#70: How to Brand Yourself and Live-Tweet to Create FOMO, with May King Tsang

In this episode, May King Tsang shares some simple tips, including how to brand yourself and live-tweet to create FOMO (fear of missing out). She talks about the distinct niche she has carved out for herself as a “FOMO creator” – meaning she live-tweets at events to generate excitement and ramp up the “fear of missing out” factor.

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This podcast episode is brought to you by the #TwitterSmarter Twitter chat. Each week, I host this chat and bring together hundreds of people in an active one-hour discussion revolving around Twitter marketing. It’s every Thursday at 1pm ET. Hope to see you there!

My Favorite Quotes

“Your brand is the way you speak, the way you come across, the way you look. It's all deliberate.” – May King TsangClick To Tweet “When you live-tweet, if you tweet often enough, people see your name. You are actually giving yourself free publicity for your business, and you never know where it leads.” – May King TsangClick To Tweet

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Transcript

Madalyn Sklar: Hey, May King! Thank you so much for joining the #TwitterSmarter Podcast. I am so happy to have you here as my special guest. The question I have for you is what are your best Twitter tips?

May King Tsang: My best Twitter tips? I think that, um, a lot of people who are thinking of going onto Twitter or, um, are, curious about Twitter … I think that, um, one of the things that they are worried about is it’s noisy. So I think one of the tips that I would recommend is to create a list so that you can cut out all the noise.

I never click on the home button because that’s where all the noise is, you know. They’ve got lots of people talking about all sorts of things, politics, celebrity news and all the rest of it. So I create lists so that I can listen to the people that I am interested in talking to – you know, the people that, that inspire me. And that helps me to focus so that I don’t get drawn into all the noisy background. So that was one of the tips that I would recommend.

A second one is consistency. So if you want to get known for what it is you do, you need to … you know, you need to turn up, but you need to turn up regularly.

Uh, so I have the great fortune of, uh, building my business in London. ‘Had the opportunity to relocate to Australia. Had to start my business from scratch there. Was there for six years, and I came back to the U.K. just over three years ago. So I’ve effectively had to start my business again from scratch. So I …

The advice I’m giving you is exactly what I did for my business, which is to be consistent. So I participated in Twitter chats in order to get known for what it is I do.

And, uh, I’m, for those who don’t know what a Twitter chat is, it’s basically like a TV program that happens every week, same hour, every week. And they … maybe a guest and a host who are talking about particular subject and answering particular questions.

But the most amazing thing is that anyone can go in and share their words of wisdom, lots of little side conversations that are happening, but all under the same program name, which could be a hashtag called #TwitterSmarter or something like that.

So, um, so yeah, so my first tip was to create lists. And the second, um, tip is to appear in Twitter chats and appear often, help other people. And that’s how you can get your brand and your business known.

Madalyn Sklar: I love that. Chats are such a great way to connect with like-minded people. That that’s what’s so great. You know, like people that you have similar interests with. And I see you on Twitter chats all the time, and you have a great presence on there, uh, because you’re consistent, you know. It’s like people get to know you, and, uh, that’s how I’ve gotten to know you through Twitter. What are some of the chats that you like to participate in?

May King Tsang: So, um, well my Twitter name is MayKingTea, so my first name is May King and my Twitter name is MayKingTea tonight. Tadaa! Um, one of my favorite chats is Tea Hour. So, uh, in the U.K. On the Tuesday 7 p.m., lots of tea folk get together and we talk about team, which, uh, knowledge about tea. So I, uh, I participate in that.

Um, from time to time I used to participate in, um, uh, a Twitter chat called a success … Success Hour, which is again in the U.K., Uh, at 9 pm … And, uh, it’s all business, uh, business owners up and down the country. Uh, just, uh, talking about a particular subject.

And another Twitter chat that I used to participate in is, uh, on a Wednesday, um, which was Mompreneurs so M and C Hour. So it’s just helping a lot of, um, mums really, uh, about, uh, various aspects of business. So they’re the three that I am, that I started doing consistently. Uh, first one when I came back to the U.K. And then, then again I to participate in other, uh, Twitter chats to do with our social media, that kind of stuff.

Um, I’m recently, um, our good friend Tim from Stoneham Press … You know, I love my friend Tim who, um, uh, has a business in self-publishing. He actually has a Twitter chat at, uh, I think it’s eight o’clock on, uh, on a Tuesday, uh, called #IndieAuthorchat, helping, um, authors to get, you know, uh, to self-publish. So that’s a really fun one as well.

Madalyn Sklar: Yeah, I’m so thrilled that Tim started a Twitter chat. He’s been a regular on #TwitterSmarter and #SocialROI that I used to also host. And uh, he’s very good at being consistent. I mean, he shows up everywhere.

Madalyn Sklar: And that’s …

May King Tsang: Oh, He’s amazing. Yeah.

