. Sure, people like us who are technologists of a certain order, love to find new tools and networking and phone technologies and apps. But some people really dont get it or dont want to try on their own. that happens. Dell used to run a course for people to send e-mail and e-mail is simpler than twitter and everyone who worked at dell could put a PC together in seconds.
We’ve become a very specialised society and we suck at doing things we dont want to do because of whatever mental block.
We also seem to suffer from NetRage and its as easy and anonymous to take someone up the wrong way over the web as it is in a car
I dont think Claire charges people verry much and I’m happy to say I think that there are cases where her work is necessary and I’ve happily recommended her and its working out well.
@Sheena
Just two things about the “go and google it” – there can often be a lot of disinformation. Google “quick seo tips” for example and you’ll find the same regurgitated crap thats clogging up the web. Misinformation perpetuates because 1) people think its true 2) people want other people to go to their site 3) people get cliquey and make up stuff and agree with it/promote it and push stuff they want to like -v- the actual truth.
Secondly, its about time. I meet companies with bad ideas about online marketing every week. They read all kinds of nonsense about H1 tags and keywords and other crap…list goes on. It can take a long time to fix. Time is money.
@Mark Just because someone has learnt something/augmented knowldege through learing by trial and error – they should share all of that knowledge? It’s not a product, so it should be free? So artists shouldn’t charge? music should be free, food should be too, as should driving schools. What about surgeons – they learn a lot more after their grounding in college when they start watching other surgeons or from trying it themselves- shouldn’t they give it away free too then?
I wonder it your mate Damien Mulley was offering the course would you be so quick to laugh at it, or those that feel they need it? or is that what this is all about? He seems remarkably silent on this and the Donal O.G. issue.
Hey Pat, i understand what your talking about but i was referring to the average internet user. I’m saying that for learning something so basic as posting to twitter shouldn’t be charged by people looking to make a cheap buck. The people eager to learn can do so by using the internet and trying to tweet for themselves. Showing someone how to create a user name and make a comment isn’t a service that should be charged for but rather shared with for free, like the topic of your post. Most of the instructions can be found in the help section of any good site thats worth using.