A blog is part of your website. We say you should “blog” as a verb but really, you write and publish on your blog. You don’t technically “blog.” Regardless, you should be creating content and publishing it on your own website as regularly as possible.
Should Your Business Have a Blog?
Your business should have a website. You publish on your blog to elevate your brand. We write to have a voice, educate our audience, and position ourselves as thought leaders. We publish articles on our blog to have a voice, educate our audience, and position ourselves as thought leaders. It’s true that you can publish on Medium, LinkedIn, or Facebook. I do that sometimes as an experiment to test audiences.
The important thing to understand is that those free platforms don’t belong to you. You are at the mercy of their own funding. Anytime Medium decides to quit, everything is gone. Remember how everyone loved Katch.me for Periscope? It’s gone. Blab.im is gone.
What makes an X profile good? It depends upon your purpose. For this article your purpose is business — networking and gaining clients.
Some people think what makes a profile good is just the number of followers. To be honest, if I see a super lopsided account (following 40 and 40,000 followers), I think they’re not being social. They’re unlikely to reply, more likely to have automated DMs, and less likely to be a contact or peer that’s useful for my network.
Instead, I would encourage you to look deeper than just the number of followers on X. Focus your time and efforts on how to set up your account and engage well.
You already know how to set up your X account (If you don’t, go here.) But now you want to know if your account looks professional. In other words, does your X (Twitter) profile look good to prospects?
Not only will this article review how you set up your own account, but these points will help you decide who to follow, hire, or do business with that person or brand. For in-depth detail on Twitter Strategy, you’ll want to read the book or blog post, “The Definitive Guide to Twitter Marketing.“
“The way you describe yourself on Twitter has everything to do with how people perceive you online. So how the heck do you do it right?”
Your bio should make sense. What is it that you do? Does your 96-year-old grandmother understand it?
Your account should have a header, a clear photo, a website, and a bio. Your bio should be clear to people outside of your niche and be optimized for keywords. Yes, people perform searches on X. Don’t waste too much of your 140-280 characters on hashtags unless you really want it.
“Just as you would when optimizing a Web page for search engines, when you write your Twitter bio think about your desired spheres and include words and phrases about them. A touch of personality is helpful, too.”Convince & Convert
Your photo, header, and bio should be complete before you start following people. As a bonus, I also look to see if you’ve created lists.
She has a header photo that is relevant. It’s the baseball diamond for the SF Giants. She’s in the Bay Area. So important for local SEO.
Her photo is recognizable even on mobile. At least half of Twitter users are on mobile and there your Twitter avatar is about 1 cm squared. That’s pretty small.
Her bio makes sense. It tells you something about her hobbies and her business. (She is a gym mouse and a conscious soul.) But also, she blogs for startups (what she does). Bonus points for her Amazon Author Page and Twitter Chat info.
Location is filled in and makes sense. It’s not vague or a GPS number. Seriously, stop it.
Link is her website.
She follows over 18,000 people and has 22,025 followers. This is good. I aim for a 1:1 ratio because X (Twitter) is one of the only social networks that enforces following/follower ratios.
She has lists.
Bonus points for a pinned tweet from the last Twitter chat.
Great business Twitter account by Blue Steele Solutions.
The header photo is branded and matches their website.
They are using a square version of their logo–the image of which is reinforced on their header photo and, of course, website.
Their bio tells you they are a branding agency. Bonus points for identifying their company-wide love of tacos.
Location is accurate.
Link is her website.
They follow 2,823 and have 2,851 followers. This is great for a newer account like theirs. (Seriously, the first 1,000 followers are the hardest. I’d aim for growth near 1,000 a year if you spend two hours a day.)
They have lists.
Bonus points for a pinned tweet going back to their website.
Why does following back on X (Twitter) matter?
Social media is about connection and engagement; it’s no different on X.
If you’re only following 30 people, because you don’t want your home feed cluttered, then why are you online?
Did you know you canuse lists? Not following people back communicates that followers are not valuable to you. Is that how you want to start off meeting people?
A Word About Vanity Metrics on X
This is where we talk about vanity metrics. That is, x amount of followers as social proof. Does it matter?
