Tim Ferriss Won’t Follow Your Non-Profit On Twitter

Posted October 16, 2008

Love him or hate him, you’ve got to respect Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Work Week. He holds a world record for Tango, blogged his way to a New-York Times Best Seller, became the National Chinese Kickboxing Champion – and he follows no-one on Twitter. No-one!

Tim’s a busy guy. I’ve always wanted to meet him.

But until we meet, or he finds this post and sues me, I’m publishing this mock interview based on his blog post, “200 Tweets – My Thoughts on Practical (vs. Addictive) Uses of Twitter“

John: Tim, I understand that you consider yourself a “late adopter” of Twitter. How are you using Twitter at this point?

Tim: I use Twitter as a “micro-blogging” platform, exactly how it’s most often described. Just as I wouldn’t put up a blog post that reads “just ate a burrito. Mmmm… good,” as it consumes readers valuable attention without adding value, I wouldn’t put up such a post on Twitter. On the other hand, “Just had an incredible mahi-mahi burrito at [best unknown taco stand] in San Diego. Must-eat: www.website.com In NYC, try: www.website2.com” adds value with actionable details. Mundane perhaps, but still a cool “to-do” that ethnic food lovers can tuck in the back of their heads.

Some self-indulgent tweets are fine, but make sure 90%+ help or entertain your readers somehow. Information empty calories are parasitic.

Use a tool for what its best suited to do

John: Small non-profits are constantly seeking ways to improve their fundraising with social media. For many, Twitter is a tool that has many of them scratching their heads. What would you say to a small non-profit just starting to use Twitter?

Tim: Don’t make a Swiss army knife out of every social media tool or you’ll end up with nothing but overwhelm, passive-aggressive “friends,” and a dozen separate inboxes.

I use Twitter to broadcast time-sensitive suggestions, questions, events, random facts, and happenings, and other ideas that don’t justify an independent blog post. I don’t want another IM program.

Linking is fundamental to adding value

John: What specific actions can not for profit organizations do to create the most value with tools like Twitter?

Tim: Twitter is perfect for honing your word economy and value-to-attention contribution: offer a brief takeaway and quick links to more resources for those interested. Minimal attention impact for the uninterested with gateways to more goodies.