Twestival Ebook featuring BrackenVJ on Page 15

Plymouth Twestival e-book

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Welcome Hello there, and thank you for downloading our e-book.

We are a group of people based in Plymouth that met through using Twitter and are now working together to organise Plymouth Twestival 2011. All of us have seen first-hand the variety of benefits that people and businesses can achieve through using Twitter, and the aim of this book is to share those benefits with you. We have enlisted the help of some of the brilliant people that are in Plymouth and are using Twitter for themselves or for their businesses. Through sharing their experiences and stories we hope to bring the many benefits of Twitter to life for you. If you are unfamiliar, or relatively new to Twitter we have also thrown in some tips and lessons to help you settle into using it. We know that it can be daunting to use Twitter at first, but we know this feeling soon disappears once you find your feet and we hope that our tips will make this easier for you.

If you know someone that would benefit from using Twitter, but they are yet to be convinced, please feel free to share this book with them. Please tweet, shout and blog about it, but the only thing we ask is that you direct people to our website to download it so we can track the download numbers (this will make our very kind e-book sponsors Grey Matter Ltd happy!)

We would like to thank all of the people and businesses that have contributed to this book. They are all fantastic and we hope you will all say thanks in your own way by following them on Twitter, or by simply stopping by and saying hi to them. They are a friendly and sociable bunch, so we know they would all love to hear from you.

Finally, we would just like to say that we hope you enjoy this book half as much as we have enjoyed putting it together. If this book helps you in any way, either personally or professionally, we would love for you to get in touch and let us know by commenting on our blog at www.plymouth.twestival.com, or by emailing us at twestival.plymouth@gmail.com.

We would also be delighted if you are able to join us on Thursday 24th March for the events we have planned. Please visit www.plymtwest.org.uk for a full timetable of the days events.

The PlymTwest team x

Contributors/Contents Click on a contributor or click on an article!

Welcome Page @ChestnutAppeal @cuttinggardenk8 @DartmoorZoo @ecobagsltd @theroyalwillie @johngovier @RobertPickstone

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PlymTwest - What’s that?

Glossary @Libbys_Made_It @ejlewis88 @devonshiretea @brackenvj @marttheart

Article: Tweeps; there are better ways of marketing than marketing. @CMorgan_Hughes @stanleycasino @inspirationguy @gmmarketing @PlymouthBlog @bone__health

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@LBBglamshoes @covermycast @markrglover @softwareknowhow @traceyhanwell @jedlangdon

Article: Using Twitter as a learning tool @inspiration_zne @gail_bennett @inplymouth @ClutterExpert

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@ChrisPenberthy @ACJon @DevonCafe

PlymTwest - what’s that?

Plymouth Twestival 2011 is a day packed full of fun events. Twestival (or Twitter Festival) is a global event taking place on the 24th March 2011, where cities around the world will raise money for local nonprofits or their organisers own choosing.

Our chosen charity this year is Chestnut Appeal. There are over 36,000 new prostate cancer cases every year and this figure is increasing. The Chestnut Appeal’s aim is to raise awareness of prostate cancer in Devon and Cornwall and this is at the heart of everything they do.

PlymTwest will be raising funds for important equipment. We would be delighted if you could join us for one, or more, of our events on the day, to help us raise £15,000 to purchase a new mobile prostate biopsy and scanner unit to improve patient care in the Plymouth area. If you are unable to join us on the day please consider making a donation for this very worthy cause by visiting: www.justgiving.com/twestival-plymouth.

For more information on what to expect during the day, please visit www.plymtwest.org.uk You can also keep updated with goings on and find out ways to get involved by following the #plymtwest hashtag on Twitter, but more on those later!

If you have downloaded this e-book from another city around the world, why not visit www.twestival.com to find your nearest Twestival?

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@ChestnutAppeal Bio: Supporting men with Prostate Cancer across Devon & Cornwall Website: http://www.chestnutappeal.org.uk/

In 2010 The Chestnut Appeal for Prostate Cancer joined Twitter; I had joined the year before as a personal tweeter and felt the time was right for the charity to join.

Charities have to work smarter and harder to maintain current funding levels and I took the decision that we had to make ourselves known within social media, and it’s really paying off.

Without help The Chestnut Appeal wouldn’t be able to provide the very latest in technology or bring ground-breaking prostate cancer treatments to the area. We’ve already funded six nurses, have bought state of the art technology for our local hospitals as well as paid for new and up to date kit. We always ensure that donations will go to where it is needed most in our community and 2011 is seeing the charity promoting awareness of prostate cancer on an unprecedented scale.

Through Twitter I’m now able to meet local supporters, encourage the communities across Devon & Cornwall to get involved and spread awareness. It means the charity is much more accessible and the response from us is much faster with a human and sociable feel to all our communications.

We currently are around the 500 followers mark, and this amount of support is steadily growing each week. I normally spend a few minutes each day tweeting, and the benefits are quite amazing. An example of this is I have managed to recruit 15 volunteers for an event, through the power of Twitter alone. I’ve ‘sold’ 4 Plymouth Half Marathon entry forms and we are the chosen charity partner for this years Twestival in Plymouth. Men’s health often gets over-looked in favour of more emotive subjects, so we’re really happy about being chosen. I hear it was a very hard decision, and best of luck to the other six charities that were in the running, which I’m sure will benefit from awareness given by the Twestival brand.

Please check twitter for all our current news and updates, you can follow us @chestnutappeal. At present the Chestnut Appeal for Prostate Cancer does not receive donations from local government towards the work we do and to find out about the very latest work of the charity then please look at our website www.chestnutappeal.org.uk or call us on 01752 792 736.

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Glossary Twitter can be a strange place at first, which is why we have compiled this list for you to refer to.

If you are confused about anything that is said in this book, hopefully we have covered it here, but if not please email any questions to: Twestival.plymouth@gmail.com.

Tweet

A tweet is simply a message posted via Twitter, containing 140 characters or fewer.

@ - Mentions

The @ sign is used to call out usernames in Tweets. So for example, if you wanted to tweet the Plymouth Twestival account, you would put @TwestivalPlym in your message. When a username is preceded by the @ sign, it becomes a link to a Twitter profile. When someone puts your username in a tweet this is known as a mention and makes it easy to find all the tweets to you or about you. Simply look in your Mentions column on twitter.com or on your Twitter client.

When you hit reply on Twitter your tweet will automatically start with the @name of the person you are replying to.

# - Hashtags

The # symbol is called a hashtag and is used to mark keywords or topics in a tweet.

This makes it easier for users to find information about a particular topic. For example, when talking about Plymouth Twestival on Twitter, you could mark your tweets with the hashtag #plymtwest. You could then set up a search or the same hashtag and see all the tweets people have sent out about the same subject.

Followers

The thing most of us love about Twitter is that, unlike Facebook and LinkedIn, you can follow whoever you want, without them having to accept your friend request (unless they use the ‘Protect my tweets’ option in the Twitter settings page, but we don’t recommend this!)

A follower is someone that has subscribed to your Tweets. This means that when you tweet something it will appear in your followers’ timelines for them to read.

RT – Retweets

A retweet is where somebody forwards a message that someone else has posted on to all their followers. This is the way that information is spread on Twitter. Retweets are identifiable by the letters RT or ‘via’ in a tweet, followed by the @name of the original senders of the information.

If you like something that someone has shared, simply repost their original message on Twitter adding RT and their @name at the beginning of the Tweet, or click on the Retweet button on Twitter.com.

TwitLists

When you follow a lot of people your main timeline can get pretty full and become

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hard to manage. Twitter lists are great because you can group people in different ways (by subject, by how often you talk to them, by location etc.) Once you have set up lists you can view them on Twitter.com or set them up as a column in Twitter clients such as Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, making it easy to cut through the noise and get to the people of information you want to see.

Twitter clients

Twitter clients, or third-party applications are software that you can use to access your tweets and Twitter data. Different applications can do different things and it is simply a case of trying out different apps and seeing which work best for you.

Every person has their own favourite apps, but two of our favourites are Tweetdeck (downloadable) and Hootsuite (online). We like these because you can set up search, hashtag or list columns and scroll through them in a user friendly way.

Url shorteners

Because Tweets are limited to 140 characters, each character is extremely valuable.