This is a “it depends” territory. If you’re a self-professed social media guru with less than 1,000 followers and you’ve been on Twitter since 2007, maybe I don’t believe it. And I get the whole, “a cobbler’s children have no shoes” axiom. I mean, I haven’t blogged here in a month. I get it. The day job tends to take away all of our attention.
To me, the ratio and engagement say more about whether they’re good at social. So, that’s my segue.
What Is Good Engagement on X?
If vanity metrics are only a shadow of social proof, then the actual proof is in the eating — I mean tweeting.
I like to see a good mix of tweets, retweets, and replies. I call this granola.
If you only have oats in your granola, it’s just uncooked oatmeal. A good granola needs nuts, oats, and probably carob chips. A healthy mix. Or take salad if you like that better. Iceberg lettuce does not a salad make. You at least need carrots and tomatoes. And do you have to beg for croutons? Come on. But I digress.
To audit an account (yours, for example) look at the Tweets and Replies Tab. For Carol, this would be here.
Note: on mobile, all of the tweets, saved the pinned tweet, are mixed together. This is why I think it’s even more important to have a healthy mix.
She’s replying to people, sharing her own content, sharing other’s content, and retweeting (bonus points for old school retweet, too).
What is an Appropriate Response Time On X?
If you tweet someone and they respond six months later, I’d say that’s not a healthy account. Now, that’s not obvious from a cursory (visual) audit. Let it be a cautionary tale. Social Media Managers may come and go (are you paying them enough?) but it’s your account, company, brand. You should care the most.
No one can care more about your account than you. My friend Robert Nissenbaum even goes as far as to say that outsourcing your social isn’t authentic. On this we disagree, but he’s partially right. That person should be you or your brand.
Being on Brand on Twitter
Some people think that replies and retweets are off-brand. Firstly, I’d say that it’s rarely true.
Secondly, I’d say that you should follow parallel industries. For contractors, follow real estate brokers and local businesses. For social media managers, follow website developers. For WordPress plugin authors follow developers and businesses that would use your plugin. You get it.
Showing more than one dimension is not only a demonstration that you “get social media” but it’s social.
Have you ever gone out to dinner with someone who wouldn’t shut up about themselves? How often do you repeat that?
If your brand is human, your conversations on Twitter are inherently “on brand.” Interaction is how we build relationships. Relationship marketing matters for brand building and, therefore, business building.
Make Your Twitter Stand Out
Completely fill out your bio. You have 160 characters. Make them count.
I have no idea why it still looks like a button set from 2001’s Dreamweaver. I really don’t. PayPal is huge. They can easily customize their button.
But they didn’t.
What is the alternative to PayPal?
I’m so glad you asked.
If your site is built on the WordPress content management system (not hosted on WordPress.com which is totally different), then you can install an online donation plugin, namely Give.
Of course, there are plugins in the WordPress repo to style the PayPal button and other donation plugins to choose from. I worked for ThoughtHouse and GiveWP was our client. Of course, I’m telling you about GiveWP. That’s my disclaimer and I’m proud of it.
The Give Donation Button and Form Looks Better.
The Give donation form looks better than the default PayPal button. Period.
To me this is the most compelling argument against PayPal donation button.
It may not be the best feature technically, but from a marketing standpoint, I think design matters.
PayPal is still the payment gateway if you’re using Give standard. Give’s forms are modern and stylish. Better yet, they inherit their design from your WordPress theme. What does this mean? It means your donation button will not clash with your website. Oh yeah, it’s mobile responsive, too.
Why does design matter?
When you’re asking people for money trust is involved.
Aesthetics matter. Branding matters.
Something that looks up-to-date is more trustworthy. Period.
Exhibit A. Artaxis Fellowship.
Artaxis used Give to fund a scholarship for a summer residency. You can read more about that story here.
They have a custom donation page with imagery, a description, and a modern, clean donation form on the site. This is the free version of Give. They are not paying for add-ons. They’re using PayPal.
So, it’s pretty obvious which looks better, right?
Exhibit B. WP Media Pro.
Jason Tucker used Give recently to crowdfund for video equipment to broadcast and archive local WordPress meetups.
Again. He could have easily used PayPal. He’s using the free version of Give — no fancy payment gateway add-ons, just PayPal standard.
He could have used PayPal’s button. But he didn’t.
