This is Part 3 of an ongoing series about a case study on increasing Twitter followers. If you missed the earlier parts and would like to read in order, check out:

• Part 1: The Great Twitter Follow Project: A Case Study
• Part 2: Setting a Baseline: The Great Twitter Follow Project

In this post, I’ll share all about Setting Up Goals and Strategies to Increase Twitter Follows. This will include some of the tools I plan on using.

Setting Up Goals

With the baseline data collected, it’s easier to look at goals for this study as such:

• To use at least 3 different tools and approaches to increase followers. The results of each tool/approach would then be compared.
• To increase daily follower count from 2.05/day. There are different ways to approach a follower increase rate. For example, I were to target an increase of 5 followers a day, I’m increasing my average daily following by 143.9%. That may seem a little high, but that’s only 35 followers/week. This is probable doable even with a more concerted organic approach. However, if I was working with someone who wishes to see a quick result in a matter of a short time, that approach might not work. So, I would like to see what approach is best to increase follower numbers to 100 within a week.
• Encourage engagement with new followers. Since I do like looking at both quantitative and qualitative results of social media, I’m keen to see what kind of engagement different approaches would bring. Some engagement I intend to look at include: Tweets from new follows, ReTweets, Faves, personal Direct Messages, and other forms of communication (emails, blog comments, etc).

Strategies to Increase Twitter Follows

People approach Twitter follows in different ways. In my work accounts, some of the approaches that I used both strategically and organically to increase Twitter follows include:

• Manually following people and organisations of interest based on searches and hash tags.
• Engaging with new follows by saying thanks, hello, or commenting on their Tweets using @replies and/or personal direct messages.
• Participating in TweetChats.
• Taking part in social media friendly face-to events (eg, conferences & networking sessions).
• Incorporating Twitter within overall communications approach (eg, adding Twitter handles to email signatures and business cards, integrating Twitter in to website, etc).
• Providing valuable content in the Twitter stream – both original and those leading to other sources.
• Speaking/presenting in events.
• Writing useful content on blogs/sites.

Based on the strategies and approaches that I’ve put in to place using such activities, I’ve increased a number of Twitter follows in the work accounts that I’ve managed over the years. Some, by up to 1,000+% in less than a year.

However, as I’ve said, I haven’t really used many of these deliberate approaches in my personal account. At least, not in a consistent, strategic way. And, I know that some of these approaches are worth working on further.

In any case, for the purpose of this study, I wanted to try to use at least 3 different tools/approaches that I’ve never used before. Meaning, none of those that I’ve already mentioned above. Seeing as I already know that those strategies do work one way or the other, I wish to explore other strategies that I’ve never tried before – whether or not I’ve heard of those approaches.

The 3 approaches/tools that I wish to use for this case study are:

• Using a “Twitter Follow app” to increase followers. I know that there’s a lot of controversy about using this type of approach when it comes to increase Twitter followers. I personally feel averse to it. But, I figured, if I don’t know what it is and I’m already saying “no” to it (which I have been for some time), then I’m no better than those people who say “I’m never using Twitter because I think it’s pointless,” without ever trying and understanding Twitter in the first place. So, for this case study, I intend on test driving one of these Twitter follow applications – and seeing what’s the best way to use this, should anyone ever ask me how to use it.
• Guest posting on a blog or site to increase exposure and following. Since I run a number of sites myself and I hardly have any time to maintain most of them, I very rarely guest post. The best I do, at times, is take part in blog carnivals or blog tours. A pity, really, as I do believe in the power of guest posting. So, for this case study, I plan to use this as an approach to increase exposure and followers. At the moment, I’m thinking of targeting three (3) different blogs/sites to guest post on and I’ll monitor my findings on this approach.
• Find a new, but tested, approach to increasing Twitter followers. This is a bit vague, I know, but the idea is to approach a number of Twitter folks with over 10,000 followers and ask them for their best advice on getting Twitter followers. Based on such advice, I would like to find at least one that I’ve never heard of before and test it for myself, and report my findings.

