How to Create a Makeshift Twitter Address Book
March 4, 2009 by Ryan
Twitter is an amazing tool for reaching out and connecting with people. It is so much more than the vacant prompt, “What are you doing?” Ideas are spread. Information is shared. Connections are made.
The networking I’ve done on Twitter has been worth the time and effort I’ve invested. I’ve opened up career opportunities, business deals, and made real-life friendships. It’s become an indispensible tool in my life and in the lives of many others.
Connecting With Large Numbers on Twitter
There is no right way to use Twitter, but waiting for a dozen people to say something is somewhat pointless. There are better tools to use on that scale.
My attitude is, with so many remarkable people available, why not connect with them? I’ve recently passed the 2,000 follower mark, and a common criticism would be, “It’s not about the numbers, it’s about the connections.” That’s absolutely true. Increased numbers has increased the challenge of making real connections. But it’s worth it the instant you see your first real-life deal or friendship!
DM Notes on Twitter
With 2,000+ followers it can get a tad overwhelming. I’ve come across individuals that would be great contacts for entrepreneurial projects I have in mind, for business deals, for friends’ businesses. How do I remember why I added all these people? Until some programmer builds a Twitter Address Book App (which I’ve heard rumblings of) I had an idea for a solution that is usable, accessible and searchable:
Step 1: After Following Someone, Direct Message Yourself
I use TweetDeck and I have DM’d myself several times accidentally while carrying on a conversation, but here you do it intentionally. Include the new person’s Twitter ID and note the reason why you added them.
D ryansmiller @jimmyfallon New host of Late Night. Try and work it so you get on as a guest!
Step 2: Direct Message Yourself Anytime You Want To Add Important Notes
Don’t stop with the initial note! Make notes about how your relationship has progressed. Have you pitched your idea? Did you meet them at a TweetUp? Do you need to save their other contact info? Do it here.
D ryansmiller @jimmyfallon Sent a reply sucking up. No response…yet.
Step 3: Setup A Email Filter To Organize You DM Notes
Of course you all use Gmail, if you don’t…I’m sorry…I need a second…Suggestion: Switch!
Add an email rule filtering messages titled: “Direct message from [Your Name as it appears on your Twitter Profile].” Add to the rule that these messages will Skip the Inbox, Mark As Read and Apply the Tag: DM Notes. Include, alter or exclude any of these steps as you see fit.
Step 4: Search Your DM Notes
You have a conference call tomorrow with a potential client and you need to remember where things left off. Use Gmail’s search capabilities to access all of your notes for any specific contact OR search for specific text in any of your DM Notes to know who you promised lunch to.
While it’s rough, it’s makeshift, I think it’s straightforward, and it works. It’s a method that you can employ IN Twitter, no new app, no extension needed. My favorite part is using the email messages you receive from DMs. Leveraging the search capabilities of Gmail makes it powerful and very useful.
I’d love to hear any of your thoughts. Any improvements or extensions of the idea, any experience using “DM Noting”, and any invitations to appear on Late Night…I’m open!
Follow me on Twitter here @ryansmiller
Photo by TOKY Branding and Design
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23 Responses to “How to Create a Makeshift Twitter Address Book”
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This is great Ryan. I’d just posted a new blog post about Twitter and Vacation Rentals and will update to add a link to this as it’s such a good idea.
http://cottageblogger.com/vacation-home-marketing/twitter-and-vacation-rentals-a-good-marketing-mix
I uses a similar method to capture links I really like and want to follow-up on. I will DM myself the link so I can either capture and sort it in my e-mail or review later in my DM queue.
This is something I have been wondering about. I only have 99 followers and sometimes i get overwhelmed so I can’t imagine what it would be like to have 2000 or more. I was thinking it would be good to have an app where you can categorise your followers, have favourites and basically organise them so you can keep track a little better. Can;t wait for someone to write it (I’m useless!).
@Alex I use TweetDeck for that exact reason. It allows you to group your followers (in addition to dozens of other features)! Definitely check it out!
Thanks Ryan I have Tweetdeck on my Mac and just don’t like it as much as the web interface - especially since I have pimped it up with greasemonkey scripts - they are great!! ;D
@Alex Yeah, I had @startupprincess show me that for the first time last week and being able to see the pics in the Twitter stream is great!
OOOh nice!
- Alex Stone -
Doesn’t Tweetdeck do that?
Yes I have just been reminded that it does but i have always preferred the web interface - see above.. the tweet deck layout is not great. There must be a better way…
[...] Thanks to Ryan Scott Miller for this one on How to Create a Makeshift Address Book on Twitter [...]
Great idea. I’m going to implement it this weekend.
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I was not aware that you could send a DM to yourself. I might have to try that out.
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Pretty clever Ryan. I like. I like. I can see this type of utilization of twitter in other areas as well. If I come up with something just as useful, I will definitely share.
Count me in as a follower.
Follow me @dejon97.
@dejon97 If you have any other ideas please share. I’ve thought of a few that I’m going to be adding with a follow up post.
Most excellent idea, Ryan
Thank you for the pointer. I use GMail for ALL my e-mail needs. Even my new domain’s email accounts get pointed to my GMail because of the cool filter and label features. Never crossed my mind to work it into a makeshift address book for Twitter though. This will help me manage my tweep contacts so much better! Especially once I get up to 2,000+ followers.
~Zsolt
http://twitter.com/LightningZsolt
I know you can’t do this via the Twitter website, but, like you, I was able to send myself a DM from Tweetdeck. Interesting.
Ryan, great post. Even though I understand your love for gmail, I’m pretty sure I could achieve the same results with MS Outlook.
I’ve gotta tell you, the idea of DM’ing yourself is sheer genius. Never occurred to me!
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@Matt You’re absolutely right, Outlook could do this! The only limitation would depend on whether you Outlook is setup up on a single computer or interacting with a server: if it’s on a computer, you’d lose that filtering on other computers (I think, I could be wrong); if it’s setup on a server than you could access that from any computer. That for me is the appeal of Gmail, access from anywhere any computer.
Thanks for the comment!
Great idea. I will implement immediately.
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Actually, I have a web based twitter address book. Go here…
http://www.twittfilter.com
Its does email notification too. Sign up here.
http://www.twittfilter.com/signup.php
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I happen to find your blog while using stumbleupon and actually read you whole article
I need to get myself a homemade twitter address book ^^
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Hmmm interesting but as you said it’s very makeshift. Personally, all these notes/DMs in my email inbox would just add to my clutter and make me feel even more overwhelmed but it’s still a good idea for others.
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