Morten Juul's

Making a good first impression is vital in business. You often don’t get a second chance to prove yourself, even less so online. The easy access to people via social media websites has cut the amount of time that you have to make an impression down to virtually nothing.

There are however a few pointers to put the odds in your favor. Here are six human relation techniques that you should apply, when you’re dealing with people through social media websites:

1. Someone once said “Everyone in the world is literally waiting for you to tell them what to do”. Start the initial conversation on the same note as you want it to end. If you a serious conversation, you should start with that. Start off on a note of friendliness, your responses will be friendly. If you want a business discussion and start so, it will be business like. Start by trying to sell and you will have no discussion at all.

2. How many time have we not heard, “first impressions last”. When people “meet” you for the first time, the impression you make will likely determine how the person looks at you for the rest of your relationship. Online the length of a relationship might be of a shorter period, but either way it’s always a good idea to ask yourself before starting any conversation: “What do I really want from this?

3. Set your own rate! Other people tend to accept you at your own evaluation. If you think you are great, people will have no choice but to treat you as such. Remember however that it’s not about convincing anybody that you’re great, it needs to be you thinking that you’re great.

4. Don’t strive too hard to make an impression on someone, but let the person know that he is making a good impression on you.

5. Twitter and Facebook are built on people giving their opinions. In this regard remember that people not only judge you by the opinion that you hold of yourself, but also by your views and  opinions on other things such as your job, your friends, a given celebrity.

6. Negative opinion breeds negative atmosphere. Positive breeds positive. See my blog post, ”The Measure of Mental Health is The Disposition to Find Good Everywhere”.

What do you find to be the most difficult issue that you need to overcome, when approaching people through social media sites?

You have probably heard the phrase “Give and it will come back to you twofold” or something to that effect. It’s used in many different contexts, but basically it’s to do with one’s happiness.

The title for this blog post is a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. What he said is  that if you want to increase your mental health, your personal happiness, what you need to do is look for and find good things in other people, and then tell them. Obviously your compliments need to be sincere and you shouldn’t just praise the person just for the sake of it. Start looking for good in your life and address it. You will find that the more happiness you’ll give, the more is returned to you.

Use Social Media

Using social media website like Twitter and Facebook is an obvious choice for looking for and addressing “good things”. Here are a lot of people that want to help and are not shy to give advice. Many of these deserve a compliment for their efforts.

What I want you to do right now is a little experiment. Go to your favorite social media site and look for two people that really deserve to be paid a compliment and then write to them and tell them. I can assure you that you’ll make the person happy and that thought will in return make you happy.

Do this every day and you’ll find that you’ll focus less on yourself and be less self-conscious on the social media site. It’ll take your mind off yourself and onto others. In turn your mental health will strengthen.

My recent blog post on “27 People You Need to Follow on Twitter in 2010” got me thinking about all the business ideas, tips and advice that you can get from other people through social media, if you’re just willing to listen.

Two of the most popular social media websites are Facebook and Twitter. For a moment consider these your personal pools of wisdom. In these pools are the answers that you’re looking for in order to find success in your business, in your life, in love, but the wealth of information is often overwhelming on the sites to the point of you drowning (no pun intended).

It might take a little time to find a person or persons that operates in the area in which you want to excel, but when you do make a point to learn what they know (through their posts, their website, their feed, wherever they express their thoughts) and ask for their ideas.

Not only will you yourself get great ideas in this way, but it compliments the person that you’re asking. By you asking for someone’s input, their ideas, you flatter this other person. By asking them to participate in your problem, you make them engaged in finding a solution together. This not only can be a great door opener, but possibly also the foundation of building a great relationship.

Social media website are built on helping each other out, finding solutions and building relationships. It’s the perfect opportunity for you to build your very own brain trust in which you can dip in and find solutions to whatever problem might be in your way of advancing.

Do you too get inspired by someone on Twitter or Facebook? Are you interacting with them? If not,  why not?

Here’s my list of 27 people that I expect will take Twitter to an even higher level in 2010. You’ll find that I’ve included a great mix of different people moving in different fields from social media to technology to business to law, but all with the common goal of providing valuable advice and tips, helping out and generally creating value for everyone who follows them.

I suggest you follow them, because what they have to say usually is worthwhile. For your ease of access, I’ve created the following Twitter list, Most Value per Tweet.

1. Alexis Martin Neely

Follow @alexisneely

Alexis is a lawyer and a master business strategist. Author of “Wear Clean Underwear”, a guide to legal planning for parents. She has several active blogs and tweets about legal planning, business advice and general life coaching.

