5 Tips for Twitterers

For those about to Twitter: I salute you. You're taking a step in the right direction! Twitter will absolutely help you to connect to your audience (assuming your audience is on Twitter, right?), whether that audience is "women over the age of 35 who read AdBusters" or "skateboarders who are obsessed with Dogtown." Good on ya for making the jump from scoffer to believer, or at least to willing-er. (If you're still not convinced, don't tell me about it, unless you want me to make you read Havi's post again. I'll do it! I ain't afraid.)

Anyway, strange perceptions about Twitter abound, and I field so many questions about it that I thought perhaps a basic how-to would be useful. Also, last night I attended an event for women in business (it was good, y'all!), and the Twitter-related questions directed toward Alaia Williams, who spoke about social media, made me see just how widespread the, well, HOW-exactly-does-this-Twitter-thing-go?! conundrum is. Here, then, are the five things I find most important. It's obviously not A Comprehensive Guide to Twittering Success. Also, it is in no way meant to imply that my own Tweets are fascinatingly perfect, or even live anywhere near that neighborhood. Rather, it's a broad-strokes version of what I try to keep in mind as I do this.

Ready? Okay.


1. Be polite (gosh!). You're there to participate in discussions. I know you know this, but sometimes we all have trouble remembering it and start thinking we're there to perform THE MOST AMAZING MONOLOGUE THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN. (I am guilty of this myself. Which is why it's good that I also have a blog.) Discussions involve other people, other points of view, and require your attention. Respond to the people who send you @ messages, particularly if you are big on asking open-ended questions. Even more particularly if you use people's responses as market research. Otherwise, you look like a boor. And I don't know about you, but I do enough boor impersonations in person; the least I can do for my cause is try not to do it in text.


2. Provide useful and/or interesting content. I can't tell you how many otherwise interesting people I've shied away from on Twitter simply because their updates read something like this:

otherwiseawesome Going to bed.
otherwiseawesome Hey guys good morning!
otherwiseawesome Had really great pasta lunch
otherwiseawesome Brushing teeth to go out pesto in teeth! LOL
otherwiseawesome Going to bed.

To quote @maggie: No one cares what you had for lunch. Is there an article you think is really helpful/inspiring/hilarious? An application/band/bakery you've just started using/listening to/frequenting that you can't get enough of? Chances are very good someone else will feel the same way about it! Give people the opportunity to learn about things they may otherwise never hear about. Weigh in on a debate. Suggest a new way of doing things. It doesn't have to be earth-shattering; sincerity really does go a long way here. Did you see something bizarre on your way home from work?

whatpossessedme A blind homeless man serenaded us with a toothless rendition of "DA YA THINK I'M SEXY" on the subway tonight. Someone shouted "NO!"


3. ...But! Be human. No one is a clever-clever machine all the time. The everyday bits (minutia, if you will!) can be just as interesting as the clever-clever bits. Context is everything. For instance, @kellysims is a freelance graphic designer; he often Tweets about on-the-job idiosyncracies, and you don't need to be a designer to be in on the joke:

kellysims I'm working from a photocopied paper that has been marked up with orange marker, red pen and black pen. All by 3 people. Oh, and stickies.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is another of my favorites, @nickcave, whose full name is Fake Nick Cave. The person behind it obviously knows a lot about the real Nick Cave--enough that nearly all of the Tweets are everyday bits, which is what makes them hilarious:

nickcave Grooming my moustache.

Context. Context. Context.


4. Improve your editing skills. This sounds all tedious and scholarly, but all it means is: figure out which parts of your message are the most compelling. You've only got 140 characters, so make each one count. Look around at the people whose Tweets you find most interesting. I bet you'll find their content is short, sweet and to the point. Which is kind of the point, after all; Twitter isn't for rambling. Plus, no one likes to read a message comprised primarily of abbreviated words.


5. Avoid the hard sell. Avoid it like the plague. I mean, look--so many of us are entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, what-have-you. It's almost a given that if you're on Twitter, you've got a blog, at the very least, that you'd like to promote. If you're selling something, the way to do it on Twitter is to be interested, interesting and sincere. There are so many services looking for customers out there that your personality is going to be the number-one thing that sets you apart. If you come across all "What's it going to take to send you home with a car today?" then chances are pretty good you will annoy the very people whose business you want.

In the end, what you need to know on Twitter really isn't all that different from what you already know about life. Be nice. Be interested. Be generous. Be self-aware. Be your best self. The sky may be falling and the web may seem like the Wild West even at this late date, but it's still a very (very, very) small world. Act accordingly, and you'll be pleased with the outcome.

And if you still have questions, feel free to drop me a line.

