And Google Easter Eggs aren’t just in Search, you can also find Google’s hidden treasures in Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Google Translate, interactive Google Doodles, and more. Google’s April Fool’s Day pranks and jokes have become the spotlight of their humor, but many of these gems can be found year-round.

We’ve compiled this exhaustive list of all the cool Google tricks we could find. Try a few out.

10/15/12 Update: The Google logo has been getting intense lately. Check out the new Star Trek and Little Nemo in Slumberland doodles. They are interactive and awesome.
8/8/12 Update: Added some great interactive Google Doodles from the Olympics. Hurdles and basketball have never been more fun!
7/18/12 Update: Just learned that you can make Google Maps 3D by pressing T.
6/25/12 Update: The new Zerg Rush easter egg needed to be added into this guide. We also added a few recent Google Doodles.
5/23/12 Update: We’ve added Google’s Moog Synthesizer and Earth Day Doodles to the Great Google Doodles list below.

14 Google Search Easter Eggs

While watching the world surf through their website, Google has sneaked their sense of humor into a handful of search queries. Google the phrases in bold for surprising results.

• Use Google’s in-search graph creation to draw a heart. Tell your secret crush to Google this equation: sqrt(cos(x))*cos(300x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7)*(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(6-x^2), -sqrt(6-x^2) from -4.5 to 4.5
  
• do a barrel roll — Watch your screen spin out of control for a moment after searching, a reference to the classic Nintendo game Star Fox 64. You can also search for “Z or R twice” to the same effect (mimicking the action on a Nintendo controller).
• tilt — Make your search results page do just that. “Askew” also produces the same slanted results.
• zerg rush — Never before has it been necessary to fight for your search results. But this Google page has adopted the gameplay of the popular online game Starcraft. Searching “zerg rush” will send a never-ending fleet of Google O’s to destroy your page.
  
  But don’t give up so easily! You can defend your search results by clicking on the O’s to destroy them. You’re also prompted to share your score on Google+
  
• recursion ­­— This search is met with the suggestion, “Did you mean: recursion?” If that isn’t funny to you, then you should probably Google “recursion” and find out what it means.
• the answer to life, the universe and everything — Google nods at the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book series by giving the author Douglas Adam’s answer to the life, the universe and everything.
  
• once in a blue moon — Google guides you to the mathematical equation for the occurrence of a blue moon.
• anagram — Google asks, “Did you mean: nag a ram?” Good one!
• the loneliest number — Google comes up with the same answer as the 1969 song made famous by Three Dog Night.
• binary — First and foremost, Google is a collection of computer nerds. Of course a search for “binary” gets you the number of results in zeros and ones (You must be logged out of Google for this to work). This also works for the numeral systems octal and hexadecimal.
  
• the number of horns on a unicorn — You can probably guess this one.
• a baker’s dozen — Google figured this one out, too.
• kerning — Kerning is the typography process of adjusting the spacing between letters on a page, and a Google search does just that for the word kerning in all of the results.
• qingming — Google’s results page for the Chinese word meaning “pure brightness” is a beautiful tribute to the annual Qingming Festival in China, celebrating the spring.
  

16 Google April Fool’s Day Jokes

In 2012, Google humor was out in full swing for April Fool’s Day, flooding its products with jokes and pranks.

• 8-Bt Google Maps — Google Maps pays homage to the Nintendo with an 8-bit graphic version of the world. Google explains how planning your trip just got a lot like playing the Legend of Zelda.
  

• Chrome Multitask — Google is prepared to double your productivity. One mouse used to be enough, but no longer.
• Gmail Tap — Google is replacing the 26-character keyboard on mobile phones with just two buttons. It’s much more efficient… sort of. LL Cool J lends his expertise as Google’s Gmail Tap Product Lead.
• The YouTube Collection — The Internet is so big, you can never see it all. Google-owned YouTube announced that they’re changing that, offering a DVD collection of every video on YouTube.
  
• Really Advanced Search — Google’s Advanced Search can help you specific exact words and phrases to search for. Google’s Really Advanced Search gives you even more options, including searching by rhyming slang, subtext, or innuendo.
• Google Racing — Anyone who has seen one of Google’s computer-driven cars wandering the country on behalf of Google Maps has wondered just how good of drivers those computers are. Just turn on your next NASCAR event.
• Google Voice for Pets — It’s tough to be away from your pets. Now, you can keep in touch with them wherever you go.
  
• Click-to-Teleport — Ads in Google Search might send you to the website of your favorite sushi restaurant, but Google’s taking it one step further. Cut out the middle man, and just teleport to your dinner reservation with Click-to-Teleport.
• Google Fiber — Google wants to improve every aspect of life, including your diet. Pick up a Google Fiber bar today. It’s “fiberlicious.”
• Google Street Roo — Google needed some help mapping the Australian outback, but a team of over a thousand kangaroos is now solving that problem.
  
• Jargon-Bot — If you’re confused by complicated work-jargon, Jargon-Bot may be the program you’re looking for.
• Interplanetary Reporting — Users of Google Analytics, the site user tracking program, can now discover which users are visiting their site from Earth, or another popular planet with Interplanetary Reporting.
• Go Ro — Google wants their ads to be optimized for all users, so the nearly dozens of Internet users with rotary phones will be benefitting from the new service. Like Google says, “Technology is cyclical,” and rotary phones are on their way back.
  
• Google TV Click — You decide how your favorite TV shows and movies end. Use this special remote to helicopter support to the cast of the 300, or shoot Jar Jar Binks the first time he appears on the screen. You might be waiting for this feature for a long time, however, as it’s set to be released on April 31st (a hard to find day).
• Canine Staffing Team — It’s tough to get a job at Google. Unless you’re an adorable and highly-skilled puppy, that is.
• Google Search in China — There is no Google Search in China, so this peculiar and fun search page acts as a placeholder. Try to search using it.
  

21 More Google April Fool’s Day Jokes

Yes, what started as one little joke on April 1^st in 2000 has become an annual Google event. Trust nothing when visiting Google on April Fools’ Day. Here are some of the best from over the years:

• MentalPlex — Google’s first April Fools’ joke in 2000 introduced the first mind-reading search engine, analyzing your “personal aura and brainwave activity” to give you great search results.
• Pigeon Rank — Those familiar with Google’s PageRank had a good laugh in 2002 when Google released this explanation of Google’s revolutionary system of “pecking order.”
• Google’s Moon Base — In 2004, Google presented the online community with an amazing opportunity to work at the new Google Copernicus Center. One qualification is that the applicant must be willing to relocate, considering that the new office is located on the Moon.
  
