By 
Katy Tomasulo
President, ASBPE Washington, D.C. Chapter
On Oct. 21 and 22, TABPI (Trade, Association, and Business Publications International) hosted its first Twitterfest, in which B2B journalists posted Tweets with ideas, questions, and answers about print and digital publishing. Each poster utilized the #tabpi hashtag so that participants and followers could see each tweet.
It was the first time I’d participated in one of these, and I found it quite rewarding — not only was I able to gain new ideas, it felt great to share some of my own thoughts with the larger B2B world. The event was a huge success, and event organizer (and TABPI president) Paul Heney is planning to host future ’fests (the next one is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 8-9; check back to www.tabpi.org for confirmation and details).
Below are some of the ideas posted by participants. To view the whole feed, including B2B questions-and-answers, search #tabpi on Twitter.
- Post a Twitpic of the cover of your upcoming issue to get readers excited about it. (@MattySoccio)
- Capitalize on helping your readers through these tough times, as with Hotel World Network’s 100 Days campaign. (@paulheney)
- If you’re short on space in print, run an expanded version online. (@ADVANCEforNPs)
- Compile a “Steal This Idea” issue, comprised of ideas for our readers to steal for their businesses. (@stambascio)
- Use clear headlines when Tweeting. If readers are following hundreds of others, only the most compelling headlines will catch their attention. (@ktom17)
- If you want to “get” social media, start your own blog. You’ll get sent to company president’s office — not to get fired, but for your ideas. (@b2beditor)
- Repurpose archive material with a modern twist to produce niche industry features, e.g., cruising then and now. (@natalia_thomson)
- Pay attention to page-view stats; they can reveal which e-newsletter subject lines work, the best time of day to send a newsletter, etc. (@ktom17)
Some e-news analysis systems actually will do an A/B-group split on subject lines for a message, sending bulk to “winner.” In other words, 10% of mailings go out with 1 subject line, 10% with another. Remaining 80% to subject line with highest open rate. (@ScotsmanGuideEd)
- Get to know the gurus in your subject area well enough and one of them may decide to blog for you. (@lmclaughlin)
- We conduct a subscriber salary survey, and it’s always a big hit; it’s very useful to our readers in salary negotiation. (@ADVANCEforNPs)
- Searchable databases are a great, interactive way to make hard-to-find info accessible to readers. (@jtlongandco)
- Don’t just ask readers to follow you on Twitter, ask them to engage in a topic with other readers. (@ADVANCEforNPs)
- Judge award programs. It’s a great way to get ideas from magazines outside your industry you wouldn’t see otherwise. (@ktom17)
- Free business writing training can be found nationwide at www.businessjournalism.org. (@tonieauer)
Katy Tomasulo is Deputy Editor for EcoHome magazine and Building Products magazine at Hanley Wood Business Media in Washington, D.C.