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Hi 

Here is your latest issue of Social Business Bites. 3 items this week:

• My special announcement, at last!
• Social media influencer extraordinaire Guy Kawasaki shares some wisdom
• The ideal length of tweets, blog posts and everything else

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My Special Announcement: VIP Days

I know, this week's issue is late. I apologise, but I had to get my ducks in a row to be able to make the special announcement I've been promising for the past two weeks. So here it is, my new VIP Days.

The VIP Day is for any business owner or entrepreneur who sees value in having my undivided attention for a whole day (or half day) to focus just on his or her business, with a special emphasis on the integration and optimisation of social media with the overall business strategy.

It's by application and there are limited spaces. If you read through what's there on the website and want to get in early for yourself or one of your team (or family), shoot me an email at deswalsh@webartsco.com and I'll give you priority booking and a special deal on the price. Or call me - numbers below.

OK, that's it. Back to normal programming.

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Guy Kawasaki on the Art of Evangelism

If you haven't come across Guy Kawasaki on the social web yet, it's not for want of trying on his part. He's everywhere - especially on Google+ and Twitter.

At one time "chief evangelist" for Apple, Guy is a prolific entrepreneur, author and speaker. This week he has been in the news, even in our local Sydney Morning Herald, for the story that he has taken on the role of evangelist for Sydney-based Aussie startup, Canva.

I found his piece on the Art of Evangelism a great thought-starter, not just for people who see themselves as "evangelists" but for every businessperson/entrepreneur. He has eleven principles for evangelising your product or service. 

The first is Make it Great. With typically direct language he says:

It's very hard to evangelize crap. It's much easier to evangelize great stuff. I learned that the starting point of evangelism is a great product or service.

The Ideal Length of Everything Online, Backed by Research

Did you know that the ideal maximum length of an update on Twitter - a "tweet" - is 100 characters? I didn't, until I read this post, which references research by Buddy Media, indicating that tweets shorter than 100 characters get a 17% higher engagement rate.

This and other research findings on the ideal length of various social media items make this a useful read for anyone who is looking to get the best value from their social media activity.

Some of it goes against "received wisdom". For instance, having been told for years that "people" have short attention spans and any blog post more than 500 words is less likely to be read, I was delighted to read that the optimal length of a blog post is what takes 7 minutes to read, calculated as 1,600 words. I've since seen this finding challenged in an apparently plausible way, but I'm still pleased to now have a better excuse for when I ramble on over that old 500 word "limit".  

The one that staggered me was that the ideal length of a Facebook post is 40 characters. That's less than half the length of that sentence I just wrote. Hmmm.

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Happy Easter for those who celebrate it. Chag sameach for those who are celebrating Pesach. And happy weekend for everyone! 

Till next time

Be well, be social :)

Des

PS: If you are not on the list yet to receive Social Business Bites in your email inbox, and would like to try it, you can register for that at this link (there is an easy unsubscribe link in every update).

PPS: If you have any questions about any of these weekly bites, or - importantly - what you would like to see, or see more of, please email me at deswalsh@webartsco.com and I will do my best to respond usefully.

My contact details

Phone: International +61 413 089 355    Australia 0413 089 355

Skype: deswalsh (if you want to connect with me there, just type in "Social Business Bites" - or email me and we can set it up).

Email: deswalsh@webartsco.com

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