The great Matt Galloway (@mattgalloway), who's passion for social media and analytics are downright contagious, has put together a snapshot of Twitter usage in the Sooner state that reveals some very interesting trends, and is likely a good barometer for Twitter usage overall.  Matt was recently featured in an Urban Tulsa article, along with Bill Handy (@billhandy), about using social networking in your job search. 

As a native of Tulsa, I am always interested in news and info from O K L A.  But beyond that, the study that Matt has recently completed presents some useful insights different from anything I have seen on Twitter usage.

Of special interest to me was the estimate that one in one hundred Oklahomans are active Twitter users.  Really?  I guess that makes sense, but I'm still blown away by that stat.  Also the fact that, even though we've heard that the majority of Twitter users are "older", some of the highest concentrations of Twitter use in Oklahoma are in college towns.  And these "college punks" Tweet later at night than the "older folks".  Stats like these are important to staffing professionals and businesses who are interested in targeting college students.

There are many other interesting conclusions that can be drawn from this 8 week study involving 1,503,018 tweets collected from 21,083 tweeps
from March 29, 2009-May 31,2009.  I took the liberty of creating a Slideshare presentation (shown below) of Matt's original document which can be found here.

Thanks to Matt for this very interesting and unique analysis.

Labels: Analytics, marketing, Productivity, Statistics, Twitter, web2.0

If you are a Twitter user, you know what I'm talking about.  It's possible that you are one of the group of culprits who, for months, have filled up my Direct Message box with automated welcome messages.  In fact, before I realized what a nuisance it is, I used automated welcome DMs myself to thank new Tweeps for following me on Twitter.  But I, Craig Fisher (aka @fishdogs), officially stopped doing that a long time ago.  And so should you.

The messages usually look something like this, "Hey, thanks for following me!  Check out my web site for great info, www.fishdogs.com.  Let me know how I can help you!"  That seems innocent enough, right?  Well, unfortunately, after you receive a few hundred of these there is no way you have time to click on all those links, much less read all those messages.

These auto DMs are usually created on www.TweetLater.com.  A good site with a good service.  Tweetlater allows you to automatically follow back anyone who follows you.  If you are a power user of Twitter, you may find this helpful.  But if you use that feature, be sure to also use the auto-unfollow feature that automatically unfollows those who unfollow you.  This will help to avoid spammers who like to follow Twitter users until they are followed back, and then will quietly unfollow. 

Tweetlater also allows you to schedule tweets to be posted at various intervals during the day.  This is not recommended for all day/everyday use on personal accounts.  Twitter users get really tired of following robots unless it is stated clearly up front on the offending robot's Twitter page.  But if you wanted to schedule a tweet to request that followers add you to their favorites a couple of times a day, that might be useful. 

My only complaint about Tweetlater is the auto DM.  It's a nice feature for those who keep small networks perhaps.  Then again, if you have a small network, why automate your welcome message?  It's a great feature for marketers who really want to push products or services to those willing to click click click.  But for those of us with large Twitter networks, the automated welcomes are a pain in the caboose.  Here now is the way to opt out of the dreaded auto-DM straight from Tweetlater's web site (http://www.tweetlater.com/optout).

How To Opt-Out Of Receiving Automated Welcome DMs

As you know, TweetLater users can automate their Twitter accounts to automatically send welcome DMs to their new followers.

As a past or potential recipient of those DMs, TweetLater offers you a super-easy way to opt-out and never again receive an automated welcome DM sent by TweetLater.

Please follow the steps below:
1)  Log in to Twitter.
2)  Follow @OptMeOut.
3)  Wait for @OptMeOut to follow you back. @OptMeOut will send you a DM to tell you it has followed you.
4)  Then send a DM to @OptMeOut. (You can write whatever you want in the DM, it does not matter.)
5)  After sending the DM, unfollow @OptMeOut. (This way your opting out remains private since you won't be in the list of @OptMeOut's followers. We will unfollow you as well.)

TweetLater will, within a few minutes of you sending your DM, stop sending you any further automated welcome DMs. You will receive one last DM to confirm that you've been opted-out.

You do not need an account at TweetLater to opt-out. Anybody on Twitter can opt-out.

Your decision to opt-out remains private. We will never disclose it to anybody, unless required by law.

If you ever change your mind about opting out, please submit a Help Desk ticket and ask us to remove you from the opt-out list.

TweetLater users, you will still auto-follow the people who have opted-out. They just won't be sent your welcome DM.

Labels: Productivity, Social Networking, Twitter, web2.0

Penelope Trunk  recently wrote a great article with some take-action suggestions for anyone who is laid off or otherwise out of work.  She suggests spending time creating projects for yourself that will lead to increased productivity and networking.  This is very good advice that anyone can use to get moving in the right direction while on the job hunt.