Her Twitter bio says, “Love to Talk About Life, Business & Pursuit of Happiness. Built a Couple 7-fig Businesses. Mom of 2 Cuties. Lawyer You Love.”

Avg. tweets per day: 27.5 tweets

2. Laura Roeder

Follow @lkr

Laura Roeder is a social media marketing expert who specializes in teaching small businesses to create their online brand. She tweets and (video) blogs about social media, entrepreneurship and personal branding.

Her Twitter bio says, “I love creating fame for you and your biz! NO, not like people magazine, like being #1 in your field. I tweet about that and my life here in Venice Beach.”

Avg. tweets per day: 12.0 tweets

3. David Risley

Follow @davidrisley

David is a professional blogger and internet entrepreneur, who successfully runs several blogs, most famously the large technology blog, PCMech. He tweets about technology and blogging advice.

His Twitter bio says, “ProBlogger, Internet Entrepreneur. I Show Bloggers How To Generate A Full Time Income Online and Turn Their Passion Into a Solid, Profitable Business.”

Avg. tweets per day: 15.0 tweets

4. Skellie Wag

Follow @skellie

Skellie writes and tweets about blogging, entrepreneurship, web content, social media, happiness in work, creativity, learning, expertise and business. She works at Envato, the popular website creator company.

Her Twitter bio says, “Writer, also @tutsplus”

Avg. tweets per day: 5.7 tweets

5. Anthony Robbins

Follow @tonyrobbins

Life coach and advisor to leaders around the world, Anthony Robbins, is a recognized authority on the psychology of leadership, negotiations, organizational turnaround and peak performance. His best-selling books helped and inspired millions of people around the world. He tweets inspirational  advice and quotes.

His Twitter bio says, “The Official Tony Robbins Account.”

Avg. tweets per day: 4.8 tweets

6. Mari Smith

Follow @marismith

Mari’s a Facebook and Twitter specialist focusing on relationship marketing, namely growing your business through the use of these (and other) social media sites. She tweets with unparalleled energy about social media and business advice among other things.

Her Twitter bio says, “Social Media Speaker & Trainer. Dubbed Pied Piper of the Online World by FastCompany. Bubbly Scottish-Canadian! President, International Social Media Assocn.”

Avg. Tweets per day: 39.9 tweets

7. Scott Monty

Follow @scottmonty

Scott is head of social media af Ford Motor Co. He blogs and tweets about his personal views of social media and its impact and marketing, advertising and PR online.

His Twitter bio says, “Head of social media at Ford Motor Company, husband, dad, host of http://ihearofsherlock.com, and a generally nice guy. Formerly from Boston.”

Avg. tweets per day: 18.9 tweets

8. Naomi Dunford

Follow @ittybiz

Naomi runs IttyBiz that helps small businesses get tips, advice, motivation and support. Her tweets are as inspirational as they are entertaining.

Her Twitter bio says, “Author of IttyBiz. Into helping solo-preneurs earn more and suck less. Maker of crafts. Consumer of tea. Homeschooler of boys.”

Avg. tweets per day: 5.3 tweets

9. Chris Brogan

Follow @chrisbrogan

Chris dominates the social media and community platform business scene. He works with large and mid-sized companies to improve online business communications like marketing and PR through the use of social media among other online technologies. Active on Twitter with the goal of helping others succeed online.

His Twitter bio says, “President, New Marketing Labs. More? http://bit.ly/cbbio . email: blog at chrisbrogan dot com.”

Avg. tweets per day: 50.4 tweets

10. Paulo Coelho

Follow @paulocoelho

The Brazilian author of “The Alchemist” among others is one of the most widely read and influential authors writing today. His tweets are inspirational and often challenging in nature.

His Twitter bio says, “Writer.”

Avg. tweets per day: 6.9 tweets

11. Gary Vaynerchuk

Follow @garyvee

Gary has captured attention with his multi-faceted approach to personal branding and business by leveraging social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook to promote his business. He tweets about his approach to personal branding through social media among other things.

His Twitter bio says, “Wine guy, host of Wine Library TV. Video blogger and Businessman that loves people and the hustle”

Avg. tweets per day: 19.1 tweets

12. Elizabeth Weinstein

Follow @elizabethpw

Elizabeth is an attorney and published author who specializes in helping solo entrepreneurs find out what path they want to take in their business. Tweets actively throughout the day. Plenty of golden nugget to go around.