Madalyn Sklar: … a way to get known. Yeah. That is so great. Um, let’s stay on Twitter chats a minute ’cause I love talk … This is one of my favorite things to talk about. What has been the benefit for you? Like what’s like the biggest thing that’s come out of just being present on Twitter chats for you?

May King Tsang: Oh, it’s just to get back into business really. So, as I say, because I moved away from the U.K., I had to effectively start from scratch. And so building relationships with people, getting to know people was really important for me and seeing if there was ways in which I could help other people.

And what has been phenomenal is that people have helped me. So, um, you know, so I did have a tea business. I did use to start tea – uh, I did used to sell tea. And then I became a tea consultant.

And so for the first year that I came back, um, you know, people started to know me for tea as well as the FOMO creator stuff, which I’ll talk about later. And so when, um, I mean another great thing that, um, Twitter is great for is that this is where all the journalists hang out. This is why they are looking for those amazing stories.

So whenever I talk about Twitter, I do recommend that, you know, search for the “#journorequest” or a “#PRrequest” or “#HARO,” which is “Help A Reporter Out.” And you never know when the journalist is actually looking for someone in your industry.

And so a couple of years ago, um, someone put out a call for, um, a tea expert. And it ended up, my name popped up everywhere: “You’ve got to talk to MayKingTea. You’ve got to talk to MayKingTea.” And it was because I was getting involved in other Twitter chats helping other people.

People started to get to know my name because I turned up every week. Uh, and so that’s why people recommended me. And I ended up being on radio, being on TV, being in a national magazine, uh, working with a dairy board, um, working with Cup of Tea and other brands as a result of other people recommending me.

So I had a lot of inbound inquiries as a result of my presence on Twitter. So Twitter chats are great for that. If you … Just like if you go to a networking events, you know: If you can make an impact on somebody, and they remember you, then they can be your greatest salesperson. And that’s what’s Twitter chats are great for.

Madalyn Sklar: That is awesome. I love hearing you talk about that. Um, that is so great. And you mentioned some really good Twitter Chats. I’ll definitely make sure those are linked up in the show notes. I love how you always do a play on words with tea and, and when you do tweets, how you will, you know, put in all caps “T-E-A” and find cute ways of doing that. And that a great way to stand out because you’re like the only person I ever see that, that does this play on words as as much as possible. And it’s just memorable.

May King Tsang: Yeah. Thank you for saying that, Madalyn. And it is quite on purpose. It’s to do personal branding. You know, if you are going to stand out in a room or in, on Twitter or on social media, it’s your personal branding.

So how do you speak, how do you come across? Um, you know, we’re on audio right now, but, uh, you know, if we were on video, I, uh, tend to wear a hat, you know, because I’m so small, small Chinese, uh, you know. I want to be memorable, so I wear a hat. Uh, but it’s also to help my, uh, my friends who’s a vegan hat designer as well.

So, you know, what are the ways in which you can make your business stand out? Well, of course it’s your knowledge. Of course. It’s uh, you know, where you can help other people. But yeah, your brand is the way you speak, the way you come across, the way you look, it’s all deliberate.

So, uh, I, you know, I happen to love tea. I like to make, make people giggle. Um, because my name is May King, and it’s spelled M-A-Y K-I-N-G. I actually don’t spell the word “making” in the way that it’s spelled. So I spell it M-A-Y-K-I-N-G. again, just to make people giggle and hopefully to, um, you know … It might make people, um, remember me. So it’s, you know, things like “mayking it happen” or “mayking friends,” “mayking connections.” I always spell it M-A-Y-K-I-N-G.

Madalyn Sklar: Well it makes you stand out, which is awesome. And you know, personal branding is so incredibly important. I think you do a phenomenal job of getting people to know, like, and trust you through your tweets. You’re like, when you’re talking about Twitter chats and, and showing up, being there, being present, I’m not surprised that people then refer business to you or tell other people about you and having all those great successes happen from that.

You’re definitely memorable. I mean, I’m on Twitter chats. I see so many people, and you have always stood out to me with the way you brand yourself. And then in person too, we met at Social Media Marketing World in person. And, you know, you portray yourself on Twitter exactly how you are in person. Um, you know, when I saw you, I’m like, I know exactly who that is. And, and that’s how it should be.

You know, sometimes people, you, you don’t even recognize them, uh, because they’re not always like maybe not putting out the right brand or content to match who they really are when you bump into them in person. But you do a great job.

May King Tsang: Thank you so much. I didn’t, you know, I was absolutely stoked. I didn’t know that you knew who I was, so when you said hello, I was like, “Oh my God. Madalyn Sklar knows me. That’s incredible. You know?” Um, I, you’re right, you know.