5 Things to do when you're unemployed. Hint: It's not job hunting. | By Penelope Trunk

Let's say you get fired, or laid off, or you quit because after two weeks you know you're at the worst company on the planet. In all of those cases, you will face the interview question: What happened at your last job?

Here's the answer you should always give: "I left to do x." And you fill in for x.

Which brings me to what you should be really focusing on when you are unemployed: Learning and growing. Because this is what you are going to talk about in job interviews.

Most people require about six months to get another job. This is a big chunk of time that you can piss away sending resumes to Monster and wondering why no one responds. But you cannot job hunt for eight hours a day. Really. You'll go nuts. (Wait. Here's a time-saving job hunt tip from my mom.)

So spend the time creating projects for yourself and executing on them. This is good for you mentally - because you are doing something meaningful with your time and that will keep your spirits up.

But this is also good for you in your job hunt. Because when you talk about why you left the last company, you spin it in a positive light by talking about how you are excited about doing what you are doing. Your interview should include you telling a good story about focused personal growth, and no one will get stuck on why you left your last job. Here are five ways to set that story up:

1. Create a job for yourself. These projects can be wide ranging, but they have to show that you are driven, ambitious and focused. During one stint of unemployment, I worked for free for my boyfriend's company for a couple of hours a day. That way I didn't actually have a gap in my resume; a resume doesn't show part-time or full-time and it doesn't show pay or no pay. So volunteering at my boyfriend's company for a couple of hours a day ended up looking like a full-time job on my resume.

2. Focus on ambition and execution and not so much on work per se. Another time I got laid off I spent my days learning to swing dance. I took one or two lessons a day and practiced at night, and after my six months of job hunting, I was good enough to teach dancing just off Broadway. I didn't put that on my resume, but when people asked me why I left my job, I told them about how I gave myself time to fulfill lofty goals as a swing dancer.

3. Start a blog about the industry you want to go into. Blogging is a great way to keep up in your industry, network without looking desperate, and leverage the fact that you have more time on your hands that people who have jobs. Everyone who is unemployed should be blogging as a way to get their next job. Put your ideas out into the world and connect with people that way. This is why you want to be hired, right? For your ideas. So show them. The reason that people who blog have great careers is that bloggers are always thinking about issues in their industry. Show that side of yourself to people. Blogging takes a lot of time, sure. But you have a lot of time. So use it. Here's my guide for how to start a blog.

4. Start a company. Do you have a company idea? Try it now. During unemployment. There's nothing stopping you. You have time, and you can try ideas to see which one sticks. Also, whether or not your company does well, you'll be able to talk about it in an interview as a huge learning moment that will deflect from any problems at your last job. The company that never got out of your parent's basement can sit on your resume as professionally as a stint in the Fortune 500. It's all about how you write the bullet points: talk about accomplishments and learning.

5. Practice talking about yourself with everyone. High performers practice for interviews. So now you know what you're aiming for, but you need to talk about it with everyone - parties, at the gym, on the phone with friends. When they ask how you're doing, talk about what you're doing like you are in the job interview. And the good news is that the better you get at talking like that, the more you will actually believe your story, the story that being unemployed is lucky because you have learning opportunities.

What's important to remember here is that no one can tell you what experience you can gain and what you can't. You don't need a job in order to learn cool stuff and be on cool projects. You control what you do with your time and you can make it useful. Talk about that. There is no reason to talk about why the last job didn't work when you can talk about the great things that leaving opened up to you.

Labels: branding, careers, Job Hunting, jobs, Productivity, Self Improvement, Social Media, Social Networking, web2.0

The McKinsey Quarterly's report on Web 2.0 technology for internal business application has some interesting findings and great suggestions for companies seeking to utilize Web 2.0 technology for participation and collaboration within the workplace.  VizEdu.com created a nice visualization of the results.

From  Six ways to make Web 2.0 work - The McKinsey Quarterly - Six ways Web 2.0 work - Business Technology - Application Management

Technologies known collectively as Web 2.0 have spread widely among consumers over the past five years. Social-networking Web sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, now attract more than 100 million visitors a month. As the popularity of Web 2.0 has grown, companies have noted the intense consumer engagement and creativity surrounding these technologies. Many organizations, keen to harness Web 2.0 internally, are experimenting with the tools or deploying them on a trial basis.

Over the past two years, McKinsey has studied more than 50 early adopters to garner insights into successful efforts to use Web 2.0 as a way of unlocking participation. We have surveyed, independently, a range of executives on Web 2.0 adoption. Our work suggests the challenges that lie ahead. To date, as many survey respondents are dissatisfied with their use of Web 2.0 technologies as are satisfied.

Labels: Employer Branding, Productivity, Social Media, Social Networking, web2.0

Do you ever have a great idea, but lack the time, or means to act on it?

