5 Free Twitter Tools Which will Make You A Pro

Most celebrities are on Twitter. Some like Amitabh Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh and SRK are avid users, while others like Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Amir Khan use it sparingly. But they are all present there.

Then why is only about 15% of India’s remaining internet population present on it? And why do brands (read their agencies) fail to capitalize on this awesome tool to establish their online reputation?

Well, for one, many brand managers don’t understand how Twitter functions. They simply bombard the platform with self promotional tweets and expect a hoard of followers. Even now, most people consider their Twitter success to be directly related to the number of followers. Secondly, because of the vast amount of content being shared on Twitter, users can feel all at sea. Making sense of things on Twitter can be quite a task.

Twitter is not a self promotion platform. If you’re self promoting without adding value, you’re doing Twitter all wrong. Twitter is about being there, listening to conversations, making sense of them, providing your inputs and using posts which you read to come up with content marketing ideas. And fear not, it is really easy to do once you get the hang of it.

Free Twitter Tools as good as Paid Ones

Here are 5 free tools which enable you to become an effective Twitter user:

Bufferapp: This is one of the most popular free tools for posting on social media (especially Twitter). Renowned as a post and tweet scheduling tool, Bufferapp also lets you tweet instantly in case you are unable to access Twitter. Links tweeted are converted to bitly links by default, though you can choose to revert to the original URL. The analytics tool is handy for tracking the performance of each tweet sent from Buffer. So if you see that a post has done well in the past and are short of ideas, you can re-share it after a month or 2. Alternately, you can make use of Bufferapp’s suggestions if you’re looking for content to tweet. Plus you can tweet an article via Buffer right from your browser. Simply install the extension and click on the icon if you want to share an article. Also, if you select a specific quote from the article and click on the Bufferapp icon, the app intelligently tweets your link with the selected text as the headline. Cool huh? People also use this tool for scheduling posts on Facebook, but the Facebook’s inbuilt scheduler feature is more useful and effective for their platform. You also cannot view real time Twitter updates. For that, you have the option below.

Hootsuite: I can’t stop raving about this tool. Apart from scheduling tweets, Hootsuite also makes it convenient for you to track feeds related to your subject on Twitter and Facebook. Simply enter the keyword(s) in Hootsuite’s search box and click ‘Add Stream’ on the tab where the results show up. These streams can also be of lists formulated by you (more on lists in point 5). Your feed is updated real time, ensuring you stay well informed on everything happening in your field. Respond to questions of people, which establishes you as an expert in your field. You can also generate ideas for content marketing material by reading people’s conversations. Plus, you can not only RT a tweet, but also manually RT after adding your comments in it, just like the mobile Twitter app.

Pullquote: Ever read a quote online and liked it so much that you want to tweet it? Well, Pullquote lets you do it beautifully. Simply install the extension in your browser and use it when you want to tweet a quote from a page. The tool converts the quote into a picture and share it. You also can crop a photo and share it, adding your comments in the tweet. Pullquote is a great tool to awesome content on Twitter pictorially. The only drawback, however, is that you cannot tweet a link. For sharing a link along with the image/quote, you can take help of the tool mentioned below.

Bitly sidebar: bit.ly links, when shared, look way cooler than the conventional abc.com/xyz…. But you already know that, right? Additionally, bit.ly links can be used to track how many times your link has been clicked on. Once you’ve tweeted a link, simply compare the number of times people have clicked on the link versus the number of impressions. While it may not be an accurate figure, it may give you a rough idea of how effective what you typed while sharing the link was. More clicks (even if it hasn’t got RTs) means your ‘copywriting’ idea worked, and you can try replicating that for other tweets too. Bitly links are not accepted on some popular social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon, Blogadda, etc. For those, you can use the article’s original URL.