Over to you

If you have any strategies and tips that I haven’t mentioned here, I would love to hear about them! Perhaps, we can compile a list of ways people increase Twitter follower numbers.

If you’re enjoying The Great Twitter Follow Project, I encourage you to Tweet about it using the share buttons you can find in this blog post. Perhaps, you might even “Like” it on Facebook or +1 it on Google Plus. Or, leave a comment below! I would really appreciate it.

Next Step: Reporting on my findings for using a “Twitter follow app”.

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• The Great Twitter Follow Project: A Case Study
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Every time I need to collect and study any type of information, I always find it helpful to establish a couple of things:

1. Getting baseline information – What point am I starting off from when I begin the study? Am I starting completely from scratch? If I have existing data, what are they and how did that come to be? What kind of information am I going to collect?

2. Setting goals for the study – Why am I doing the study – and what do I expect to gain from it? How am I going to use what I learn/gain? What tools am I going to use? What’s my strategy to achieve my goals?

In this post, I would like to focus on sharing about how I developed a baseline for The Great Twitter Follow Project: A Case Study.

Collect Basic Twitter Numbers

For this study, as I mentioned, I was going to focus on playing around with my personal Twitter account, @shaicoggins, which already has an existing following.

For the basic stats, these are what I needed to know:

• My following and followers count.
• Following:Followers Ratio.
• Average daily follows
• Average Tweets/day
• My existing Tweet Grade

Ideally, I would’ve liked to have some kind of an average on what types of content I share as well, but I think that would’ve been a bit too ambitious.

Twitter Tools for Collecting Baseline Data and My Statistics

In any case, here are my numbers at the time that I started this study (14 Dec, 2011):

So, it appears that my average daily follower is: 2.05 followers/day. That’s based on the formula: Follower Number / Days on Twitter.

To get my daily Tweet number, I checked out How Often Do You Tweet?. And, based on this Twitter tool, I Tweet 8.1 Times a day.

As I way to measure any type of improvement in what I’m doing, I thought I’d use Tweet Grader. I was going to use the baseline points I get there to see if I can bring it up in any way using the strategies I employ in this study. Unfortunately (but THANKFULLY!), I got a 100/100 on my Tweet Grade. It’s unfortunate because I won’t be able to show any “improvement” on how I’m using Twitter based on this tool, but I guess, I was also relieved to know that I did all right in the ranking. I suppose, at least, it can tell me if I did something wrong if my grade goes down (hoping not, of course!).

What’s Next?

So, after I’ve established baseline information, my next step is to identify my goals and strategy.

Read Part 3:
Setting Up Goals and Strategies to Increase Twitter Follows

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The Great Twitter Follow Project: A Case Study

And I must admit: I’ve yet to decide on the wisdom of this situation. You see, if I were to look at site statistics alone (here on Studio Notes for now), I’m currently finding that Twitter still lags behind Facebook when it comes to referrals and personal engagement on most of my non-tech/non-social media posts, which possibly makes up over 70% of this site’s covered topics (a reflection of my inclinations!).

Considering that I have 3,400+ followers on Twitter and only 860+ friends on Facebook, that’s really worth thinking about. What is the real value of one’s followers/friends, numbers-wise?

I must confess that on a personal level, it was never my goal/ambition to have a lot of followers or friends on my social networks. I know some people may think that that’s a lie. But, seriously, I never really paid much attention to my personal follower count. I mean, of course, I’ve always known that it’s there. I know it has been growing over the years. But, did I actually SEE the numbers and used the knowledge that I have to gain more followers? Uhmmm… No.

Of course, it’s different when I’m managing WORK Twitter accounts. With those, I actually like keeping a spreadsheet and analysing the growth and impact of the social media efforts – both quantitatively and qualitatively.

On my personal Twitter account, I didn’t really give it as much thought. I didn’t have a strategy or an approach on how to utilise it well. I never consciously tried to “gain” followers. They just happen. I know that this is partly because I’ve always seen my personal Twitter account as an extension of me as a person, rather than me as a “social media professional”. However, I now find myself in a position where the lines have become somewhat more blurry than they used to be.