Even better, go visit the site. He uses an image of himself, reinforcing his role in WordPress. He tells the story. Lists the need. Lists the equipment. It’s no wonder he met his goal in 24 hours.
Notice one of the features Jason took advantage of — the button color matches his site’s colors. This form looks different from the one on Artaxis. Same plugin, different themes and customizations.
Jason is using the progress bar, and is naming the donation levels with levels of appreciation: “$25 Thanks! $50 You are Awesome! $100 Thank you, thank you, thank you” and so on.
Sherlock and Moriarty. Batman and the Joker. Superman and Lex Luthor.
Every hero has a nemesis that taunts them and generally tries to hinder their good work.
Ideas come to me in the dark, subconscious hours of the night, teasing me with the promise of genius only to leave me when I’m fully awake.
Instead of relying upon my memory, when I’m inspired at 4:00 a.m., I need to become more disciplined about writing them down.
I had this great idea for a video about not tweeting in the third person. But I didn’t write it down. Not one to waste an opportunity, I turned my own mistake into a lesson.
How do you conquer and capture your ideas? Once written down, that’s just the beginning. (more…)
Sometimes we think that the older we are, the less likely we can change our careers — to a successful degree. But it simply isn’t true. And this is why I love WordPress.
I love WordPress because it allowed me to change the entire trajectory of my career — at 42 years old.
When else does an office manager suddenly have a career at a #WordPress plugin shop but by discovering #WordPress? #ilovewp
I grew up poor. I learned office skills in high school, after a disastrous bus boy position. I needed to learn to type. That trade served me well all of these years.
My mom and grandmother told me I had to get a college education. They were right to push me. It took me seven years, three major changes, and a student loan balance, but I have that degree.
Shortly after I was married, we lost our business. Accountants, am I right? No offense, but this guy stole money and ran away with it. We fell on hard times.
I got my multiple subjects teaching credential and ended up teaching junior high and high school math at a private school at a church.
When I went for teaching I never considered parents. Whoa! No one told me there’d be so many bosses. No matter what I did, they were unhappy.
One year later, the school closed and I was out of a job. The church offered me a secretarial position for the same salary. That was fine by me, I never wanted to teach again.
Except for two years while finishing my degree at San Diego State and a year teaching, I’d been some form of secretary since I was 14. That’s a lifetime for some.
Look, office work is honest work. I’m good at it. I enjoyed it. But the potential for career (read: salary) growth is limited at best. Since my husband is retired, I was the sole provider.
I was feeling trapped.
Social Media Guru
In 2009, I started tweeting for Riggins Construction — along with my Office Manager duties. The economy tanked. Something had to be done. So I did it.
You know, there are people who talk about being self-starters and then there are those of us who go forward and ask permission later.
People started asking me questions. They saw something that, at the time, I did not. I was good at this social media stuff. Joking, I started this whole blog/persona: You, Too, Can Be a Guru.
I didn’t start content marketing at my former job in order to leave it. I just wanted to do something positive. I learned a lot from 2009-2015.
The WordCamp Era
I started going to WordCamp because of my friend Pam of Pam Ann Marketing.
With Carol Stephen at WordCamp Orange County 2013 – My very first.
There were a group of us who got to know each other on Twitter. Each of us were in the construction or industrial sector trying to make B2B connections. A joke about us being “The Pink Ladies of Twitter” turned into a Facebook group and the rest is history.
So when Pam mentioned she planned to attend WordCamp Orange County back in 2013, I didn’t know what it was or entailed.
We wanted to hang out with Pam and for only $40 there was no reason not to go. So, my other pal Carol flew down from the Bay Area and we loved it. Pam didn’t make it that year. We started a fun tradition. If you want to know what a WordCamp is read this post.
Social Media Mastermind
If you want to level up your life, you have to hang around people who 1) think differently than you do; and, 2) are smarter than you are.
I started attending a meetup in January of 2014 that I’d seen people tweeting about: SMMOC.
This mastermind group is a facilitated discussion. The people who attend want to learn from one another. To say this is an amazing group of people is an understatement.
Some of us went to lunch afterward, we became Facebook Friends, etc.
We bonded and the hashtag kept us together. It’s no longer running but those people are still my peers and close friends.