Twitter: What good would a social platform do if it cannot have some inbuilt features which make it awesome? 2 features which we must make use of in Twitter are Search and Lists. The Twitter Search is as good as Hootsuite in providing you with tweets which are related to your subject of interest. Also, if you want to know how a specific article is being discussed on Twitter, merely paste the article’s URL in the Search box. For instance, if you want to know what people on Twitter think about this article, simply copy the link and paste it in Twitter’s search box. Also, Lists is a kickass feature to get feeds from people from a specific field. So if you want to stalk the competition, you can create a list of them, keep it private and keep a tab of their tweets. On the other hand, if you want to share insightful tweets of influencers in a field related to yours, create a public list and add them to it. Let others also refer to your list and know how awesome you are.

Conclusion

A common mistake which many of us make is not tracking our Twitter platform’s performance (read effectiveness). We pepper the platform with promotional tweets and Twitter contests for our clients, most of which result in negligible conversions. Twitter is a far more effective digital message spreading platform than any other - Facebook, LinkedIn or Google Plus. It can help portray our brand as a thought leader in its field and convert viewers to followers, then buyers, and ultimately into loyalists. Using the tools above, you can listen to conversations on Twitter, create and promote terrific content and track your engagement levels. Effective use of Twitter will also give a content writer a whole bunch of ideas for the next corporate blog post.

I haven’t added many tools like Seesmic, TweetDeck, etc. to the list. I’ve found the above mentioned 5 to be most effective. Do you know of any other tools which have been missed? Do leave a note about them in the comments section. Also do share this article with others so that awareness about how Twitter works continues to spread.

Thank You Sachin

I've worshipped you for 17 years... Whatever I say isn't enough. So just like the 100 crore Indians out there,  all I can say is

THANK YOU SACHIN

Sachin Tendulkar - The Legend... The God... Never Say Goodbye

When the Stakes Are High...

Ever seen certain people perform when the plenty hangs on the results? Or have you tried concentrating on an activity knowing that the the outcome depends heavily on you and will impact many others? Tried riding/driving when you had to get to some place urgently? Watched a race where a driver tries real hard to pass someone in front, makes a move and ends up throwing away all his hard work? Ever wonder why we mess up when it matters most?

Yerkes and Dodson had conducted an experiment on rats in the early 1900s (one that will not please animal activists). It involved leaving a rat in a caged maze. When the rats would go through an incorrect door, they would get a slight shock. Those slight shocks would make the rats simply motor along to find the right door. The scientists thought if they upped the level of shock, the rats would be motivated to learn faster. But the results proved otherwise. When the level of shock was very high, the rats couldn’t concentrate! They lost the ability to think straight and find patterns. The high level of shock was just too high for the rats to focus on anything because of fear. They had lots of trouble remembering which parts of the cage were safe and were unable to find the exit. Yerkes and Dodson called this the Inverted – U principle. It states that the performance of an individual, beyond a level, starts dropping as the level of stimulus increases.

Yerkes & Dodson's Inverted-U Theory

We humans react in a similar manner when the stakes are high. Senior bosses, who are offered obscene salaries and bonuses, are forever under pressure to perform. They want to justify their salaries so bad that they start making bad decisions, decisions which to a rank outsider vary from silly to downright dumb. Or they resort to unethical schemes to spike up performance momentarily. When we work very hard on something where the stakes are high, we concentrate on what the outcome MUST BE! No slip up, no mistake; we must not screw up anywhere or the consequences will be severe. In those moments, we lose concentration. We lose our skill, our competence. This negative motivation works against us. Share traders, CEOs, racers; this rule of thumb applies to everyone! Does this apply in sex too? Experienced people can provide some insights ;)

I’ve ridden/driven like a maniac when I’ve been in a real hurry; where I thought a second’s delay would prove fatal. The result? I’ve reached 5 – 7 minutes before the time I took when I cruised along. On the other hand, when I ride fast with a free mind, there have been instances when I’ve halved the time taken (same destination, same amount of traffic). Shows that a free mind amplifies your performance while a heavily burdened one restricts it (imagine, when you need it most).