Also, when I met Julian Moore (@SponsorshipGuru) at a leadership symposium in Canberra where I presented a few months ago, he gave me a really thought-provoking challenge about getting to 10,000 followers. At the time, I just laughed it off.

When I Tweeted about this challenge, I received a mixture of response – with some saying, “Go for it! You can do it!” and others wondering, “What’s the point in reaching 10K followers?”.

I think I’ve been mulling this over because I became really curious about the idea of having that kind of goal in mind. And no, it’s not because I have a personal ambition to get to 10K. It’s more along the lines of finding the answer to: “What if, knowing what I know about social media, and I encounter someone asking me for help to reach that kind of goal, what would I say?”

I mean, yes, I know that I already have my answers to maximising social media use and measuring social media ROI and all that. I mean, I can plan, strategise, implement, measure, and analyse all that. But, I haven’t got a written step-by-step breakdown of a more strategic approach.

So, I thought it might be good to do a “real life case study” that I can document and share.

Now, using my personal @shaicoggins Twitter account, I’d like to see the difference between the Organic Approach (what I currently use) and/or the Strategic Approach (what I’ve used for clients in the past and currently for my work) when it comes to Twitter follows. I’m hoping to record both quantitative and qualitative data. And, while there can never be any guarantees when it comes to replicating results, I’m still hoping that we can all learn something in the process.

Do watch this space for updates.

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* The day I quit Twitter was also the day I signed up on Facebook. Coincidence? Hmmm… Makes me wonder!

And, strangely enough, even though I’ve written a lot of posts about Twitter here at Studio Notes, and I’ve probably talked about Twitter to anyone who’d care to listen… Had a number of folks telling me that I’ve converted them in to using Twitter… And, yes, I actually get paid to manage Twitter accounts in my day job + people even ask me to write and speak about this social media platform in different parts of the world… I realised that I’ve hardly ever written a proper “How To” or “Tutorial” or any kind of in-depth thoughts on it.

Follow Me on Twitter: @shaicoggins

You see, I’ve finally written Twitter 101 for Nonprofits: Basic Tips & Guidelines over at Connecting Up’s Learning Centre. Something I’ve been meaning to do for months now, if not years. And, while writing this article, I ended up with more than a dozen Twitter articles that are now going on my “To Write List” – both here at Studio Notes and at my work’s website.

This guide I’ve written is pretty much directed primarily at Australian nonprofits and charities. However, I imagine some of the ideas would still be useful for folks from any part of the planet. Even for those who may not be involved in nonprofits and charities.

Many of the topics that I’m writing about Twitter now is based on real life experiences on not only running my personal Twitter accounts over the last 4.5/5 years, but also accounts for freelance social media consultancy work that I used to have, as well as running social media accounts for an organisation on a full time basis.

They’re also inspired by questions that I’ve been receiving whenever I present on social media in various events/workshops/conferences, as well as through one-on-one conversations.

Considering that I’m more of an “accidental speaker”, I find it amusing that I’ve spoken about this topic so much more than I’ve written about it. This would’ve usually been the other way around. I guess, my initial reaction to the idea on writing about Twitter is that there’s enough people who seem to be going on about the same things over and over. I didn’t want to be part of the echo chamber. Besides, there are really great, intelligent folks who already share their tips and ideas on this subject. So, would my posts really matter?

However, a lot of people had made me realise that no matter how many people write about Twitter, no one else will write about it from my point of view. And, it’s not that I consider my insights any more valuable than others’. It’s just that some people might particularly want to hear how I do things for whatever reason. That’s why, apparently, by not writing about my insights/ideas, I’m withholding my personal tips and thoughts from people who care about what I have to say about the subject. That put things in to a different perspective for me.

So, yes, I’m hoping to fix that a bit by building some written resources now that I can direct people to whenever folks ask me a question or request for some advice.

And, if YOU have questions on Twitter that you’d like me to answer, you’re welcome to send them through too. You know your questions and feedback inspire me.

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• Setting a Baseline: The Great Twitter Follow Project

Anyway, I thought I’d try and write this down, so I can work this out with you…

Social media morning habits

As a general rule: I check my personal Twitter account first and foremost. Well, actually, it’s either my work email or Twitter first.

