To those of you who don’t already know and follow Peter Shankman on Twitter (
@petershankman), he is a popular social media user and the founder of
Help A Reporter Out, a free subscription service that connects journalists with experts on specific topics (aka PR professionals who have those experts as clients).
Shankman is a sought-after speaker, so he spends lots of time on planes traveling between locations. He sometimes asks his Twitter followers (over 100,000!) to tweet him questions he can answer during his flights when he’s without internet access. Then, he posts his responses on his
blog. It’s been a popular thread, and recently published volume three of “
Your Twitter Questions Answered on a Plane.”
Below are some of my favorite Q & As, relevant and applicable to PR professionals and clients alike. Enjoy!
5/12/2011
@DogGuideTrainer wants to know how to convert followers and fans into financial supporters. Good question – and one that a lot of our clients struggle with as well. Here is what Shankman said:
I think one of the easiest ways is to offer “tiered” levels of support, with gifts to match specific tiers. (i.e., a sweatshirt for $100, a free dog walk for $500, etc.). Be sure to include very small amount tiers as well ($10, $20, etc.). The average online donation for sites like Kickstarter and the like is $77, so it might be a good way to donate.
5/10/2011
@rosemarierung wants to know what Shankman thinks is the biggest waste as far as social media goes. With so many social networks to use, I was curious about this too. Here is his response:
Anything you’re using to try and generate revenue without finding out if your audience uses it first is probably your biggest waste. If you’re Tweeting all over the place, but have neglected to find that your audience is primarily on Facebook and LinkedIn, you’re probably wasting your time.
5/10/2011
@lauraitgeek wants to know the cheapest way to gain new followers on Twitter. (This is a big question for ALL businesses!!) So what does Shankman have to say about this?
The value of Twitter has always laid in the retweet. Simply post interesting content. The more interesting content you post, the more you’ll be retweeted by your current followers, and the more new followers will join from that. It costs zero, and increases your value and worth.
5/10/2011
@tomhoebbel asks how one best takes advantage of Twitter and Facebook when focused on a local market. Here is what Shankman says, focused mostly on advertising:
I think Facebook is easier than Twitter for this – you can completely configure any ad buys on Facebook down to zip codes. On Twitter, you can post local things with local hashtags and follow other local Tweeters, which should help a bit.
5/4/2011
@michaelgruener asked if Shankman knew any specific ways to help build popularity and momentum of a social media push for a company with a finite reach. Shankman says:
I think one of the best ways to do this for any company is to see what’s going on in the world and attempt to latch onto something newsworthy – but not in a sleazy way. For instance – I can’t see your company right now because I’m at 30k feet but I’m guessing by the name (@upRefuse) that you might have something to do with the green world? If that’s the case, simply reading any current magazine (since Green is a HUGE topic now) should give you tons of ideas and examples. That rule goes for any company. One of the best ways I know of to come up with new ideas and boosts of creativity is to go for a run with my iPod loaded with the latest podcasts from the BBC, NPR, and the like.
For more insights on all things communications, follow
Peter Shankman.