Five Questions

This has been making the blog rounds; you agree to be interviewed by a fellow writer. Your responses are then posted on your blog and theirs. You then agree to interview anyone/someone who would like to be interviewed. So here we are, five questions for moi from White Hot Truth.

[If you'd like to be interviewed, read the interview rules following this post.]


Hey, Old Soul Ink...
1. So, like, what's the big deal with typefaces? Why does it matter? Could a normal person possibly be obsessed with a...typeface? I mean, really. Please explain the lunacy. {FYI: Helvetica is the only way to go. Ever. Just my opinion.}

(Could a normal person possibly be obsessed with a typeface? Absolutely not!) Language is endlessly fascinating to me. Typefaces are a language unto themselves. They are tiny little systems of visual communication, a message within a message. Lines, sizes, serifs or a lack thereof, spacing--each typeface has its own identity and evokes its own particular sort of emotion. Using the right font for the right project means that it's probably not going to be the first thing you notice; you're going to notice the overall message. Then you'll realize that the font helped to project that message. (You know...if you like that sort of thing.) The wrong font brings the party to a screeching halt. Many a battle has been waged over a typeface, and if that sounds like I’m kidding, I’m not telling it right.

As for your love of Helvetica… .

2. Are you an old soul?...how do you know?
I've heard it all my life, more times than I can count: "You're an old soul." I am. Not in the sense that I've been around before (that's not part of my belief system), but in the sense that I've always been older than my years. Felt older, thought older. We've all met people much older than ourselves who seem much younger than we are; I am the opposite, I think.

3. What 3 books rocked your world?
* William Gibson's Pattern Recognition, for an ultra cool storyline, economical style, and a main character whose peculiar sensitivities to advertising and marketing mirror my own, to an astonishing degree. (That's code for "Cayce Pollard may not be a real person but she makes me feel like less of a freak.")
* Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient, for its gorgeous, mosaic-like quality and his understanding of the most delicate and complicated human experiences.
* Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess, for being a children's book that addresses the uglier details of life without losing its grasp on the uncompromising beauty of life. It's a bit of a primer, I think, for growing up. And it's extremely smart, to boot.

4. The best thing about LA is....?
Where to begin? The weather. The Pacific Ocean. The sunsets. The fact that any landscape you'd like to visit is no more than a couple of hours away. The amazing fresh produce. The Mexican food. The incredible variety of people. The stereotypes you expect and don’t find, and the ones you find and don’t expect. It's a constantly-shifting landscape with many, many pockets to explore. A treasure chest with a surprise every time you lift the heavy lid.

5. What's your big dream? Please tell me.
In my Big Dream, I…
• Develop a wildly successful consulting business. This is still in the delicate planning stages, so I can’t share much detail about it, but I’ll be doing what I love and helping lots of people in the process (it just doesn’t get any better than that!).
• Own a house near the ocean, with an extensive vegetable garden in the backyard.
• Am able to do a handstand.
• Acquire a degree in linguistics.
• Learn to speak French. And Portuguese. And Japanese.
• Have the opportunity to sing onstage with Neil Finn. (For the extended remix, see the column on the right, near the bottom of this page.)

***

THE INTERVIEW RULES
* leave me a comment saying: "interview me"
* all comments will be published
* I will e-mail you five questions of my choice
* you can then answer the questions on your blog {with a link back to my blog}
* you should also post these rules, along with an offer to interview anyone else who e-mails you wanting to be interviewed
* anyone who asks to be interviewed should be sent 5 questions to answer on their blog
* it would be nice if the questions were individualized for each blogger

Complaint Letter To Richard Branson

This is fantastic. You ought to go and read it now.

Tweet of the Week

Oh Lordy. Should I have worn that jacket? Will Twitter explode? Why do I have a face like a torn arse? So many questions.
- @StephenFry
(Also known as Stephen Fry.)

In the year of the scavenger

I've loved David Bowie since 1983, when I was in the third grade. Shan't bore you with the details, none of which are particularly original, I'd imagine--but one of the many reasons I hold him in such embarassingly high regard is his marketing genius. He sells it like the rent's due and makes you think it was effortless. And he flirts with you while he's doing it! Sigh. So anyway, my point was, imagine the utter delight that bloomed when I stumbled across this article, entitled 10 Creative Lessons From Bowie in Berlin. [As any Bowie fan will tell you, Everything Changed in Berlin. His Berlin period is often spoken of in the same hushed, reverent tones that some people reserve for discussions about Malcolm X going to Mecca.] The article very tidily sums up and dissects Bowie's moves during this pivotal period of time and suggests non-rock-star-life applications of the same strategies. Good stuff, and a great treat for Bowie dorks like me. Via When I Grow Up.

