My Growing Understanding of Twitter and SNAP

Two weeks ago I had 30 followers on Twitter and that number has grown to 336 as I write this. I have seen more visitors to this blog and TheBigManWalking.blogspot.com coming from my Twitter home page, which you can visit by clicking on the title of this post.
I am getting used to the different ways of interacting, so if you have connected with me and haven't received and expected "Thanks for following", I should be getting around to it this week.

If you haven't seen the networking potential of Twitter, then maybe you are missing a sufficiently effective networking style. I learned SNAP networking in November 2000 and found it to be extraordinarily effective by December of that same year. If you would like to SNAP network with me and you are in the United States, connect with me on Twitter and send me your contact info.

In December of 2000 I was in the life insurance business and I experienced the rush of getting over 40 serious inquiries from real people sitting across from me within 10 minutes. I look forward to a time when someone tells me they got double or triple (maybe even ten or twenty times!) that response in the not too distant future. It takes some understanding of SNAP to create the possibilities for so much real business or action.

Some people in that room of 300-400 people were SNAPping for business goals and others for personal goals. The woman who taught me first, Janet Honek, got a new landscaper in one such session and she related the story of a man who met his future wife through the SNAP process. I know a man who went on to raise approximately 10 MILLION DOLLARS for his company and he utilized SNAP to make many of those connections. So, if you would like to learn more, connect/follow me on Twitter and send me your contact info. In the meantime, think about this question:

What do you need next (most)?

I Repeat: Change the Channel!

One of the challenges with technology is that it makes "stuff" easier. So easy, in fact, that we can forget about the human part of the equation. We can do SO MUCH for each other if we will do a little bit.

When we connect on Twitter (or FOLLOW each other), we provide the opportunity for powerful networking, IF we follow some rules. Here is the first one:

Do NOT read the messages if the heading doesn't interest you. For example, I posted this on Twitter a little while ago:

consrvation* WILDCOAST protects and preserves coastal ecosystems in the Californias and Latin America http://tinyurl.com/BMW7772

If you are not interested in conservation or at least, you're not interested at this moment, don't read beyond "consrvation*" as it will just seem like noise or interruption when you do this thousands of times (or more) a year.

If we are networking together, the most important heading for a Twitter message will be:

CHSNP*

When we get a critical mass of people interconnected on Twitter, you will see this heading more often.

So, what is the "little bit" that we are doing for each other?

1) Connecting/Following on Twitter
2) Reading only the messages we're interested in OR those that start with CHSNP*
3) Responding to the CHSNP* messages if we have relevant information and following through

By the way, as of this morning, Paul Barsch has joined me on Twitter. Click here to see Paul's blog at MPDailyFix.

How I Use Twitter

Twitter allows you to use 140 characters in your message and that is even smaller than it seems. Being forced to be concise is a blessing in disguise as I believe more people will pay attention to your messages more often.

By placing a heading at the beginning of your message your "Followers" (as they are called on Twitter) can choose to read the rest of the message or move on, similar to changing the channel.

I see a great advantage for networking, especially for those who understand SNAP networking. I expect to start SNAP networking on Twitter soon. Here are a couple examples of my Twitter messages:

music*2 In case you missed it - Duffy - Soul from Wales - give her a listen :-) http://tinyurl.com/4bejlc

poltc* FiveThirtyEight.com Figuring the undecideds http://tinyurl.com/4o2sqt

The first message above is about music and the second is about politics and if you don't have any interest in those subjects, you can move on without reading the content. It might seem like "what's the big deal?" to some of you because the messages are so short anyway, but it makes a difference in the long run. It could make the difference between a list of tens of people or hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands reading your messages on a regular basis.

Follow me on Twitter! Click here or on the title of this post to visit my Twitter profile. Remember to click on "follow".