Url shorteners are services which shorten the full web address of a web page to allow it to be shared more easily via Twitter. Two url shorteners we like are bit.ly and owl.ly, which also keep track of the link statistics, such as the number of people that clicked on the link you posted.

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@cuttinggardenk8 Bio: The Cutting Garden has a reputation in Plymouth for great hairdressing, friendly customer care & affordable prices.

Human name: Katherine Lee Website: http://cuttinggardenhair.co.uk The Cutting Garden has been an established ladies and gentlemen’s hairdresser’s for over 25 years. Over this time, as any business must, we have changed and adapted to the marketplace. Hairdressing, like all of the fashion industry is constantly changing and re-inventing itself and I believe this must be reflected in the way I market my business.

Recently, I employed the services of Design Inspiration to update the salon’s website.

Despite never being a user of Facebook or Twitter in the past, I felt it important to incorporate social media into the new site as there has been so much publicity surrounding it over the past few years. Hairdressing, after all, is mainly a word-ofmouth business and relies on recommendations, so this seemed a natural step.

Joining Twitter has already proven to have been a successful move. In the three short weeks I have been “tweeting”, I have gathered many “followers” and made links with other businesses that I hope will aid me in developing greater social awareness of my brand. Using Twitter has been easy and with the Smartphone apps that are available to make this a mobile service, I believe it will not be long before this will become a powerful tool for marketing my business and keeping in touch with customers.

We are the first salon in Plymouth, to my knowledge, to offer a “fixed price” wedding hair package whereby our wedding hair coordinator will visit the bride at her venue, on her special day anywhere in the Plymouth area. Twitter has already helped me make links with other businesses to promote this and I am now due to attend three wedding fairs in March that I wouldn’t have heard about otherwise. In turn this has brought those fair organising businesses my custom.

I am looking forward to forging more business relationships as Twitter grows in popularity. Never before has there been such an easy forum to find and interact with other business people relevant to your industry.

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@Libbys_Made_It Bio: I love to give unwanted items a 2nd life, recycled fabrics, threads, plastics etc come into my life & I hope you find a place in yours for the things they become

Human name: Marion Bignell Website: http://etsy.com/people/LibbysMadeIt @Libbys_Made_It arrived on Twitter in January 2011 after I realised that I was putting my creative side too far into the background while focussing on @Covermycast with my Husband Bob. I’d arranged a meeting with a fellow “Tweep” to discuss Cover My Cast but our conversation was soon overtaken by her comments about the handbag I was carrying, which I had made myself. @Libbys_Made_It was born!

I now have a range of items including Credit Card Wallets that I make from used plastic bags and wrappings. It was as a result of that conversation that I started to interact on Twitter with local artists and others who were interested in recycling.

Within a few short I weeks was contacted by @GreenerTesco (Tesco Greener Living) who had noticed photos of a raincoat I made from their carrier bags! Who knows where that could lead?

I’ve met local artists and crafters through Twitter which has been encouraging but I’ve also been able to contact people around the world, without Twitter that just wouldn’t have been possible. It’s an amazing place!

I look forward to checking Twitter everyday, there’s always something interesting and related to my business, and definitely always something to be inspired by or to smile at! I LOVE IT!

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@DartmoorZoo Bio: A unique zoo set in 33 acres of beautiful parkland just 20 minutes from Plymouth City Centre. Facebook fb.com/ DartmoorZoologicalPark & fb.com/dartmoorZoo

Website: http://dartmoorzoo.org It was almost exactly a year ago that I finally had to relent and start thinking about Twitter (and social media in general) as something other than a tool for sharing the most tedious aspects of one’s day-to-day existence. Like many, I was unconvinced of its usefulness as a business tool despite frequently finding myself in conversations with, or reading articles written by, people who were firm converts. Unfortunately, their explanations rarely matched their enthusiasm so the only answer was to register @DartmoorZoo and jump in with both feet to see what happened.

Where to start? Well, the things that were of relevance to me were zoos, business and Plymouth, so off I went collecting people to follow. Among the first were @InPlymouth and @PlymouthBlog. A good first choice as it turned out. I learned a great deal from them and others in their circle of followers. It was from there I quickly hooked up with the #PlymTwest crowd and we were off and running. 1100+ followers later, I’m very grateful for their patience and support.

At a time when our promotional budgets are virtually non-existent twitter has provided a platform for building and communicating with influential locals who are important to the future of my business, creating productive relationships that generate real world results despite the ‘virtual’ nature of their beginnings.

I now find myself on the other side of those conversations looking at the blank expressions of people who have yet to give it a go. My advice? Jump in with both feet, follow people because you’re interested in what they have to say, listen, share, start conversations – you won’t regret it!

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@ejlewis88 Bio: photographer, artist, model, student counsellor/youth worker. looking to network with related people :) ej@emma-janephotography. co.uk

Human name: Emma-Jane Lewis Website: http://emmajanephotography.co.uk Twitter use for young creative talent!

As a young, 22 year old student and budding owner of a new photography business, getting out there, putting my business on the map and getting myself known can be extremely difficult. My age and youthful looks (unfortunately I look about 17!) can make it hard to establish myself as an up and coming successful young person doing creative and innovative work with photography and young people.

I am a youth work and counselling student and know first-hand the trials and tribulations that young people face and know how difficult it is to get on the stepping ladder of society. Now I am trying to help other young people in ways ranging from counselling, confidence building and teaching.

This in itself is hard but as well as that I am also setting up my own photography business. I have been in the ‘world’ of photography for about 2 years and have now created my own company. I have recently combined my photography and youth work to help build young women with confidence issues and use photography in a positive form rather than looking at stereotypes in the media. I am looking to broaden this further for confidence and disfigurement issues that people suffer from and am hopeful for the projects in the future.

Twitter has been an invaluable tool for trying to get this off the ground. I was sceptical in the beginning however, and being more of a Facebook kind of girl the transition to Twitter was a new experience, but once I learnt how it worked it became an extremely useful tool. I am able to keep up to date on Twitter with makeup artists and stylists in a more relaxed environment to discuss setting up of shoots. I have also had clients that like my work follow me on Twitter. When I post new images from recent shoots and link it back to my website people following have often then emailed to talk about possibly working together. This is something I would not get as much on Facebook.

I have also been able to use Twitter to connect with other people also working in the youth and counselling sector and useful posts shared by other professionals have improved my practise and dissertations more than I believed possible. Each day I get more followers and my networking circle is increasing.

Twitter has allowed me to connect with ease...I don’t think I would look back!

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@ecobagsltd Bio: EcoBags - the brand name for custom printed, eco-friendly Jute, Cotton and Non-Woven bags in the UK

Website: http://ecobags.co.uk EcoBags is a family run Company, established in 2003, and specialises in the design and supply of high quality re-usable bags to businesses, all custom made and logo printed.

When we were first exposed to Twitter we already had a very healthy client base, with many re-ordering on a regular basis. We initially saw Twitter as a way of keeping in touch with clients (many of whom use Twitter to great effect) by conversing with them on an informal basis and establishing stronger relationships.

This has worked to great effect and they can now also keep up-to-date with what else we’re up to, as we post links to Flickr, our website and even Twitpics1 of new ideas and Trade Show Stands to let them know where we are at events.

Twitter has also generated new clients for us, which is a bonus! It has certainly given us the “Social Media” bug and we are now developing a presence on Facebook too.

We feel that businesses who do not embrace social media within the next couple of years will be left behind, as it is becoming the best way to communicate in “real time” with consumers and commercial partners. It allows businesses to keep themselves at the forefront of consumers’ minds on a daily basis, through people talking about them in front of the people who “follow” them and value their opinion.

Word-of-mouth recommendations are extremely powerful so it is much better to have someone else telling their followers how great you are, than for you to have to say it yourself.

Businesses spend many thousands on advertising and most of this doesn’t work. By investing some time, these same businesses can achieve great results for free using social media.

A picture which is posted on Twitter

1

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@devonshiretea Bio: Devon Speciality tea, blended by our family run Company based in Plymouth, Devonshire, England. Enjoy the taste of Devon anywhere in the world!

Website: http://devonshiretea.com We started using Twitter on St Georges Day in 2009, around 7 weeks after we launched our brand onto the market. It took us time to understand how Twitter works but pretty soon we were in the swing of things conversing with consumers and stockists alike.