The Confrontation Song

Persephone made my morning by posting this, and I thought perhaps you could benefit as well. [Assuming you derive the same tremendous amount of pleasure that I do from, ahem, Les Miserables. If you do not, it's okay to go read a cool blog right about now. Hurry, go!]

I can't forget but I don't remember what*

Some days it really does feel this way.




Courtesy of the wonderful and inimitable Wondermark.

*With apologies to L. Cohen.

It's not all bouquets and white crayon

Normally something like this doesn't much resonate with me. Ordinarily I might call it twee, perhaps a bit precious. But I happen to really enjoy Rachel's blog, her aesthetic and her dreamy, cautious-yet-brave voice. Then there is the fact that she looks a lot like my mother, and a bit like me, in this photo. And the matter, too, of this sentiment being awfully similar to what 2008 was like for me.
Thanks, Rachel.

Paying it forward

The lovely Diana included me in her I Love Your Blog post today. I am beyond flattered, as her blog is beautiful, inspiring and intelligent. To continue the effect, here are seven of the many blogs that I love:

* What Possessed Me - P. is by turns hilarious, wise, silly and thoughtful. Her blog is achingly poignant and completely down-to-earth. In short, I'd really like for her to move in next door to me (P., just so you know, the condo next door is currently available.).

* Pohangina Pete - I've mentioned Pete's blog before, but am as taken by it now as I was three years ago. In his own words, "Pete lives in the Pohangina Valley, Aotearoa/New Zealand and writes about mountains and mountaineering, rockclimbing, photography, Aotearoa-NZ, natural history, people, travelling, thinking, a wee bit of politics, life in general and a swag of other stuff. Lots of photos, too." But it's much more than that.

* This is kind of cheating, maybe? Because The Ruins of the Moment also belongs to Pohangina Pete. [Also: apparently I only read blogs run by people whose first names begin with the letter P.] He posts a new gorgeous/thought-provoking/inspiring photo every day.

* Simple Mom. Tsh writes thoughtful, helpful, reasonable hacks for running a more loving and (wait for it) simple home. She's made a huge impact on me.

* Some Girls Wander. Super-girly, dreamy, delicious clothing blog. By my favorite indie artist, Emily Martin.

* Superhero Journal. Andrea is a brave writer. She is so full of love, and continues to put herself out there. I admire her enormously.

* Going on Beyond. I am new to this one, but completely intrigued. Michael's photographs are fascinating and beautiful, and his voice is as insightful and gentle as it is no-nonsense.

Thank you, friends, for continuing to teach and inspire me.

Although everyone knows they wouldn't really say "flip flops."

Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!

(Bret talks so dreamy.)

(Makes me very uncomfortable.)
(VERY.)

(Brilliant.)

(PS, I'm not even embarrassed at having shamelessly lifted this entire blog post, save the bits in parens, from H's blog.)

In Which I Eat My Words

So you know how the other day I went on unkindly about how much making stuff out of plastic bags sucks? I totally take it back. Ez over at Creature Comforts posted this how-to for making a super-fun, super-cute, pom-pom gift topper [whew, barely resisted urge to add a hyphen there] out of said bags. I stand corrected! I want to make a million of these!!

Simply Smashing!

As confessed elsewhere on this blog, I have a real crush on affinity for love of miniatures -- always have. They thrill me beyond all rational explanation. So you can imagine the scene at Casa de Old Soul when I happened upon Smashing Magazine's 50 Beautiful Examples of Tilt-Shift Photography. I assumed it was magical photographs of magical tiny little things. But lo: Tilt-shift photography is a creative and unique type of photography in which the camera is manipulated so that a life-sized location or subject looks like a miniature-scale model. Infinitely more magical! I feel a new obsession coming on. Or perhaps just a new camera lens.

Smugopedia: Your source for infauxmation!

Finally. At last. O happy day! I've stumbled across a gem of a fledgling website: Smugopedia. Filled with exactly the kind of pompous, annoying thing I enjoy (when done correctly, of course; done poorly, it is simply insufferable and it brings shame upon the entire genre.). I look forward to reading and perhaps submitting more content.

Brilliant!

P.S., The logo is fantastic as well. I swoon!

Who you are vs. who you think you should be

My blog reader has gone all wonky again, which is great, because it showed me this post that Gretchen published back in September. I meant to address it then and life got in the way, so now I get that chance (mostly because I am home sick. Again.). In Gretchen's words, Here's a quiz, lightly adapted from The Creative Lawyer, to help you figure out your interests. Not what you WISH interested you, but what ACTUALLY interests you. I find myself sometimes thinking that I should enjoy certain things more, rather than just focusing on the things I do enjoy. This strikes me as completely absurd, and I would like to change it. So, then, this quiz.

