What does jazz have anything to do with social media, digital marketing, and helping stories get told, you ask?

Improvisation.

Improvisation (or The time of a note...) (Photo credit: ePi.Longo)

Consider these quotations I borrowed from Lukasz Langa‘s DailyImprov.net:

In 1968 I ran into Steve Lacy on the street in Rome. I took out my pocket tape recorder and asked him to describe in fifteen seconds the difference between composition and improvisation. He answered: “In fifteen seconds the difference between composition and improvisation is that in composition you have all the time you want to decide what to say in fifteen seconds, while in improvisation you have fifteen seconds.” His answer lasted exactly fifteen seconds. – Frederic Rzewski

Even if you’re improvising, the fact that beforehand you know certain things will work helps you make those improvisations successful. It really helps to have a certain amount of knowledge about musical structure. — John Cale

Sometimes it works, sometimes it fails, but that’s what we face when we’re dealing with improvisation. — Jan Garbarek

Story

A couple weeks’ ago I’m on a project helping with sound and media for a church function. I’d heard that there was a video the team would want played. Not a problem, I’m thinking. What typically happens is that we get the video burned onto a DVD or some other media. It’s easy to bring it right into the MediaSHOUT software we use.

MediaSHOUT is a phenomenal software program that lets you show graphics, video, flash animations, Bible verses, and even PowerPoint presentations. Most of the time, this is done with a script file that contains all the content to be shown during the program.

The system we use doesn’t have PowerPoint installed, so we just use a PowerPoint viewer. I’ve spent a lot of time over the past six years learning more about what we can use it for, and I’m definitely impressed.

One thing the PowerPoint viewer does not do is play PPS files, PowerPoint Show files that contain timed slides and music behind them. I mention this because when I arrive at the building to help with sound and media, I learn that this is what the “video” is. Gulp.

The show must go on.

With less than 30 minutes before the event was to begin, I start thinking of different options to make this work. I’m in the business of helping stories be told, and I’m determined to find a way to make this work.

I search online for utilities that could convert a PPS to a WMV and even install one on my laptop. Can’t get it to work. Then I remember that MediaSHOUT can play audio behind graphic cues. So I ask the woman who prepared the PPS for graphic images of her slides and begin to set up the timings.

Unfortunately at this point I realize I don’t know enough about how to add audio cues to slides, so I abandon that option. I then decide that the best course of action in these circumstances is to disconnect the projection system from the MediaSHOUT computer and hook it to the woman’s laptop to play the show directly from her machine.

It’s not seamless as we would like it to be, but it gets the job done.

Fast forward to last night. I’m back at the MediaSHOUT system, and I remember what had happened. So I look up how sound cues and sound cue controls work. After testing them out, I finally know how to make this option work – not just for the situation that came up a couple weeks’ ago, but for any other use.

Like jazz – indeed.

Another quote from DailyImprov.net:

Research on jazz musicians shows that people don’t just pull stuff out of the air when they’re improvising. These are people with an extremely wide knowledge of musical genres. They have always practiced and practiced and practiced. – Kathleen Tierney

My example is one of many, and it doesn’t really explicitly involve social media as much as it does communication, media production, and passion and drive to figure out how to make something happen.

Get training, take classes as you can. Training is definitely useful.  So is the energy, zeal, and determination to just figure things out on your own so that you can know which tool is needed for the situations that arise.

In other words, you’re ready to improvise.

Watch Bobby McFerrin talk about Improvisation

Your turn

What do you think? Does any of this make sense? What else would you add to this analogy?

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I recently shared about my approach in using Eventbrite to manage New Media Cincinnati events I’ve organized. My approach has changed over time, and I suppose it will continue to be tweaked. This post is not about my approach, though.

Event management and social commerce: a look at the numbers

The folks at Eventbrite have crunched some preliminary numbers related to event sharing in social media. When a friend finds out about an event and shares it on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, they have been able to track these activities and how they result in actual ticket sales – money spent because friends have referred other friends.

As someone who loves the stories that data tell, what really intrigues me is that they are able to “compare not just the value created by a Facebook ‘Like’ vs. a tweet, but also the performance of shares initiated before or after a purchase.”