There are a lot of people who portray a particular image online. And unfortunately, you know, I have met some people who haven’t been the same person when I’ve met them in a real life. And I think it’s a real shame that they have to try and fake it like that and project, you know, particular image.

But, so I do my best to be exactly who I am. And, you know, in business it’s not always a good, you know, good stuff. There are, you know, we do have peaks and troughs in our business, so don’t share all of my troughs. Um, but I do, you know, sometimes I will share, you know, things that you know, didn’t go so well. And I think that it’s important to share that, um, and to support each other really.

And, you know, sometimes when I feel my lowest point, and I, you know … I’ve, um, you know … Early in the summer, I had a quiet summer, and so, you know, I was putting out proposals and that I got rejection after rejection. I think there was the fifth rejection, I was failing really, you know, uh, doubt to myself, “what am I doing,” uh, you know. Am doing … Am I in the right business? What am I doing?” And I put a post out on Twitter, um, and some of the other platforms as well. And the amount of support that I got was incredible, you know.

And, uh, and so some people put it into context for me as well. And that’s what’s great about Twitter. You really get to build some great friendships, you know. People are so honest and open with you. And I get lots of public messages, direct messages of support on that particular tweet. Uh, and it was incredible.

So yeah, I do like to … I mean this is … You know, the word “authentic” has been bantered around quite a bit. Uh, and there’s a lot of inauthentic people out there. But I am pretty much, yeah, I’m pretty much who I am on all audio, on video, on my tweets, uh. And I try to, I stay true to myself as much as possible. I think it’s important.

Madalyn Sklar: I totally agree 100%. And you know, speaking of like community on Twitter, you’re part of a group that has grown tremendously called SMBesties. Like the #SMBesties that you know, is such an interesting way to see a group of people come together that’s separate from a Twitter chat because when we think of hashtags and coming together on a regular day and time each week we think of a Twitter chat.

But y’all actually have a group where y’all support each other. You help each other and it’s all based on a hashtag and not at a certain date and time. Can you talk a little bit about that because I think a lot of people don’t realize you can do something like that.

We all know that we can have a group of people in the private messages on, on Facebook, do Facebook messenger and have a group conversation that’s private. We can also do that as a DM on Twitter. And I think a lot of people don’t realize you can do group DMs over on Twitter.
But this is public, uh, ’cause you’re utilizing hashtag. You’re doing public tweets. Uh, can you talk a little bit about that because I find it really interesting. I think a lot of people will be surprised to know that you could do something like this where it’s not quite a Twitter chat, but it’s a community of like-minded people.

May King Tsang: Yeah, it’s on, it’s an absolutely incredible. I mean I’m, I don’t quite remember how it originated, but very quickly people from around the world were getting involved in SMBesties. And like you said, it’s not a weekly commitment, but it was just a group of people who love Twitter and who were friends from around the world.

And when we met up … You know, we met up in real life at Social Media Marketing World last year. We also met up at Marketed Live, which is an amazing conference that just happened this week. But we met there last year in Nottingham in the U.K,. Um, and you know, a lot of people do, um, connects with each other on social media, and there’s nothing more powerful than connecting in real life after you’ve gotten to know them on Twitter or other platforms.

So, so #SMBesties was just a way that we can just connect with each other, and someone can ask a question and we can all interject with our words of wisdom. Um, and it grew very, very big, very, very quickly. Uh, one of the other things that people may or may not know about Twitter is that if it, you know, if there is a particular sector or a certain, someone that does get particularly noisy and they tweet a lot, you can mute it for a while.

Madalyn Sklar: Right.

May King Tsang: So I do know that, you know, so people have, uh, you know, have muted the conversations because it’s been too much. But then they can go back in. And, and that’s what’s great about SMBesties, uh, in that, you know, we don’t feel obliged to commit. We don’t feel obliged to, uh, comment on everything, you know. And we just dip in and out.

And, and it’s, like I said, it’s just created some incredible friendships, incredible relationships. Uh, I’m confident that work has been created as a result, uh. But meeting people like in real life has just been incredible.

So, um, yeah, SMBesties, we talk about all sorts really. Um, it’s a little bit quiet at the moment. Uh, I guess we’re all, you know, ramping up after, uh, after summer. Uh, I know, well, I know for my business, uh, the fall, um, is certainly getting busier. Look at me talking like an American: “the fall.” (laughing).

Madalyn Sklar: (laughing).

May King Tsang: So, um, so yes. Um, you know, autumn, uh, uh, October, November is going to get busier for me. And, uh, I’m, um, you know, I think other businesses will start to get busy as well. And then of course you’ve got December. So, uh, SMBesties has… Been quiet for awhile, but you know, it never really never really goes away. We, you know, we’re all still great friends.