Lord Krishna, in the Bhagwad Gita, says “Focus on the outcome, not the action.” Makes sense. The only catch is it’s hard to implement. Employees work too hard to appease their bosses rather than focusing on the task at hand, software engineers work at double the pace to complete a deadline, etc... and the result? You get the point, right? There’s always a next time. One slip up is not the end of the world. This is a lesson for managers too. Don’t burden your employees with too much or try to motivate them with too much responsibility... it often backfires.

This rule may be somewhat contrary to what successful entrepreneurs go through in the initial phases. The most successful ones have gone been through times when they’ve had to succeed or their families would be on the road. But there has to be some part of this rule that has applied to them. Some part of life where they’ve worked without thinking about the outcome which has led them to where they are. The best performers (Sachin Tendulkar, Rafael Nadal... you can add any name you want...) don't worry about the consequences. They excel at their work and leave the outcome to God.

Thus, dear friends, we work better when we don’t inflate the stakes and not vice versa. Too much motivation is not good for any living being. Aamir Khan said in 3 Idiots “Don’t focus on success. Focus on excellence, and success will follow.” Let’s try making that a way of life. Let’s focus on doing a really good job of the task at hand. Try following this principle and tell me if it works. Cheers!

An Idea To Get Rid Of Corruption [VIDEO]

How tired are we of corruption? And how much do we do to arrest it? Precious little.

My MBA classmates and I shot and composed this video in the fall of 2009 while we were studying at Bharati Vidyapeeth Management Institute. It's our take on how we can combat corruption without entering the system.

This video won awards wherever it entered a competition - Father Agnels' Institute, IES MBA Institute and others. The video was also applauded by renowned Marathi actor Sachin Khedekar. The following was his take of our video:

"I'm not so concerned about videos which constantly portray the problems we face. I don't want to hear people constantly say "It's not possible", "We can't do anything", "It's always been like this", etc. I want to see a positive sign where we are provided with a solution to such issues. This video is a classic example of such solutions." - Sachin Khedekar.

The team with Sachin Khedekar. The one on the extreme right is me.

We must stand as one against corruption. The process of reducing it (elimination is impossible) will be painstakingly long, but every bit worth it! We must not lose hope. It's important to stand as a united force and oppose corruption. If we do this, we'll fix the problem of rampant corruption without having to enter the system. Forget the saying "Apna kaam banta, bhaad mein jaaye janta (As long as my work is done, the world can go to hell)" and stand as citizens of one country.

How To Become Indispensable?

So what makes you invaluable in today’s times? Most of us are involved in the routine office – work, job – hopping, spending whatever time we get at home and then repeating all activities. Many get frustrated with this life, start up a new venture and shut it down within a few years. So where are YOU headed?

Seth Godin, in his book Linchpin, says “You are not doing enough to stand out if you still have to make a résumé.” Well, that’s easier said than done, right? Not so, says Godin. He believes that in order to become indispensable (rather than just a cog in a machine) you can do things which cannot be measured by a price.

Compare Google & Apple. People drool over Apple because of their amazing gadgets and products. But guess which is the home site on Safari on a MacBook or an iPad? Bright chances are it’s Google. Apple evangelists (and I know there are many of them) will crib and wail if the company shuts down. But Google will take the whole internet world with it if decides to close.

What we buy from Apple can be compared to the price we pay. But we possibly cannot quantify what Google gives us. Why? You know the answer.

The same holds true for people who diligently work towards betterment of society & the environment. Mumbai Dabawallahs, bus & train motormen, free photo providers on the net, SACHIN TENDULKAR… What’s common in all of them? We cannot quantify the work they do and relate it to a price. These people are doing much more than we would expect and can imagine. They’re doing things virtually impossible to link to a price. How we can repay them pales in comparison to what they give us.

So if you want to be indispensable, share your knowledge and efficiency with people. Do something which they cannot repay you for! Publish free eBooks, become a gateway to knowledge without any riders, reach out and do more for people (clients, customers, company, society, team) without expecting something in return. THAT is what makes you a linchpin… THAT makes you unique… THAT wins you more friends and hits on your site… THAT makes you different in today’s world!