When someone shares an event with their friends through social media, this action results in real dollars. Our most recent data shows that over the past 12 weeks, one share on Facebook equals $2.52, a share on Twitter equals $0.43, a share on LinkedIn equals $0.90, and a share through our ”email friends” application equals $2.34. On an aggregate level across Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and our email share tool, each share equals $1.78 in ticket sales. We’re seeing this number improve every week with the most recent four-week average equaling $1.87.

Check out the full article here.

Event ticketing made social through Eventbrite

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Earlier this month I asked a question to the Microsoft CRM community and my LinkedIn network about e-mails with large attachments set regarding an item forwarded through the CRM organization (By the way, LinkedIn tagline and position are really helpful in identifying who in LinkedIn you can ask a question to – subject of another blog post entirely.). I wanted a definitive answer I could tell our clients who ask these kinds of questions (they have).

Specific use case

1. Receive email with large attachment.
2. Set regarding a CRM record in the Outlook client. (message is now being tracked and stored in CRM)
3. Forward the same email in Outlook to multiple people.
4. Does CRM hold onto multiple copies of the attachment?

I got many responses, and some appeared to conflict with one another. No one was able to give me an answer that definitively said yes or no.

Getting testy

So yesterday, I finally opted to test it out myself.

1. From personal GMail, sent email with an attachment ‘creepy-surgical-mask.jpg’ to my work email address, which is in my test CRM organization.
   
2. Received email. Clicked Track in CRM on Outlook toolbar, and set regarding a particular CRM record.
   
3. Forwarded this email to 4 other users in my test CRM org
4. In Outlook clicked View in CRM to see the CRM record for the email.
   
5. CRM noted that the email address was not associated with a Contact. Chose a Contact to associate it with. Saved record.
6. Clicked link in Regarding to open related CRM record.
7. Clicked History. Saw two records: one for initial tracked email; one for forwarded email.
   
8. Opened CRM SQL database and ran the following script:

select * from ActivityMimeAttachment
where FileName='creepy-surgical-mask.jpg'

9. Noticed two records with distinct ActivityMimeAttachmentId’s.
   
10. Body field contains textual representation of ‘creepy-surgical-mask.jpg’. (that garbledegook you see when you open in a text editor or in Word)

Conclusion

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No one ever gets admitted to the hospital because everything is going alright with them.  Similarly, most people don’t call technical support when the computer system is behaving superbly. Behavioral economists Daniel Kahneman and Dan Ariely have some interesting insights into how we can provide better service.

Pain, memory, and great service

In his TED talk entitled “The riddle of experience vs memory,” behavioral economics founder Daniel Kahneman illustrates how our “experiencing selves” and our “remembering selves” perceive happiness differently.

Kahneman describes how in one case a painful medical procedure is perceived as much more painful, even though it lasts only a short time. A similar procedure conducted for a longer duration, might still be painful, but not as much when it is looked back upon afterward.

Click here to watch the embedded video, if you are unable to see it.

Watching this video reminded me of Dan Ariely‘s talk, ”Are we in control of our decisions?” In this TED talk Ariely mentions how his experience as a burn victim in a hospital led him to study intensity of pain over time. He concluded that if his nurses removed his bandages slowly, giving him breaks, the overall experience of pain he had would have been better.

Click here to watch the embedded video, if you are unable to see it.

Providing better service

In my job I support our implementation of Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft CRM.  When our clients sign contracts to do business with us, they understand – or at least we try to help to – that this is not a short-term relationship.  The experience of supporting the software is arduous at times, both for the client and for us who support it.

Maybe there is something to be said about letting the process go for a longer time than shorter. Even while enduring the painful process of change and ramping up and all the assorted technical issues that may arise. The end result, the memory of the experience may be one where the client will say, “Sure, we had some issues, but they were able to help us sort them out, and we’re the better for it.”

This goes to overall brand experience as well. What are our clients reminded of when they think of our company, its products and services, and our service as well?

At our recent users conference, one of our clients mentioned that an employee of one of their clients has been bringing them business. Each time he’s gone to work for a different company, he’s recommended our client to do his company’s payroll because of the great service he’s received over the years. I could hear the pride in our client as she mentioned this to me.

Your turn

Does this make sense? I’m writing this relatively quick, and I’m not sure if what I mean to say is coming across that well.  Feel free to build upon this in the comments.

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I’ve been checking out the numbers for How I Got My Job episodes, and I thought it might be instructive to share what I’ve uncovered so far. This discussion will get a bit technical.