• Google Romance — To prove their algorithm really can do it all, Google unveiled Soulmate Search, letting users trust in Google to find their perfect soulmate.
• Google Gulp — In an attempt to monopolize the beverage market along with the internet, Google Gulp, the world’s first “smart drink” was unveiled.
  
• Gmail Paper — Tired of email? Gmail will now print out all of your emails and send them to you. Don’t worry about the environment, the paper is made out of “96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum, and thus, actually helps the environment.”
• Gmail Custom Time — “Be on time, every time” with Gmail Custom Time, the new service that lets you send emails to the past so you never miss a deadline again.
  
• Google Books Scratch-and-Sniff — Don’t you wish our senses were more in tune with each other? Google helped solve this problem by offering scratch-and-sniff books.
• Google TiSP — In 2007, Google offered a new service for internet users who didn’t want to pay for their internet connection: free wireless service. All you have to do is hook it up… to your toilet.
  
• Google Talk goes green — On April Fools’ Day in 2008, Google prepped internet users for the upcoming Earth Day, requesting that anyone chatting online use Internet slang to reduce the CO2 emissions that are released with each instant message.
• gBall — Australian Football got a lot more advanced when Google released the gBall, a computer chip-containing, vibrating football that gives you kicking tips and suggestions as you play.
  
• The Virgle Mars Colony — Google teamed up with Virgin to create the plan for Virgle, the first permanent human colony on Mars. Take the questionnaire to determine if you can be a Virgle Pioneer.
• Gmail Autopilot — Responding to emails is a pain, that’s why Google introduced Autopilot for Gmail. Now the complex program can respond to your emails for you. You’ll notice it’s not perfected yet.
• Meow Me Now — Google Maps can find anything, including adorable kittens. Use Meow Me Now at any time to find the kittens who are closest and most suitable for petting.
  
• 3D Google Books — The one thing about ebooks is that they just don’t feel real enough. With Google’s new 3D books, however, ebooks have become better than the real thing.
• Wingdings is the new Font for Ads — You can find Google Adsense ads all across the web selling every product imaginable. Now Google ads will feature the font of nonsense symbols that Google claims is most popular with “cryptologists and carrier pigeons.”
  
• Gmail Motion — Put that outdated keyboard down. Gmail Motion uses your built-in webcam and Google’s tracking technology to understand every action you’d ever like your computer to take.
• Google Docs Motion — The breakthrough Motion technology also works with Google Docs.
• Google Translate for Animals — If you’ve grown tired of talking to boring, old people, Google Translate for Animals can help you make some new friends.
  
• Google Autocompleters — Ever wonder how Google can predict what you’re typing? It’s the work of Google’s impressive team of Autocompleters, featured in this video.
• Comic Sans for Everyone — If switching ads to Wingdings wasn’t enough, Google also declared that Comic Sans is the most enjoyable font, and all websites should be viewed using Comic Sans. Always.

14 “I’m Feeling Lucky” Searches

Google Search’s “I’m Feeling Lucky” button takes you to what is (hopefully) the most relevant webpage for your search query. Over the years, the following terms have delivered user-created webpages that tweak the Google homepage in a fun way. Just search the terms in bold and click I’m Feeling Lucky.

Note: If you have Google Instant enabled, you can still find I’m Feeling Lucky to the right of the suggested search terms to find these cool pages. If that doesn’t work, disable Google Instant in your Search Settings.

• Google Gravity — Google Search gets a lot harder when you add gravity to the webpage. Grab the fallen Google logo and mess around.
• Pig Latin Google and more — The Google homepage is offered in over 150 languages, including some peculiar ones like Pig Latin, Hacker, Elmer Fudd, Klingon, Pirate, and the Swedish Chef Muppet’s Bork bork bork.
• Google Sphere — Search options orbit the Google logo. Be careful not to have your mind blown.
• Where is Chuck Norris — You may be feeling lucky, but not lucky enough to locate Chuck Norris.
  
• Google Heart Page — Add a little more love to your search. For the page to work, your Java will have to be up-to-date.
• elgooG — If you spell Google backwards, you should know what to expect.
• Google Gothic — For those dark days.
• Epic Google — Search bigger with Epic Google.
  
• Weenie Google — Better search quick before Weenie Google disappears.
• Annoying Google — This page lives up to its name.
• Google l33t — Experts in leetspeak will love searching on Google l33t.
• Google Loco — Feeling a little wild? Get loco!
  
• Google Rainbow — Brighten up your search.
• Who’s the cutest? — Not a Google variation, but aren’t you curious what answer Google provides?

12 Other Google Easter Eggs

Google has hidden tricks and surprises throughout all of their programs. Find out how your other Google services can surprise you.

• Play Snake on Youtube — Every Youtube video can be immediately improved by pressing up + left arrow keys to begin a game of Snake overtop of a video while you watch it. This can be tough to pull off. As the video begins, quickly alternate pressing up and left 2-3 times and the snake will (hopefully) appear on the screen for you to guide with your direction keys.
• Loch Ness Monster Sighting — If you have your personalized iGoogle search page set up, change your background to the beach theme. When 3:14 AM hits, you’ll see the Loch Ness Monster swimming across your background. If you don’t find yourself surfing the web into the early morning, you can just briefly adjust your clock to view Nessie. Other background themes also have surprises at 3:14 AM (or “Pi time”).
  
• Beatbox Translation — The great gem a Reddit user discovered in 2010 gets Google Translate to beatbox for you. Translate this nonsense phrase from German to German and listen in to enjoy a killer robot beatbox.
• Car Starting Translation — Enter this combination of p’s and g’s into Google Translate to hear a car starting.
• Gmail Spam — Above the list of emails in Gmail, there is normally an ad, except in the Spam folder, where you’ll find the ad replaced with a link to a recipe containing SPAM. In the same vain, your Trash folder features a recycling tip instead of an ad.
  
• Slay the Google Docs Dragon — In Google Docs, open up a spreadsheet. Press Shift + F12 to bring up a message that you’ve slain the dragon. Wow, you did it! That was easy.
• Ninja Reader — In Google Reader, tap “up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a” on your keyboard and arrow keys. A ninja will pop onto your left navigation bar. Watch out!
  
• Teddy Bear in Picasa — If you use Google’s free photo album program, Picasa, try pressing Ctrl + Shift + Y to make a teddy bear appear on the screen.
• Fly around Earth — What was originally released by Google as an Easter egg in Google Earth has become a permanent feature. Now you can fly around the world at any time in Google Earth by pressing Ctrl + Alt + A.
• Kayak across the Pacific Ocean — When searching Google Maps for directions from New York to Tokyo, Google suggests step 35, “kayak across the Pacific Ocean.” That’s a long 2,756 mile trip I wouldn’t suggest.
• 3D Google Maps — Navigate to your favorite Google Maps destination, then press “T” to make the map 3D. Make sure that you’ve got those nerdy glasses with you.
• Travel from the Shire to Mordor — Asking Google Maps for walking directions from Lord of the Rings’ Shire to the dangerous Mordor brings a warning from Google.
  