We see Twitter as a way of keeping in contact with people who enjoy our tea, and we really love the subliminal and viral way that “chatting” (tweeting is you prefer) in an open social space with people about how they feel about our tea, in turn promotes our brand, without us having to do that in a direct “selling” way. Unfortunately, many businesses simply “broadcast” on Twitter, rather than developing relationships and as such, miss out on the word-of-mouth benefits.

We have attracted numerous consumers and our customer base is growing daily, not to mention stockists who want to take on our brand after they find it on Twitter and see how popular it is.

It was through Twitter that we managed to launch the “Devonshire Tea” brand across The United States. We were having conversations on Twitter with contacts in the industry and this resulted in a Pennsylvania based "English Tea Store" (@englishteastore) offering to stock our tea, online and across the United States.

We are now hoping to grow our sales in the US and this opportunity would not have arisen if we had not been on Twitter.

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@theroyalwillie Bio: Plymouth’s Royal William Yard - we love Western King (Devils Point and the Yard) - you should visit often. This is not an official Urban Splash feed

Website: http://theroyalwillie.posterous.com The Royal William Yard is a stunning and historic site on the Stonehouse Peninsula in Plymouth. With a fantastic waterside position it enjoys amazing views across the River Tamar to Cornwall and up the Hamoaze to Mount Wise and Devonport.

After 170 years of being a secure part of Plymouth’s Dockyard the estate is now open to the public and its listed grade one buildings are undergoing award winning redevelopments by Urban Splash. The Royal William Yard is now home to a growing residential and business community and is attracting increasing numbers of visitors.

A redevelopment, like a city, is more than the physical environment. It sits within a community and needs people to give it life. It was clear that those who knew the Yard loved it; but that it was still an unknown jewel to many. Some of the residents and businesses are passionate about the success of The Royal Willie, as it is affectionately known. We want others to share our beautiful surroundings and enjoy the local amenities, whether they are in the Yard or nearby. Over drinks one evening we decided that it was time to begin to put the Yard on the map. @TheRoyalWillie was born: • To celebrate success and developments on our patch and in our local environment • To spot interesting news stories and pictures - and share them • To promote this as a must visit place in Plymouth • We are not a part of any of the businesses on the site - nor are we run by Urban Splash. So we tell it like it is for love, not because we are being paid to (though if the right offer came along...)

Since we’ve been using Twitter we’ve been able to: • Encourage people to visit the Yard - and we’ve heard that they do • Introduce resident businesses - such as @marttheart @Seco_Lounge and @Bluestone360 to others and to the public - and we’ve heard of new business being generated as a result • Promote other local sites - such as @DevilsPointPark which shares our headland or @MountWise across the creek from us • Make sure @Urban_Splash knows what is going on as it happens We look forward to carrying this on as the site continues to develop - follow us for the news. At the #RoyalWilliamYard we love being part of the #Plymouth Twitter community.

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@brackenvj Bio: TV Freelancer, Columnist, Writer, Founder of PR Consultancy Crossways Communications, Event Manager, working mother, hopeless romantic and annoying fidget. :-)

Human name: Bracken Vernon-Jelier Website: http://facebook.com/crosswayscommunications I started working for BBC Radio Devon in 1994 when we still spliced tape with a razor.

When I joined Westcountry Television in 1996 we had to have written permission to have internet access on our desk computer. An email address was yet another big step. I wonder now how I ever managed in those days as a young researcher to research anything at all. It was common practice to phone a local village shop or a post office to find out if there was anyone in the town or village that would make a good interviewee.

When I consider how alien the thought of Twitter (or any other form of social media marketing) would have been in those days I shudder with excitement at being part of such a progressive and super-charged age.

Twitter has changed my life, my job, and my personality. I enthuse to others – my PR clients, my friends, my relatives, my 90 year old Grandfather; I can’t sing its praises more than I do.

Twitter is made for people like me – a Public Relations Consultant with a passion for networking, communicating and writing. It allows me to connect with people that I may otherwise struggle to access; journalists, bloggers, industry experts (even the occasional celebrity). Of course – it has to be used tactfully, and I need to do my job correctly to make it work but if a PR pro like me can’t pitch a story in 140 characters – then who can?

But it also works the other way. I love to read about other people experiences, both in the PR world and also in the press, in trade-publications, on share sites like You Tube. Quite frankly – I don’t have the time to subscribe and then read Broadcast Magazine, PR Magazines, The Telegraph, The Times, the Chartered Institutes latest article. Instead, I can follow some lists of interest, check in on a few favourites, see whether I can further my knowledge without clogging up my recycling bin with more paper.

Twitter has changed PR, and it has changed the way I do PR in just two years. I have gone from writing press release after press release to working in 140 characters and selling-in a story in one swift move. I am able to rally support for events and press launches, I’ve increased my personal profile locally without having to consume too many sausages at networking breakfasts, but most of all; I have built relationships, forged friendships, carved myself a little niche and do my job more successfully and faster than I ever did before!

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@johngovier Bio: Presenter/producer at BBC Radio Devon. None of my tweets represent the views of my employers. On air Saturdays 9am-midday.

Also writing for InPlymouth.com

Website: http://facebook.com/jgshow “Why would I be interested in loads of people telling me when they’re having a cup of coffee or going for a pee?”

That’s probably the most common response I get when I ask someone who’s not on Twitter, why they haven’t signed up.

“I don’t have enough hours in the day to be scrolling through a load of geeky messages,” is probably the second.

Understandable I guess. And if you’ve ever tried to describe to someone what Twitter is all about, you’ll know it’s not easy.

Yes – you can share your beverage and toilet habits if you really want to. And yes, you can spend ages trying to read every message in your time-line. But try thinking of Twitter a bit more like a broadcasting medium. Your TV and Radio are transmitting programmes all day long but you don’t watch and listen 24/7. Sometimes you just switch on for a while and enjoy the moment, sometimes you use your ‘on demand’ facility to catch up with something you’ve missed.

Twitter’s much like that - where all the people you follow have their own ‘station’. It’s up to you when and how long you ‘tune in’, but one of the advantages is that unlike TV or Radio, Twitter can tell you when one of those ‘stations’ has mentioned YOU! And remember, when YOU’RE broadcasting, only a proportion of your followers will be ‘tuned in’ there and then.

So how can Twitter help in everyday life?

Imagine going to a party and meeting ten people. As you mingle with your cheesy pineapple in one hand and your bucks fizz in the other, you mention to each of them that you’re looking for a new car. Half of those people go home and tell their friends that you are looking for a new car – suddenly a whole lot more people know about your search. For networking, it’s brilliant!

I have lots of examples of how I make Twitter work for me, but I’ll choose this one to illustrate its strength.

I work for the BBC. I was leaving work about 5.30pm one day (an early finish for me!) when we heard that a fire had broken out on the Esplanade in Sidmouth. The daily TV programme, Spotlight, was due on air in under an hour. The nearest camera crew was 90 minutes from Sidmouth. Whilst colleagues phoned local businesses in the town, I got on to Twitter and searched for ‘Sidmouth’ and ‘Fire’. I also put a tweet (message) out to my followers to ask if anyone was in the area.

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Within 5 minutes I had found two people who had uploaded photos and videos of the fire. Fifteen minutes later they had agreed to let Spotlight use those images on air. Around 30 minutes later they were being used on the telly – and the people who let us use them were tweeting all their friends to tell them to watch the programme.

Amazing!

Anyhow I hope I’ve given you a bit of an insight into Twitter – I’m now off for a cup of coffee and a pee! See you later. J

@marttheart Bio: As artist in residence to the Royal WIlliam Yard in Plymouth my Gallery is open to the public daily. Modern abstracts with vibrant colour and energy.

Website: http://martinbush.co.uk I have been using Twitter for over a year and it is now reaping the benefits for my business.

I am an artist and own my own gallery here in our lovely Royal William Yard in Plymouth. Twitter gives me the opportunity to let a wider audience find me and get a regular feel of what I get up to. In fact, several people have visited my gallery and bought from me just through following me on Twitter. The opportunity to meet face to face through social media evenings, such as the Devon Social Media Cafe, has allowed my relationships with the wider business community to grow. These also got me involved directly with last year’s Twestival team, most of whom I count as friends and are the first people I go to if I need any advice, services or just general chat and support.