Methodology

I have Google Analytics installed on the site, and I’m also tracking Feedburner statistics.  But for the purpose of this post, however, I’m going to concentrate on the statistics available throughAwstats, and the next paragraph will explain why.

In the Summer of 2008, I decided not to get a LibSyn account and instead host media files on a subdomain of my own site.  It wasn’t until April 2009 that I turned on Awstats. So I have about 5 months worth of download data that are unaccounted for. Nevertheless the data from April 2009 to the present I do have.

Because the files are served from my media subdomain, “pages viewed” essentially is the same as “mp3 files served”. I’ve filtered out only the files for the How I Got My Job series, since I name them in such a way to easily identify them, beginning with “higmj”. I don’t number the individual interviews. Neither do I name them in such a way to date them. They are meant to be evergreen.

I expect files that have recently been released to have smaller download numbers than those that have been around awhile. I also expect that the number of downloads will continue to increase over time, as people discover them.

Individual interviews

So, here is some data for individual interviews, from April 2009 to beginning of February 2010:

• Total # of individual mp3 files available: 61.  This means that, in addition to the promo file, there are currently 60 interview files.
• Total downloads of all files: 35857. Close to 36,000 accesses of the mp3 files for any purpose: clicking a play button, downloaded through the feed, or otherwise.
• Highest individual download: 2203.
• Interview with the highest individual download: Health Educator – Ann Ronan. I bet she never thought she’d have an audience of over 2200 for her story.
• Lowest individual download: 110.
• Interview with the lowest individual download: Educator – Kevin Imfeld. Released only 2 days ago.
• Average number of downloads per interview: 588.

Cumulative monthly downloads

Here are the monthly downloads per month, for all interview files, April 2009-January 2010:

• Average: 3566
• Maximum (Dec 2009): 6273
• Minimum (Sep 2009): 1846

Parting thoughts

I bet if I asked anyone I’ve interviewed whether they’d ever expect to be telling their story on average to an audience of close to 600 people, they would be surprised.

As I look at the list of the top downloaded files, I can point to some reasons why these are currently the most downloaded. From what I remember, most of these had to do with a lot of promotion in social channels (Twitter,Facebook, LinkedIn). I have noticed that there were times when I hadn’t promoted as much, and the download numbers were off.

I’m encouraged by these results.  This is an interesting exercise, and I look forward to sharing more updates as time goes on.

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Behold the power of Twitter.

I’ve been going to a book networking group for job seekers at the Barnes & Noble in West Chester for a few months now. Monte Washburn, who works at the bookstore, holds a discussion about books and how they can help job seekers. This week, based on my recommendation, we discussed Mitch Joel‘s new book Six Pixels of Separation (affiliate link).

Monday afternoon Twitter:

• 4:10 PM danieljohnsonjr: @mitchjoel We’re going to be talking about your book tomorrow night at a Cincinnati-area Barnes & Noble book club!
• 4:16 PM mitchjoel: @danieljohnsonjr Wanna Skype me in?
• 4:17 PM danieljohnsonjr: @mitchjoel Let me talk to the organizer and get back with you. I’m danieljohnsonjr on Skype.
• 6:23 PM danieljohnsonjr: @mitchjoel We’d love to have you in on the discussion about your book at the Cincinnati-area B&N book club tomorrow!

It’s not uncommon for an author to be present at a discussion or a book signing, but, through the power of social media, we were able to have Mitch Joel, who lives in Montreal, Quebec, virtually with us in Cincinnati, Ohio, tonight while we discussed his book.

Here are some of my perspectives, based on my notes. I hope I haven’t misinterpreted or taken anything out of context. Here goes:

• Why blog? To be findable, to be knowable.
• Don’t blog with the intent to make money or find a job. You yourself are the best advertiser. Let your content and passion shine through on your blog.
• Communicate where your audience is. The reason Mitch wrote the book is to reach people who weren’t already in the social media space, top-level executives who might want to hire Mitch and his company to help them.
• The same can be said about the different social media tools we have at our disposal: communicate where your audience is. Are they on Twitter? Would they follow a news feed on Twitter? Communicate with them over there. Are they on Facebook? Communicate with them over there.
• Before you jump into social media, and often as you’re active with it, ask yourself, “Why should I be on (insert social media tool here)?”
• In response to a question from one person in the group who asked about whether he should create multiple blogs about different passions he has or combine them into one, Mitch redirected to the previous question. Then he recommended as general advice we
  • Use tools like Google Blog Search to find out who the players are in the verticals, the industries we’re looking to participate in
  • Play in their space – read their blogs, comment on posts, join conversations, etc.
  • Once you get comfortable in that space, then consider branching out on your own, if you have the desire to do so
• Mitch reads a lot. He mentioned a new book by Seth Godin, called Linchpin, which is coming out later this month. He says it’s like Purple Cow (affiliate link) but for individuals.
• Mitch mentioned – and I don’t know if this is from the book or not – Three Prongs for Success. If any of these three are off-balance, you’re going to have trouble:
  1. Professional
  2. Personal/family
  3. Community
• Mitch is seriously passionate about writing, and he writes all the time. He said it takes him about 20 minutes to write a 500-600 word blog post. He keeps notebooks with thoughts and ideas.
• I asked Mitch where he comes up with all of the ideas for his blog posts. He said a lot of his content is crowdsourced from social media sites like Twitter. He reads lots of blogs in Google Reader for ideas.
• There was a comment from the group about whether it was important to get a lot of visitors to your blog. Mitch urged us to focus not on trying to get as many visitors or many followers on Twitter for that matter.
• Instead we should focus on who we’re trying to speak to and create content for those people. A lot of this goes back to the strategy; understanding why we’re involved in a particular channel.
• As job seekers, our goal is to find the one place where we can find the work we were meant to do (emphasis added).
• Having a blog helps us build credibility.
• While some can accomplish their goals simply by being on a single social media outpost alone; i.e., LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter, Mitch reminded us that these are third-party websites that could go away at any time. All of our content on these websites would go away with them.
• Having a blog and a community around a blog means you own your content and are not at the mercy of whether LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook evaporate.
• Once again, when deciding which communication platform – and that’s what all these tools are, really – to participate in, it’s important to consider which platform the audience is using.  Mitch doesn’t have a YouTube channel because his intended audience isn’t over there. He’s looking to reach high-level executives who are looking for business and marketing advice.
• Monte Washburn, the organizer of the group, asked about how to best go about blending online social networking with face-to-face social networking. There are some people who go to a networking event, and when the structured part of the program is over with, leave and then talk about how they didn’t get anything out of it.
• Mitch encouraged us to go into face-to-face networking events with the intent to help others. When we approach it from that angle, we’ll get a lot more about of the events.
• I mentioned that it’s hard to keep waiting for karma to kick in. He said that we’re not waiting for karma; we’re waiting for serendipity. If we approach our networking – online or in-person – with a helpful attitude, then we’re setting ourselves up to be front of mind.
• Mitch used tonight’s discussion as a perfect example of this. He spent 75 minutes talking to a small group of job seekers in Cincinnati, Ohio from his home in Montreal. We might buy his book, and that’s okay. But what might happen is that we leave the discussion remembering who Mitch Joel is, and we’re more apt to recommend him to other people.
• Mitch told a story about trying to get Gene Simmons and later Bono on the front page of a news publication. He contacted the artist’s management, asking for an interview if they were able to get on the front page.  Once they said yes, he contacted the publication, asking if they’d like an interview with the artists, provided the story gets on the front page.
• Key takeaway for job seekers:
  • Find a company or organization that has a problem. Identify what is missing.
  • Find out who can help, and connect the two together.
  • Do this many times.

After we were done with the Skype call, we discussed some things further, and we were all very impressed that we were able to bring Mitch in on such short notice. Some members of the group asked how this was made possible, so here are the details:

1. I’d been following Mitch through social media and his podcasts, Six Pixels of Separation and Media Hacks, for many months. We’ve been connected on LinkedIn, Facebook, and LinkedIn for some time.
2. Mitch wrote Six Pixels of Separation.
3. Monte set up the networking group meeting for people to meet face to face and discuss books relevant to people looking for jobs or ways to improve their careers.
4. A couple months ago, at one of these events, I recommended Mitch’s book to Monte.
5. Monte set up this week’s meeting to discuss Mitch’s book.
6. In my typical enthusiasm, yesterday on Twitter I said how excited I was that we’d be talking about his book, mentioning Mitch by his Twitter username.
7. Through listening to his Twitter stream, he found out about it and asked if we’d be interested in Skyping him in.
8. I contacted Monte to see what he thought, and we were good to go.
9. Mitch and I connected through Skype.
10. I brought my laptop to Barnes & Noble tonight and we brought Mitch into the conversation.