17 Great Google Doodles

Google often creates unique logo art, or Google Doodles, for their homepage to celebrate cultural events. We’ve seen some bad Google Doodles over the years, but several interactive Google Doodles have been so fun Google has kept them around.

• Pac-Man — In 2010, Google celebrated the 30^th anniversary of Pac-Man’s release with its own version of the arcade classic in place of the Google logo on the homepage. The game lives on here.
  
• Charlie Chaplin’s Birthday — Google’s first live action video Doodle appeared on the homepage in 2011 to celebrate Charlie Chaplin’s 122^nd birthday. It features the Google Doodle team in a silent film as a tribute to Chaplin, shot at the same location of several of Chaplin’s early films.
• Star Trek — Nerds rejoiced when Google put up this doodle celebrating Star Trek’s 46th anniversary. Use the teleporter to complete a dangerous mission.
• Little Nemo in Slumberland — Cartoonist Winsor McKay created the comic Little Nemo in Slumberland back in 1905. The Google logo becomes a Slumberland adventure in this cool comic strip doodle. Clicking along let you watch the story unfold before your eyes.
  
• John Lennon Doodle — Google couldn’t ignore what would have been the 70^th birthday of John Lennon. A sweet animated video spells out Google while you hear the chorus of Lennon’s incredible song Imagine.
• Play the Guitar — To celebrate the birth of electric guitar inventor Les Paul, Google’s homepage featured a playable guitar.
  
• Logo Repelled by Cursor — When Google Instant launched in 2010, Google utilized html5 to create a bubble-filled logo that is repelled by your mouse. It’s pretty fun to play with the logo.
• Rube Goldberg Machine — A Rube Goldberg machine that sets off a fireworks display lived on the Google homepage in 2010 for the 4^th of July (also Rube Goldberg’s birthday).
• Hertz Doodle — No one loved electromagnetic waves more than Heinrich Hertz.
  
• Martha Graham’s Choreography — Google combines many of the revolutionary choreographer’s signature moves to create this quick video Doodle.
• Valentine’s Day Video — Google gets cute and sweet with this Valentine’s Day video Doodle of a boy’s courting of a girl and her jump rope.
• Jules Verne Doodle — Jules Verne’s 183^rd birthday saw Google’s 2011 interactive Doodle, allowing you to explore the deep sea like Verne’s classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
  
• Animal Locomotion Doodle — Google nods to Eadweard J. Muybridge and his pioneering work in cinematography and animal locomotion with this animated doodle.
• Earth Day Doodle — Forget animated logos. Google recorded the growing of a Google logo garden to celebrate Earth Day.
• MOOG — In an attempt to top 2011’s playable guitar logo, Google honors synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog by creating a working synthesizer. We’ll add a link once we find the Doodle’s permanent home. Then you can use Moog Music’s guide to learn how to use the complicated and peculiar instrument.
  
• Drive-in Doodle — No one celebrates the 79th anniversary of the drive-in like Google. Check out this cool, short video.
• Mother’s Day Doodle — Google wishes a happy Mother’s Day with this adorable doodle.
• Olympic Hurdles Doodle — This simple interactive game let you control an Olympic hurdler. Better run fast and jump high!
  
• Olympic Basketball Doodle — A timed shootout lets you practice up on your b-ball skills for the Olympics.
  
• Olympic Soccer Doodle — My favorite interactive Olympics doodle was the soccer goalie challenge.
• Olympic Canoe Doodle — And for the water-savy, try navigating your canoe through the course in this slalom canoe doodle.
• The Google Doodle Archives — Google Doodles from the last 14 years are catalogued for you to browse at your leisure.

14 Cool Google Search Tools

“They say we only use 10% of our brain, and I would wager we use even less of our Google.” –unknown scholar

Google has grown up quite a bit over the last two decades (the company is 98 in reverse dog years), and the maturity of their search engine has gone from an untrained puppy to that of a wise, old hound. Here are some cool tools Google Search offers.

• Calculator — Google is better at math than a lot of us. Enter in a math equation and Google will figure it out.
• Weather — To check the weather anywhere in the World, type “weather” followed by the place you want to check.
• Define Words — Save yourself a click or two and have Google define a word for you by typing “define: this word.”
• Stocks — Google will keep you up to date with the market. Just search a company’s ticker symbol for the latest numbers (ex: “TGT” for Target).
• World Time — If time zone deciphering eludes you, just type “time” and a city to get the local time.
  
• Airline Flight Schedule and Status — To see flight schedules to or from a particular location, type “flights to” or “flights from” a certain city (ex: flights from Austin to Seattle). Check a flight’s status by searching the airline and flight number (ex: Alaska Airlines 143).
• Track UPS, Fedex, or USPS Shipping — Search for your UPS, Fedex, or USPS tracking number and Google will let you know where your package is.
• Search by Phrase — Searching for words in quotes tells Google to only include webpages that use those words together in that order, as opposed to a normal search that looks for the chosen words anywhere on the page, not necessary as a phrase.
• Exclude a Term from the Results — Putting a – in front of any word in your search tells Google to exclude any results with that word, very useful when you’re searching for _____ and don’t want ____.
• Sports Scores — Typing a team’s name into the search box brings up scores for their most recent matches.
  
• Search Only One Site — Want to search a specific site for an article, but the site doesn’t have a good search function? Search that site’s pages with Google by specifying the website in your query (ex: site:mashable.com New iPad)
• Synonym Search — Place a tilde (~) in front of a word to search for its synonyms as well as the word itself (ex: Chicago ~restaurants).
• Fill in the Blank — Sometimes you don’t know exactly what you’re searching for, and need Google to fill in the blank. Insert a * in place of the word you want Google to figure out for you (ex: Thomas Edison invented the *).
• New Google Things to Do — Google knows that they’re all that and a bag of chips, so they continually update this list of unique ways to use Google tools.

Did we miss anything good? Let us know in the comments.

The post The 113 Best Google Tricks, Easter Eggs, April Fool’s Day Jokes and Pranks appeared first on Portent.

I’d like to field this question: it is going great.

Maybe I’m just feeling great because of what happened last night.

What happened last night?

You remember that Portent moved downtown to Seattle’s Smith Tower in June. Since then, life has been a lot like the 1996 blockbuster film The Rock starring Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery. And by that I mean it’s been incredibly awesome.