Yes, most days, I’m one of those people who fumble for my smartphone first thing in the morning, while I’m not even fully awake. I don’t email or Tweet on auto, mind you. I prefer to read my Twitter stream first, scouring the latest Tweets for interesting and time-sensitive news and resources.

Not everyday, of course. But yeah, most mornings, I do like to read up and find some gems in the huge stream of information flashing before my eyes via my Twitter stream. If I find something great or share-worthy, I mark it as a ‘favourite’ and/or I reTweet/repost. If I want to use it for more exploration later on, I email the Tweet or link to myself.

Sometimes, I say good morning or hello on Twitter. And respond to some @ replies, RTs, and other messages that I received overnight.

Then, if I’m so inclined, I would check my personal email account and Facebook. Usually, I look at my Facebook notifications, peek in to my Facebook stream, and click on a couple of my most visited lists/groups on Facebook (aka, people and orgs I stalk the most!).

I probably spend an average of 15 minutes in bed, half asleep, first thing in the morning doing all these things. Sometimes more, sometimes less. But, when I say more, I believe it’s a maximum of 30 minutes. Unless I’m in no rush to go anywhere or do anything, then it can go for longer (which is, uh, hardly ever).

Once I put my smartphone away, my mornings become a hectic time preparing for work and getting the family ready for the day during the week. At the weekends, my time may even get more filled up due to family events, chores, and other commitments.

On the commute to work, I primarily check Twitter and my two main email accounts (work & personal), and do an occasional peek in to Facebook. Or check out notifications (if any), from other networks. I very rarely do any check-ins on Foursquare or Facebook anywhere at this time of the day. I used to check-in at the train or tram stations on Foursquare, but no longer feel inclined to do that anymore. Unless I have something that I like to say at that particular time.

Social media practice in the office

In the office, I have started using Hootsuite as my main work social media dashboard open all day in the background in one tab in a browser. I used to use Tweetdeck more because I prefer a desktop client. But, I’m finding that if there’s more than one person managing an organisational Twitter account, it’s best to use a more collaborative social media dashboard like Hootsuite.

I also have our work Twitter account open on one tab in one browser, and my personal Twitter account open in another tab in another browser. This way, I can also easily monitor things that get skipped by the smartphone and Hootsuite notifications.

I monitor the work Twitter stream almost constantly, but do not “watch” it, if that makes sense. I’ve started replying to Tweets, monitoring RTs and follows, etc again recently.

Why recently? Well, I sort of stopped being actively involved in the day-to-day management of our organisation’s social media accounts, as my role in the office has become more of a strategist and a line manager of a small team. Plus, I have been travelling, networking, and presenting a lot for work.

But, I’m now trying to do more day-to-day stuff again while I can because I find that I lose touch with my skills if I just do strategy and manage people. Not that I mind too much, truth be told. I’ve slowly grown in to that sort of role and have actually begun enjoying it. But, I’m certainly having to develop other skills in doing so. However, I digress and this probably would require a few separate blog posts.

Anyway, as part of the pure social media work that I do in my job, I’d say I spend approximately an hour a day (on a good day) on this – mostly Twitter and Facebook. And maybe, LinkedIn. Occasionally, I check out Google Plus, YouTube videos and Flickr photos. But, very limited time.

Admittedly, some days, my back-to-back meetings, report writing, coping with massive email, etc do not even allow me any time at all to take a peek in to any of my social media accounts during office hours.

But yeah, I think in an ideal scenario, an hour a day for pure social media work for my oranisation would be what I aim for. And perhaps, I’d add an extra 15-20 minutes or so, if I consider my networking time using my personal account during office hours. Maybe longer, if there’s an event or a community session happening.

This time does not include writing “meatier” blog posts and other content, as well as testing out new platforms, doing research, and reading up on the latest information/resources about social media.

The rest of the day with social media

Sometimes, if I feel like it, I’d check in to lunch venues, coffee venues, or drink venues using Foursquare. I may even post a photo or two via Instagram, and on to Facebook, Flickr, and my Tumblr account.