Madalyn Sklar: That is so great. It’s like a mastermind group on Twitter, you know, um, which I think could turn into a total movement. You know, just … I think people weed themselves out when they’re not the right fit. And like you said, you can always mute someone. Um, if you don’t want to unfollow them but just not have them be, you know, you don’t have to keep seeing them in the conversation if they like are turning you off. But, uh, that’s so cool: the “S-M” for “social media,” I imagine. Right? Social Media Besties?

May King Tsang: Yes.

Madalyn Sklar: “SM” for short, ’cause a short hashtag is always a good thing if you can pull that off.

May King Tsang: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Madalyn Sklar: Cool. What other cool tips do you have for us today?

May King Tsang: So I mentioned about, you know, how I, um, I came back to U.K., Uh, did what I, um, I’m familiar with, which is a, uh, tea consultancy. But one thing that I have always loved is, uh, live-tweeting.

I’m a professional live tweeter and people giggle when I say that. They say, “Is that a thing?” I say, “Yeah, it is a thing.” Um, and Twitter is always the place to go for live events, for breaking news. Um, you know, for having to look at what are the conversations that people are having at the moment.

So, you know, if you are thinking of holding a conference or you’ve got a workshop, the, you know, you want to draw more attention to it. And so, um, tweeting is what I do. Uh, and so I will listen to the speakers of the conference and tweet what they say, little words of wisdom. Uh, and it’s almost like I can, it’s really fun because I thought everybody could do it.

And when I spoke on a panel in London about Twitter, the host came to me and says, “How do you do that? How do you tweet and listen at the same time?” And you know, in my head I was thinking, “Well, you’re male, so obviously you can’t do two things at the same time.”

Madalyn Sklar: (laughing).

May King Tsang: But actually he made me question my talent, and I thought, actually, do you know what? I think he’s, I think he’s right. You know, for some reason I’m able to listen to the next golden nugget whilst I’m tweeting the existing golden nugget and just do it constantly for several hours.

And what it enables is, uh, for, uh, an event organizer is not just to capture the audience but capture those on Twitter who weren’t able to come to the event or were sitting on the fence, sitting on the fence about the event. And if they’re sitting on the fence, and then suddenly they see all these tweets about how amazing this conference is, then hopefully it will help them to book on to the next conference.

So, this year, I actually extended my portfolio, to not just tweeting but to Instagram and LinkedIn and Facebook. And with the help of our dear friends Andrew and Pete, um, they came up with the name “FOMO creator,” and I just think it’s great, you know: fear of missing out.

And it is about … what I do is capture the excitement of a conference or workshop, a music festival. Uh, I even FOMO’d for an up and coming music artist while she was doing her video shoots. Uh, I’ve done workshops, as well. And I capture that on Twitter, on Instagram, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, via videos or photographs or quotes or captions, uh, interviewing, uh, attendees, speakers, sponsors, that kind of stuff. Uh, I’ll put it out on social media.

Um, so with Andrew and Pete, they have their conference in March, and, um, there were 350 people there. Um, and, um, they … I think in total we reached 28.5 million people that day. Uh, it was on the same day as the International Women’s Day. And, uh, because I was tweeting on their behalf and Facebooking and Instagramming and so on, I myself managed to reach 17 million of the 28.5 million, uh, just using my smartphone and a microphone.

And, uh, and the best thing was, was that, um, you know, the whole idea was to create that excitement, create that FOMO so that people will book on to their next conference, and within a week 425 tickets were sold for that conference for that next year.

Madalyn Sklar: Wow.

May King Tsang: So, um, you know, they, they wanted to sell tickets. Um, they hired the FOMO creator. That’s what I did, and then they were very happy with my work.

Madalyn Sklar: That is an amazing story, but it really works. I mean it really can work. You know, live-tweeting, which is fun to do, and people see that and they want to be there at the next event because they do feel like they’re missing out. They got that FOMO going on.

Um, I, I have a story with that at Social Media Marketing World. Um, my … I don’t think it was the first year, I think it was the second year I spoke there. I wanted to host the #TwitterSmarter chat live.

If I’m traveling, and it happens to be on a Thursday, I like to do it live and just, we still do the chat normal. But I like to like say, “Hey everybody, if you want, if you’re here, come hang out with me. And let’s all sit at a big table and do this all together in person while we’re tweeting away.”

And uh, a couple of my TwitterSmarter volunteers were there at the conference, so we got a group of us together, and we’re taking pictures and we’re having fun and we’re live streaming it, as well. And there was some serious FOMO going on.

And there were people saying, “I’m going to be there next year. I have to be there next year. I missing out, and I hate that I’m missing out.” And sure enough, the next year, some of those people that participated on the chat came the next year and been coming back ever since. So it really works.

May King Tsang: It really does. And you know, uh, I, you know, I, I talked about earlier how I got a, um, you know, five rejections over the summer. And some of the rejections are, “You know what, May King? We’ve already got social media team. We don’t need you. Thank you very much.”

