How To Build A Web 2.0 Empire

I’m just taking a short Twitter break (just a day or 2 more) to get back to some of the things that I do that I talk about on Twitter. That way I can actually get back to work and help people do what I help people do in the first place.

Also, I was supposed to do my “Twitter Running Start” (stay tuned for new scheduled date and time as well as download link and password) webinar on Tuesday with @the_gman as my special Twitter rock star guest.

The next morning, I got a call at 7:30 am from Sister Mary Agnes, the principal at Ethan’s (my 13 year old little man) school, to please come down and help with some important volunteer work that had not been claimed by enough parents. The school is very small and a private school which must rely on volunteers for many things. In fact, we are required 10 hours a year (I like to get involved in everything now that I have the time freedom to do so).

The beauty of being a work at home mom is that Ethan’s school knows that I can show up and help in within 10 minutes of being given notice when there’s work that needs helpers.

So, as I was getting my little guide together for the people who were attending the webinar to download, I was also keeping my eye on my Tweet Deck and writing down great Tweeple to follow and why people should follow them (not based on the number of followers they have, but the value they offer) and tweeting to them about the fun little thing I was planning to do.
By the way, I am NOT a “social media consultant” or a “social media expert” just because I do well with Twitter suddenly and because I was a marketer in My Space before all of the marketing started happening there. I am just telling a story of what I did, what worked, what didn’t, what the problems were, what I’d do differently, etc. and giving it as a story because that’s my “job.”

I am a marketer and I use social media simply as a branding tool. I’m just a regular girl who has figured some things out after 4 years of doing this full-time. Nothing more, nothing less.

Suddenly, I’m accused of spam, accused of calling myself an expert by someone I had really been supportive of and said very nice things about since I’ve followed them. This person really acts like it’s all about the “Tweeple” and proved to me that it’s all about him, as far as he’s concerned.

All of this was simply for wanting to share a list of people I like and some links that may help. I also had created a second account for focused @NewbieBizCenter “helping hand tweets” (NOT SELLING ON TWITTER!).

I would NEVER start doing something, @NewbieBizCenter is a certain feel different from my own @web20empire style, after being so vocally opposed to direct sales on Twitter (I even got hell for saying bad things about Magpie) and have proven right again and again by other “experts” and their social media marketing advice.

All I was doing was creating a helpful stream I would follow (and do personally) and a place for for people who wanted information from sources that I have found very trustworthy. The Twitter streams I want to follow are going to be people that I personally know that have great information to share because I read their content myself.

These are also people who I know I can ask for help from if I (or anyone who follows me and asks me something) can get real answers from without a hidden sales pitch behind it.

I’m not creating a guru stream. I’m not doing a “secret” to social media angle.

I’m just sharing value and I see the value of Twitter in a very big way.

Nothing really secret to it, just look a little deeper and try to see what I see and it will be a lot more clear for a newbie to social media if I have another stream they can see from my follows @NewbieBizCenter instead of sorting through all the people I follow for so many reasons @web20empire.

I just be myself, share my story, share the struggles, make it fun and make it available to other people.

That’s my big “expert social media” stuff. That’s it. I’m not a “social media consultant” whatever in the world that means. I just use this stuff and have been using it for 2 years now, to build my business to a point where I can say I have done well enough to have an opinion on what works.

I’ve gotten way too unfocused because of the way I have allowed people to bother me on Twitter. I’ve got to step away for a day or 2 and finally launch my ConfessionsOfATwitterAddict.com domain and start explaining myself one time and not in 140 character bits that have to be re-explained again and again.

The lesson here?

Twitter is awesome and powerful and can really give you a voice that can be heard. But, you must be sure to treat it as a “teaser” and just be able to shout about whatever it is on your own blog and be able to put the tweets to work as your little breadcrumbs that lead the readers to your explanations and insights in their entirety. I’ve been being too much voice on Twitter (see over 4,000 updates in about 3 months) and not enough voice everywhere else I used to be sharing my voice (blogs, other social networks, etc.)

So why do I love Twitter?

It’s a huge whirlpool (and can also be a cesspool as well) of:

• Information
• Insight
• Personality
• Fun
• Diversion
• And most of all, PEOPLE. Really cool people are what make it all happen. People who care about one another and who do things not only for themselves, but for Twitter as a community.

I tell stories.

That’s my job.

I’m just me and I do what works for me. I may have some nuggets of info that may help other people. So I share what I do badly and what I’ve done well. I learn every single day so it’s only fair to share what I learn, right?

It isn’t that I have some “secret” to social media marketing.

It’s just a story of what I do and what the results are, period.

The minute you know it all, it’s all over. Think about that next time you try and tell me how to be me and do what I do every single day. I always look for ways to be better than I am, not better than anyone else.

So, that’s why I created a “business stream” for my Twitter self. @NewbieBizCenter will share what I have found of value via Twitter and elsewhere that’s for business people online and @web20empire will always just be me being me, in all of my passionate, yet insightful and well read and experienced  insanity and Twitter “almost famousness.”

I have a voice, some people want to hear it. So, here it is.

Don’t like it loud, opinionated, and very knowledgeable and with plenty of passion, love, and truth?

Do you know everything already?

Or do you have an issue with fun and personality being mixed with business?

Then I would suggest you don’t follow me and those I suggest on #FollowFriday because we’re a real rowdy and real witty (and smart) bunch.

Otherwise, follow @web20empire for the feisty part of my business and my own personality and follow @newbiebizcenter for the list of tools, content, and companies that I model and learn from. I’ll show you what I really see in Twitter and who the true (and at times, unsung at other times very well-known, heroes of Twitter are in my life.

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<blockquote>I'm just taking a short Twitter break (just a day or 2 more) to get back to some of the things that I do that I talk about on Twitter. That way I can actually get back to work and help people do what I help people do in the... <small><br /> <a href="http://web20empire.com/2009/04/30/im-not-an-expert-but-some-of-my-friends-are/">I’m Not An Expert But Some Of My Friends Are.</a> - http://web20empire.com</small></blockquote>

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