Her Twitter bio says, “Elizabeth Potts Weinstein: Speaker of Truth. Lover of Passion. Video Blogging Addict. Tweetup Connoisseur. People Loving Introvert. INFJ. Truth Evangelist.”

Avg tweets per day: 33.7 tweets

13. Tim O’Reilly

Follow @timoreilly

Tim is the founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, a leading computer book publishing company. He tweets about emerging technology trends and innovation.

His Twitter bio says, “Founder and CEO, O’Reilly Media. Watching the alpha geeks, sharing their stories, helping the future unfold.”

Avg. tweets per day: 15.5 tweets

14. Tara Hunt

Follow @missrogue

Tara is a marketing consultant and author of “The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business”. Her tweets are entertaining and good spirited…  oh, and quite useful too.

Her Twitter bio says, “Author/The Whuffie Factor, Owner/Citizen Space, Mom/@taquitotadito & @ridle.”

Avg. tweets per day: 21.9 tweets

15. Nancy Myrland

Follow @nancymyrland

Nancy is a social media trainer and professional marketing advisor teaching firms to leverage and grow their business through strategic use of social media. Great tweets and links to interesting blog posts.

Her Twitter bio says, “Social Media Consultant, Speaker & Trainer; Professional Marketing Advisor. I help firms strengthen relationships with clients using Social Media.”

Avg. tweets per day: 63.1 tweets

16. Michael Duvall

Follow @michael_duvall

Michael is a technical project manager for a private industrial safety company managing multiple e-commerce and content-based sites. His tweets about technology trends and gives great tips on using Twitter and other social media sites.

His Twitter bio says, “Tweeting about Social Media, Twitter tips, the Iphone, Web Tips and much much more.. PM, Photographer, Coder, Blogger, Dedicated Father.”

Avg. tweets per day: 25.0 tweets

17. Brian Clark

Follow @copyblogger

The popular blogger and blog, CopyBlogger, gives you copywriting tips and social media marketing advice that is almost unparalleled online. Great informative and useful tweets that are definitively worth your time.

His Twitter bio says, “Copyblogger. Thesis. Scribe. Third Tribe. Lateral Action. Teaching Sells.”

Avg. tweets per day: 11.3 tweets

18. Kevin Houchin

Follow @kevinhouchin

Kevin is an intellectual property attorney and online marketer making his moves online consulting on both fields.  Tweets about his day mixed with marketing and legal strategies.

His Twitter bio says, “Author, IP Attorney, Artist, Freemason, Designer, Speaker, Marketer. Husband. Father (3x). Lawyer, I help creative people, especially entrepreneurs.”

Avg. tweets per day: 11.4 tweets

19. Walt Mossberg

Follow @waltmossberg

Walt is a world renowned journalist  and columnist of the weekly “Personal Technology” column in The Wall Street Journal. He tweets about his views on the latest online tech trends and gadgets… and he’s usually worth listening to.

His Twitter bio says, “Tech Columnist.”

Avg. tweets per day: 2.4 tweets

20. Tim Ferriss

Follow @tferriss

Author of the famous “The 4-hour Work Week”, angel investor and entrepreneur, who teaches how to design and change you lifestyle and your world. Interesting tweets about his life.

His Twitter bio says, “Author of #1 NY Times bestseller, The 4-Hour Workweek, Japanophile, tea drinker, tango world record holder, language learning fanatic.”

Avg. tweets per day: 2.5 tweets

21. Scott Beale

Follow @laughingsquid

Scott is the main engine behind Laughing Squid, a web hosting company (among other things).  Interesting tweets about technology, art and culture and just random thoughts.

His Twitter bio says, ”Primary tentacle of Laughing Squid, a resource for art, culture & technology.”

Avg. tweets per day: 8.7 tweets

22. Rania Al Abdullah

Follow @queenrania

Queen Rania of Jordan is considered by some to be one of the world’s most powerful women. Her work focuses on getting global education to the top of the agenda. Tweets educational topics, inspirational quotes and updates from the road to better education.

Her Twitter bio says, “A mum and a wife with a really cool day job…”

Avg. tweets per day: 2.9 tweets

23. Darren Rowse

Follow @problogger

Darren is the engine behind ProBlogger, one of the most popular blogs on leveraging social media to monetize your website. Tweets about blogging and social media and how to create different income streams from your website.

Her Twitter bio says, “I blog about twitter and tweet about blogging. Sometimes I blog about tweeting about blogging and tweet about blogging about twitter.”

