Why every journo student should use Twitter – top 5 tips

@vhernandezCNN FACT: I try to spend about an hour each day searching Twitter for intriguing top talent we may want to recruit. #openingupnewdoors

That’s right, the all-platform journalist programme manager for CNN, Victor Hernandez,  spends an hour of his time each day trawling Twitter for fresh new talent. He went on to explain that he looks with no job position in mind but is “always looking for smart, creative, innovative folks…then [goes] from there”.

That’s reason enough.

If your blog is for your niche specialisms, Twitter is the tool to show off all the other interesting parts of your character.

So the drunken Tweets at 4am (Not too many of these if you have the name of your company in your bio), your blatant Tim Vine joke rip-offs and rambles about being on the bus with smelly people are all the constituent parts that make you great. As arbitrary as it may seem, these are the types of Tweets that prove you’ll be a fun person to work with, will help you gain followers and show that you’re not just tied down to one subject.

Of course, your feed can’t just be littered with dirge.The perfect Twitter account strikes a balance between fun, linking to your blog, linking to other interesting bits and pieces on the web, photos and conversations.

Not as easy as it sounds, but to help you along the way here are my top tips to journo students for using Twitter effectively:

1) Build a community. Don’t just follow your friends and celebrities. Instead, build a community of followers around your interests. Follow all the interesting people local to you and local to your uni, follow your journalism lecturers (What do you mean they don’t have Twitter?!), follow everyone to do with your  favourite football team or music scene and most importantly – FOLLOW JOURNALISTS (Use Stephen Davies’s blog if you need inspiration)!

2) Check, check and check again. Treat every Tweet as if it is your first feature article for the Guardian. If you can’t Tweet employing all the rules of spelling, grammar and fact checking, then there’s no point Tweeting at all.

3) Use your time wisely. I have mentioned this before in a previous post, but the trick to Twitter (And the industry itself) is being in the right place at the right time. If you happen to find yourself up early or late, this is the perfect time to engage with your potential future employers, as they’re unlikely to have a deluge of @replies from every other chancer like the peak times. And, on the other hand, don’t link to your blog and expect anyone to read it while X Factor is on.

4) Be helpful. Often journalists use Twitter to crowdsource – it got me my first mention in the Guardian. Sometimes those you follow might just want to know the perfect recipe for carrot cake. Whatever their aim, your goal should be to lend a hand. Not only can you feel as though you’ve done a good deed and share your knowledge, it all helps to build engagement within your new-found community.

5) Help yourself. Free promotion is a wonderful thing. The majority of my blog readers are directed from Twitter (Hello!), so make sure the majority of your followers are reading your blog. If you link them, they will come. But don’t advertise yourself too much. A couple of promos at different times of day is more than enough. And don’t just link to your own work – link to anything you find interesting that you think others need to see. But keep the surfing dogs and music videos to a minimum and try to keep the majority of your links as niche as your blog. Aim to post at least one link a day (And if you can post photos, all the better as these always get more interest as they require less time investment from the viewer). Use Bit.ly and monitor which links get the most clicks and post more of the same in future.

Twitter can get you a job and it’s just as important as your CV, blog, portfolio and all your qualifications – it completes your toolkit.

I’m @larakiara by the way.

Coming up soon: Why every student publication needs to have a Twitter account (And how to use it)

What’s it like running a hyperlocal blog? An interview with @DaveLee, The Olympic Borough

BBC News journalist Dave Lee has an exciting new media project beside his day job. He set up The Olympic Borough , a hyperlocal news blog covering how the 2012 Olympics is rapidly changing the Newham area. As regular blog followers may have gathered, I’m a big fan of the hyperlocal model but more than aware of its various pitfalls. I asked Dave what it’s really like holding the reins of a hyperlocal blog and what the future is for The Olympic Borough:

The Olympic Borough homepage

You have a full-time and – what appears to be – a quite demanding job. How do you find the time to keep the blog up to date too?

God knows. It’s mainly a combination of late nights, and staying on late at work. Luckily WordPress is an extremely easy CMS to use – therefore whipping up a quick post on a lunch break is pretty simple too.

Does the blog have longevity, do you think it will last beyond the Olympics?

