Recently, Anil Dash wrote a great piece about how  Nobody Has A Million Twitter Followers If you haven’t already read it let me summarize:  millions of followers are as inconsequential to brands as they are to individuals if they are not grown “organically” (his example was Twitter’s Suggested User List)

I’m no marketing or social media expert but, I’m going to have to disagree a little based on the 2% rule.

The 2% rule has long been the measure of successful marketing campaigns. Send out 200,000 flyers to your widget sale and only 4000  buy – 2% rule says: success!  Marketers have been using these kind of metrics for years! I see no reason not to use it analyzing the bots, brands and real people on Twitter, tweeked a little to account for Twitter’s real time platform.

Lets try this:

Followers of @botsandbrands = 1,000,000 (thanks to the suggested users list on Twitter)

For the sake of continuity, lets say that 2% of these followers are actually interested in what @botsandbrands has to say and have @botsandbrands on a Tweetdeck list or other type filter, lets call them “true fans”

True fans of @botsandbrands = 20,000

Lets take it even further and say that of that 20,000, only 2% are paying attention at the same time to what @botandbrands is tweeting about, let call these guys “attentionistas” (It’s my blog, I can make up words if I want)

Attentionistas of @botsandbrands = 400 twitters at any one time

Now, lets go even a step further and say that out of the 400 of @botsandbrands One Million followers that are paying attention right now 2% of them think that what @botsandbrands has to say is so mind blowing and relevant that they reply to or retweet @botsandbrands.  Lets call them “Engaged fans”

Engaged Fans of @botsandbrands = 8

That’s right. According to what the ole’ 2% rule says the effort taken to accumulate One Million followers on Twitter is a successful race if 8 of them reply or retweet them in real time.  I told you I disagreed “a little” with Anil, they aren’t ALL inconsequential.

Moral of the story – Don’t feel jilted or left behind if you are not on Twitter’s suggested User List and don’t have millions of followers. Chances are, if you are engaging, relevant, and build relationships ye’ ole’ fashioned way – one person at a time, your twitter stream will be the party everyone wants to attend.  Ever heard of the party invite rule? It’s a hearty 50%.

You can follow me on twitter at @melissapierce.

Found this gem while I was logging tapes of my interview with Biz Stone for Life In Perpetual Beta, proving a point that I have been desperately refuting for years, I do indeed talk to myself – sometimes even on camera. Shit. Cole (once again) has my number, he’s been telling me that I talk to myself for a while now. Watching the video proved a few other things to me that were not abundantly transparent as well. How could I not be aware about how much I get off on preparing? I can see it in my eyes! And the way I compliment myself? You know I am truly in the moment of getting the shot perfect, psyching myself up for my interview.  I do at least look like I know what I’m doing setting up that shot don’t I? Maybe that’s why people keep asking me about how to do video – because before I watched this I just thought they were nuts! Chances are though,  most of those folks asking me for advice are nuts, it’s apparent that I am (clearly it’s me in that blue room talking to myself) and if I’m nuts and people are asking me for advice – clearly they are out of their freakin’ gourds. Another point, I need a haircut. Another point, I’ve come a long way from the shaky interview I did with Dan Pink in a crowded cafe back in May of 2008, and that’s pretty rad. I don’t know if it proves anything to you, but it made me laugh to find this footage of me talking to myself on an interview reel, maybe it’d make someone else laugh too. Good times.

That’s me and Biz Stone (the Co-Founder of Twitter) He looks a little afraid of me.

I was so disappointed with the behavior I saw on Twitter this past week, pouty little fits about celebrities on twitter, campaigns to unfollow anyone who mentions such and such a person. I’m sure most of it was meant jokingly, but as a collective group of interaction, there is a much bigger malevolence and fear at play here. Could it be? Geek snobbery as Diana Culbert puts it? Sadly, I think yes, the geek elite afraid that with the “celebrity endorsements” will come scores of mainstream people who discover the amazingness of twitter in the same awkward way that the rest of us did. Maybe people have forgotten that the beauty of this simple little tool is that anyone with internet access can use it, and one doesn’t have to talk to anyone they don’t want to, but can (attempt to) have a conversation with every user. Celebrity or no – we all choose who to follow. Whether it’s @aplusk, @oprah, you or me – twitter is empowering that way. I advise you to open your mind to the idea that twitter will grow, and in the meantime, fine tune your filters.

To follow or unfollow me find me here on twitter

Oh, wait… an inbox full of new twitter followers all in the span of an hour could only mean one of three things – or all of them, or two of them, or whatever, I’m not really that good at math…

1. I’ve been hacked
2. Someone circulated a nekked photo of me on ‘teh internets’
3. Chris Brogan tagged me in the ever popular #followfriday meme

Nice public conversation via Twitter about what a “Life Coach” is in response to my posting that silly little spoof on Loren Feldman in my last post. Loren didn’t think the video was very funny however, it did get me invited to Google’s NY office, so that’s pretty cool.