More rural and small town folks are getting on Twitter. As I get to speak to more and more groups about it, I think we need a special guide to link you up with some friendly faces on Twitter and some resources to help you get started. Like a bus full of friends to show you around.
First off, feel free to follow me. I’m @BeckyMcCray. More friendly small town people on Twitter include:
- @JackSchultz / Jack Schultz, author of BoomtownUSA
- @CodyKS / Cody Heitschmidt, Hutchinson, KS
- @ThatTallDude / Shawn Kirsch, Elgin, ND
- @DebWorks / Deb Brown, Iowa
- @OkeiJ / Jeanne Cole, Waynoka, OK
- @SheilaS / Sheila Scarborough, Round Rock, TX
- @LittleTownBlues / Shannon Ehlers, Soldier, Iowa
- @fiberartisan / Mary McRae, Bethlehem, NH
- @WifeLA, Sooke, BC, Canada
- @Smallbonesshop / J. Weeks, Northumberland Cty, Ontario, Canada
- @theSilverBarn / Cynthia Sutton, Columbus, TX, a rural retailer
- @danmcq13 / Dan McCue, Grinnell, IA
- @deswalsh / Des Walsh, Gold Coast, Australia
- @blissmonger / Deb Schanilec, grew up in a small town, now in Detroit
- @jimdraze / Jim Draze, Kaleva, Michigan, is new to Twitter, but willing to help
- @reallifesarah / Sarah , Boone, NC
- @chilliefalls / Chillie Falls, Forest, VA, funnel cake seller
- @stargardener, rural central Oklahoma
- @TraciKnoppe / Traci Knoppe, Sullivan, MO
- @smalltownmarket / Tom Egelhoff, Montana, small town marketing expert
- Think you should be here? I didn’t want to presume to add you without asking. So just email me or leave a comment, and I’ll add your name. :)
Once you follow some of these folks, be sure to say hello to them. Do spell the username right, or they won’t see it! So to connect with @OkieJ, you might tweet this:
@okiej Hi! Found you in the small town Twitter list.
Get the idea? Great!
Here are some more rural resources:
- @RuralTech / John Eich, WI Office of Rural Health. Covers rural health IT, and more.
- @ARSLibraries / ARSL, Association for Rural and Small Libraries
- @BackRoadsNews, Kansas newspaper
- @CLACourtney / Courtney Yuskis, Country Living Association
- @HandMadeAmerica / Megan Williams, Hand Made America
- @MarciPenner / Marci Penner and @WenDeeLaPlant / WenDee LaPlant, Kansas Sampler Foundation
- @MainStOrrville / Darri Wasniewski, Main Street, Orrville, OH
- @OurPatch / Simon van Wyk, focused on regional and rural towns in Australia
- @RuralBroadband / weneedbroadband.com, Longmont, Colorado. Advocating for rural broadband in the US.
Beginning guides to Twitter:
- How to Start Using Twitter – from my friend @PurpleCar / Christine Cavalier, a great starter post
- Social Media Starter Kit: Twitter – my second favorite starter post
- What I know about Twitter – key insights into enjoying Twitter
- Twitter for absolute beginners – several good suggestions to getting started
- Guide to Twitter – The Ultimate Guide for Everything Twitter – Read this one later, after you’re started.
My top tips:
- Fill in your profile and add your photo. I want to know you’re a real person.
- Use Twellow.com to find folks in your industry or your region. It’s like yellow pages for Twitter.
- Share great links and favorite resources. Those are always interesting.
- Let your personality show. We’d love to get to know you a bit better.
- Give it some time. You might not connect with Twitter right away; most people don’t. So give it some time as you get used to using it.
Suggestions? Ideas? People I left out? I did this off the top of my head, so I know there will be. Please, leave them in the comments!
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- About the Author
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Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
I followed them all except for the second one. I used to follow him and hes a dope! lol. Very cool Becky Thanks!!
Becky: Great resource. Thanks for posting!
Jack Schultz
Cody, yeah, yeah. Sure. :)
Jack, glad you like it.
I hope together we can get more rural and small town people to take advantage of technology.
Hi, Becky! I love what you’re doing for small town and rural areas! I am in the NW corner of NC, in Boone, NC. I am founder/editor of HighCountryMomSquad.com, and have been trying to help local businesses and others figure out how Twitter (and other social media)can benefit them. We have been having so much fun empowering businesses and consumers, and reshaping the marketing climate here. I’m on Twitter as @reallifesarah
Great post Becky. I’m honored to be the first on the list outside the US or Canada.
My tip for people wanting to connect well on Twitter. Resist the temptation to link directly to a sales landing page. When I click on the link on your profile I want to find there’s a real human being there, who lives in a real place, has opinions, maybe a dog or a cat even. I don’t make good friends with sales pages :).
Oh, and another tip: when I follow someone back I hate getting an automated DM (direct message) that says in effect “Hi, thanks for following, click here to buy my junk”.
Des, those are great tips, and I completely agree. Make it more about you, and less about “BUY!”
Hi I have a site in Australia focussed entirely on rural and regional towns. We have started to aggregate Twitter by town. When we started there were many towns without Twitter users. Now almost all towns have people using Twitter and I think it’s quite a useful feature. The site is http://www.ourpatch.com.au and our Twitter is @ourpatch if you want news from country Australia.
Hello, Simon. That’s a terrific resource, and I’m happy to add you! Thanks!
Hey, Becky! Love, love your blog! Always informative and inspiring! (And, I needed a little kick this afternoon!)
As you know, in my neck of the woods (rural area south of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) I co-founded a group of women business owners who meet Friday mornings at a local cafe. We brainstorm and support one another in our home-based and small business endeavors.
From those discussions (and other personal research) I blog resources and posts at: http://ruralbusinessdevelopment.wordpress.com
The mission of the blog, Rural Business Development, is to provide a no-cost, easily-accessible resource for freelance, home-based and small businesses serving rural areas.
@stargardener
StarGardner, I will add you! Love what you do with small towns and small businesses!
Thanks Becky … I found this list of resources really beneficial. And glad to see @ruralbroadband make the cut too!
Hi Becky! What an awesome concept for a site. Just found you today. Would love to be added to your list: @TraciKnoppe, Sullivan, MO.
Julie, very happy to have you on the list.
Traci, happy to add you, as well. Welcome!
Great post, we are for the whole State of North Carolina and link small towns with our contest. Race to One Million on twitter@4northcarolina or http://twitter.com/4northcarolina Come join the fun.
Very great resource! I’m loving twitter! Thanks for the ideas!
Great blog…I thought you should know about a great resource for finding Twitter users near you:
http://www.localtweeps.com