Being famous is relative. These days, you can be famous on MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. Or, you can use those platforms to launch yourself into Internet stardom. Who better to talk about how to become famous online but the ubiquitous Guy Kawasaki, whose Twitter following is fast approaching 30,000.
In this part III interview with Guy, the venture capitalist, author of "Reality Check," and co-founder of AllTop, we talk about his tricks to sustaining and growing his Web persona. (At the time of this filming, Guy had 21,000 followers. See our other interviews below.)
First off, Guy admitted that fame and fortune don't happen overnight. "It took me 25 years to get famous," he said, humbly. That's what led to him to attract 21,000 followers on Twitter in nine months.
So, how do you continue growing that base? I asked.
"Robert Scoble (who has 39k Twitter followers) told me that when someone follows you, you follow them," he replied. Kawasaki uses SocialToo, which enables you to automatically follow someone who's following you. Darn. And, I thought Kawasaki followed me on Twitter because he thought my Tweets were interesting. Guy is following more than 28,000 people on Twitter.
Secondly, you should Twitter often. And, don't just use Twitter to promote yourself.
"When I find interesting links, or pages, or photographs, absurdities, I Tweet them all the time. People have accused me of promoting AllTop too much on Twitter… so, I conscientiously put in a lot of conent that has nothing to do with AllTop," he said. Use sites that can keep you informed. For instance, use AllTop and Stumbleupon, and "you will be a fascinating person," he added. "I don't care how dull you are."
Thirdly, answer your emails. "I answer my emails, all my directs and replies," he said. "That's the cost."
Bottom line, there is responsibility and maintenance to being a celebrity.
Might I suggest John Chow, Shoemoney or Problogger as examples of newly famous webcelebs. John Chow comes to mind with his RSS feed number greater than that of my local small town newspaper. That's mind blowing. His monetization of these numbers is just as staggering. The upward trend continues with his latest mind numbing $30,000 a month from his blog johnchow.com.
Moving on to Guy, tonight he has 28,295 followers on Twitter. @Guy, I hate to bring this up, but you broke your promise to about not using a cellphone to access Twitter. Well, you used Twittelator in reply to Maria929. Twitterlator is an iPhone Twitter client. Hate that you have to see this Bambi.
Guy, I would like a shout out of sorts - Twitter, Pownce, YouTube or FaceBook - you pick the platform or I'm turning this iPhone use information over to Michael from T.C. :-)
P.S. Loved your Art of the Start book. Read it while vacationing in Samara, Costa Rica. Even put the suggestions to good use.
cheers,
Robert MacEwan