And when life is like a blockbuster film, you need to throw a high-profile party. That’s exactly what happened last night.

Who wants to party?

Portent could not have grown so much without the help of a lot of people:

• Clients and partners. Without them, we would just be 30-ish people sitting around picking our noses (or trying to get Siri to do it for us). Portent’s excellent clients and partners work with us to create online marketing efforts that we can all be proud of.
• Competitors and peers. They may be our competitors, but the Internet is a big place, and there is room for all of us. Our relationships with our competitors and peers benefit all parties, and keep Portent operating at the highest level possible.
• Colleagues, friends and family. They give us advice, pats on the back, and they form the incredible community we thrive in.

There is no better way to say thank you than a party.

Did you have a fabulous time?

How did you guess? We absolutely did. Special thanks to Galluccci’s Catering and Christian’s Trees who transformed the 17th floor into a spectacular party central and it was off to the races.

We mixed and mingled all night.

Bring on the Portinis.

Nothing says classy like a signature martini. And who doesn’t want a food or drink named after them? (Still trying to get Quiznos to name that bacon sub with extra bacon after me)

If you want to celebrate Portent at home with your friends, grab some Sky Vodka, Blue Curacao, Simple Syrup and Meyer Lemon Lemonade.

Would you like to play a game?

If you have never played competitive hangman, you haven’t lived – you haven’t ensured the death of a helpless stick figure.

The competition got fierce once everyone realized the top prize was a Nexus 7. Client against client, competitor against competitor, father against son* – it all happened. (*The father against son thing did not happen)

The best part: Internet marketing buzz words. Guessing “edgerank algorithm” is a lot harder than guessing “puppy” (or even “puppy algorithm,” which would be adorable).

Just checked my watch; it is swag-o-clock.

Did I mention that Portent has some incredible clients? I did, so I’ll make this brief. On top of the free-flowing Portent swag, our clients contributed mountains of awesome gifts for party-goers.
Just a few of the awesome items we’re now in possession of:

• USB drive wristbands. I can take knowledge with me wherever I go.
• New t-shirts (I look fabulous in them).
• Tiny, mini flashlights for tiny, mini situations.

A good time was had by all.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

This was a celebration for Portent. We’re glad people we care about were able to come celebrate with us. I’ll let some more pictures do the rest of the talking.

Mixing AND mingling.

Good conversation, wine, and sliders.

We even let the interns come out of their office!

The post Portent Open House: How to Party in a Historic Building appeared first on Portent.

Our class differences didn’t matter in that perfect moment, and it seemed like our love was meant to last forever. She even let me sketch her in the nude, which was basically awesome. The only reason our love never worked out was my death in 1912.

True, that’s actually the plot of the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic, but it still illustrates my point that first impressions are important. And that’s exactly what I’m talking about for Twitter Tuesday.

First Impressions on Twitter

One Twitter feature I haven’t seen much buzz around is the profile summary you see when you click on someone’s Twitter handle. It used to be that a click on someone’s handle would take you directly to their profile – now, before you can click through to someone’s complete profile, you’ll see this cute little profile summary pop up.

Isn’t that lovely? Yes. Yes it is.

That profile summary is how people first meet you. It’s your short resume. Your elevator pitch.

The Elements of Your Twitter Profile Summary

So let’s take a look at what people are going to see about you when they reach this profile summary. There are some steps you can take to optimize your Twitter profile for this.

Twitter Profile Picture

Your profile picture is the only true image in your profile summary, and it even appears four times — so you know it’s the most important part.

And you know how I feel about profile pictures. Your profile picture matters most on Twitter, where people only know you by your short sentences and picture. Find a great headshot, or something that represents your Twitter personality.

Twitter Bio

Your Twitter profile summary comes up when someone clicks on your name. And why would someone click on your name? Because they want to know more about you. And more importantly – because they’re looking for a reason to follow you. Give them a reason!

Having a great Twitter bio is a great place to give that reason. There is a lot you can do with your 160 character bio to tell people who you are. My main advice is to be original. So I’ll leave that difficult task up to you, and just list some things people don’t want to see in your bio:

• A bunch of hashtags and links. You get this when people try to jam everything into their bio and don’t consider how it looks to the rest of us. While they’re happy because they fit in #SEM, #SEO, #PPC and links to both of their websites – I’m avoiding their spammy bio like the plague (which was caused by rats carrying fleas using hashtags).
• “Tweets are my own.” Who else’s tweets would they be? And what does this possibly “protect” you from? Professionals see this in other bios and think they’re supposed to say it too. That’s the only explanation for this stupid trend. You’ve only got 160 characters and you’re wasting them.
• Too many buzz words. If your bio is full of clichéd, overused phrases from your industry… well, you don’t sound like a very interesting person to me.

Social Proof

And back to Ellen DeGeneres’ profile summary. Nothing like some good, old-fashioned social proof to convince people you’re worth a follow, right? In your profile summary, we’ve got:

• Followed by: This field shows users whom they follow that follow you. This leads to conclusions like, “Oh, my friend Karen follows Ellen DeGeneres, and Karen is smart and cool. So I should follow Ellen DeGeneres.”
• Follow numbers: This shows how wide of a net you cast, and how involved you are in the Twitter community. And no – you don’t need 12 million followers like Ellen for someone to want to follow you. It is actually the relationship between your followers and the number of people you’re following that will say the most about your profile.

Follow Numbers

What do your follow numbers say about you?

• Followed >>> Following: You’re a top influencer. People will follow you if they like what you have to say.
• Followed > Following: You’re a wise voice, but you don’t have celebrity status. People may just want to hear what you have to say, but they will also want to engage.
• Followed < Following: You’re a peer. People will follow you to be followed back so you can engage.
• Followed <<< Following: You’re a spam bot.

Your Last Three Tweets

The final main attribute of your profile summary is the section containing your last three tweets. This won’t show your retweets, but @ replies do show up.

This is the hardest section of your profile summary to optimize. Your last three tweets might perfectly represent your presence on Twitter. But that doesn’t mean you’re going to stop tweeting. It’s best not to stress about this too much – just focus on good tweeting and it won’t be an issue.

Additional Profile Summary Details

There is a little more going on in your Twitter profile summary that I haven’t mentioned yet:

• Your name and @ handle. Use your real name if you want people to be able to find you. Not a lot to say here.
• Location. You should definitely include your location – it helps connect with people in your area. We don’t need your address, but a city would be nice.
• Website. Including a link to your website is excellent. If you’ve got two, put one in your bio (but don’t over-do it).
• #of tweets. I don’t believe people pay much attention to this number. Without the context of how long you’ve been on Twitter, it doesn’t really mean anything. As long as you have more than 100 tweets, we’ll know you’re not a spam bot.