The Plymouth Twitter community feels like a local family with everyone in it together.

Do Twitter and you will never feel alone.

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@RobertPickstone Bio: Social media professional for Kaplan International Colleges.

Marketing graduate, business enthusiast & Plymouth Twestival organiser. Happy to admit I’m a geek

Website: http://robertpickstone.com Where do I start?!

I’m a local lad. Born in Plymouth, grew up in Cornwall, went to University in Plymouth and until recently, lived in Plymouth too.

Through this amazing tool called Twitter, I’ve...

• Made many new friends and met many local people, most of whom share the same interests that I do • Raised money for those that are less fortunate than me, through a social media charity event held in my home city • Demonstrated my passion and knowledge to others in the same field of work, which has helped me to find a new job • Helped others with advice and answers that just can’t be found in search engine results or dusty books • Shared information for local businesses, through my company’s corporate Twitter account • Set up a global challenge for others who wanted to change aspects of their lives, by changing their daily habits • Learnt about areas that interest me, with information that is current and produced by experts and enthusiasts • Kept up to date with news and events on local, national and global scales As you can probably tell, Twitter has had a hugely positive impact on my life. Part of this has been local, part has been further afield. Part has been personal, part has been professional.

I always describe Twitter as the ‘pulse’ of social media, and when used correctly with the right level of balance, it can help you to achieve your goals.

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Tweeps; there are better ways of marketing than marketing. by @RobertPickstone Imagine yourself on a sunny afternoon in the park with your family and friends.

You’re having fun, sharing conversations and enjoying each other’s company, when a strange person with a logo for a head and a gigantic loudspeaker decides to interrupt you with details about how great their company is and all the services they offer.

Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Well, most people are already fed up of being marketed to. Cold calls, spam emails, junk post, dull TV commercials, annoying radio jingles, invisible newspaper ads – consumers have been blocking these out for a long time. Along comes a place where consumers can openly talk to each other online, and guess what – more marketing!

Intelligent companies are taking a different approach. If a customer, or potential customer, has given them the honour of connecting over a social network, they are not rewarding them with messages they don’t want to hear. They are recognising the fact they are being given a voice in someone else’s social space, and are trying to add to their experience.

If you are a company with Twitter followers, you could be strengthening relationships with your customers by having conversations with them. Yes, two-way conversations rather than one-way marketing – crazy stuff! You could be finding out about their interests, understanding their motivations, answering their questions - you could even involve them in the process of creating new products and services.

Once you know your customers and how they like to socialise online, there are limitless opportunities for you to be able to add to their experience, and ultimately benefit them. Think of all the things you could talk about – they don’t all have to be about your company. And that’s the key – it’s about them, not you. The fact it’s called “Social Media” and seems to be popular doesn’t change that.

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@CMorgan_Hughes Bio: Busy wife of a Consultant Cardiologist and mother of 2 gorgeous little people! I am passionate about fitness, health and nutrition.

Human name: Claire Morgan-Hughes Website: http://devonfitcamp.co.uk & http://radiodevonfitnesschallenge.com I “tweeted” my first tweet on 22nd September 2010, just 22 days into my Personal Training course. I was encouraged by two friends, @carolmassey and @brackenvj who informed me it was THE best thing to do to raise the profile of my business. They weren’t wrong!

My big plan was to study and set up my business Devon Fit Camp simultaneously, planning to qualify and launch within just a few weeks of each other. I am delighted to say I am on track and Devon Fit Camp launches on Tuesday 26th April, and you can visit the websites above for more details.

Twitter has had a huge impact both on profiling my business and enabling me to network with new people. It has provided me with so many more opportunities that perhaps wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been interacting in this way. I have been able to find out about local businesses, local events and network with other professionals in the fitness industry. It is a fantastic way of finding out quickly what is happening without scanning the local papers. I am converted!!

I started a 12 week Fitness Challenge in January, prior to Devon Fit Camps’ launch, training some friends and the Good Morning Devon team at BBC Radio Devon. I love reading the tweets from my team on how they are doing but also the tweets from their friends and colleagues keeping them in check on my behalf (I haven’t asked them too honestly!) The support they are getting is fabulous. Motivation and support from your peers, friends and family is half the battle when you are striving to reach a goal. I currently have 102 followers; my furthest being in California who has tweeted to inform me of how his family is doing with their personal fitness goals. Twitter is an amazing phenomenon; supportive and innovative on so many levels. It helps me keep in touch with my clients and business contacts without disturbing their day and impacting on their time. We all want more time right..? It’s fun and friendly. I love it!

I am delighted that through Twitter I found out about the Plymouth Twestival (@TwestivalPlym) and was invited to take part, helping raising money for The Chestnut Appeal, an amazing charity. Follow me on @CMorgan_Hughes for more information about #devonfitcamp and how I am supporting PlymTwest.

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@LBBglamshoes Bio: Every woman should have a Little Black Book! Follow us on Facebook too. Look for Little Black Book Shoes. X

Human name: Kerry Brett Website: http://houseoflittleblackbook.com/ The hardest part of starting a business is finding your first customers. Once you’ve exhausted family and friends by droning on about and making them purchase from your start-up company it can be very difficult to branch out and start finding strangers to buy from you or to pay you for a service.

My small, but perfectly formed, start-up party plan company, Little Black Book Shoes needs a constant supply of new customers in order to survive. Of course there will be a percentage of return business, but in order to grow, get to the top and stay there Little Black Book Shoes needs to reach out to the ladies of this country!

A top priority for start-ups, (including mine!), is to save on costs. Party plan works by booking further parties at each party, but getting the initial parties in the first place is vital. Traditionally paid for advertising was one of the only ways to reach new customers. As the owner of a start-up company I would like to take this opportunity to say a big “THANK YOU” to the inventor of social media! I have yet to pay for a single advertisement and yet my business has grown from just me doing the occasional party here and there, to having taken on an agent who is also using social media to find parties for herself. I also met my agent, Rowan, via social media.

Celebrity endorsement helps massively too. The trouble is, how does a small business, a one-woman-band, based in Plymouth, in the deepest darkest South West of the UK, reach celebrities? One word – Twitter! I’ve got a model who has promised to wear my shoes in a photo shoot and one of TV’s Loose Women telling me she loves them too! All for FREE! Over the next 12 months I intend to develop Little Black Book Shoes further, including taking on at least 4 new agents. To do this I won’t advertise, I won’t trawl the streets dropping off leaflets, I won’t even put cards up in shop windows. Instead I shall sit on my sofa, laptop or mobile phone in hand and tweet, tweet, tweet.

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@stanleycasino Bio: Stanley Casinos are part of the Genting UK plc Group with over 40 Casinos across the UK. www.gambleaware.co.uk

Website: http://gentingcasinos.co.uk We are Twit-addicted!

When we first signed up to Twitter, it was to try and increase awareness of our brand.

Our parent company @Genting-Casinos were on Twitter, but not many people made the connection between them and us.

Not long after starting on Twitter, we started noticing Tweets for the 2010 Plymouth Twestival, and a few tweets and some DM’s were all it took for us to be offering an auction prize. Plymouth Twestival raised an incredible £6000 for charity and had been done entirely by volunteers from the Twitter community. We attended the evening, and these guys and girls had done an incredible job. We were sold as to the strength behind the tweet.

Since then Twitter has impacted on our business in many different ways. We have used the services of local skilled people that we would not have previously known about. We have been able to use it for recruitment advertising vacancies as they have opened up. We have also been able to promote our poker competitions as well as special offers in our bar.

It has given us the opportunity to dispel some of the pre-conceived ideas that a lot of people have about casinos and shown them that it is a place where they can come for just a drink, a post work wind down, for a celebration, for a business meeting, or for corporate entertainment.

We have been especially delighted to be the venue of choice for the Devon Social Media Cafe, a monthly meeting where local Tweeters get to meet up in person.

These meetings contain a real eclectic mix of characters and you can’t help but meet someone fascinating, or learn about a new topic.

If you have been considering dipping your business toe into the social media pool but haven’t quite managed it then we thoroughly recommend it. Even if it is not the medium that your target audience uses, it is a great way to network and make some useful and lasting business contacts.