Um, and the thing is, is that the social media team are quite often doing other things on the same day of the conference. Their checking that the audio is OK. They’re checking if the speakers are OK. They’re checking if the lunch has come on time, you know, other bits and pieces as well. And they can’t tweet as much as I can.

You know, in another conference that I did, uh, there were 2,000 tweets that went out, and I was tweeting for the conference organizer, for an additional agency, as well as myself. And of those 2,000 tweets that went out, 1,249 of them were from the accounts that I tweeted …

Madalyn Sklar: Wow.

May King Tsang: Yeah. And we reached, um, I think it was 7 million for that conference. It was a small conference. So, you know, um. And in fact, I was talking to a lady this morning who is from the U.K., and we were talking about, um, a conference who again said, “We’ve got our own social media team. Thank you very much.” And we had a quick look at their tweets. We won’t mention the conference, of course, but they were ever so proud of themselves because they tweeted twice for each speaker, and they felt that they have their job done.

Madalyn Sklar: Oh wow.

May King Tsang: Twice. (Laughs)

Madalyn Sklar: (Laughs) That’s not very much.

May King Tsang: It’s not very much, you know. So I mean, if you want to, you know … The best place for a conference to sell tickets for next year’s conference is at this very conference. You create content, you know. You tweet; you, uh, Instagram; you do interviews.

And because I’ve been watching lots of journalists over the years, you know, I love, um, Steve Colbert. I love him so much. Uh, and uh, and The Late Show, um. Oh, what’s the chap called? Uh, I’ve forgotten. Um, he’s taken, he’s been taken over by a, a South African now. Um, anyway, it was a political satirical show in America. And then there’s lots of, uh, great journalists that I, uh, that I follow here, like a Parkinson, uh, Terry Wogan, uh, Graham Norton, who interview some great people. And I, I’ve been studying all my life, I think really, ’cause I’ve always … I kind of always wants to be a journalist, but my parents said, no, go, go get a proper job. (laughs).

Madalyn Sklar: (laughs)

May King Tsang: And then I became … And then I became a FOMO creator, so never mind. But, um, but I’ve been studying how they interview. And so I’ve been, you know, I’ve been practicing interviewing – and so, you know, just getting the best out of people and catching that excitement because, you know, a lot of people who sit on a fence on the conference might be thinking, “Well, Is it worth the money? Is it worth my investment? Is it for a business like me?”

And so by interviewing, um, attendees, and hopefully people will be able to say, “Oh, OK, well, well, you know, they do similar things that things that I do and maybe it is a, it is the right thing for me.” So, um, so yeah, so a lot of conferences, um, you know … some of them who are facing resistance because they think, “Oh well it’s a luxury” that they don’t need. “We’ll worry about the marketing in three months time,” you know, that kind of thing.

Madalyn Sklar: Right.

May King Tsang: Um, I, I think that, you know, the, they’re kind of missing a trick. If they can capture the excitement all day and just break the internet, which I’m very good at doing. Twitter has blocked me several times thinking I’m a robot because I tweet so much.

Um, you know, capturing that excitement and then using that as your marketing collateral for the next conference is probably the best thing that you can do. And so Twitter is always going to be the place for capturing, um, you know, those live moments, live conferences, festivals, and so on. Uh, and that’s what I love doing.

Madalyn Sklar: Well, I noticed at conferences you’re live tweeting at that you always show up in the leaderboard, like at the top with the most tweets. And what was it, Social Media Marketing World in 2019 … Weren’t you like the top tweeter? Like you had like the most tweets during that time?

May King Tsang: I was. Yes. So the first time I went, uh, so the first time I went I was number three, and I didn’t know it was a competition. Um, and actually tweeting, live-tweeting is the way that I take notes. So I would look at my notes later on anyway. Uh, but on the first year that I went, I was actually tapping away on the computer as well as live-tweeting. And so that’s why I became third. And then, uh, and then last year, sorry, this year, yeah, I just made it my mission. (laughing).

Madalyn Sklar: (laughing)

May King Tsang: Because …

Madalyn Sklar: You were like way ahead of everybody. I was … I mean … I, everybody knows me for tweeting. And I try to balance … I don’t want to do too much live-tw… I want to try to be present, as well. But I also am a big believer in sharing what your learning so other … because there are going to be people there watching the hashtag that want to be there, that can’t be there.

And they’re relying on you to basically be a journalist for the conference. And so I always feel obligated to, to share, and be that person that helps out. And I love that more and more people are doing this. Um, and I love that, you know, you’re on a mission to, to share all of this great knowledge happening at a conference.

I love that you’re interviewing attendees. Um, I know at Social Media Marketing World, seeing your videos with you, with your microphone, and you look like a journalist. You’re very pro with it. It’s really cool. So I don’t see any reason why a conference wouldn’t want to hire you because you’re so well rounded with this. You’re not just live-tweeting. You’re interviewing … You do it … You incorporate video. You’re doing so many things. And I think that’s just amazing. I just think that’s a great thing you’re doing.

