My new Twitter based website

In regards to the guy finding Diners by Twittering them with a Code Word that gets them discounts at a participating restaurant.

This has got me very interested HOWEVER...HOW would I go about finding "Local Twitterers" to Twitter to? People who would be near a participating restaurant who would also have a twitter account?

Thanks,
Don Alm

[MMacGillivray]

Originally Posted by Adman

In regards to the guy finding Diners by Twittering them with a Code Word that gets them discounts at a participating restaurant.

This has got me very interested HOWEVER...HOW would I go about finding "Local Twitterers" to Twitter to? People who would be near a participating restaurant who would also have a twitter account?

Thanks,
Don Alm

Hi, Don - Twitter has a really good search function - http://twitter.com/#search?q=roseburg will give you people who have twitted about Roseburg. Some of them are talking about your city - so I guess they are the ones to follow in the first instance.

That's one way to do it

Cheers
Margaret

Originally Posted by Adman

HOW would I go about finding "Local Twitterers" to Twitter to?

You don't.

Twitter is NOT a place where you go find people and can magically send them messages. To be able to send the person a message they HAVE to Follow you. THEN, anything you Tweet will appear in their window.

Take Ankesh's twitter Account. He is Following 890 people. *I* contend this is too many people to be able to follow effectively. As such, most of their Tweets will be lost and Ankesh will not see them. If all they do is send one tweet a day that'd be 890 to read. Could you read 890 emails in a day?

So what you'd need to do is set up an account and then have people follow that account. Any message you tweet will then appear in their window - providing they aren't also following 890 or more people in which case your message will probably also get lost in a sea of garbage tweets. Garbage like "Just got to work", "having coffee now", etc.

For a company, Twitter is a great Announcement Tool. To announce... sales days, positions vacant (Virgin/Branson has done this), etc.

For instance, if you're a H-D fan, then you'd follow their Updates at http://twitter.com/harleydavidson

Ellen uses it as enticement to get people to watch her show http://twitter.com/TheEllenShow

You want restauranbt goers to follow your Tweets, then you need to approach it like L.E.M (Local Email Marketing). They need to Opt in... to follow you.

Michael Ross

[Ankesh]

Originally Posted by MichaelRoss

Take Ankesh's twitter Account. He is Following 890 people. *I* contend this is too many people to be able to follow effectively. As such, most of their Tweets will be lost and Ankesh will not see them. If all they do is send one tweet a day that'd be 890 to read. Could you read 890 emails in a day?

True. I don't read all the messages of everyone I follow.

Thats the thing about Twitter - you don't have to read all the messages.

Twitter's strength is speed. Not comprehensiveness.

Its main use (at least for me) is quick problem solving. Or quick spreading of messages.

If I had restaurants as my clients - I would still follow Linda Caroll's ideas she had shared a few years ago on Sowpub.

(Can someone dig Linda's post? I didn't find it via google search...)

And base everything on emails. Or maybe SMS / mobile. But probably not on Twitter.

If you do use Twitter for coupons... you need to aim for at least 10,000 followers from one area. Companies like Dell have managed to earn a lot of business from Twitter using this coupon model. But a local restaurant may not be able to make the numbers. Unless its a chain maybe...

If you are Trying to use Twitter as a Marketing Tool, then your message will get Lost in the sea of jibble to those who follow Many people.

Michael Ross

Michael,

Actually that's Not totally correct...

As per the following, there are a variety of methods available to do it...
http://www.google.com/search?q=findi...ient=firefox-a

Phil

What's not totally correct... finding local people or tweeting to them even if they aren't following you?

Michael Ross

Michael,

Sorry, I guess my encrypted messages are Not very clear...

My comments were in reference to...

"Twitter is NOT a place where you go find people and can magically send them messages. To be able to send the person a message they HAVE to Follow you. THEN, anything you Tweet will appear in their window."

I'm Not suggesting Spamming Twitter's but Marketer's need to start Thinking outside of the box...

There are endless Twitter tools, Many in the Google links I provided that can be Used in various ways...

As I Hinted on a Quick Tip in a previous post to Consider using Twitter As A Search Engine...

Once again, there are Multiple uses and Endless possibilties on How you can use & "twist" Twitter...
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/05...search-engine/

Twitter posts and comments Lead back to Tons of Niche blogs and Web resources which are Great for Building relationships Leading to Joint Ventures, Networking opportunities, PR etc. etc...

Posting Smart well thought out Comments can produce Amazing Traffic and Sales if you formulate a system Focusing in the right Niche direction...

Phil