Avg. tweets per day: 20.9 tweets

24. Scott Stratten

Follow @unmarketing

Scott’s an expert viral and social marketing. His UnMarketing is all about positioning yourself as a trusted expert so no marketing is needed in order for your target market to choose you. Tweets actively a bout marketing, social media, tips and advice. Engaging.

His Twitter bio says, “Stop Marketing, Start Engaging. Speaker/Jedi 4 soc media. Made 60 videos with 60 mill+ views. Book out Summer ‘10 from Wiley.”

Avg. tweets per day: 65.5 tweets

25. Carrie Wilkerson

Follow @barefoot_exec

Carrie has made herself a valuable resource for the work-at-home-professional niche. She tweets empowering and inspirational tweets on work-at-home related issues.

Her Twitter bio says, “Consultant/Strategist for work at home professionals. I aim to educate, empower, encourage & entertain men & women pursuing biz goals w/integrity & passion!”

Avg. tweets per day: 53.7 tweets

26. Gina Trapani

Follow @ginatrapani

Gina is an award-winning author, widely recognized writer and programmer in the technology field. Named one of the most influential women in technology. Tweets about everything (worthwhile) technology with an independent view.

Her Twitter bio says, “Blogger and software developer. Commander in Chief of my one-woman army.”

Avg. tweets per day: 2.9 tweets

27. Sarah Robinson

Follow @sarahrobinson

Sarah is a business strategist and coach with expertise in personal and business change with a clear set goal of helping entrepreneurs escape “mediocrity”. Her tweets are inspiring and create value for her followers.

Her Twitter bio says, “Chief Of the Hooligan Tribe, escaping mediocrity in life & biz one adventure at a time.”

Avg. tweets per day: 84.1

Who’s on Your Twitter List?

These people are ones that gotten and retained my attention, but I’m sure there are many more out there, hidden between the millions of tweets.

Who’s your favorite, most interesting, inspirational or just plain entertaining person you follow on Twitter and why? Maybe I will make a revised list.

All Twitter “tweets-per-day” stats done by TweetStats

Disclaimer: There are a few Amazon affiliate links in this post. I haven’t read Tara Hunt’s book yet, but it’s on my shelf and on top of my reading list. Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist and Tim Ferriss’ 4-Hour Work Week are simply life changing and if you haven’t read them, you should seriously consider doing so.

In my blog on 7 websites worth 2 minutes, one of the websites I recommended is a new social media service called “Foursquare”.

Their motto is “We’re all about helping you find new ways to explore the city.” and that’s actually right on the money. Basically FourSquare is a social city-guide of restaurants, bars, parks etc., where you get rewarded by trying new things in your city.

Foursquare started its life in a select few cities, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin and Chicago, but can now be used all over the world: However since FourSquare is dependant on its users to check-in, write recommendations etc, it works best in major cities at the moment.

How it works

Through your iPhone, Android or BlackBerry (or just by using their mobile website) you can “check-in” to the social media website, whenever you’re hanging out at your favorite restaurant or bar. When you check-in, FourSquare can locate you via your mobile GPS and the action itself is usually just one or two clicks.

Your Foursquare-friends (and Twitter and Facebook friends too, if you want) get a live update when you check in and can see exactly where you are (should they feel like dropping by). It’s also registrered on your FourSquare profile, so people can see where you like to hang out.

You also have the possibility of writing tips and recommendations on a specific restaurant/bar/etc., like “Try the special, you won’t regret it” or “Tell the bartender that Peter sent you and you’ll get special attention”, whatever you like. Anyone on FourSquare (friend or not) can then read your recommendation, when they are near or in that place.

The extras that make it fun

When you complete a given action on FourSquare, you receive points and badges for your adventurousness. For example checking in after 3 a.m. on a weekday somewhere will get you a “School Night” badge, checking in 3 times in one week at the same place will get you a “Local” badge, etc.

You can win a “Majorship” and become major of a given place. The one who checks in the most times at the same place will be major, so if you ever wanted to be major of your local Starbucks or favorite bar, now’s your chance.

There are a lot of other features and new features added regularly, so there’s plenty of fun stuff to do on this social media site.

Setting up a profile takes you a few minutes as you don’t have to write much information about yourself. Just upload a photo, write your name and email and you’re good to go.

Go to FourSquare now and set up your profile. I’m positive that it’s not going to be just another social media website that you’ll never log in to.

If you want to add me as your friend, here’s my FourSquare profile.

The “foursquare logo” is copyright of foursquare, 2010