May King Tsang: Thank you so much. And you know the other thing, as well, is that for attendees, like you say, it is nice to be present. Oh absolutely. And don’t get me wrong when I see people I’ll hug them, and I’ll talk to them.

And you know, one of the best things about Social Media Marketing World is the networking. That said, though, I have had situations where people see my tweets, and they found me and then their wants to converse with me as a result.

I mean there’s an incredible story. Um, one of the questions that I, I know you’re gonna ask me soon … and it is kind of a nice segue into this, about the, uh, the tools that I use for Twitter. Um, so, uh, I … You know, I, I receive a lot of notifications. I see a lot of tweets. And it was almost serendipitous that this tweet came along from this chap Chris Strub.

And he said, “I’m going to Social Media Marketing World for the first time. Is anybody else going?” Well, I remember how, um, a speaker Nicky Kriel, who spoke at Twitter in the first year that I went, she tweeted that she was going to be there. And she gave me such a warm hug on Twitter. And then when we met in real life, she just made me feel so welcome ’cause it was the first time I was going.

I only knew about Tim Lewis on Twitter. I’d never met him in real life before. Um, so I didn’t really know anyone going out there, so I was a little bit nervous. Um, and, and so because of the warmth that was bestowed on me, I felt I would bestow a lot of warmth to Chris. So I said, “Well, I’m going. It’s my second year. Watch out for me. I’ll be the one with the hat – I’m small, Chinese, uh, wearing a hat with a big belly laugh. Watch out for it.”

Well, a few of my Twitter followers said, “Go and find May King. Track her down at the networking event the evening before Social Media Marketing because she is an amazing woman.” I thought, “Oh, that was really, really nice.” So anyway, we were networking away in San Diego. Someone was cracking a joke. I was laughing away. And I’ve got a big belly laugh, and Chris looked up and it was me. And so he said, “Oh my God, May King. You’re here.”

So we hugged, hugged it out and stuff, and then I actually did an interview with him. Uh, so he worked for a company called “Lately,” and they’re on Twitter as “TryLately.” And they have some incredible software in that they will read your blog posts, and they will generate tweets for you or social media posts for you using A.I.

So I used to do this for myself. I used to read my own blog posts and create some tweets and then schedule them to run. But it would take, you know, a good 10, 15 minutes to read through it and think of the tweets that I can do. So Try Lately does this in seconds, which is incredible. And you can share to all the tweets or LinkedIn posts or social media posts or Instagram posts at your leisure. It’s incredible.

And, uh, and so we did a quick interview. He showed me how, how it was used. ‘Loved it. And now I, I use a program for me and some of my clients. So, um, so yeah, so, you know, meeting people, uh, online on Twitter, meeting them in real life, you never know where it’s actually going to go.

And when you live-tweet, if you tweet often enough, people see your name. You are actually giving yourself free publicity for your business, and you never know where it leads. So I have had people come up to me because they saw my tweets, and then we’ve gotten into conversation.

And then we’ve taken our relationships in that level. So live-tweeting is great too great for sharing information for people, but it’s also great for your business. It’s great to give, you know, P.R. for your own business really.

Madalyn Sklar: That is so incredibly true. And if anybody who’s listening is like, “Oh my gosh, I got to start live-tweeting more at conferences and events, I’m going to say back up for a moment. The first thing you want to do is make sure you have a good profile because you’re so right.

It gets you out there. People see you, but if you have a crappy bio, no crappy photo, they’re going to be like, “Oh, look at these amazing tweets. Who is this person? They click on your profile and they’re like, “Oh, this doesn’t seem interesting at all.

So I think it’s always smart to do an audit of your Twitter account before you go to a conference and event and tweet just to make sure everything is … on in your bio. You got a great photo that looks like you so people recognize you when you’re there. And just, you know, spruce it up because you’re, you’re so right. It is a way to market yourself for sure.

May King Tsang: Yeah. And, and the also on the money, Madalyn. I mean, I have, unfortunately, met a few people who’ve put up a profile picture of when they were 18, so when I met them in real life, it was just, you know, completely different person.

And you know, again, you know, we talked about that word “authentic.” Now I know you look great at 18, but we’ve gotta be real. We do have double chins. We do have gray hair. Get over it. I’ve gotten over it. Well, you know, sometimes I have a bit of cry at home, but you know, it is what it is.

You know, if you want to be, you know, if you want to market your business in the best light then get a great photographer. But don’t take a picture of when you were 18. And complete your profile, as well. So you know, we’ve got 160 characters to impress somebody. Make sure you put your um, you know, your website in there.