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@covermycast Bio: If you have a cast or splint, don’t hide it – cover it! Remember happy people heal quicker

Human names: Bob and Marion Website: http://cover-my-cast.com How has Cover My Cast benefitted from using Twitter? Let me count the ways……

• We meet great people without the nervousness of new social situations • We network on Twitter with other local entrepreneurs who introduce us to their friends • We are encouraged by positive and constructive comments on our products and our website from our Twitter contacts around the world • We met, virtually and in person, the very Inspirational Guy who gave us some real insights into business in general and our business in particular • We found the people we needed to improve our printed media • We met the Marketing Expert who generously gave us time to discuss our business, and from whom we learned so much about ourselves!

• We find new customers by searching Twitter and offering our services, and have made people aware of our product • We are inspired by the achievements of other small businesses, and now find we can pass it on to others • We have made friends and acquaintances around the globe • We can be part of the community of Tweeps that is doing good in the community • We laugh EVERY day at something that someone tweets!

• We won @UKStartUp “Winner of the Week on the 11th February 2011

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@inspirationguy Bio: The Ideas Catalyst. Experienced Web Designer, speaker & business owner who loves to smile. Inspiring your website, business & life one tweet at a time.

Human name: Ash Mashhadi Website: ttp://designinspiration.co.uk My Twitter Story Twitter has been incredibly kind to me. When I joined in May 2009 it was to investigate Twitter’s potential as a marketing tool for a client, the Chelsea Arts Festival. They had all the usual marketing and media covered but needed a new way to get through to their community. I created an account for them and one for myself. The first job was choosing a user name. I opted for @inspirationguy as it would reflect the name of my business (Design Inspiration) and I am often called the Inspiration Guy by people anyway. It’s important to pick a Twitter name that you feel reflects your personality.

Great Friendships As soon as I started to engage on Twitter I knew it was for me. A great way for businesses to start on Twitter is to provide advice and tips based on your own expertise and that’s exactly what I did. My first few tweets were about improving your website and that was enough to get a few people interested in what I had to say.

After that, my activity quickly grew and so did my circle of Twitter friends. Now I have over 4,000 friends on Twitter spread all over the world. Some may be acquaintances, but others are people who I would consider to be great friends. Friends who have given me an enormous amount of help, advice and support and I’ve been pleased to reciprocate. Many of these people are scattered across the globe, but Twitter has a way of making them all seem as if they are right here in Plymouth.

Tweeting Up Of course, some of them are right here in Plymouth and it’s great to be able to meet them in reality. There is a particular way that people who have met over Twitter greet each other for the first time in person. I’ve done it many times and it’s always the same. First there is a slight recognition, followed by an exchange of Twitter names.

Then, all formality disappears and they greet each other like long-lost relatives. A great way to meet local Twitter users in person is to come to the Devon Social Media Cafe which meets once a month (just look for the hashtag #DSMC).

So Many Great Reasons to Tweet If I listed all of the benefits I’ve gained from Twitter, this book would be twice as long, but here’s a list of some: new clients, new suppliers, new friends, new ideas, new perspectives, new knowledge, new conversation, new skills, new income, new routes

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to market, new markets, new products and news before the news agencies get it.

That’s just a few.

Twitter has been incredibly good to me and every day it brings me more. Twitter brings thousands of visitors to my websites (http://www.designinspiration. co.uk) and my clients’ websites. Twitter brings readers to my blog (http://www. inspirationzone.co.uk/inspirationblog.asp). Twitter brings a stream of conversation, comment and ideas that I can use to improve my business and it does this in a way that means I can dip in whenever I have time. This is particularly attractive to me as someone who has almost no spare time. I make time for Twitter because it brings me so many benefits.

Has Twitter been good for my businesses? Definitely. Should other businesses join Twitter? Without a doubt.

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@markrglover Bio: Freelance Web Developer, based in Plymouth. Contact me now if you have a web project I can help you achieve. My opinions may not be those of my clients.

Website: http://markglover.co.uk As anyone who has tried it will know, relocating to a different city can be quite a daunting process. You leave all your friends behind, along with all the places you know and find yourself in a completely alien place, where nothing is familiar and you don’t know a soul. Such was the case for me when I moved to Plymouth in September 2009.

Meeting people and making friends in such a situation is difficult, but, thanks to Twitter, it’s getting a little easier. No matter where you are in the world, open your Twitter client and search for the name of your new home. Instantly you’ll see everything that is being said about the city, county or country that you’ve moved to, and more importantly, you’ll see who is saying it.

Before you know it, you’ll be talking to them, making friends and laying the foundations of your brand new social circle. For me, this involved following the #Plymouth hashtag and discovering all the wonderful Twitter users in this very social media savvy city. Before long I was tweeting to the breakfast presenter on the local radio station, arranging to have a coffee with local business people and getting invited to exciting social events, such as the Devon Social Media Café.

Within no time at all, my acquaintances within the city had shot up, from barely half a dozen to fifty or more. I began engaging with local debates, discovering the best places to visit, and getting to know who’s who in Plymouth. It’s amazing how much of a difference to one’s sense of involvement in a community, Twitter can make. As well as gaining socially, my ability to network locally online has allowed me to build up my freelance work into a full time job, finding clients by talking to likeminded people and local business owners on Twitter.

The peak of my Twitter driven involvement in Plymouth, so far though, has to be #PlymTwest. I’d never even thought of being involved in a charity event before, but having met so many of the active Twitter population of Plymouth already, I leapt at the chance to help run the biggest Twitter event of the year. Thanks to all the passionate, dedicated Twitter users across the city, this year’s Twestival Local looks likely to showcase everything that is great about Plymouth to a worldwide audience.

Had I not started following the #Plymouth hashtag and begun chatting to as many people as possible in the city, virtually everything that I appreciate in my life right now would be passing me by.

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@gmmarketing @softwareknowhow Bio: Since 1983 Grey Matter has provided independent and trusted software supply, management and advice for organisations of all sizes.

Website: http://greymatter.com & http://softwareknowhow.info Twitter is a great way for Grey Matter to ensure we are keeping up to date with all the latest news, promotions and information coming from software publishers.

We work with a large number of publishers with ever changing products and offers and Twitter lets us view all this information in one place. It keeps us in the loop and allows us to quickly and simply pass news on to our customers, while giving them the chance to visit the relevant page on our website to find out more information.

Unlike Facebook you can follow whoever you like without having to be accepted, thus opening up a whole new world of communication with people who you wouldn’t normally be able to connect with. Twitter has enabled Grey Matter to interact with many professionals within the industry. Via shared interests you can find likeminded people and businesses from many different walks of life that in LBT (life before Twitter) may not have been possible.

Grey Matter can now update customers with relevant news and features without them having to log onto our site - saving them time and hopefully providing them with information about a software product or service that they didn’t know was available. In addition Twitter provides a new platform to discuss our quarterly magazine HardCopy, whether that’s a new editorial, competitions or current promotions and news.

Softwareknowhow.info is the online home of HardCopy magazine that enables us to interact directly with our customers. Contents include buyer’s guides, blogs, forums and competitions which can all be shared on Twitter or a variety of social mediums.

Getting this resource out to a wider audience is greatly helped by Twitter.

Twitter is quicker than writing an email and allows us to get the news out in the media our customers use. We have found in the past that we can often find out new information from Twitter before publishers email this information to us. This allows us to be ahead of our competitors when interacting with customers.

Studies have stated that Twitter now attracts 190 million visitors per month – tweeting around 65 million tweets every single day. The sheer volume of traffic through this site shows what an incredible resource this social network is for any business – and the best part is it’s free!

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@PlymouthBlog Bio: Official blogger for InPlymouth.com. Lived in Luton, London, Newcastle, Cardiff & Bristol, but like Plymouth best. Interested in promoting Plymouth & business.

Human name:Lynne Mashhadi Website: http://inplymouth.com Blog: http://www.inplymouth.com/plymouthblog.asp My Twitter Story I joined Twitter under the name of @PlymouthBlog in February 2011. My aim was to meet local people and to raise awareness of www.InPlymouth.com, the top independent website about Plymouth, which I and my husband (@InPlymouth) founded and run together. I’m delighted to say that Twitter has helped me be incredibly successful in both of these aims.