I haven’t really thought that far ahead, and I think the appeal for me was in having a set period of time to dedicate to the project. I find it gives the blog more purpose, and allows me to plan better when key events are taking place over the coming months.

I guess, should the blog prove popular long term, it can carry on past 2012. After all, most of the themes that keep pouring from politicians’ mouths is legacy – so I guess you could say the best time to write about it may even be after the event anyway. Newham will forever be the Olympic borough if you ask me – such a dramatic transformation will define this generation and the next.

What comments and feedback have you received about the blog so far?

It’s early days, but reaction has been positive. Right now, I’m building up some good relationships with the key people in the area – the police, the council and so on. Part of this involves simply sending them the link to see if they find it interesting – and so far reactions have been along the lines of “Oh, I didn’t know about that…”. That tells me I’m doing it right, I think.

How do interviewees react when you say what you are reporting for?

I find if I’m absolutely frank about what I’m doing with the stories they are very keen. Normally, when introducing myself, I just say I run a local news blog. When approaching for a story, I make it clear that the story is for the blog – but some stories may be sold to the wider press. Both strategies seem to get the same results – and when it comes to the council and other ‘big’ groups, I think the draw of it being a friendly, local site plays in my favour.

Are you planning to make any money from the blog?

Yes. In two ways – first, selling stories. I’ve placed one so far -  which went down pretty well. They require much more work than most blog posts, so I’m aiming for 1-2 of these per month.

Also, I’m looking to get an advertiser on board. Rather than opting for Google Ads, I’m planning to give it a little bit of thought – and right now I think the most logical option would be something from the property sector. People are flooding to Newham – and estate agents are scrambling to get ahead. Fingers crossed.

How are the stats looking? What are you actively doing to drive traffic?

Stats are decidedly modest – but it is steadily building as more links come in and my Google rank increases. Twitter is a good driver of traffic – and I promote each post, as well as indulging in general chat with followers.

Where do you tend to get your stories from?

I live in the area, and I’m delighted to say I get most of my stories by just keeping my eyes open and seeing what’s happening – or rather just getting in touch with places I know will be affected, such as the local theatre.

I have a rather nifty stream of news coming in from Google Reader – a feed of search terms involving stories about Newham, Olympics, Stratford etc – as well as Google email alerts for any related terms. Twitter is brilliant, a search for ‘Newham’ brings up some really great leads, although that was less useful last month when Snoop Dogg mentioned the “Newham Generals” in his feed, therefore swamping out any other tweets about the area.

Do you stories follow a pre-defined format – in terms of style, content or whatever other rules you may keep to?

I don’t really have a styleguide, but I’m conscious that posts shouldn’t be any longer than they need to be – particularly when I’m dealing with some of the length information that comes from the Olympic press offices.

Content is strictly focused on things caused by the Olympics in Newham. This is quite a wide remit, but it does mean I can filter out any non-Newham specific Olympic news (mainly the sports themselves) and other Newham stories that would have happened whether the Olympics were coming to town or not. It provides a manageable but exciting beat to cover.

Have you enjoyed making the blog so far? Is there anything you’d like to change?

The blog has been fantastic for me so far. Its given me the avenue to stretch my reporting legs in a way my current full-time work at the BBC doesn’t allow.

The only thing I would change is the limitations on my time! I’m in the process of working out how I can get more people involved. I’ve had to pass on two potentially good stories due to work commitments – so being able to call upon some other locals to put in a couple of hours here and there would be really great.

I’m a firm believer in paying for good work, so I’m trying to establish a stronger revenue stream before I go hunting for people to write for me, but I like to think it’s just around the corner.

What advice would you give to others looking to start up their own hyperlocal blog?

Good question – and I’m not sure I’ve been doing it long enough to have learned the real lessons about what works and what doesn’t.

That said, in the couple of months since The Olympic Borough started, it strikes me that the most important thing is to stick rigidly to the area and the subjects you want to cover. You’ll always be scooped by mainstream media on run-of-the-mill stories, but if you narrow out your beat into something defined, a blogger’s more considered approach will potentially dig out stories which the local newspaper men can’t manage. And they’ll be better, of course!