140 Characters, a lesson in the way of the Twitter Samurai

I’m talking about the new book 140 Characters: A Style Guide For The Short Form by Dom Sagolla and Wiley Publishing.

A lot of people say to me that they do not get Twitter. I hear questions and comments like:

• Why would anyone care what I am doing on a moment by moment basis?
• I don’t know what to write.
• How can I write anything meaningful in 140 characters?

Dom Sagolla offers answers to these questions and more in the Twitter Equivalent of The Associated Press Style Guide crossed with a book on poetry and English literature.

I have to admit, it took me a while to get my head around this book as I started out in a pragmatic small business and internet marketing headspace. When I finally slowed down and opened up to the message, what I got was an introduction into a new literary venue, complete with its own style guide. I got a glimpse into an expanding Twitterverse by one of its key influencers. It’s kind of like reading the Lonely Planet guide for Nairobi.

Approach your 140 characters as you would a Haiku poem, a memorable one-liner or a powerful truth and you are getting close to the message of this book. Twitter can be more than a micro broadcasting venue. It can be a real-time conversation and a publishing medium at the same time and what matters is who you are on Twitter.

In reading this book I found myself looking into the world of a dedicated and artful Author and wondering if I was willing to take on that role and learn to be good at it. I think ultimately that was the indelible question for me in this book. It showed me what I was up against in Twitter and what it is going to take to be a leader in this space. I was left in a quandary about who I want to be with respect to Twitter? The funny thing is this question is what inspired me to read this book in the first place. The difference now is I think I have a better understanding of how to make my decision.

John Watson is the president of Accrue Performance Marketing Inc. and is the author of Being Profitable™ : the earnings growth program. John has been consulting since 1993. He specializes in helping entrepreneurs Design Build and Grow market leading companies.