I know most of the people in Plymouth who are on Twitter and am delighted at what a friendly and knowledgeable group of people they are. Plymouth Tweeters are very supportive of each other and will share news and information, as well as re-tweeting each others messages to help one other to reach a wider audience.

Showcasing Plymouth’s Talent My husband and I have introduced InPlymouth.com to a wider and very relevant audience. We have had fascinating and incredibly useful feedback from Plymouth residents and have been able to feature local businesses and events on our site, due to Twitter. Through our sponsorship programme we have been able to support some of the city’s best businesses and brands of every size such as Dartmoor Zoo (@DartmoorZoo), Stanley Casino (@StanleyCasino) and Tanners Restaurants. We do his by combining Twitter with our website and our e-newsletters.

Twitter is a Friendship Factory I have met many people on Twitter who have become real friends and I look forward to chatting with them every day via my computer. To date, I have over 1,400 followers for my @PlymouthBlog identity and I’m delighted to say that these are real people, as I don’t use any software to generate followers.

Twitter is Great for Bloggers I also write a popular blog about Plymouth which is featured on InPlymouth.com and I get many of my best ideas for it from Twitter. I rely upon the local community for feedback and comments on my blog and they never disappoint. There’s always a high level of engagement which shows that Plymouth tweeters care about our city and

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what happens to it. For example a blog I wrote a few weeks ago on the prospective incinerator in Plymouth received a huge response from local people. Interestingly all the people who gave their opinions were against the incinerator. A more recent blog on ten things which Plymouth gets wrong also generated a huge amount of interest and attracted many comments. Sometimes the topics we discuss together get picked up by local news media too. This shows the power that Twitter has to find people with shared interests. It’s a great way to find out what real people want and are interested in.

That’s just one of the reasons I love Twitter. I have never regretted joining, in fact my only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner!

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@traceyhanwell Bio: New Year = New Bio Casino GM looking forward to the year ahead and the love and laughter that 2011 WILL hold

Twitter has had NO influence in my real life, whatsoever!

This morning I lay in bed listening to @JohnGovier on the radio. Above my bed hangs a fabulous piece of art by @Marttheart. In another room I have a sketch from @mydogateart.

Once I got out of bed, I went downstairs and made myself a lovely cup of @devonshiretea. Made myself some toast spread with gorgeous Damson jam that I bought in Clovelly when I had a short break in @llamakevin ‘s holiday cottage. I don’t always have toast. Normally I have porridge, made with @lactofree milk, as I am lactose intolerant.

Time to get washed and dressed and ready to face the day. Cleanse my face with @cetaphil_brand that I found thanks to @eczemasociety. On goes the moisturiser, a fabulous product for my eczema prone skin that I get from @NikkiPepper.

What to do today? Well I could go to @dartmoorzoo again. Or how about a bit of pampering @funky fish-spa, been a while since those little fishys got to suck on my toes! Or I could go for a bite to eat @bistrowineman or @jollyjackbistro. Grab my fellow “ladies wot lunch” @angie5950, @hevpuggles, @carolmassey, @sarahgreep, @cornishagogo and fill our faces full of delicious local food. Maybe not, I’ve been to both this week already, will need to spend more time in the gym and less on Twitter at this rate!

Hmm and what about this evening? I could check out the listings on @inplymouth, although may not need to as @annabelscabaret is looking like a great option, mmm not had one of Annabels scrummy mojitos since New Year’s Eve. Time to check my emails. A news letter from @armadaspeakers, haven’t made the last few meetings, and am really missing it. Should get to the next one though. One from @chestnutappeal to tell me that the posters and collection tin that I am getting from them for work are ready for me. A pay pal request from @ribbonsandtulle who is making me a sparkly rhinestone t-shirt that I intend wearing to @TwestivalPlym on March 24th.

Emails checked, the sun is shining so I’m off out into the real world. Gonna climb in my car with the sounds of @francisdrakes to keep me company.

I had never heard of any of the people, places or products listed above prior to registering with Twitter but they have all featured in my life since. I have met some lovely people, far too many to list, mainly though @devoncafe‘s #dsmc, but also through @BWNetworkGroup. I have made strong friendships, and made some great business contacts. So when I say Twitter has had no influence in my real life whatsoever... ..that clearly is a big fat lie!!

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@bone__health Bio: Bone Health Specialist across health care,social care& voluntary sector.Educator in falls prevention,osteoporosis,bone health,fracture risk, and independent living

What difference has Twitter made to my business, my personal life, or my professional?

Hmmm….. where do I start?!

I joined Twitter on 21st June 2009. I joined because I was bored and looking for an alternative to Facebook. I followed my friend and she followed me. Neither of us tweeted.

My time wasn’t filled. Twitter wasn’t much fun and wasn’t much use… or so I thought.

Nearly two years later and I’m hooked!

In September 2010, I set up the Bone Health Consultancy. In October I decided to brave ‘tweet city’. I changed my profile to @bone__health to reflect my interest and my business.

The first steps were tentative… What should I do? What should I say? Who would read it?

What would they think of me? Oooh, and would I really embarrass myself? (I’m sure I have, but am sure I have with people whom I now regard as friends in my virtual world.)

In November, I met with Working Links in Plymouth. They inspired me and I shared it with tweet city using the hash tag (#WorkingLinks). I thought nothing more of my tweet. Within a couple of hours, @WorkingLinks (based in Sheffield) asked if they could feature me in a press release. I was overwhelmed with their offer and support. The press release was discussed via telephone - I speak more than 140 characters! There was a photo shoot; and within a fortnight they published and tweeted my story.

I often search twitter for falls and fractures; (falling from a standing height shouldn’t result in fracture.) I sent a tweet to a young lady in Australia and asked her circumstance - she had tripped and broken a bone. I tweeted advice and recommended she have further investigation. She did and tweeted thanks - her bones were not normal (she had osteopenia) and was put on treatment. (Early identification of this disease means early intervention.)

I tweeted another young lady with similar symptoms in Los Angeles. I gave the same advice.

What I didn’t know is that she is a well known host of a Los Angeles chat show. (She has since invited me onto her show... I have so far postponed this offer.)

My strangest tweet happened last month and originated from Denmark. It asked if I was in Plymouth. I was unsure about this user- should I block them? Who were they? My reply was an unsure ‘yes’ and then I babbled in 140 characters about England-Denmark football, (knowing nothing about football!!) It turns out that the owner of the tweet is a well researched Consultant physician of endocrinology in Copenhagen. Embarrassingly, he remembered me from a conference dinner in March 2010. (The conference dinner had free wine…less said… he remembered that I was buying a cat after the conference.) Twitter recommended me as a suggested ‘follow’ to him.

I have also been a ‘recommended follow’ to a man in Derby. His first tweet was asking if we had worked together. (Yes. He was an associate lecturer in my 2001-2004 role…. When I was based in Plymouth and him in Derby.)

I love twitter. As a single woman, it has become my friend. It is a great way to keep updated with news, with events, and with gossip. It is also a fantastic social media tool for my business :) Go back to contents page

@jedlangdon Bio: Pursuing conversations about Customer Experience, Learning and Development, Business, Marketing and Social Media. Part of #plymtwest 2011 organising team

Website: http://jedlangdon.com Twitter is my new Facebook 3rd November 2006: This was the date I joined Facebook and for the next three years it catered for my every need. You see, at this time I was half way through University life, which was the time for socialising, hanging out with friends, having fun and for losing the odd night to alcohol induced black holes. At this point in time, Facebook helped with all of these things. I had event invitations to take care of my social diary, game applications to procrastinate during boring afternoons in the library, friends walls to banter on and most importantly, tagged photographs to help piece the previous nights forgotten frolic’s together - memories that would otherwise have been lost forever.

Roll forward three years to the 23rd September 2009, the date I joined Twitter. My life had changed in many ways since graduating from University and I was now in full time employment and part of the ‘real world’. With this, my social media needs had changed too. I now had a craving for knowledge, to learn new things, share ideas and ultimately begin a quest to get ahead. This is where Twitter comes in and for me, offers completely different things to Facebook. I can follow experts in the subjects I am interested in, meet like-minded people to share ideas and experiences with and ultimately satisfy my urge to gain knowledge and to learn, in real-time. I can also demonstrate my own passion and knowledge which helps to form my own personal brand, something that is going to be incredibly important for peoples job prospects going forward.