Do It to It

This post isn’t just about optimizing your profile summary – it’s about understanding the first impression you give on Twitter. Whether it’s the details you can edit or the ones beyond your control, you should know what you look like when you walk out onto the Twitter field.

How do you make a good first impression on Twitter? Let us know in the comments. Oh, and retweet me if someone you love needs to read this post.

Are you making the right first impression on Twitter? portent.co/PmT7Sx

— jack martin (@jackthemartin) August 14, 2012

The post Are You Making the Right First Impression on Twitter? appeared first on Portent.

Since moving downtown to the Smith Tower, Portent has been getting a lot more social in Seattle. So when we saw that the Mariners were hosting a Social Media Night on August 1st, we grabbed our smart phones and headed over.

Social Media Night

Many sports organizations have been early adopters of social media, and the Mariners are right in the thick of it. That’s why we weren’t surprised to see a special offer to chat about social media with Mariners players, broadcasters, and staff. The details of the event:

• $11 View Level tickets (You know I want to save that $9!)
• Free #Mariners t-shirt (I basically looked amazing in mine)
• Pre-game event with Mariners players Lucas Luetge and Charlie Furbush, broadcaster Dave Sims, ESPN’s Shannon Drayer, and the @Mariners staff

[emailA pretty good deal for a pack of social media fanatics like us. We arrived at the pre-game event to find a few big screens featuring a rolling feed from Twitterfall following the night’s hashtag #MarinersSocial.

After some warm up tweets, the panel of Mariners rolled in and we chatted for half an hour about social media. It was a blast.

Our own @SocialDoug has been dying to convince the Mariners to close the roof early in the season to allow more homeruns, and he finally was able to share his thoughts with the people who need to know.

While no one actually answered his question (and the pitchers weren’t too excited about making homeruns easier), the discussion prompted the hashtag #closetheroof on Twitter.

How Social Was It?

Over 500 tickets sold for #MarinersSocial RT if you’ll be in one of these seats for our pre-game event. twitter.com/Mariners/statu…

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 1, 2012

Kind of social. Only around 100 of those ticket-buyers chose to attend the pre-game event. The other reason Social Media Night didn’t live up to its name is just like Snoop Dogg Lion.

See, Snoop Dogg (Social Media Night) went to Jamaica (Safeco Field). During his trip, he realized he wasn’t really Snoop Dogg (Social Media Night) at all, but a different, more focused version of himself – Snoop Lion (Twitter Night).

What the above paragraph communicates extremely clearly is that the only type of social media we found at the Mariners game was Twitter. Though the Mariners event page proclaimed “Calling all Facebookers, Tweeters, Instagrammers, [and] Pinners,” only Twitter had a presence at the game.

The Mariners have active Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Google+ pages, but none of them mentioned the Social Media Night at all. So let’s just call it what it was: Mariners Twitter Night.

Which is fine, but it’s hard not to see the potential for Social Media Night.

What Can You Do With Social Media?

There were a few “fastest tweet” competitions that yielded some prizes, and the boards featuring the event’s hashtag tweets was cool, but the night had a lot more room for social integration. We came up with our own ideas for what we’d like to see at the next Social Media Night.

1. Pinterest scavenger hunt

Let’s get those pinners in on the fun, too. Create a scavenger hunt of the best places and things at Safeco field. Make users pin pictures of their seat view, their waffle fries (famous as Safeco), and document their strike speed. Users can tag pinned pictures with a hashtag to make it easy for the Mariners social team to find and give prizes.

2. Tweet your seat

I spend three hours whipping my t-shirt around my head and looking fabulous in my jeans – but was I featured on the jumbotron? Not even a little bit.

Have fans tweet their seat number and get those pro cameramen to track them down so I can finally have the pleasure of looking at myself on a large screen.

3. Make the game more social

The pre-game event was all about social, but as soon as the game started, Social Media Night came to a complete halt. When they finally mentioned that it was Social Media Night, I had almost forgotten. There was a lot of opportunity to get fans more engaged during the game. I mean, there’s like one pitch every five minutes – we won’t be overwhelmed if you suggest we do something else as well.

4. Fan photo submission on the big board.

This could work across all social networks, allowing people without a Twitter account to participate. Just have fans post their game pictures for the Mariners social team to find, and feature a handful between innings. Done and done. Everyone is happy and social.

Edit: I’m told they have been known to do this at games already. But if it went by so fast that I missed it, maybe they could do it a little more?

Go Mariners

Building an event around social media is tough – and we’re really glad the Mariners did it.

@SocialDoug, @NiceisNick, @jackthemartin and @Bryden13. @Syzlak not pictured. He was holding the camera? Or getting a beer? Or something…

The post Mariners Social Media Night appeared first on Portent.

Ian and Elizabeth, who took the web marketing world by storm as co-authors of the first edition of Web Marketing All-in-One for Dummies, are very pleased with the product of their labors—on several occasions Elizabeth has been witnessed snuggling with a copy in her office, muttering quietly to herself and addressing the book as “my precious.”

What Critics Say About This Amazing Book

“If Nabakov had a baby with Danielle Steel, that love child would want to read Elizabeth Marsten’s section on online advertising and pay-per-click,” one reader gushed.

A Smith Tower employee noted, “We are concerned about the structural safety of Smith Tower now that this amount of web marketing knowledge has been consolidated on the premises.”

“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from [reading Portent CEO Ian Lurie’s sections in Web Marketing All-in-One for Dummies],” the Dalai Lama may or may not have commented. He was referring to Lurie’s writings on search engine optimization, web analytics, blogging and podcasting, and social media marketing.

Win a Signed Copy for FREE!

Starting August 1, Portent is giving away one signed copy per day, for seven days. Enter our Rafflecopter contest below and follow Portent on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ to increase your chances to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In the spirit of giving credit where credit is due, I should let you know that I didn’t actually write this post – our amazing intern Lauren did. I’m so proud of her!

The post Win the (Brand NEW) Web Marketing All-in-One for Dummies Book appeared first on Portent.

If Mitt Romney really is right and corporations are people, then they sure don’t act like it on Twitter. And that’s too bad. People don’t want to do business with a business; people want to do business with people. And that must be true, because it is cleverly worded.

Here are seven tips for improving your business’s Twitter.

Human beings for the win

No one likes being advertised to by a faceless corporation, so how about making your business’s Twitter a little more personable?

Starbucks uses their profile info to show that they’re not a business, but just a close group of friends who like to sell you coffee.

Even AXE, a brand I’m not too fond of, does a great job of personalizing their tweets by adding the signature of a member of their social team.