$timulus networking group in Cincinnati, Ohio

On behalf of the group pictured above, thanks again, Mitch, for spending your Tuesday evening with us!

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I first found out about Ze Frank about two or three years ago when I’d heard of other podcasters talking about “The Show“, a daily video podcast he did for an entire year. While browsing C.C. Chapman‘s blog a couple months ago, I saw a post entitled “Creating Moments with Ze Frank“. In that post was this video in which Ze shares several inspiring moments he’s shared over the years with people online. Ze is, as C.C. put it (and I couldn’t agree more), “a warped, twisted, comic genius mind that after watching this video I have a new found respect for.”

Spend an hour and watch this video of a talk he gave at Webstock earlier this year. Maybe watch and listen with headphones, as there are some explicit moments that are NSFW.

Ze Frank at Webstock 09 from Webstock on Vimeo.

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The past week has shown me a lot about building community in person and online. I thought I’d share some thoughts here.

A multi-viewed, transparent approach

I am wired in a way that I’m able to see things from many perspectives in order better understand motivations. I’m okay with being the devil’s advocate sometimes.

In the time I’ve spent online, especially in recent years, I’ve noticed that people in social media value transparency. That is one major reason why I’ve tried to be the same online as I would be when you meet me in person. I think authenticity is very refreshing, and I’m sure many others will agree.

How I became a community builder

I wasn’t really interested in founding a social media community in Cincinnati in October 2007. I was very busy with a commute and work in Dayton, Ohio. And yet, I’d become passionate about networking online with others in Dayton and the Greater Cincinnati area because I wanted to find work closer to home.

In discussions with others via Twitter, instant messaging, and elsewhere, it became apparent that no one was going to step up and get something started, so I stepped up. I knew there were many podcasters in the area already who wanted to meet up, but I also saw a need to broaden the scope. I looked at what other community builders had done in other cities, being very new to this community-building thing, and decided instead of naming the group Podcasting Cincinnati to instead call it New Media Cincinnati. “New Media” at the time was the buzz word used to describe all emerging forms of media technology.

It took a few months before I got comfortable with this new role. I was still very surprised that people were coming to events I’d organized.

Two years of learning

A lot has changed in the past two years here in the social media community in Cincinnati. Social media has become more widely adopted, and this group is joined by many other great social networking groups that meet regularly – more than I even know about.

I’d like to think the reason why New Media Cincinnati is around is to provide a vehicle for people passionate about and interested in new and emerging technology to meet together. I’ve also wanted it to be a place where someone new to social media can come and feel welcome. Others have said that I’ve done a pretty good job in creating that type of environment, both online and offline.

The success of a group like this doesn’t happen through just one person, and while there are many people I can mention, I’d like to especially single out Jeff Hertlein, who created the logos for the group.

These logos have done so much to establish the New Media Cincinnati brand online.

A “newer” group

When I recently learned that someone else had created a “Newer” Media Cincinnati presence on Twitter, I checked it out and initially thought it was hilarious and interesting. I even reached out to see if there were any collaboration opportunities.

Well apparently the individual behind this group would have nothing of it, referring to the “newer” group as an elite one. I wasn’t sure if they were joking or not, but I was okay with playing along.

Brand confusion

Then I saw that many of the updates became targeted in an attempt to ridicule, and demean things I’ve been doing. Even further, since this individual has taken the logo Jeff Hertlein made for the group and added upon it, it’s no wonder that many have become confused. It would appear that the “New Media Cincinnati” brand is being undermined.

In an effort to clear up confusion, I’ve spent some time engaging people directly through private messages on Twitter, to let them know that this other account is in no way related to me and the group I run. To some, it was a surprise since they had been confused. To others, it was no surprise. All were grateful.

Personal attacks

The individual hiding behind this other account has gone at lengths to publicly mock what it is I do through the Twitter account. I have been “called out” for being a “poser”. This individual likes to point out that I currently don’t have a job, which is true. I, like over 10% of the working population in Ohio, don’t currently have a job. I’m working on that.