Don’t get me wrong, I still have a lot of affection for Facebook, but it no longer meets my needs in the same way that Twitter does. For learning and sharing knowledge, you just can’t beat Twitter!

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Lesson: Using Twitter as a learning tool, by @jedlangdon

As someone who is involved in learning and development, I get excited when new learning tools emerge. In my opinion Twitter is the most significant learning tool to emerge in recent years, and this isn’t just my opinion, it has also been voted by many other two years in a row in this Top 100 learning tools list.

Twitter is also completely free and available to the masses, as long as they have an Internet connection! Anyone who is interested in their own personal development should be using Twitter, and here are a few reasons why:

Networking and sharing ideas Twitter allows you to follow and be one message away from a wide range of experts on as many different subjects as you can imagine, from Marketing to entomologists (insect experts – I checked and they are some on Twitter!) You can ask people for their ideas, read their updates and join in discussions with them. Social media platforms are breaking down the barriers to access knowledgeable people and Twitter is the embodiment of this.

Testing new ideas A decade ago you would have had to write a book or stand on a soapbox to see what people thought of your new ideas. Now you can send out a Tweet or link to a blog post containing new thoughts and ideas and you can get instant reactions and feedbacks from others working in the same field as you. Never has it been so easy to challenge the status quo or for ideas to have sex!

#Hashtags Hashtags are brilliant! They are where people that are passionate about a subject go to hang out. By including a hashtag in your tweet you are helping similar people find you and your information. For example, I like to talk about customer service and customer experience and so tag a lot of my tweets with #custserv or #cem. This allows people to set up hashtag columns in Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, or search for a subject on search.twitter.com. Valuable information is now only a good hashtag away!

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Twit-chats Twitter chats are a really great way of learning and getting to know people with similar interests to you. The idea of a Twitter chat is that there is a set time where a group of people will use the same hashtag and talk about a subject. Twitter chats normally take place for between 60 and 90 minutes and will be guided or facilitated by different subjects or questions. The hashtags are normally used around the clock but the heaviest use will occur during the set time period. The questions serve as a great starting point to get into discussions with like-minded people and whether participating or just watching, Twitter chats are a sure opportunity for you to learn something.

There are Twitter chats out there for all sorts of subjects so why not get out there and find them, or even think about starting your own? Just set up a column in Hootsuite or Tweetdeck, or use search.twitter.com and get talking!

Sharing and finding blog articles Blogging is a great way to develop yourself personally or professionally. You can write down your ideas and share them with the world. One of the brilliant things about the blogging community is that everyone on the whole is very constructive. The blogging community is very much based on reciprocity and Twitter therefore is a perfect tool for people to share blog posts with each other. Once you dive in and start sharing your own and other people’s blogs, if they like what you write they will return the favour. After a while you will begin to build a community of people who write about similar things to you and you can share and comment upon each other’s ideas, to develop or reinforce each other’s learning. To share other peoples blog posts all you have to do is hit the retweet button!

Real time news feed Being on Twitter is like being permanently tuned into a news station. You only need to be gazing at your Twitter stream and you will see people sharing and discussing hot-off-the-press news information. Also, because you can follow people from around the world you may get news and views before they have even reached the news channels! By being on Twitter you will be on the pulse of what is happening in the world and you will be faster to information than your friends, colleagues and family!

There you have it, 6 reasons why Twitter is an invaluable learning tool. So what are you waiting for? Get out there, get tweeting and get developing yourself!

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@inspiration_zne Bio: Inspiring you and providing you with resources to succeed.

Whatever your success, reach out and pull it close.

Human names: Lynne & Ash Mashhadi Website: http://inspirationzone.co.uk Our Twitter Story Twitter is an incredibly inspiring place. Go on at any time of the day or night and you’ll find people giving, helping, supporting, thinking out loud and discussing.

Some people may not be too keen on the inspirational messages and quotations but we love them! They remind us of our own amazing potential and that is what our website the Inspiration Zone (http://inspirationzone.co.uk) is all about.

We believe that every person on this planet has incredible potential. Every child and every adult contains the power to achieve more than they dream possible. People use the resources on our website to unlock their potential and inspire themselves to succeed.

Twitter has been central to the success of the site. We chose to launch it with a Twitter party, and an enormous amount of our traffic still comes via Twitter. We know that a lot of our future success will come from there too so we invest a good deal of time giving back to the Twitter community.

What’s Next For Us On Twitter Our future plans are very much connected with Twitter and you can be certain that all our latest and best stuff will get onto Twitter in one form or another. Until then, we’ll continue sharing uplifting articles, videos and other links to help our Twitter friends achieve their goals and be more successful in every part of their lives.

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@ChrisPenberthy Bio: Passionate about volunteering, charities, Plymouth and cat herding: freelance consultant: Lead Organiser for @TwestivalPlym and @DevonCafe

Website: http://chrispenberthy.wordpress.com I began using Twitter almost 3 years ago when I was commissioned to do some research into the potential for social media to support volunteering. At the time I was sceptical; my main use of the internet was email and some information gathering - I didn’t even have broadband! Broadband connected and research completed (positive conclusions, ‘but it’s still early days’) my life returned to normal, although I was aware I needed to keep on top of social media developments for the next stages of the project I wasn’t rushing to login.

Then a colleague asked whether I’d come across Tweetdeck...

Suddenly all the downsides of the clunky Twitter site vanished. The stream of information became usable. I was able to discover information for work and clients; and discuss issues with experts and specialists. The hashtag came into its own - and my local social circle expanded considerably as I made contact with other Plymothians and joined in events. I came across Devon Social Media Cafe and became involved in Twestival. I’ve discovered small local businesses and been able to support them. I’ve met new people and made friends. I’ve picked up lots of tips and tricks, and have even gained clients who want me to share these with them.

Twitter has been a revelation - it’s changed the way I live my life (and I am now convinced it has enormous potential to support volunteering).

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@gail_bennett Bio: Freelance creative - doing all sorts of creative stuffs - graphic design, needle felting, illustration, etc., etc., ... ;-)

Website: http://cardiumdesign.com I found Twitter ages ago, set-up an account and didn’t do much with it ... that was until I found myself working from home. I was made redundant and found going from working in a fairly busy office with a team of ten, to working from home, a bit of a shock to the system. The isolation was tough and I think it would’ve been impossible to do without the connection to the world that social media, but especially Twitter provided.

My Twitter community are my friends and my office colleagues. There’s always someone out there ready to discuss anything from the weather to last night’s television or the latest news stories. If you need advice on how to do something or where to get the best deal … all you have to do is tweet.

Although I’ve been using Twitter for some years now, I’m still learning new and different ways to use it to best advantage on both personal and business fronts.

To me Twitter is all about relationships, to a large extend virtual ones with people I doubt I’ll ever meet, but also increasingly ones where the online is flowing into the offline and vice versa.

Trying to explain what Twitter is all about to someone who’s never tried it is almost impossible… it’s something you have to use to understand!

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@ACJon Bio: Web and Knowledge Communications Manager for Business Link in the South West by Day. Dad, cyclist, and geek by night.

Thoughts and views are my own!

Human name: Jon Anderson Website: http://businesslink.gov.uk/southwest Pin back ur Lug’oles I’m into Twitter in a big way and I have been for a while. I’m not a great conversationalist or networker and I rarely do more to engage than send the odd link or retweet something I think is interesting. Given that I’m not great at engagement, you might be surprised to find that Twitter has fundamentally changed my approach to marketing. I use Twitter, predominately, to listen.

Salespeople will often quote “we have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak”. They mean that you should listen and understand a customer’s needs before trying to sell to them. This is a good lesson to learn and in my experience it yields bankable results, but Twitter can enable you to listen to so much more than just direct customer engagement: Having lots of ears, each tirelessly searching for the right phrase or keyword, in real time is a great way to source new leads for your business. Once one of your prospecting ears twitches you can have it kick start your sales or marketing operations into action.

The ability to listen to what people are saying about our brand, our products and our team is crucial to our organisation. Being able to see what people say about us gives us a key insight into our business, and if necessary, enables us to engage quickly and effectively. It also enables us to consider wider responses and advises the future business strategy for communications and public relations.