If you’ve got a personalized brand, a branded hashtag, you know, you could possibly include that. And of course your cover page … Your cover board at the top is your billboard. So you’ve got, you know, seven seconds to impress somebody when they’re on their laptop. You’ve got four seconds to impress somebody on their smartphone ’cause we’re all physical creatures aren’t we?

We’ve all got the attention span of a gnat. So make your cover page count, you know. So you can either … With your cover page, actually, use something like Canva to create a billboard that says exactly what it is you do. If you’ve got an up and coming conference coming up or you’ve got a, you know, a downloadable PDF that you’d like to share with people or you’ve got a Twitter chat that you do every week, you know, create a cover board that does that. Or you can take a snapshot of you in action, whatever it is you do.

So, you know, I’m a FOMO creator. I’m professional live tweeter. I’m a speaker. So I’ve got a montage of some of the things that I do as my cover page.

Madalyn Sklar: That’s a smart way to do it, for sure. Um, I’m glad you mentioned, uh, Lately. So, Try Lately is a great tool. I’ve tried it out. It’s very cool. Are there any other tools that you like to use, um, when you’re using Twitter?

May King Tsang: Um, so I, I am a big fan of um … (laughing) I’m such a big fan I can’t remember what it’s called now. (laughing).

Madalyn Sklar: (laughing). You use them so much.

May King Tsang: (laughing) TweetDeck! That’s it! Yes.

Madalyn Sklar: Yes.

May King Tsang: When I’m involved in a … Yeah. So when I’m involved in, um, uh, a Twitter chat. It’s a oldie but a goodie, um, because you know, with a hashtag, there are lots of conversations going on with lots of different people, and you can’t necessarily track them. So creating columns, which TweetDeck allows you to do to monitor certain things, um, that really, really helps me.

But for me, actually I, I just use the Twitter app really now and again, um, because uh, it seems to be permissible now for you to, uh, create content in one platform and share it in another, not have it automatically post from one to another. But you know, you can copy and paste or whatever.

Um, so earlier in the year I was FOMO creating and speaking at, um, an event in London: Janet Murray’s fabulous Build Your Audience Live Conference. And, uh, one of the, well, one of the audience members, she actually, um, announced, uh, an app that she uses, which is called Twimmage, which I love. And so, you may have created a tweet, a text-based tweet, and you can recreate that into a lovely graphic, a lovely image, which you can then put onto Instagram or onto another platform.

So, you know, when I did FOMO creating for Janet at Build Your Audience Live, I had some lovely testimonials from people. You know, people were texting and tweeting with me. And so I created them, branded them up, um, using my corporate colors and popped them into Instagram, which is always, you know, a nice, uh, nice, reminder of, um, of how well you do in business.

So, um, so yeah, so I use Twimmage from time to time. But I, um, and I also use a caption, um, tools as well. So when I’m doing videos, um, uh, if you, uh, yeah, when I do videos, uh, then, uh, I, uh, I use, uh … Because I use an iPhone, I use, um, a platform called, um, Clipomatic. But a lot of my, yeah … So it enables you to capture a minute of captions through AI. And you can go in and make changes to your, uh, to the audio, of course, ’cause it doesn’t understand my northern accent. (laughing).

Madalyn Sklar: (laughing).

May King Tsang: Um, so, so yeah, so I, I use that, but there’s a, um, another one that’s come into my radar, which is called Quicc. So it’s Q-U-I double C. And they are on Twitter’s Quicc app, I believe. Now they are a startup in (inaudible), and I love supporting, um, you know, companies that are, you know, that are starters that … especially if I’ve met them.

And so Chrissy Buck is actually coming to the U.K. I’m very excited, um, that she’s coming over. And she is, um, uh, she’s going to actually … We’re actually going to be working together, uh, in using that app and raising awareness about it, which I’m very, very excited about.

So, yeah. Um, when I create videos, sometimes when I tweet, I don’t do it with everybody because, you know, people follow me and unfollow me all the time. Um, but again, it’s just, I don’t know. I love how the universe conspires with you to make things happen. And I don’t know why, but sometimes I feel compelled to do a video for a particular person.

And so I remember this chap following me. And so, um, I had a quick look at his profile, and I thought, he sounds like an interesting chap. So I did a quick video. I said, Hey, I like to thank you so much for following me. I look forward to learning from you. And I did some captions at the bottom, and he was absolutely stoked. He just felt it was the most beautiful thing that I connected with him personally.

We got chatting and then, um, you know, and now I’m going to be FOMO creating for him, for his conference, for the financial sector, uh, later this year. So, um, so videos are a great way of, you know, making that real personal connection. Uh, and uh, yeah, so I kind of kind of went off on a tangent there. Um,

Madalyn Sklar: No. This is great. I love it. Personalized videos are awesome.