That happens all the time, right?  Well I found a post that has helped me to put that into perspective.  The Professional Self Improvement Directory has posted a great piece by Kevin Eikenberry that I wanted to share with you.

What Now? The Critical Choices You Face With Every New Idea

Every day you get new ideas. They might come in the shower, while you are taking a walk, driving your car, or perhaps even during a meeting!

Most days you also learn something that you sense could really help you improve or make progress towards one of your goals or objectives. This lesson might come in a formal classroom setting, from a magazine or book you are reading, or from a casual conversation.

Receiving these ideas and lessons is a wonderful gift and a tremendous opportunity. Unfortunately, like unfound diamonds, many of these gems are never polished and made more valuable. Instead they are ignored, forgotten or tossed aside, never to be found again.

What a pity.

While it is certainly important and useful to learn new things and have new ideas, this step alone is far from enough. Individuals, teams and whole organizations consciously or unconsciously make one choice with every new idea and lesson every diamond in the rough they acquire. Those choices are:

1. Take action

2. Do nothing
For a variety of reasons most ideas and lessons learned meet the second fate the idea is considered and captured, the best practice is identified or the lesson is learned, but nothing happens.

Have you ever thought, or known someone to say, I had that idea years ago! after seeing a new product on the market? The fact is several people or groups had that idea years ago, but only one of them did anything with it. And the only person or group to benefit from the idea is the one who takes action.

Actually both choices (do nothing or take action) are extremely valuable to us and both should be used wisely. The single biggest problem we face with our ideas and new lessons is that we don't consciously make this choice, which implies that by default we are automatically making the choice to do nothing.

So the most important thing to do with all your new ideas is to make an intentional choice. Are we going to pursue this idea or approach or not? It is OK to not take action, most likely you cant apply everything you learn or think of you must prioritize in some way.

The Second Choice

However, once you have intentionally decided to take action you come to the next important choice:

1. Take a small action

2. Take massive action

Most people most of the time make the first choice they take small, timid, incremental action. They move forward slowly; deciding to do a small test, form a subcommittee or try the idea in a small market. Sometimes this is the prudent approach to take.

The second choice is bold and perhaps more risky. But sometimes you intuitively know this is the right course of action, or at a minimum the idea moves you towards your goal. In these cases, consider making the bolder choice. Take bigger actions, take them sooner and invest in them with your money and time, but also with your full commitment and belief.

Perhaps because choice two is more risky, it is less often taken (especially when you are a part of a larger team or organization). But remember, both of these choices have their place. There is a time to go slower and test and a time to step out boldly!

Just as with the first choice to act or not, make this choice with intention and truly give the second option more consideration than you have in the past youll be glad you did! (Remember that with greater risk also comes greater reward).

The Third Choice

Once you have decided to take action (whether small and incremental or bold and immediate) you have one more choice:

1. Go in the right direction

2. Go in the wrong direction

This third choice focuses us on informed action. Taking action is great, but taking informed action is much more valuable. As you move forward with your idea, make sure that you are applying the lessons of others. How can you capitalize on their experience? How can you learn from their successes and/or mistakes?

Marketing expert Alex Mandossian says the only thing worse than running in the wrong direction is running quickly in the wrong direction. The power of informed action allows you to run quickly in the right direction.

Learning and taking advantage of the best experience and lessons of others (whether that is from an expert, a company in a completely different industry or our next door neighbor) reduces the risk of making mistakes. Fewer mistakes allows you to take greater action and move forward much more rapidly to uncover the value of the idea you had in the first place!

So what is the underlying message of this article? If you want to make better use of your ideas, do the following:

1. Decide which ideas will most help you move toward your goals and objectives. Consciously decide which ones to act on.

2. Recognize that you have a choice besides starting small and carefully. You can choose to take massive and immediate action.

3. Learn from the experience of others. By applying the lessons of others to your idea you can reduce your risk and raise your productivity significantly.

Lastly, and most importantly, once you are informed and can benefit from the successes and failures of others, consider dialing up your action. Meaning, once youve done step #3 relook at the second choice and see if you are now willing and able to take broader, bigger actions.

As the phrase attributed to several people reads, boldness has genius, power and magic in it!

Using this set of choices clearly allows you to make more intentional and faster progress toward your organizational and personal goals.

Consider these choices.

Kevin Eikenberry is a leadership expert and the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group, a learning consulting company that helps Clients reach their potential through a variety of training, consulting and speaking services. To receive your free special report on Unleashing Your Potential go tohttp://www.kevineikenberry.com/uypw/index.asp or call us at (317) 387-1424 or 888.LEARNER.

Labels: Decision Making, Productivity

I found this today on PickTheBrain.com and wanted to share it.  Truly an inspiring piece that can help many of us during stressful times.  What really moved me was the thinking on perspective, and how it can change everything. 

