Creating a presence on social media is not always as easy as registering a Twitter handle. For some startups, especially those bootstrapping, finding the manpower and hours in a day to stop and send out a tweet or two is a real challenge. Others struggle figuring out exactly what they ought to say. For many, the most daunting challenge is deciding on a brand, a logo, and a company voice (Funny? Authoritative? Brutally honest? Relatable?).
Whatever’s holding your startup back from achieving maximum Social Media Velocity, examining a few social media mentors for yourself and studying their technique might help you create your social media strategy. Added bonus: you’re feed will likely include professionally curated, up-to-date articles from some of the top influencers in the startup biz (and if you’re following Mark Cuban, you’ll probably get some first rate NBA tidbits).
Here’s five Twitter handles to folow if you’re in the startup scene.
Seth Godin
@ThisI
sSethsBlog
Followers: 478k
Seth is an industry commentator, disrupter, and innovator. Beyond Seth’s success in business, his hugely popular blog, “Seth’s Blog,” offers beautiful advice and musings to his readers, and was named the number 1 marketing blog by AdAge. You’ll feel smarter, wiser, and more capable to run a business after engaging with this Twitter feed.
Sample Tweet: Seth’s Blog: The tragedy of small expectations (and the trap of false dreams) http://bit.ly/1GpjaC3
YCombinator
Followers: 285k
Beyond the deluge of reports on current startups in the industry, one of the coolest features that the YCombinator twitter feed offers is Startup School Radio, conducted by YCombinator partner, Aaron Harris. This little podcast details the journeys of many founders that have graduated from the wildly successful startup accelerator (in fact, YCombinator). If you’re looking for practical advice, success stories, or people who can empathize with your failures, this is a great place to start.
Jason Calacanis
Followers: 233k
Sample Tweet: Sample Text: Will be on @cnbc tomorrow at 8AM explaining the importance of the @google & @yelp fight + EU’s investigation. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/30/business/study-suggests-that-google-has-its-thumb-on-scale-in-search.html …
Jason is the resident techie of Twitter, and will provide you with current tech news in the ever-changing world of technology. His feed is excellent for tech startups looking for new gadgets, but he also does a great job commenting on the startup world and the politics of technology.
Plus, one of his beloved disciples tweeted this nugget, so that should count for something:
Josh James
@joshjames
Followers: 46.7k
Sample Tweet: Cool story on how Disney CEO Iger made them more successful than ever. http://flip.it/EJ4bf
One can’t drive down I-15 without recognizing the significance of Josh James’ splash in the Utah startup scene. One of Utah Valley’s most successful CEO’s Josh James gives excessively practical startup tips in a variety of different industries. He also has six darling daughters that occasionally make an appearance on his feed.
Beehive Startups
@BeehiveStartups
Followers: 23.7k
Sample Tweet:
Another local handle to follow is Beehive Startups to get information about meetups and events where local startup mentors congregate and give advice. Beehive startups highlights successful startups and helps you really familiarize yourself with the local startup scene.
Of course, we’re biased, but we think @preferredCFO is a pretty good Twitter handle to follow, too!