I’d check Twitter and Facebook briefly, scanning for information, responding to comments, liking posts, RTing, and sharing during the commute home and right before dinner.

When the family’s asleep, I may or may not spend more time on my accounts depending on what else is happening and how tired I’m feeling. This month, I probably spent my evenings mostly online due to blogging for NaBloPoMo and sharing my posts.

On average, I probably spend another 30-45 minutes during the rest of my day. Not including blogging time.

Weekends on social media

My social media habits on the weekends are a lot less predictable. Some weekends, I can spend up to an hour (or more) at any given time doing social networking on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Foursquare, etc. I like using this time to catch up with family and friends online. But, most weekends, the days are so booked with taking kids to their ballet/soccer/birthday parties, etc, plus doing chores, studying, catching up on projects and work — that all I can manage is a quick peek in to my email and social media accounts. Mostly just reading up, not saying anything.

Bottomline: Time spent on social media on a daily basis

It can be as little as absolutely zilch time on doing social media (rare days) up to maybe 3-4 hours in a day doing either/both personal and work social media. But, on average, I’d say 1-2 hours a day might be fair assumption.

What are your social media habits like? How much time do you usually spend on social media?

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Admittedly, I haven’t watched Oprah religiously. I’ve only seen a few dozen episodes of her show and read a handful of O Magazine issues. I’m subscribed to her email newsletters, but do not get to visit the site too often. I just read the occasional article when something catches my fancy. I’ve never posted anything on the site or sent any kind of adoring emails.

Yet, I do consider myself a fan of sorts.

I like the fact that Oprah has one of those stories that can easily inspire people to do their best and to follow their dreams, regardless of obstacles. I love how she is able to encourage people to do more and better.

And, having heard Oprah talk and having read about her, I reckon it’s worth following some of her lead in blogging and social media practice. I mean, if it worked for her, it should work for some of us too, right? Not that we’re aiming to be Oprah!

But yeah, I suppose, you can say that having Studio Notes is like having my very own Oprah show. Well, okay, maybe not. But, you get the idea. Heh.

So, what are these things that I like about Oprah that I intend to implement (or to continue implementing) in my own practice in blogging and social media?

1. It’s okay to be interested in many things. Your brand is you, not your subject matter.

When it comes to covering a wide variety if topics, Oprah’s show covers just agoit everything. She talks about food, travel, shopping, health, entertainment, and many other things. Yet, people still want to listen to her and know what she is interested in, regardless (or maybe especially because?) of the variety.

Oprah is the brand, not the topic.

For a very long time, I struggled with the idea of having to give my main blog, shaicoggins.com (Studio Notes), a niche area. People keep telling me that I won’t get enough pull if I don’t have a specialty, an area of expertise.

Looking at the vast world of the web, they’re probably right. Most of us won’t stand out from the rest of people can’t associate us with a specific point of topic. We must either be just a food blogger, a mum blogger, a business blogger, an art blogger… You get the picture. If you’re going to be a personal blogger, then be prepared to be a REALLY PERSONAL blogger.

As you can see, Studio Notes is NOT just any one of those things. I blog about whatever topic that comes to mind. I have both my personal and professional face on when I blog here. And, even though that used to bother me, I feel much comfortable with it now.

2. The important thing is to have a focus for your brand.

This may seem like the complete opposite of point number one, but it’s true that even though Oprah talks about a lot of things in her shows and her magazines, which shows the different facets of her personality, her brand has a focus:

Oprah is all about making the world a better, happier place, especially for women.

That focus may be achieved through a variety of ways – from finding great books to read and supporting worthy causes to shopping for cool things and personal development. It all goes back to her tag line of “live your best life”.

For Studio Notes, it was a long and completely random journey. I just did things that felt right at any given time.

It took me over half a decade of blogging before I finally realised that my focus is: Creative Geek Lifestyle. It may or may not be catchy enough. But, these words helped me a lot to focus and to accept the direction I wanted to take for this blog.

I love art and craft, cooking and baking, photography, writing, literature, style… All things creative.

