Ennui Blog

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If you want your content to get seen by as many people as possible, you need to plan ahead and make sure that when you release it, it is seen by as many eyeballs as possible.

In the old days of PR, the general rule was to release a Press Release on a Wednesday or Thursday. The logic behind this was that on Mondays, people were too busy catching up from the weekend and whatnot to notice a press release. Same goes with Tuesdays. Friday is also a bad day to release one because no one will notice on a Friday because all they will care about is getting off for the weekend. This leaves Wednesday and Thursday; mid-week is when people take the time to notice things or look for something to take up their time.

These old rules pretty much still apply to the Web 2.0 and social media worlds.

I’ve submitted blog articles to various social media sites on every day of the week, at different times and have had different results. I quickly learned that trying to push a blog post on Digg or Reddit at 9:00PM at night will mean that your content will get no where. Things happen quickly in social media and you need to put your stuff out at the right time to ensure maximum penetration.

So, what time of the day is best to have a social media campaign? After lots of experience in this, I think the best time of day to submit things to social media is mid-morning on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

Why?

You catch the people who have slept in and are just getting online. You catch the people getting mid-morning blues at work and want an outlet. You catch people going on their lunch (and coming back who don’t want to work at first). Then you also catch the mid-afternoon malaise. There are die-hards that will spend hours when they get home from work playing around on the net, but a lot of people go home and spend time with families or loved ones and don’t have the time to do that. You want to catch them when they’re watching and that’s during the day.

Despite the fact that the internet is a 24 hour business environment, most business and content consumption occurrs during regular business hours. That is something that won’t really change.

It’s also been my experience with Webinar Central, that it’s best to have new Webinars posted during regular business hours because that’s when my target audience is watching their Twitter and RSS Feeds. So, I when I set new webinars to post, I have them automatically come out gradually so that I have a steady stream of traffic throughout the day.

I wrote this article at 11:00 at night. I set it to post in the morning. Hope you all find it helpful.

What do you guys think? When’s the best time to submit your stuff to Social Media sites?

For the longest time, I was philosophically opposed to Twitter. I refused to join it and participate in the ‘great conversation.’ I refused to integrate it into my company’s social networking strategies. I thought it was an annoying fad that would disappear as quickly as it had appeared onto the Web 2.0 scene. I simply could not see how it was a useful, serious tool.

How wrong I was.

It appears that Twitter is not going anywhere. So, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. I’ve discovered that Twitter is actually a useful tool that can be used in a multitude of ways. It’s perfect for building your own direct audience for your content. The quality of traffic you can get from your twitter followers is better than you can find almost anywhere else.

So, I’ve experimented with Twitter with gusto over the past few months. I’ve learned a few things along the way and there are many things that people do on Twitter, that they wouldn’t or shouldn’t do in real life, that infuriate me. There needs to be come standard Twitter Etiquette. I’ve put together a list, modeled after the “Fight Club” rules that I’ll call the 8 Rules of Twitter Club.

The 8 Rules of Twitter Club - Twitter Etiquette for the Rest of Us

1. The First rule of Twitter Club is that you Don’t Spam

Look, we all know you have exciting content for all of us to share. But stop constantly bugging your followers about it.

2. The Second rule of Twitter Club is that you DO NOT Spam.

Let’s not turn this amazing medium into another venue for people to peddle their affiliate marketing products and latest MLM scams. The best way to get people to read your stuff is to create REAL compelling content for them to read, and sorry, they’re just not buying the latest get rich quick scheme that you’ve been duped into. Merely providing an RSS feed onto your twitter feed (check out TwitterFeed) is enough to let your network know about your latest posts.

3. The Third Rule of Twitter Club is to Provide Something People Want - Which means you shouldn’t have to spam

The theory behind Twitter is that you will connect and communicate with friends and people who share your interests or career fields. So, by default they are generally, if they’ve followed you they are already interested in what you have to say. Don’t abuse this trust. Provide them something they want, which is why they are following you to begin with.

4. The Fourth Rule of Twitter Club is Don’t use Bots and Tools to do all your interaction - actually interact

There’s a rash of Twitter zombies out there. The people using tools and bots to manage their massive feeds. This destroys the whole point of Twitter. It just creates more noise that people have to filter out. If you have 2000 followers or are following 2000 people, and you’ve had 10 updates, you’re not taking full advantage of the medium. The point of social networking is to participate. Engage your followers and they will engage you with mutual benefit in the long run. Don’t ever think for one minute that your followers are resources to be mined for revenue. It’s kind of annoying to follow someone and get the same canned DM response over and over. The worst offenders are the ones that try to sell you something or offer you a special deal simply for following you.

5. The Fifth Rule of Twitter Club is concentrate on One Account at a time

No one likes a schizophrenic. Unless your starting a separate twitter feed for a website or separate project (like I did for Webinar Central - @webinarcentral), there is no reason to have more than one personal twitter feed. You’ll just annoy your followers if you are obliging them to keep track of your multiple personalities. I suppose separate business and personal feeds would be all right, but with the lines between personal life and work life being blurred in the Web 2.0 realm, it may be a good idea to focus on one, your personal brand.

6. The Sixth rule of Twitter Club is to Speak as if you are in a public venue - not like you are with your closest friends.

Generally fellow tweeps are work colleagues or people you haven’t met in person in addition to your normal friends. They really don’t want to know about your morning dump or your wife’s monthly cycle. If you would talk about it with your boss or in a television interview, then that’s what is advisable for Twitter. There is such a thing as too much disclosure.

7. The Seventh Rule of Twitter Club is to Tiny URL Your Links but tell us what they are first

Tiny URL is a great tool to save characters and put links to share in your feed. But keep in mind you must actually tell people what they are clicking. Sorry, but “Check it out ____link” is not going to cut it. Who the heck knows what we are clicking and we have to be careful since a lot of people Tweet while at work.

8. And the Eighth Rule of Twitter Club is if this is your first time Twittering - you have to Tweet - consistently.

Zombie Twitterers suck. You’ve seen ‘em, they sign up and acquire a few followers and then disappear from the face of the Earth. Participate in the ‘great conversation’ don’t just fill it with more noise and then abandon it. Twitter can be great for networking with people in your field and help to build your career. I can also help you develop web projects you want to share with the world. Make use of it, don’t just say “Yeah, I’m Web 2.0 hip and understand social media, I’m on Twitter” but actually not participate.

Happy Tweeting!