Some say I should let this go and just admit that criticism is going to happen.  I’ll accept that to a point.  It appears that this person, who has the ability to stop receiving updates from me by simply clicking an Unfollow button on Twitter, instead wants to take what I am saying and who I am and twist it into something stupid.

The individual behind this account has crossed the line, as evidenced by many others who are telling me they are trying to get as far away from this person as possible.

Because these comments have been targeted at me personally, I have wondered if there was something I’ve done to make this individual upset. If that is the case, I would really like to do what I can to reconcile or at least understand where this person is coming from.

Different approaches to building community

So, I see two very different ways of building community at work. On one hand you have someone hiding behind an online presence, tearing other people down. This person creates confusion by repurposing another group’s brand identity. Harassment and impersonation. Division. What does it say to you about someone who can simply unfollow someone on Twitter but instead looks for ways to be critical?  What does it say about individuals who align themselves with someone like that?

That’s certainly one approach to building community. Some would say this is the “newer” approach.

Then you have another approach. I have openly shared who I am and what I’m about. What you see online is basically what you get when you meet me in person. You can choose to follow or not; it doesn’t matter. I want to be useful, but I’m also using social media for my own purposes. If it’s not for you, fine.

I began having New Media Cincinnati community planning conference calls a few months ago to help clear the air and talk about what’s working well and what we can do better. This group remains open to anyone interested in the social media space.

Which type of community do you prefer?

[photo credit: Day 323: Come Together]

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For the longest time, people keep asking about the ROI (Return on Investment) of social media. I remember in a Community Chat on Friendfeed a few months ago, Olivier Blanchard mentioned he needed to put together a Basics of Social Media ROI presentation to share. While browsing the Marketing Over Coffee website, I noticed they linked back to it.

Here’s Olivier’s presentation from Slideshare:

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My friend and independent musician Drew LaPlante likes to use the phrase, “It’s a beautiful thing.” I could say that about Twitter and Twitter search.

Using Twitter Search to track trends

One way I use Twitter is to track the presence of certain phrases over time. I subscribe to the RSS feeds for searches in Google Reader and let them sit for at least 30 days.  I’m not as much interested in the content of the individual Twitter updates(tweets) as the aggregated information. I find this exercise to be instructive in understanding trends.

What’s being said and how I might help

I had thought of doing this to identify opportunities to promote the How I Got My Job job-hunting success stories podcast. My original hypothesis was that people might be more interested in knowing about the series right when they’ve lost their jobs.

Understanding the stories data can tell

In all the data analysis I’ve ever done at work and in other projects, to better understand the stories data tell, I’ve realized it’s vital to check and verify the underlying data, and make sure assumptions are clear. That way I and others can make better business decisions.

Analyzing Twitter search trends definitely comes with a caveat.  Take this snapshot of Twitter search data, as shown by day of the week, for example:

This chart shows that, over the past 30 days, the phrases “just lost my job” and “lost my job today” have showed up on the Twitter public timeline on Wednesday the most.  Does this mean that more people are losing their jobs on Wednesdays the most? Maybe, but you cannot be sure from this visual alone.

Why? Because aggregate information like this, a gross overview of the presence of phrases or terms, ignores context. What does “just lost my job” mean to you? Does it mean today? Last week? A couple weeks ago? What about those who do not report their job loss on Twitter with these words?

Even so, Twitter search trend analysis like this is instructive to know that people are talking about losing jobs, and it identifies opportunities to share about the series.

The visual above shows the same Twitter search data over the past 30 days, but in this case by time of day. The orange bar shows what time I’ve marked the items as read in Google Reader and can be ignored.  The chart indicates more people mentioning “lost my job today” or “just lost my job” in the afternoon or evening, perhaps, after coming home from their last day of work.

How I use the data

So, what does this mean for me? It seems that promoting the show on Twitter in the afternoon would perhaps reach the largest audience that might be most receptive, and maybe doing this on Wednesday would be best.  I still need to find a way to measure whether these efforts are successful, and this could be done by checking web analytics.

What say you?

I don’t claim that this approach is without flaws, and would love to see how it could be improved.  I would like to better track the effectiveness of promotions and welcome your thoughts.  What do you think of this approach?  What would you do differently? Have you ever taken a similar approach?

April 13, 2001 UPDATE: Christopher Penn shares some additional insight into timing Twitter updates that you should read. Check out “When is the best time to tweet?”

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