Business Intelligence often comes with a hefty price tag; market research can be expensive and time consuming. Whilst Twitter can’t completely replace good field research it can help put a stick in the ground. We actively listen for any changes in the market, which could be anything from competitors through to government announcements, and we pay a lot of attention to thought leaders and main influencers.

This is a lot to listen to, and we have to be careful about what we monitor, or unproductive naval gazing will be the end result. Fortunately there are lots of products and features that are freely available that can help make this easy and effective.

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@inplymouth Bio: Plymouth’s voice on Twitter. Promoting the people and businesses of Plymouth, Devon. Founder of #LovePlymouth tag.

Spread the word: Plymouth rocks!

Human name: Ash Mashhadi Website: http://inplymouth.com My Twitter Story Without Twitter, my day would be very different. I would be missing out on one of the most rewarding parts of my day. My wife (@plymouthblog) and I run Plymouth’s top independent website (http://inplymouth.com) and without Twitter we wouldn’t be able to do it half as well. We showcase the best that Plymouth has to offer the world, and that’s one heck of a lot of stuff.

One of the best things about Twitter is the way it helps people to gather around common causes. I believe it’s time to realise Plymouth’s potential. There’s no more time to waste; with a recession hitting us hard and government cutbacks hitting us harder, now is the time for our city to step forward. We can’t wait for help, we must help ourselves. Our active Twitter community gives us two great advantages here: a great way to communicate and organise ourselves, and another showcase for our skills, talents and activities. One of the ways we do this is via Twitter hashtags. That’s why we created the popular #LovePlymouth tag. You can join in by listing something great about our city and including the hashtag, like this: “I #LovePlymouth because of the friendly people and great waterfront”.

Plymouth has world-class people. Plymouth has world-class organisations. Plymouth has world-class potential. Let us never under-sell our abilities. Just because it’s local doesn’t mean it’s not global too. I spoke to 3 people in the last week who are regular world travellers and they were all keen to share with me the fact that when they come here, they enjoy world-class qualities that even we don’t appreciate ourselves.

We are very lucky to live here, it’s time to shout that from the rooftops and that’s exactly why I’m on Twitter. Join us, it’s great!

What I Use Twitter For I use Twitter for all sorts of things but among the best reasons are: • Keeping in touch with the people of Plymouth • Sharing decision-makers’ information with the local community • Improving local awareness of the great people and businesses we have in Plymouth • Improving global awareness of the great people and businesses we have in Plymouth • Supporting local businesses and brands • Publicising local events • Supporting local initiatives • Amplifying the voices of local people and businesses • Engaging with local people and discovering local talent

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Thanks to Twitter I have an enormous amount of reasons to be thankful to Twitter for. Here are just a few: • Been on radio twice • Made connections with people I would never have had a chance to before • Made connections with new writers and experts • Found New audiences for our website and online magazines • Found out what the real thoughts of Plymothians are on key issues that affect them • Spread awareness of Plymouth’s talents globally • Spread awareness of what we’re great at locally • Met hundreds of great people and made new friends • Found new sponsors

Why You Need to Be On Twitter Plymouth has an unusually active Twitter community. I know nearly every Plymothian who is currently on Twitter and the fact is that we’re a generous and supportive crowd. When you need help or advice on almost any topic, there’s always someone willing to help you. If you want some specific reasons to join, here’s the (in)complete list: • Connection – make connections with large numbers of like-minded people • Engagement – take this connections and discover shared values, opinions, attitudes • Publicity – Twitter is a great way to spread the word locally • Friendship – it’s remarkable how many find people who become good friends both on and offline • Business – I can think of no better way to get new business, develop products, build brand awareness, observe the competition and connect with new suppliers all in one place • Information – Twitter is now the fastest way to get information, knowledge and news in the world

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@DevonCafe Bio: Devon Social Media Cafe is an informal, real-world, monthly meeting for social media users in Devon

Website: http://devonsocialmediacafe.wordpress.com It’s not surprising that Devon Social Media Cafe should use Twitter - it sort of goes hand in hand. We use a variety of social media to promote our activities - and are always interested to see the results we get from each.

For us, our blog, Facebook page and LinkedIn group each serves a purpose. They all have the potential to reach different audiences - and they all allow for the use of more than 140 characters! Maybe we should put more time into management and promotion of these platforms - but they all take more time to run than Twitter, and it is easy to lapse into cross posting which takes away the specific targeted messages each should contain. Now we’re not lazy, but we are all busy - and after a while you start to evaluate how well your time is being used. We find the people going to each of these platforms tend to get there through tweeted links, and that we have more conversation on Twitter.

We’ve noticed that other local and similar gatherings also use Twitter a lot - with the use of hashtags we are easily able to spot other activity and promote it. We’ve even been and joined in their events - which is great for building new networks and hearing some different perspectives. We’ve been able to provide support to new groups starting up and will continue to do so - and now we’re even talking with others about doing some joint activities.

Now call us old fashioned, but we think that the concept of social media is about the interaction. We’d rather invest our time with conversation than crafting a nice blog post or update. It is the social element of social media that marks us out from other local networks. It’s great to see people continuing conversations online that began offline - and taking online contacts into offline friendships. Numbers at our monthly events vary, but we draw from a growing pool of about 50 people. Conversations are wide ranging, from in-depth business advice to jokes, how to improve our local environment to the latest Twitter tips. Discussion of latest social media trends has meant that @DevonCafe has been the base from which Plymouth has had Twestivals - it’s great to see people who met on Twitter and came along to our events pulling together and building new networks as they plan the second PlymTwest - and we’re pleased our tweeting played a part in that.

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@ClutterExpert Bio: Founder of Clutter.co.uk, a free information resource. Removing clutter increases productivity at home & work. Less clutter = less stress = more living.

Human name: Lynne Mashhadi Website: http://clutter.co.uk Blog: http://www.inspirationzone.co.uk/clutterblog.asp My Twitter Story I joined Twitter because I wanted to help people. People who had problems with too much clutter. I was also keen to raise awareness of my website www.Clutter.co.uk. Since joining Twitter as @clutterexpert in February 2010 I have met thousands of people who are interested in de-cluttering and who come to me for advice. The de-cluttering tips and inspirational tweets that I send out throughout a day have gained me over 1,800 followers so far. This makes me realise how many people are interested in gaining control of their excess possessions.

What I Do On Twitter Having too much clutter in their lives make people feel stressed, out of control and de-motivated. Clutter makes people late for appointments, makes them lose important possessions and can even waste whole areas of their homes and offices.

Clutter slows you down and makes every job take longer. Do you have a “junk room” that you’d like to use for something more useful? Could your business run more efficiently if your processes weren’t sabotaged by clutter?

Giving Advice Twitter gives people a chance to tap into my expertise when it’s convenient for them. Since being on Twitter I have been asked many questions including: “Where should I start de-cluttering?”, “What shall I do with all my child’s artwork it as I’m sentimentally attached to it?” and “How do I go about clearing a garage full of clutter?” It’s been really rewarding answering these questions and helping people to realise that they can control how much clutter they have in their lives. I get even more tweets from people saying that my daily tips have inspired them to de-clutter their desks and homes. Most of what I do on Twitter is about sharing.

Twitter has helped me find an even larger audience for my website. My Twitter friends encouraged me to start my own clutter blog (http://www.inspirationzone. co.uk/clutterblog.asp) and it has been more successful than I could have expected.

With it I can now help even more people solve their clutter problems. The amazing thing about the people I have met and talked to on Twitter is how incredibly welcoming they all are. Many are based in Plymouth and Devon, but others are located all over the world.

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Why Twitter is So Amazing Being on Twitter makes the world into a small, friendly and fascinating place.

Everyone on Twitter is so generous and supportive that I look forward to going on there every day and getting my Twitter-fix. The hardest thing is coming off again!

Why Plymouth Twestival Rocks The Twestival is a great opportunity to meet in person some of the friends I have made on Twitter and I know from last year that it’s great fun trying to recognise people from their avatar photos! Meeting people I’ve chatted to on Twitter is really rewarding, as I feel I know them well already and so there is a much warmer connection between you straight away.

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