1. What part of the newspaper do you read first? The L.A. Times used to call it the Living section; I suppose the human-interest section is what I always flip to first.

2. What are three books you've read in the past year? Invisible Cities, Twilight and The Host.

3. As a child, what did you do in your free time? Read; make collages, greeting cards, doll clothes, doll houses, other crafty things; listen to music and memorize my favorite songs, scouring liner notes for information on the artists. (Hmm. Essentially all the same fun/obsessive things I do now.)

4. What's a goal that has been on your list for a few years? Move to New Zealand.

5. What do you actually do with your free time? Daydream; doodle; visit websites for visual/creative inspiration; read; knit; sleep.

6. What types of activities energize you? Talking to people; being out in nature; traveling; reading magazines -- I guess any activity in which I can take in a lot of interesting information.

7. What famous people intrigue you? Nick Cave, Neil Finn, Ernest Shackleton, Judi Dench. I suppose the common threads are fearlessness and longevity -- both of which owe a debt to being able to look failure in the face and get on with it.

Looking over the answers, there's a lot for me to think about.
What about you? What actually interests you, and how is it different from what you think should interest you?

Survive The City

Pardon my geekery, but I'm really excited to finally be able to share this news! I'm co-running a website called Survive The City (www.survivethecity.com). Its aim is to provide all the helpful inside scoop for people who have just moved to L.A., as well as a "best of the best" function for those of us who know our way around. It's divided into a few different sections: Life in the City, Career in the City, Fun in the City, Out of the City, You in the City and Little Black Book.

I'd love to include your tips, recommendations and/or super-LA photos! If you've been here once and have photos you're particularly proud of, upload them to You in the City! Got a favorite restaurant, bar, mechanic, music venue? This is the place to give a shout-out. Go on, have a look. There are still updates and tweaks being made (and your feedback is of course always welcome!), so check back soon...

Official Correspondence From the Dept. of Adorable

Oh man, I am prettttty sure I need these...

From the delightful 16 Sparrows.

So I'm sittin' in my room...

It was high time, lovies, and so I've gone and signed up for the Apartment Therapy Home Cure. I didn't expect to feel absurdly frightened, but that's where I find myself. As I posted to their forum: home matters so much to me, and somehow things have gotten woefully out of hand around here... I fear that the only answers I'm going to find will be along the lines of, "YOU HAVE FAILED!" and "YOU NEED A LOT MORE MONEY THAN YOU HAVE!" (which, somewhat coincidentally, is next to none.) In any case, to help get myself over this all-encompassing sense of doom I'm experiencing, I'll be sharing the process with you.

Here, then, are the answers to the quiz.

Favorites
Actress: Juliette Binoche, Cate Blanchett, Claudette Colbert
Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Hugh Laurie, Clark Gable
Artist: Edward Hopper
Writer: William Gibson, CS Lewis
Music: Neil Finn, Nick Cave, Mozart, Beethoven, Traditional (Mexican/Irish/Scottish/Spanish/Middle Eastern)
Restaurant: Havana Mania (Cuban), Seaside Palace (Persian)
Automobile: Black Lexus IS
Television Shows: House, The Office (BBC), Extras
Clothing (Store/Designer): Anthropologie (not that I can actually afford to shop there, mind you... it's a relationship based on appearances.)

Style (i.e., describe the style of my home in three words):
1. Eclectic
2. Warm
3. Well-traveled

Personal History (i.e., my cities!)
Born: Torrance, CA
Grew up: All over the South Bay
As an adult: Harbor City, Long Beach, West Los Angeles, Torrance, San Pedro

Role Model
My mom, my friend Bob

Three adjectives to describe the qualities I admire in them:
1. Strong
2. Kind
3. Committed

[Condo]
What is the problem with your [condo]?
1. Messy
2. Run-down
3. Disorganized

If your [condo] could speak, what would it say is the problem?
"Emma has enough things to fill a couple of people's lives--more than her own life needs! Also, pay attention to me, huh? I'm not a storage facility!"

What one thing would you like to do more of in your [condo]?
Projects! Sewing, knitting, collaging, cooking... Also, relaxing, knowing everything is in its place.

Eight weeks from now, if friend came to visit, how would you like them to describe your home? (3 words)
1. Inviting
2. Interesting
3. Smart

Onward ho, friends. *sigh*

In Which Your Hostess Lacks Words.

If I pass out today, at home, alone (alas! alack!), you may be certain that this is what did me in.

Seriously, in all your born days, have you ever seen anything more adorable?
I swoon. I swoon dangerously. Dangerously!!