Chapter 16

Tweeting around the World

“It’s a big world out there. It would be a shame not to experience it :) #travel”

@earthXplorer

Video producer and long-time travel blogger JD Andrews (@earthXplorer, as he is known by his thousands of Twitter followers and as shown in his bio in Figure 16-1), has visited more than 83 countries across all seven continents, and always with a camera in hand.

JD recently won a Shorty Award (the Oscar of Twitter awards, by the way) for travel, as shown in Figure 16-2, and is acknowledged as not only a travel and production expert but as an all-around nice guy with a huge loyal Twitter following.

JD was born and raised on a mountain in Colorado, moved to the desert of Arizona, then spent 11 years at sea traveling the world. His job was video production, but along the way he also fell in love with photography. To date, JD has spent more than 20 years traveling around the globe, shooting and editing travel and tourism videos for various cruise lines, airlines, and tourist boards.

These projects have presented JD with once-in-a-lifetime experiences and the chance to see the amazing world we live in. He has written for various travel magazines, as well as blog posts for National Geographic and BBC Travel and was featured on Huffington Post Travel and AOL Travel (see Figure 16-3).

JD is the host and producer of GoingSocialTV, which features regular interviews with social media leaders and top corporations (see Figure 16-4).

An Early Adopter

JD joined Twitter in July 2007 and fondly recalls his first experience of the platform. “I’m what many refer to as an early adopter. That’s a nice way of saying ‘nerd boy,’ which means I consume a lot of information from geeky blogs and podcasts.

“It was back in 2007 that I first heard of this new way to send text messages on the Internet called Twitter. So I quickly joined, because the other geeks had, all the while not knowing what it was or how I would use it. I was confused by the 140-character limitation and how you find other people to tweet with. I did love the idea of communicating with people from all over the world, asking questions and getting a tremendous range of responses. Simply typing ‘good morning’ and seeing tweets from people that I would never have known without this new thing in social media” (see Figure 16-5).

As one of the early adopters of Twitter, JD had an opportunity to play a part in how it was being used and ultimately how it would evolve. He remembers, “Celebrities, companies, and brands had not yet discovered Twitter. Most were happy to be on Facebook and showed no interest in another new social media platform.

“Back then, there were no groups, lists, or even a standard to retweet. I remember the day, as a community, we were discussing how to properly retweet someone. We all understood the power of Twitter is sharing and needed to ensure the original author of the tweet was recognized. We were using ‘Re-Tweet,’ but decided that it took too many characters. Some ideas included using ‘RTweet’ or the recycle symbol, but finally everyone agreed on simply using ‘RT.’ ”

Branding Lessons Learned along the Way

JD entered a steep learning curve when he adopted Twitter as a new means of social networking. Over time, it became far more than that to him, something very personal and deeply rooted in his brand. But with this realization came the knowledge that, with hindsight, there were things he might have done differently.

‘Put the orange guy back!’

“When I set up my Twitter account, I never thought of it as my brand or what I should add to my profile. I just found a photo from an Alaska trip, put it up there and, five years later, it’s considered my brand. I have tried to change my profile photo, but every time I do my Twitter friends tell me to ‘put the orange guy back!’ It’s easy to see and recognize as @earthXplorer. But if I had known that photo was going to be my brand, I would have picked a different one.”

Becoming categorized

“Slowly, just being on Twitter wasn’t enough. People were starting to categorize everyone, so instead of @earthXplorer being a dog-loving dad who enjoys art, music, movies, Apple products, photography, and cool gadgets, and who’s a kinda geeky guy who loves to travel and does video production for a living, I was put in the travel category. This is fine, but I miss the days where we all just communicated and shared, not limiting who you followed or shared with due to their category.”

On oversharing and direct messages

“As stated in my Twitter profile, I tweet a lot :). I like to over-share, my travels, random thoughts, photos, quotes, and any trivia that I think is fun. I spend most of my day on Twitter, but I never let it interrupt or change what I am doing; it just becomes a part of it. I hear so many people say, ‘I just don’t have time for Twitter.’ Well, in answer to that, I’d have to say that it takes as much time as you want to give it.

“I try to respond to any tweet that asks a direct question — if it’s not a spam account — and I like to comment on tweets that I find interesting. I used to answer every single DM [direct message] I received, but nowadays there is just way too much spam, making DMs almost useless” (see Figure 16-6).