So if you feel stuck, in anything, step back.  Take a break.  Come back to the situation with a new perspective.   If you think about a jigsaw puzzle, how different does it look when you are right on top of it trying to put the pieces together, vs. when you stand up to get the bigger picture?  Both views have value.  But if the macro view appears daunting, dive into it and tackle the problem piece by piece, step by step.  And when you hit a wall there, step back and look at the bigger picture from above.

The Jigsaw Puzzle of Live

by Stephen Cox

Image courtesy of zaxl4

Would you like to become more productive by doing less? Would you like to be capable of solving complex problems with sudden bursts of insight? Would you like to learn how to apply consistent effort to complete the most daunting of tasks? Great! Do a jigsaw puzzle.

Wait…What?

Recently, on a whim I purchased a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. I’d never completed a jigsaw puzzle before but I do enjoy all manner of mental stimulation. Interestingly the experience turned out to be unexpectedly instructive. As the pieces came together over the next couple of days the process of joining 1,000 pieces just so revealed a number of important lessons in productivity and the power of perspective and consistent effort.

Increase Your Productivity by Taking Breaks

As pieces of the puzzle began to come together there were times where I was engrossed for hours on end. The going was easy and the time spent productive. But then, suddenly I would hit a wall. No piece could be made to fit and for the life of me I couldn’t see where certain pieces should go.
At times such as these there may be a tendency to push doggedly on. You might want to keep at it until a breakthrough is somehow forced. Unfortunately the reward for such determination is more often frustration, stress and wasted time then success. Instead take a break from the task.

“Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.” - Ovid

Get up and out of the environment and allow your mind to clear. You’ll return refreshed, motivated and most importantly with fresh perspective. So armed, the pieces of the puzzle (metaphorically speaking) will soon fall together. You will achieve much more while using a smaller amount of energy and effort.

Finally, to be productive, instead of attempting to multitask, focus on one task at a time. Multitasking serves only to reduce focus so you accomplish more things slower and make more mistakes. Mistakes mean you’ll have to redo the task and so reduce your productivity even further.

The Power of Perspective

Much of the improvement in productivity that comes from taking a break comes as a result of the fresh perspective produced as a result going away and letting your mind clear. At times while staring at the many scattered pieces of the puzzle progress seemed unlikely. Then the next day while walking pass the table where the jigsaw puzzle in progress sat obvious connections would leap out at me and once again the pieces would fly into place with ease.

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is perspective, not the truth.” - Marcus Aurelius

Perspective is one of the most powerful forces in the world and in our lives. The perspective you take, by conscious choice or otherwise, largely determines the nature and quality of your life. See difficulty and you life will be difficult. See opportunities and possibilities and you life will be constantly interesting. Life will be filled with excitement and unbounded experience.

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” - Winston Churchill

Sometimes we find ourselves banging our head up against a wall. Nothing seems to be working and everywhere we turn our path forward appears blocked. At such times simply relaxing and letting things be for a time serves to give our conscious minds a break from matters.

Meanwhile the subconscious mind is working diligently away at the problem. Within a short space of time new events occur and the situation shifts. Doors that were previously locked are suddenly wide open and new doors we previously hadn’t known existed appear. The doors may have always been there. Only now our perspective has changed.

Consistent Effort Leads to Achievement

Famously it was said that a journey of 10,000 miles begins with a single step. After that first step comes another step. And another. All the way to the final destination 10,000 miles away.

1,000 pieces of a jigsaw puzzle looks like a lot when you have them all loosely spread out in front of you in one big mess. However connecting one piece to another is a simple task requiring just a moment to achieve. This idea of chunking things down into smaller things that we can easily do now and consistently over time is applicable to all manner of goals.

When I was studying at university one way I kept up consistent effort was by realizing that reading just one sentence of the reading for the week carried me closer to completing my degree. Just one paragraph. Just a page. Hardly a daunting task. This reveals the truth about monumental undertakings. They are simply a massive amount of small tasks combined. Do one today and do another tomorrow. Soon great progress is made and eventually the task is complete.

On Jigsaws and Life

More often then not the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that is your life will come together in a manner beyond your currently ability to imagine. Be concerned if you wish so that you take appropriate action. However, do not worry. Temper consistent effort with time out. Apply movement and stillness at the appropriate time. Seek and allow for fresh perspectives both from within yourself and from exterior sources. Remember that jigsaw puzzles are made to be pulled apart. Most important of all, relax and learn to let go. The right pieces will come together at the right time. It’ll all work out.

This article was written by Stephen Cox. Stephen writes daily at Balanced Existence where he shares the knowledge and insights gained from his personal journey of holistic health and well being.

Labels: Productivity