AXE Nation… Happy Record Store Day!!! Now get out there support your local shop! -DanwithAXE

— AXE (@AXE) April 21, 2012

Don’t overuse hashtags

I see a lot of businesses overusing hashtags. The strategy here is that by including relevant hashtags in a tweet, you can reach people searching for that hashtag. And that may be true, but I doubt those numbers are anything to tweet home about.

Use one, maybe two, hashtags in a tweet. Use more and you’ve got a pretty spammy tweet on your hands. Don’t scare away the followers who might have actually cared about your tweet in the first place.

Buy my new #ebook!!! It’s #super #free YOU KNOW IT awe.sm/5ofi3 Yeah yeah YEAH #hashtags — jack martin (@jackthemartin) June 21, 2012

Don’t over-promote your business

People don’t go to their favorite social media site to be advertised to. I think a lot of marketers and businesses forget that. You need to provide users with interesting and compelling content, and not all of it should be created by you.

What are you tweeting about? Ask yourself, “Why would someone follow this business on Twitter?” Don’t answer, “To keep up with our latest deals and promotions.” You can do better than that.

Establish your brand as an authority in your niche. Tweet the latest news from your industry, not just your business. Find a way to provide valuable information to your followers. Check out how Portent tweets out the news from our industry:

9 ways to measure your brand’s #social health via @jazspin awe.sm/cEQ5 And why you should care about each one — Portent, Inc.(@Portent) June 11, 2012

But what is the golden ratio for Twitter promotion? It depends on your industry, but you should try to balance a handful of promotional tweets with many handfuls of useful tweets that don’t directly advertise your products and services.

Don’t use autorespond messages

“Thanks for following! Please check out my articles at www.mystupidwebsite.com.”

Your followers don’t want that direct message. It’s not a kind gesture to a new follower; it’s you telling them they are just another statistic on your social media reports.

When I see an autorespond message in my direct message inbox, I brainstorm at least a dozen ways to track down and kill that tweeter. Okay, that’s not quite true, but it does send me and many other users straight to the unfollow button.

Update: Just got this awful autorespond message and I lashed out unexpectedly:

Reply to your fans

Reach out to a new audience, but also just make sure you don’t not respond to the audience you’ve got. Frequently monitor your @ mentions, and consider using a third party tool like Hootsuite to keep track of your brand keywords.

Don’t tweet too much

How often does the average brand or business tweet? The number may surprise you.
I used How often do you Tweet to analyze 50 of the top brands on Twitter. Those brands averaged over 37 tweets per day. Wow!

But that statistic is misleading. Many of those tweets were @ replies to followers (which you should be doing!), and your followers won’t see your @ replies to other followers (unless they follow them too).

There is a balance to be found here. Don’t just fire off a dozen tweets in five minutes. Tweet quality is more important than tweet quantity here. If your business has 15 great things to tweet about today, then that’s the right number. If you only have three interesting things to tweet about, then tweet three times. Just don’t make your followers sift through 15 tweets to find the three good ones. They won’t.

Be credible and trustworthy

A study by Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon University analyzed the factors that affect the credibility of a tweet. Five factors stood out as having the largest negative impact on a tweet’s credibility:

• Tweet has non-standard grammar/punctuation.
• Twitter user has the default avatar/image (the egg).
• Twitter user has a cartoon avatar/image.
• The number of people the Twitter user is following far exceeds the number of people that follow them.
• Twitter user has a logo avatar/image (this is what we’re working against here).

Online readers are becoming more and more skeptical every day, so know that you’ll need to earn their trust with a quality Twitter feed.

Have you noticed any other things businesses do on Twitter that send you scrambling for the unfollow button?

Oh, and play your role as a child of knowledge by retweeting this article out for present generations to learn from.

How to Tweet Like You’re Not a Business portent.co/MV42Qk A guide for businesses.

— jack martin (@jackthemartin) June 26, 2012

The post How to Tweet Like You’re Not a Business appeared first on Portent.

The more time I spend trying to convince a girl that she should kiss my face, the more time I have to make a mistake, have an unmanly voice crack, or offend the girl without realizing it.

As marketers, it’s pretty easy to imagine all the ways we scare off our would-be online customers:

• Giving them too much information
• Not telling them where to go next
• Asking them to buy too soon
• Asking them to buy too much

The courting process is different and difficult in the online world. If you can pack a punch that will knock out your customer, then swing fast. And no one swings faster than…

5-Second Films

5-Second Films was started by Brian Firenzi in 2005, “after being disappointed by so many 5,400-second films.” The 5SF crew puts out a new short film every weekday. And they are hilarious.

Is Five Seconds Enough?

Short answer: yes. Remember how Ernest Hemingway did the equivalent? The literary master had cranked out dozens of lengthy works when he claimed he could write a short story in only six words. Only six words? How could you tell a story with that much brevity?

For sale: baby shoes, never worn.

70 years later, 5-Second Films takes it from six words to five seconds. They get to the point. Shouldn’t marketers do the same?

Instead of scaring away your customers, follow 5SF’s example.

Cut the Fat

Everything that isn’t essential must go.

Nothing Too Skinny

Cut the fat, but make sure your pitch isn’t too skinny afterwards. This means that everything that doesn’t belong must go, but everything that does belong must be painfully obvious. Take the first film above — in five seconds you get:

• What is happening. We’re going to Funland.
• How to do it. Get your fun key/fork.
• Where to do it. Put your fun key/fork in the fun lock/electrical wall socket.
• The end result. You have fun/get electrocuted.

It doesn’t look too different from the traditional sales funnel, does it?

Nothing Too Heavy

5SF could make their films differently. Actors could try to ramble off as much dialogue as possible in five seconds, and hopefully some of the words stick with the viewer.

Some of our landing pages do that, don’t they? We know we only have brief moments to deliver information to a potential customer, but then we weigh a page down with far too many words. Please don’t make me think that hard.

All Roads Lead to the Ocean

A quick look at the 5-Second Films website shows you that they are focused on their product.

• You can watch the most recent, top rated and most viewed videos on the homepage.
• Their blog is a collection of videos from behind the scenes of their films and hilarious recaps of the best video comments.
• You can chat on their forums about the films, or showcase your own.

There is nothing on the site that tears you away from the matter at hand. The opposite is true — everything on the site pulls you back towards their core product.

Incredibly Sharable

As social media continues to play a bigger and bigger role in marketing projects, you better make sure your product is shareable. Get your product in front of the right audience and you can start generating some real engagement.

5SF nails this. Share buttons don’t jump out and distract you, but they pop up in the right places when you’ve finished watching a film. The few static social buttons on the site pop against the dark background, but they’re not excessive.

