So you’ve found me, Wayne Smallman, on Twitter and became curious about myself, Octane Interactive and wanted to know more.
So who’s Wayne Smallman and what does Octane do?
Wayne Smallman is many things, but he is mostly known for his writing, his designing and his web development.
To pay the bills, Octane is a provider of web design & development and internet marketing services to a variety businesses of all shapes and sizes, scattered hither & yonder around the British isles, of which case studies are available for your perusal.
As for the writing, I, Wayne Smallman am the man behind the Blah, Blah! Technology blog — a mixture of science, technology and social media commentary and how-to guides (amongst many other things), all wrapped in my own unique style of opinion, observation, dark humour, all underpinned by an unbending faith in the soul of humanity.
I also write business support and advice articles right here on Octane, via my blog — less so the inimitable commentary and more a series of practical guides to help you steer your business through calmer waters, based upon my own years of experience, beginning in 1999, which is the year when Octane was founded.
In addition, I write for a growing number of publications (both printed and electronic), sharing the aforementioned knowledge and experience further afield.
I’m also the author of the popular ebook, The Beginner’s Guide to Social Media, which has been downloaded many hundreds of times by an eclectic mix of people from all over the world, eager to learn more about social media, and how it may benefit their businesses.
What’s your Twitter follow policy?
The question itself might be a little misleading if you’re new to Twitter. When you follow someone — or at least when I do — I don’t expect those people to automatically follow me back.
As in life, we don’t always find that we have that much in common with the people we meet, or we feel that the person that just followed us isn’t adding the right kind of ideas, thoughts and observations to our stream of Twitter updates.
As an example, if you’re an up-and-coming singer / songwriter and you were to buy the latest album of a famous singer, would you expect them to return the gesture? Of course not, because that’s not how it works.
I’m neither famous, nor am I singer. But the fact of the matter is, we are all different and to reciprocate for the sake of reciprocation is disingenuous.
So I might not follow you back if you follow me. And of course, the opposite holds true, too. Obviously, some people feel very differently about this, but this is my Twitter follow policy, and I’ve at least demonstrated my honesty on the subject, if nothing else.
Ideally, we’ll have many things in common, so here are a few things I look for before I follow anyone, or follow back:
- A profile bio that tells me something about you, what you do and what you’re interested in.
- A link to a website or blog that tells me more about you what you do.
- Plenty of updates, so I know you’re an active Twitterer.
- We both speak the same language, i.e.: English.
So is Twitter the place to be?
That really depends on what you want from Twitter. I could go into all kinds of detail, but ultimately, you need to know what you want from a thing before you invest time & effort in it — which, incidentally, is where my social media ebook might prove useful, if you’re in any doubt.
Facebook is another social network which you could also join, but it is a quite different venue to Twitter, in the sense that it isn’t public; your network of friends is closed to external sources.
Twitter commands a huge audience, so your efforts are as well spent there. So if you’re hoping to form allegiances, find friends and allies, or you simply wish to learn from those in your industry, Twitter is the place for you.
What now?
That’s as open ended a question as you could ever hope to ask! If you haven’t already, you could follow me on Twitter and join the conversation. And finally, thank you for your time. Always a pleasure.