I love gadgets and technology. Social media and the web. That’s the geek part of me and my work.

And yes, I like finding the best possible way to live a balanced, blissful lifestyle – from travel and fashion to education and personal development.

If I can mix all these in one place, great.

Understanding these things helped me to see the method in my blogging and social media madness.

3. It’s never all about you. Or me. Shine the light on others.

Oprah may talk about a lot of things, but she never professes to be an expert in most of them. In fact, she often invites guests and experts to shed better light on the subject matter. And, not only does she invite them, she helps to make stars out of them too. Heard of Dr Phil? Martha Beck? Dr Oz? Yes, they all can say thanks to Oprah for helping them to give them the best exposure.

And now, Oprah has completely taken this concept in to another level by converting her show in to the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).

In Studio Notes’ case, I may not have access to a lot of extremely famous and talented people to showcase. But, I do enjoy trying to feature some of the best folks I encounter… Either by reviewing or highlighting others’ work here, by providing quotes and anecdotes, and/or by doing interviews.

This kind of thinking is actually what inspired me to start blogging projects here like 52WoC or Tell Me About You / Meet My Readers. It’s also the source of inspiration on how I started a blog network many years ago.

4. It’s okay to have an opinion that goes against the flow.

Oprah doesn’t always follow what everyone expects of people in general. Like choosing not to have kids. And, she is open and honest about these things, even though they may not always prove to be something people will accept or understand.

There are many situations where I refrain from blogging and posting on my social media accounts, simply because I think that my point of view doesn’t go with the flow. I worry about the backlash.

Slowly, however, I am working on getting better at expressing what I think, even if it’s not always reflective of what everyone else is saying or thinking.

5. Whatever you like to do, use it for good.

Out of everything Oprah does, one thing that really resonates well with me is the way she has used her influence and wealth for making the world a better place. Regardless of what critics and naysayers say, I’d like to believe that Oprah has been influential in improving many lives. Even to inspire people to do good too… To “pay it forward” so to speak.

And, I want to be able to do just that. Even though the scale may not be as huge, I want to know that I’m able to make some kind of difference in this world. And, if I can do bits and pieces of that through Studio Notes, then, I’d like to think that this blog is then doing what I’d like it to do.

Oh, and yes, an extra lesson with this in mind: It’s okay to be fabulous, and still be socially conscious*.

* Partly inspired by @RichendaG.

Oprah’s photo: Screen shot from Oprah.com

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Through the funny, sarcastic, and entertaining Tweets, I still sensed a horrible sensation in my stomach, almost akin to watching a crash or a fall happening right before my eyes. And, just like in real life, it’s hard to look away when you witness such a thing.

Reading the Tweets coming through the hash tag, which @QantasAirways decided to use for their latest social media competition (giving away luxury pajamas and toiletry set), I had to wonder what the social media folks behind the account were feeling.

You see, instead of the expected “dream luxury travel ideas” that they were inviting people to send through, Twitter users managed to hijack the hash tag to air grievances about the airlines that has already been in the media and public spotlight for some time now.

It may have been a case of good intentions going real bad, as Qantas appears to continue playing deaf and blind to public sentiment (oh, the irony of #QantasWeHearYou hash tag!).

But, it does make you wonder: Who is responsible when a major social media fail happens to your organisation?

Is it the social media person/team, who should be advising management on what is the public sentiment online and how the organisation should respond? Or, is it management who should’ve been setting guidelines on what types of messages should go through the social media platforms at any given time? What if management and the social media team do not agree on the right approach?

As someone who works in the area of social media management for an organisation, the #QantasLuxury scenario is one social networking nightmare that I’d dread to deal with (and I hope I never have to!). I mean, some people are going as far as saying that the social media team should be fired, and I’m not sure if this is a clear cut case of “social media done badly”. Yes, there were a few things that could’ve been handled better overall, and there were some faux pas. But in reality, the issue is really much bigger than what was being done on their social media account.