JD Andrews’ Golden Rules for Personal Branding Success

As with all the personal branding success stories in Part Four, I wanted to glean some valuable Twitter tips from JD that you can put into practice right away. Here are his top ten pointers:

1. Find your voice

“Are you a character? Funny, silly, snarky, cheeky, mean, or just plain nice? Whatever your character, let it shine in your Twitter voice.”

2. Follow people that you believe are interesting

“They’ll be plenty of suggestions, of course, from Twitter itself and from others on the platform, but let your own interests and preferences ultimately be your guide to who you choose to follow. Don’t be swayed by others. Remember that you’re the best judge of what appeals to you.”

3. Keep active

“Try to keep your account active, even if you only tweet once a day. That way, people know you are participating and are more likely to follow you.”

4. Put away the megaphone and start listening

“Twitter has broken the rules of traditional forms of marketing. It’s very much a two-way conversation, a dialog as opposed to a monolog form of communication. It’s a relationship-based networking tool that goes far beyond the blanket posting mediums of the past. This is a fact that you need to fully take on board and embrace to effectively build your personal brand on Twitter.”

5. Don’t make your profile picture an afterthought

Make sure you get your photo on your profile as soon as possible. People rarely follow the egg. But, as I’ve already mentioned, make sure you pick the right photo to reflect your personal brand. Mine has stuck in the mind of my followers and as a result can’t be changed now. But, with hindsight, I’d have picked a different photo from the beginning.”

6. Do not use an auto-DM — nope, never!

“Enough said!”

7. Be sweet and retweet

“It’s courtesy to show respect for others on Twitter. I like to say, ‘A tweets life is short and sweet, so if you enjoy, please retweet.” Show your appreciation for information, links, photos, and tips that you find interesting and that add value to you and your personal brand.”

8. Use the SITE method of tweeting

“Getting the right mix of tweets is crucial to getting your personal brand message across effectively, so I’m always careful to ensure I’m using the four types of tweet defined by @grattongirl as the SITE method of tweeting. Namely, share, inform, thank, and engage. Getting this balance right will keep your Twitter stream interesting and valuable for your followers.”

9. Be helpful

“Twitter provides the opportunity to form relationships with others on a real-time basis that can offer support, friendship, or just a listening ear when needed (albeit virtually). Take the time to respond to those people asking questions, looking for help, or just needing to connect. Providing this kind of support can be some of the most rewarding time spent on Twitter.”

10. Be nice!

“Like all communities, Twitter has its grumps, its trolls, and those people who are quite frankly just looking for an argument. Avoid them like the plague and don’t get into unfriendly disputes or rants. It’s detrimental to your personal brand and a great waste of your valuable time, so my advice is steer well clear and to block any accounts that present themselves as negative forces in your stream.”

JD Andrews’ Favorite Twitter Tools

JD has always liked the Twitter interface on the web, and back when he started on the platform, there were no tools available, but when he found TweetDeck, HootSuite, and more recentlyTweetbot (see Figure 16-7), he was ecstatic.

“Suddenly I didn’t have to cut and paste anymore. Retweeting became so much easier, and putting everything in columns really made the Twitter experience so much better. Nowadays, I occasionally use TweetDeck but primarily stick with HootSuite on my desktop. On my iPhone, I use HootSuite and Tweetbot.”

Passion and Luck

JD believes that if you’re passionate about what you are doing, it will translate to your personal brand through Twitter. He has mastered the art of being true to himself and to the people that follow him, and he never takes their loyalty for granted.

But he also considers himself extremely fortunate: “I have been so lucky in my Twitter experience, meeting some amazing people online and then in real life and, as I always say, ‘Facebook is where you add your friends, Twitter is where you meet them.’ ”

JD’s connections, his wonderful personality, and as he likes to term it, “a big dose of good fortune,” have enabled him to travel even more through various Twitter-organized trips, including getting to see one of the last shuttle launches at NASA, exploring Antarctica, and gorilla-trekking in Rwanda. He believes that Twitter has proven to be valuable to him in so many ways and continues to be so: “And now getting my personal brand story published in a book! I would have never guessed that this would be a direct result of signing up to what is a phenomenal social media platform — Twitter.”