If you’re a business using Twitter wanting to take it to the next level and have a better response and participation from your followers, do a contest! Watch this video to learn how and get some exciting ideas:

It seems as though every sport has a different take on using social media but the NHL seems to be having a little fun with the idea of using Twitter for promotional strategies. The NHL appears to possess a refreshing attitude that is optimistic about using social media to create NHL Tweetups and contests for fans to get involved.

The season is quickly approaching (October 3rd) and the promotional pull is back in full force. Through the use of Twitter they are giving fans a chance to win free tickets with their #NHLPick15 contest. The name of the game is Pick 15 because anyone who picks the winners of the 15 games that will be played October 3, and tweets them to @NHL has a chance to win free tickets. The tiebreaker goes to anyone who answers this question, “What is the total, combined number of penalty minutes that all 30 NHL teams will have in the games played on October 3rd?” correctly. The tweet should look like this (but don’t copy me because I am pretty serious about winning)

One lucky person who gets all 15 winners right and the correct number of total penalty minutes will receive free tickets to any regular season game of their choice, while 10 other lucky contestants get Game Center live for a season. Using Twitter as a promotional strategy is a small but effective marketing promotion that gets fans active and engaged with a competitive edge(what hockey’s all about anyway). So for all you Hockey tweeple get your game face on and pick the teams you think will win Saturday!

Oh yea, go AVS!

Example:

This is so funny! I love the “Everyone look at pictures of my Cat!”. OMG, so great, enjoy!

Happy Monday!

This is the Early Christmas Edition of my Twitter Tips. I hope you find it useful and if you have any questions, just @reply me: @madametwit

Enjoy your week!

We are all passionate about one thing or another. Using the internet to express that enthusiasm is a great way to communicate and connect with others who either share the same passions or want to know more about yours. Think of your passion as your fuel for the internet, once you’ve mastered what your passion is, you can express it in a natural way which makes you likable and charismatic through personal branding. It takes time and perseverance but you have to start somewhere.

This is why social media gurus like Gary Vaynerchuk do so well, because he is clearly very passionate about what he does and his passion stimulates his creativity. He uses Facebook and Twitter to promote his passion for wine and to leverage Wine Library TV. His book is called Why Now is The Time to Crush It, Cash in On Your Passion and believe it or not, people thrive off his energy and recognize his credibility through his liking for wine.

In fact, he has 855,688 followers on twitter! That’s amazing! We all have different reasons for using social media but the passionate people tend to stick out the most because they do it because they love it. When you meet someone who is so passionate about something it seems as though they have a limitless appetite for knowledge. They are always learning, trying to understand, and they are excited to share. All these things exude a positive vibe because it is clear that they are working with something they truly care about. If you’re looking to start somewhere with social media, my advice would be to start here.

So now I’ll ask, what is it that you are passionate about and what are you going to do about it?!

For more information on Gary Vaynerchuk and his success check out our Results tab! And for all you wine lovers, make sure you follow him on Twitter!

Twitter tip from the Ghost of Crystal. I have terrible lighting, but an awesome tip!