The Point

The point is that marketers need to get to it (the point). I’ll try to turn that into a palindrome later if I have the time. Questions? Thoughts?

And how about one more film from 5SF?

The post How to Engage Your Audience in Five Seconds appeared first on Portent.

Those other articles are red herrings — part of an elaborate government ploy to distract you from the correct process for IP exclusion in Adwords — a process I’ll explain in detail below.

I’ll cut to the chase and show you the process for IP exclusion first, followed by some reasoning behind why you would want to block an IP address at all.

How to block an IP address in Google AdWords

1. Open your AdWords account and navigate to the Campaigns tab at the top of the page.

2. Click on the Display Network tab in Campaigns.

3. Open up the Exclusions option in Display Network.

4. At the bottom right of the page, click on “Manage IP address exclusions (advanced).”

5. A simple form will pop up. Select a campaign and add the IP address(es) you would like to exclude and select Save. You’ll have to do this separately for each campaign, saving after each.

6. There is no step 6. You did it!

So that really wasn’t too difficult. It’s just hidden down at the bottom of the Display Network tab, where most of us rarely look.

How about some more information?

What exactly is an IP address?

An IP address, or Internet Protocol address, is a numerical label given to any computer using the Internet. Your home computer probably has its own IP address, but a network of computers at a business most likely shares an IP address for administrative ease.

How do I find an IP address?

You can determine your own IP address at WhatIsMyIPAddress. To determine a competitor’s IP address, trace their email header, or search for their IP on Domain Tools.

Why would I want to block an IP address?

Good question, Jack. Blocking an IP address in AdWords means that anyone using the Internet from that computer or network of computers won’t be able to see your PPC ads. This is useful for several reasons:

1. Blocking your ads from competitors gives you an advantage.

If your competitors can’t see your ads, they might not even know that you’re competing with them on a keyword. Even if they do, hiding your ads from competitors keeps them in the dark about your ad copy.

1. Blocking your ads from competitors prevents click fraud.

Google is pretty good at detecting click fraud (also known as invalid clicks). AdWords won’t charge you for someone (perhaps a competitor) clicking on your ads many times in a day. Even so, in competitive PPC venues where a click costs upwards of $10, even a few bad clicks can cost you.

1. Blocking your ads from your own business can prevent accidental clicks.

You don’t want to click on your own PPC ads; it still costs you money — money that should be saved for users looking for your site. Blocking your own IP address will hide your PPC ads from someone at your business lazily searching for your site and clicking the PPC ad instead of using a direct link. Decide if this is a valid concern for your PPC.

How can I tell if my competitors are blocking my IP address?

It’s not always obvious that a competitor is hiding their ads from you. Here are two warning signs:
A long-time competitor’s ads have stopped showing up, even for their own brand name.
Your ad always appears at the #1 position in Google Search, even though AdWords indicates that your Average Position is #2.

How can I see my competitors’ ads if they block my IP address?

There are a few different ways to hide or change your IP address. With a different or hidden IP address, you should be able to see your competitors’ ads again.

Here at Portent, we use competitive research tools like SEMrush and SpyFu for data sets of competitor keywords and ads. Getting this type of data in spreadsheets helps to look at a company’s total PPC strategy, rather than manually searching Google for each keyword to see when a competitor’s ad is up.

I hope this post helped you out. Leave your questions in the comments and I’ll hit you back.

The post Blocking an IP Address in Google AdWords appeared first on Portent.

I remember when I got my first Twitter follower. I was a bright-eyed web surfer with a bushy tail (since birth).

@getfree_ebooks3 followed me, and our relationship blossomed. She was beautiful. I would tell her about what I was eating for lunch and other important Twitter issues, and she would suggest nice pieces of malware for my computer to download.

I eventually discovered that @getfree_ebooks3 was a spam bot. It was heartbreaking. I realized the truth about Twitter.

At that moment, I realized that the best way to create quality relationships on Twitter is to seek out the people in your target audience and engage with them.

At first, I could manage this pretty easily. But once I was following over 150 people (often the magic number for our brains), it was too difficult to manage them all just with Twitter.

Why did it become so difficult so fast?

When you follow someone on Twitter, you are subscribing to their insight and opinions. So here you are, following hundreds or thousands of people because they might say something that’s interesting to you. But unless they tweet at you, retweet you, or happen to tweet moments before you check Twitter, you will miss out on everything they have to say.

And once you’re following +150 people, it’s pretty easy to miss out on everything.

But there is another way!

Enter Hootsuite

You may be familiar with the social media management tool Hootsuite. A free account with Hootsuite lets you monitor your Twitter, Facebook, and other feeds (called streams), as well as schedule updates for your social accounts. I’m sure the premium version does some more neat stuff.

Hootsuite is real swell.

Let’s focus on Hootsuite’s Twitter services. The average Hootsuite user may have a basic tab setup for their Twitter account. It probably looks similar to this:

From the left, you’ve got your home feed (the tweets and retweets of everyone you follow), @ mentions, and something else (I’m keeping track of who is retweeting me here, but this might also be your direct message inbox or favorites).

Not too bad. But there’s another way yet!

Enter Twitter Lists

A seasoned Twitter pro might have a good chuckle at the mention of Twitter lists. Twitter introduced lists in 2009 as a way to segment the people you follow into more specific groups.

You can easily add someone to a list by clicking their name to bring up a profile box, then selecting the “Add or remove from lists” option.

But, I would wager that less than 1% of Twitter users utilize lists.

And I don’t blame people for not using Twitter lists; Twitter lists suck. From the homepage (which already has your regular feed), it takes three clicks just to get to a list. Why would I ever do that when my home feed is right in front of me?

The concept of segmenting all these people we follow is great, though. Twitter just doesn’t let you use lists efficiently. But Hootsuite does.

Lists in Hootsuite

My Hootsuite tabs are made up of a combination of the basic Hootsuite stream functions shown above, and Twitter lists. Adding a list as a Hootsuite stream is easy. Just click Add Stream and select the list you want to monitor.

So What Type of Lists Should I Make?

That depends on what you use Twitter for. Make lists that group types of people that you want to interact with. Here are some lists you might make:

• Real life friends
• Professionals in your industry
• News or daily deals sources
• The blogs you follow
• Your favorite actors or comedians

Add those lists to your Hootsuite tab and you can create the ideal dashboard for monitoring the Twitter users you want to engage with the most. Follow Ian Lurie’s content curation schedule to start engaging with your segmented audiences efficiently.