Apply For A Crazy Job
Sometimes, you have to apply for a job you don’t think you can do. Maybe you think you can do it. But this post wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging Buffer’s role. When their job posting came up for a Happiness Hero (and they post the salary because of transparency) I knew that a career in social media could be a reality for me.
I ran into a snag. They required reading two books before you could apply. Not being a fast reader, my SMMOC girlfriends told me to listen to them on Audible. In two weeks, I had applied to a new job.
But that’s not the main point.
One of the books they required was Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh. Listening to it driving to work, I cried. And not just once.
I did not know people could be happy at work. I only knew that I needed a job — my happiness was not important. Someone had to pay the rent. That was my responsibility.
A few weeks later, I got an email from Buffer saying I didn’t fit. I was bummed, if I’m honest. They were right. If they had hired me, I wouldn’t have found my fit.
So, thank you, Buffer (I’m looking at you Nicole).
Change Your Career with Writing
The first step was believing what people kept telling me. It’s a sad commentary on my psyche, maybe, but true. I thought people were just being nice. They were being honest.
Now I knew I had the instinct for social media and marketing, but I didn’t have the business, journalism, or English degree. I lacked almost every requirement on any job posting I saw on LinkedIn. If that wasn’t that, it was a lack of remote work opportunity.
I knew that by building a self-hosted site I could build my brand — one post at a time. BridgetWillard(dot)com was going to be my resume.
I had to write my way out of secretarial work. I had to write my way into social media.
And so, because of my friends, my new-found experience, and some courage from DesktopServer, this site went live in April 2015.
I suppose it helps to have a super BFF who is an Admin in the Advanced WordPress Group on Facebook. She posted my debrief there and introduced me to Matt Cromwell through email. Thanks, Heather. You’re the best!
Matt (my Matt) from WordImpress sent me an email asking if I’d like to review plugins. Sure he asked the wrong person, I gave him the top ten list for why I’m not a good match but I’m super flattered.
Seriously, he wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. I did try to get out of it. I’m glad he didn’t give up on me.
What I didn’t realize is that he wanted a series written by a non-developer with a background in business-to-business. That’s how the Normal People Great Plugins series was born.
Volunteering at a WordCamp was totally under-rated by me. I am way too shy to ever have volunteered on my own.
I’m thankful that Alex reached out to me because people I’d only seen on Twitter a few times, I had a chance to talk with more substantively. Of course, I got to meet the speakers and some of the sponsors. and that enriched my experience, too.
Jason Tucker, of WPwatercooler fame, sent me a message one day in October 2015. He wanted to start a weekly show answering WordPress questions on Blab. He asked his wife who he should pick for a co-host and they thought of me — because I “was everywhere.”
I tried to talk him out of it, but he thought it would be a good combination: an IT geek and a Twitter Nerd.
It turns out, he’s right. We did the show until August 7, 2023.
A Job in WordPress
I didn’t use WordPress to get a job in WordPress. I didn’t go to WordCamp to get a job in WordPress. I wanted a social media job.
I went to WordPress because the software was easy for a non-developer like me. I went to WordCamp because I learned valuable business, writing, and other skills.
I went to WordCamp to learn at first. Then I met people and made friends. It’s amazing how generous the WordPress community is with their knowledge. The WordPress community has a nose for people that don’t really fit in.
Director of Marketing
Slowly by slowly, I was given more side work from my friends at Thought House (sold to Liquid Web May 11, 2021), including the Twitter account for GiveWP, which I grew from 167 to 1000 followers in two months. Needless to say, they were impressed.
We hung out at their office one day and had lunch. We hung out at WordCamp Orange County in June and then I spent time with each of the guys (Devin, Jason, and Matt) at WordCamp Los Angeles. I presumed they were feeling me out for a culture fit.
In late November of 2015, they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I started December 1, 2015 and ended as Director of Marketing in October of 2017.
Yes, You Can Change Your Career
That fall of 2015, for the first time in my adult life, I took a risk. A big one.
I quit a stable job to take the scariest adventure ever: working for a tech startup in a niche market. In 2015 that was scary, but in 2017 I started freelancing. There were tears. Two years in, I am happy, over my revenue goals, and highly respected in my industry.
It’s been a long road from 2001 in roofing to being a marketing freelancer but I would do it all over again.
If I can do it you can, too.
Say “yes” to yourself. You can control your career. You can change it.