So, I really do feel for the social media folks @QantasAirways. After all, the initial negativity that arose from the public wasn’t really because of the competition itself. It was because there was already an existing negative sentiment that Qantas as a company hasn’t yet dealt with. And, there they were, the official Twitter voices of the company, trying to talk about luxury travel and pajamas. No wonder all hell broke loose.

Had it not been for the existing challenges that Qantas was already facing, the competition itself isn’t bad. I won’t say it’s a fantastic idea even on any other day. But, the issue is that… Well, it felt like Qantas doesn’t want to deal with the issues, so they throw in lighthearted posts on their official Twitter account instead (ever had a fight with someone who pretends there’s no fight happening?).

You know what they say about trying to run away from your problems? Yes, the problems do just end up running after you.

Having said all these, some people also say that perhaps, this isn’t such a disastrous PR situation as it’s being portrayed everywhere. After all, the #QantasLuxury hash tag has been top trending all day on Twitter, and it has received a number of media coverage all over Australia and even overseas. There are photo and video parodies being created and shared all over the web, blog posts being written and published (including this!)… So, as far as viral campaigning goes, this has definitely reached that situation.

So, it does beg the age old question: Is there really such a thing as good/bad PR? Are top trends and media coverage the best yardstick of PR success, regardless of “sentiment” expressed in those mentions?

In any case, it looks like @QantasAirways have a lot to do and I hope that they have enough people who are smart enough to know how to put together an integrated crisis communication plan that will be implemented (and supported by management) accordingly. And perhaps, the Qantas comms/social media crew can evaluate and share how they managed later on.

How about you? Do you have any examples or advice on the best way to manage “social media #fail” moments?

Disclosure: While I’m a Qantas Frequent Flyer and Member, I don’t have a personal interest in the company. I have had mixed experiences as a Qantas customer – from great to really bad. This post isn’t meant to comment on my Qantas customer experience. It’s primarily my way of “thinking out loud” about managing what’s deemed to be a “social media fail” moment, as this is part of the risk of being a social media manager.

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The situation was made even more complicated with the fact that our CEO and myself were in Colombo, Sri Lanka at the time. My boss and I had meetings to attend for one of our programs and I also had two presentations to give (another MS NGO Day + Tech4Good Summit).

Tough one, yeah?

Thankfully, David Hood and Beth Kanter already alerted me to Heather’s work. The idea was a little bit off-centre for our conference, but I thought it might still be worth considering.

So, I told the boss and our small conference committee talked about it and agreed to go for it. I then asked Heather, and incredibly, she was available. AND she’s willing to fly from North America to Australia at such short notice.

Other than witnessing Heather’s interesting and lively keynote, I had a handful of other opportunities to talk to (and work alongside with) her.

Heather said a lot of really thought-provoking ideas. She shared a number of interesting concepts (anyone heard of tummeling?).

Yet, out of everything that Heather said, there’s one thing that really stuck with me. And, she didn’t say it during her keynote or one of her other official talks. She said it in passing when we first met and we were simply chatting about Twitter and online communities in general during a short one-on-one chat.

She said that it’s really important to have virtual routines, as it gives people the opportunity to look forward to the same thing regularly. They don’t have to be anything big or fancy. Something simple, if done right and regularly, may create the right impact.

Heather reckons that even saying goodnight, every night, just before signing off Twitter, has been a good routine for her and her Twitter community.

I’ve seen other people do similar virtual routines. For example, I know a number of folks who start their days with posts about needing or drinking coffee. There are people who post weekly recipes or weekly quotes. I’ve found some who ask questions or do polls.

Whatever it is, it becomes part of who they are and what they do online.

To be frank, I’ve never really been that great with routines. I prefer flexible schedules and adjustable agendas. I like to plan and strategise, but I’m also one for going with my gut.

Now, having said that, I do acknowledge that having routines for some things can be really great. In fact, doing this NaBloPoMo / NaNoWriMo challenge has really helped me to blog and write more than I’ve ever done in a very long time.

So yeah, I’m beginning to look in to how I can continue some of my online routines (without having to blog daily 365 days a year!).

And, I wonder, if anyone else have personal virtual routines? If so, I’m curious to know what they might be.

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