Chapter 12
Changing the Job Market One Tweet at a Time
“Rocking the A-Z of Twitter and tweets”
@BobWarren
The first thing you notice about Bob Warren’s Twitter presence is how his personal brand message leaps out at you in everything he tweets. His tweets ooze personality, one that’s vibrant, charismatic, and above all passionate about his latest venture, ResumeBear (see Figure 12-1), an online service for job-seekers that puts them well and truly in control of their career endeavors.
Figure 12-1
ResumeBear’s philosophy has become an integral part of Bob Warren’s personal brand success story on Twitter.
Getting Started
Bob joined Twitter in 2008, shortly after launching ResumeBear. He was thrilled and excited about the change he could make for others in their job-search empowerment and wanted to get the word out to as many people as possible. He recalls, “Things were going well, but we needed a better way to get the word out about how fantastic our product was for job-seekers. A friend of mind said, ‘Hey Bob, you should really check out Twitter.’ I was already a big-time social media user and so immediately I saw the power of the Twitter platform.”
Bob envisioned connecting with thousands of people who would be able to experience the benefits of ResumeBear and then spread the word through their own followers. It was a lightbulb moment, one that he hasn’t looked back from:
“A couple of aspects in particular really attracted me to Twitter,” Bob recalls. “The first aspect was that it was free; I saw it as free advertising. The second aspect was the community nature of Twitter. I could meet and connect with people who would have never had the opportunity to meet. Following someone’s tweets is a great way to get to know people, see into their world and what activities they are engaged in.”
Keeping It Real
Twitter allowed Bob to create friendships with people in his field of interest. These relationships grew over time to become mutually beneficial for him and his company, and Bob believes the reason for this lies in his brand’s authenticity. In essence, with Bob, what you see is what you get. He’s real, and the man behind the brand shines in every tweet he sends.
“When you are looking to brand yourself on Twitter, it is important to be genuine and show all your followers that you are a real person. I am who I am. If you were to meet me face to face, you’d see it’s the same guy with 100,000-plus followers on Twitter. It’s important to remember this because if you try to fake it, people will eventually see through you. Give them a glimpse of what you like to do, where you go, and stuff like that, but always remember what you are trying to accomplish on Twitter. Tweet with purpose and keep it real.”
If you are planning to build a large following, it is important to always remember to provide something of value (see Figure 12-2). Bob has a great product with ResumeBear, but he wanted to provide more than just one tool for job-seekers, so he created a blog as well, which he markets using cross-platform promotion (CPP) on Twitter. Every day, Bob posts great articles that all job-seekers should read if they want to get ahead in the game.
“People love these articles, and Twitter is a great way to share them and remind people that we have something they need,” he says.
Figure 12-2
Bob’s tweets resonate with his personal brand while adding value for his followers.
With the help of Twitter, the ResumeBear blog has grown to be one of the most popular and important blogs for job-seekers and career development. Bob has embraced the fact that people bond best with things that fill a need or serve a purpose in their lives.
He realizes that you can’t just tweet the address to a static website and expect people to click on it, but if you provide fresh content and ideas that people enjoy reading through CPP tweeting, your following on Twitter will increase and your blog traffic will rise (see Figure 12-3).
Figure 12-3
Bob’s clever mix of Twitter content keeps his followers entertained and educated.
Bob’s clever mix of content has made his personal brand Twitter show one that continues to grow in popularity.
“If you are providing good content, people will retweet your posts. We have a blog article that has been retweeted 140,000 times. That means 140,000 people liked an article enough to share it with all their friends and followers. That is the power of Twitter! This would have never happened if the content on our Twitter show weren’t amazing. Make your tweets relevant to your followers. Provide information people want, and they will follow you.”
Sharing the Twitter Love
Bob also takes the time to show that he cares about his followers. He knows the power of reciprocation and engagement, and he understands that those short, thoughtful tweets can prove to be the most powerful of all, as shown in Figure 12-4.
Figure 12-4
Bob realizes that the short, thoughtful tweets can be the most powerful of all.
Bob is on Twitter a lot! You can see by his total tweets (62,000 and counting) that he never goes long without tweeting or acknowledging those who retweet him or share news that he believes his followers will enjoy.
“I always find the time to spread the retweet love for friends. It’s this sharing that keeps the heart of Twitter constantly beating,” he says.
Bob’s philosophy is to keep his personal brand message simple through his use of Twitter. He doesn’t use many Twitter tools or applications; he likes to tweet and retweet manually and in real time wherever possible. But Bob does use widgets on his blog and website that make retweeting by others an easy task, as shown in Figure 12-5.
Figure 12-5
Bob uses a widget on his website and blog that allows readers to easily retweet and share his content.
Bob is also a great fan of hashtags, finding them “a fun way to say hello and that I’m thinking about you.” He acknowledges the fact that “people love to hear from you, even if it’s just a simple ‘have a great day!’ ”
Above all, no matter how big Bob’s personal brand has become through Twitter, he’s never forgotten how to be social and appreciative to his followers. He reminds himself on a daily basis to keep a sense of balance and not to “get so caught up in sharing your own content and serving your own agenda that you forget about being social. It is a social media platform, after all. Say hi to people and let them know you are around and care about them.”
Bob Warren’s Golden Rules for Personal Branding Success
Bob’s experience has led him to these insights on what works best for personal branding on Twitter:
- Be yourself.
- Keep your brand show entertaining through your Twittertorial calendar.
- Always add value.
- Follow the influencers in your field.
- Retweet others.
- Tweet with a purpose.
- Keep it real.
- Stay humble.
- Use the four types of tweets every day.
- Have fun!