Just the other day I was reading through my tweets using TwitterBerry, and there were quite a few that linked to interesting articles that I wanted to read at a later date.  (I’ve also had this problem when scanning Tweets on my laptop using TweetDeck - I would be multitasking, and want to flag tweets/articles to read after the conference call or after the work day.) 

Finally, I had time to research the situation, and, lo and behold, Twitter does have a “flagging” tool called “Favorites“.  I thought this was surely a new feature that was perhaps rolled out with the recent new “Search” tool; but, actually, Favorites has been out for some time (maybe since Twitter’s origin).   It’s a great tool designed to do exactly what I wanted – flag (or bookmark) tweets to read at a later date.  And, it’s available through TwitterBerry and TweetDeck, as well as on the Twitter.com. 

Here is where the Favorites tool is located on each application I mentioned above:

1. Twitter.com – mouse over the right side of the tweet and click on the star icon. 
2. TwitterBerry – before opening the tweet, click the menu button on your blackberry.  Scroll down the list with the trackball and select “Favorite”
3. TweetDeck – mouse over the avatar, and click on the “Other Actions” button.  Next mouse over the “Tweet” menu and select “Favorites”.

Maybe most of you have been using this tool for while, but for those of you who are like me and not that observant – hope this helps you organize your tweets and read all those articles you were missing before.

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 The owners, Alesha Mathews and Blair Smith, started Dirty Dog in 2003.  The idea came to them when they were shopping around for a groomer for Blair’s dogs, and they realized it would be so much cheaper if they could bathe and groom the dogs themselves – if only a place existed.  Enter Dirty Dog Self-Serve Dogwash and Grooming. 

Blair has just started using Twitter and Facebook for Dirty Dog, and admits that she didn’t realize what all the fuss was about – at first.  She set up a Twitter account after attending a social media seminar, and started following Zappos.  She says that’s when it clicked.  ”I felt part of the conversation.  I’m not planning to buy shoes online, but if I do, I would buy from Zappos because I feel that connection with them online.”   The same attitude is portrayed in her tweets and her Facebook account.   She’s not using it to get more sales, but to build relationships.   That’s exactly what other businesses need to realize – integrating social media tools into a marketing plan should not be expected to directly increase sales; it’s a branding activity that will indirectly affect sales.  And having a consistent brand image and message through every communication makes customers connect with the brand even more.

Regarding social media, Blair really does get it. “People buy from people,” she said. “And social media is one way that I can connect with my customers when I can’t be in the store 24/7.”    Exactly.

One more thing….I called Blair mid-afternoon with no appointment scheduled.  She happily talked to me for 15 minutes, and answered my questions about Dirty Dog’s use of social media and their other marketing plans.  Her personality and engagement is genuine, and it shows through to her company.  Thanks so much Blair – great talking with you!  Baxter will see you soon!

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Now that SXSW is over, I thought it best to offer my take on the conference.  As a first time participant, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  Overall, it was a great experience with tons of panels, discussions and parties.  Here are my takeaways:

1. Although I didn’t get to see as many panels as I wanted, the ones that I attended seemed to focus all around community. How to build and promote them; how to manage them; how to make them more interesting. It seemed like every topic was covered. It was all really good information, but next year, I’ll branch out a bit more.
2. I thought Tony Hsieh’s keynote was one of the best of the conference. His research and thoughts on the ‘science of happiness’ really resonated with me. Basically, it’s been proven that people’s happiness last the longest when what they are doing has a meaning or higher purpose – when you are part of something that’s bigger than yourself. Good to remember.
3. I had to laugh when Charlene Li started talking about Facebook Advertising. For a while now, H&R Block has been using me as a ‘spokesperson’ in their Facebook Ads by showing my picture with their ad to every one of my friends. Granted I am a fan of H&R Block’s Facebook page, but I never gave them permission to act as if I’m blatantly endorsing them to all of my friends. Ugh, so Charlene and I have something in common. I think I’ll take her advice and un-fan the advertisers that use this tactic.
4. Parties! There were tons of parties to attend each night, and luckily they were all pretty much in the downtown area of Austin so easy walking distance between them. My favorites were the Austin On Rails Happy Hour sponsored by FiveRuns and OtherInbox and the Austin Ventures party.

All in all, it was a hectic five days that was well worth the time and experience.  One suggestion for the SXSW staff – next year, please match the titles in the schedule to those in the description section of the program guide.  Using short titles in one place and long titles in another meant that nothing matched and it was hard to decide spur of the moment which talk to see next.  K? thx!  See you in 2010!

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