My Twitter Dashboard in Hootsuite

Each Hootsuite tab will comfortably hold between 3-6 streams. You can have up to eight streams in a tab if you like horizontal scrolling. I use six streams, organized between two tabs. I call the tabs:

The Me Feed

The Me Feed tab is for me (I’m really good at naming things). I monitor:

• My @ mentions. No-brainer, right? If someone tweets at me, I see it. If they’re not a spam bot, I reply (and sometimes when they are a spam bot).
• My real life friends. Real Life > Online Life. Separating my real life friends has been a great way to follow the more @-heavy conversations between my closest friends.
• The people I regularly interact with. These are people I’ve already made a connection with. I know I want to see what these people are tweeting about, but other than Google+, I probably haven’t “hung out” with them before.

The Focused Feed

The Focused Feed tab is for more specific engagement. I monitor:

• Industry professionals. Instead of adding the top 20 internet marketing blogs to my Google Reader, I follow big and small time internet marketers and see what SEO cream rises to the top. When someone tweets out an article I like, I tweet back at them. What an easy way to start a conversation.
• Future friends. When I follow someone new, they often end up in this list. These are people that I think are interesting, but haven’t interacted with me yet. I keep an eye on these tweets, and tweet back if I have something to add. Once I build a relationship, I move them into the Me Feed.
• Favorite tweets. I favorite a tweet if I want to follow the link or reply to it later. I also use favorites to save the best tweets of the week so I have ammo for Follow Friday.

What’s missing from my feed?

• My home feed. I’ve segmented the followers I want to interact with the most, so I rarely need the home feed. If I did, I could just go to old-fashioned twitter.com, or check my phone.
• Hootsuite keyword/query monitoring. Hootsuite allows you to add streams that monitor specific keywords in tweets. This is a great feature, and you should use it. For this post however, we’re focusing on ways to engage the people you already follow.

What’s the Low Fat Version?

You don’t want to go through all that trouble? Well, I can’t make you. I’m not your mom. And I realize that.

If I was going to give you one tip to increase your engagement on Twitter, I would say make a list. Make one list. And fill it with the 25 to 50 people that you want to engage with the most. Add the list to your Hootsuite dashboard.

Watch that list like a hawk, or like another creature good at watching things. If those tweeters ask a question, answer it. If they tweet a link, check it out and let them know what you think. Make them your friends and allies.

Now you’re building a real Twitter following, not just making complex Canadian wedding plans with a spam bot. In related news: I’m single again, ladies!

The post How to Use Hootsuite and Twitter Lists to Engage Your Audience appeared first on Portent.

Since starting as a stand-up comedian in the late 60s, Steve Martin has been an actor, playwright, author, and one hell of a banjo player. In 2010, Martin brought his famous persona to the digital frontier: social media.

Steve Martin hit the social media scene in a big way; his Twitter account now boasts over 3,000 tweets to his 2.3 million followers. One of the greatest stand-up comedians of all time has found a new medium and audience for his legendary humor. And now, Martin has re-purposed his tweets in the form of his new book: The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten.

Due to absolutely no demand, soon I’m publishing a book of my tweets. Many of your replies included! All my profits to charity.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) October 27, 2011

The book of tweets.

So why the book of tweets? Martin initially hoped Twitter would help tighten up his comedy/banjo routine for touring, but in his book he explains why that didn’t pan out:

“All this tweet material turned out to be good for only one thing: tweeting.”

Tweeting and a book.

We recently explored what celebrities can teach us about Twitter, but the internet marketer in me insisted Steve Martin’s Twitter account get its own post. There are four great lessons of social engagement we can learn from Martin.

140 characters is not the limit.

A tweet may only be 140 characters, but that shouldn’t stop you from telling stories. Well-timed tweets that are interesting pieces of your overall message can form a daily storyline for your brand. Martin uses this technique to tell extended jokes on Twitter.

PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE EASILY HYPNOTIZED: You are feeling sleepy.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) January 30, 2012

AGAIN, DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE EASILY HYPNOTIZED: You are very sleepy.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) January 30, 2012

PLEASE, PLEASE, DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE EASILY HYPNOTIZED: Cluck like a chicken.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) January 30, 2012

*finger snap* How about a nice hand for our volunteer!

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) January 30, 2012

Provide unique content on Twitter.

Why would someone follow you on Twitter when they could just visit your website or Facebook page? If there isn’t a reason, you might find it hard to gain followers. Fans are engaged with Steve Martin’s feed because he tweets unique insight and jokes on Twitter and only Twitter. Martin focuses on the social network that fits his style and persona best, and his fans love it.

STEVE MARTIN IS REALLY OILED AND BUFF. OMG, my Twitter account was just hacked.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) June 6, 2011

Twitter engagement is a two-way street.

Martin’s book is not just a collection of his tweets, but also many funny replies sent to him by fans and other comedians. Fans are more closely connected with their favorite celebrities and brands than ever before. Conversations with fans can create long-lasting loyalty. During the Christmas season Martin did just that, using fan replies to rewrite the lyrics to Jingle Bells.

It’s Christmas sing-along time!I’ll sing the first line, you complete it!♬ Dashing through the snow, On a…?

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) December 17, 2011

Lots of good ones, but going with “On a “On a >>> pre-election promise of funding for green transport….”

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) December 17, 2011

Next! ♬ Over the fields we go…?

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) December 17, 2011

That’s right! Mark Taylor @mt575757 3h “ignoring rural property rights!”

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) December 17, 2011

Promotions don’t have to feel like promotions.

Martin plugs his books, television appearances, and banjo band concerts on Twitter, but you never feel like he’s over-doing it. That’s probably because Martin’s promotional tweets also double as jokes. Your audience is more likely to read and share your self-serving tweet if it offers them useful information or a good laugh (or both!).

New animated Jubilation Day video now on my website. This calls for exclamation marks!!!!!!! Doesn’t it?????http://www.stevemartin.com/

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) June 6, 2011

The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Highly Organized People. Make That Ten.

Steve Martin cuts through the loud noise on Twitter to deliver solid content to his audience. Even if you’re not interested in improving your Twitter game, you can still pick up Martin’s new Twitter book and enjoy some killer comedy. I’ll leave you with some more good ones. Which tweet is your favorite?

…and that is why I killed the circus clown. Wait…have just been informed Twitter was down for several minutes. Disregard last Tweet.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) April 6, 2011

I’ve decided I want to get to know Cher on a first name basis.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) May 26, 2011

I’ve decided not to sue Google over stealing my idea about calling me up and asking me anything

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) June 26, 2011

With all my gadgets, had to start carrying a “man-purse.” Reluctantly gave up my girl-purse.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) September 17, 2011

It’s hard to write a funny tweet when your dog is holding a gun on you. Yet, that is exactly what is happening.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) November 4, 2011

The post Steve Martin’s Twitter Book Teaches Us 4 Lessons in Engagement appeared first on Portent.