May King Tsang: Thank you. So, yeah, so those are some of the videos that I do ’cause I think I remember, um, I think it was yourself who insists instigated a, uh, video replies, isn’t it? Yeah,

Madalyn Sklar: Oh yeah. I was on a mission: Video Reply Day.

May King Tsang: Yeah.

Madalyn Sklar: I was on a mission to get more people utilizing it because what a great way to connect with people instead of just doing a simple tweet, reply, do it with a video and where you actually can talk to them. And I’ve had so many people say to me over the years, like “Madalyn, I remember the first time you reached out to me or you replied to me and you sent me a video and you made me feel so welcome” or “You just made me feel really good.” And I, you know, it was powerful.

But unfortunately, Twitter has made changes to the mobile app now with their newer camera this year where you cannot do a video reply within Twitter. Like, if you reply to a tweet and you open up the camera, it doesn’t … it only lets you open up photos and videos that are already in your camera roll. And it’s very frustrating. I do not understand the reasoning behind that because of, you know, you can still do a video reply, but you got to go out of the app, open up your camera, make a little video, go back into the app and upload it. And that’s a lot of extra steps.

May King Tsang: It is. Yeah. And I was quite disappointed to see that. But um, but yeah, I remember seeing some of your videos. And I think that, you know what, one of the things that I talk about on Twitter when I’m hyped to talk about Twitter is I’ll often ask the question, “How many of you lurk? Come on. Put your hands up.”

And you know, there’s a few people who are sniggering away in the back there. But we do, we, you know, we, we, we’re all nosey people. And we do have a, have a nosey. And we may have read or watched a video, but we don’t thank them. We don’t give them a, like, we don’t reply to say “Thank you” or “Thanks for sharing” um, just because we’ve got busy lives, you know. It’s not because we’re horrible people.

And so doing a video is more likely to interrupt somebody’s day, you know, as they’re scrolling through their feed. And so even though you’re doing a video that’s personal to one person, you’re actually connecting with many people who’ve lurked on that video. And I always liken Twitter to a, to a party, you know, we’ve all been to a party, right Madalyn? You’ve been invited to a party, haven’t you?

Madalyn Sklar: Oh yeah. (laughing)

May King Tsang: (laughing) And so, you know, at times when we are, um, in a circle of people, they’ll be two people talking, and the rest of the … rest of the people in the circle are listening, waiting for that moment to interject with our words of wisdom. And that’s how the natural flow of conversation goes in a party.

And that is basically what Twitter is. You know, you can go into that party setting – more formally in the form of a Twitter chat, or you can just literally listen into a conversation and just interject.

You know, I did that, uh, today. I noticed a chap who liked one of my tweets, um, no sorry, one of my friend’s tweets that I was tagged in. And he, he holds, he runs a podcast, and I thought he may be interested to know that there’s actually a podcast event that’s happening in November, um, outside of London. And, uh, I just thought I’d … You know, so I tweeted with him. I said, “Oh, hey,” you know. I noticed that you were liking Go Cambridge Social Day’s tweets. I’m not sure if this is your cup of tea, but I thought you might be interested that there’s a podcast, um, event that’s coming out where all podcasters up and down the country and around the world, they’re actually coming, helping others to get started, to grow, to monetize under … you know, you might, it might be of interest to you.”

So Twitter’s great for that. You can just dip in and out of conversations, and people don’t think you’re intruding. You don’t need to say, “Oh hi. My name is May King.” All that information’s there. If you’ve done your bio correctly, people know who you are. You just get into the conversation.

Madalyn Sklar: Yeah. It’s such great advice. I love this. I feel like I could talk to you all day because you are so knowledgeable with Twitter. You have great tips and strategies to share. This is just incredible. And I’ll make sure the show notes have links to all these different tools you’re talking about.

Some of these are really interesting. Twimmage I have not heard of. Um, so I’m definitely going to have to go take a look at that and learn more about how that one works. Um, so tell us how can, can people get in touch with you if they want to like start tweeting with you and learn about the things you do. What’s the link to your Twitter, and do you have a website you want to send people to?

May King Tsang: So, um, my Twitter name is MayKingTea. M-A-Y-K-I-N-G-T-E-A. And if you just want to get started, just tweet with me. Just say hello: “Hi. How are you doing? How’s your week been?” Then just talk to me. If I don’t respond, ’cause sometimes I do get, you know, 500 plus notifications a day … If I haven’t responded, then do send me a DM as well and say, “Oh hey, I did tweet with you. Wonder if we can have a chat” this, that and the other. And I’m more than happy to help you.

Um, I do have, um, a link to a website, but it’s not, it’s not in full flow. So if you want to get in contact with me, ask any questions about live-tweeting or FOMO creating, then just tweet and send me a DM, and I’ll be more than happy to, uh, to give you, um, the help that you need.

Madalyn Sklar: Awesome. May King, Thank you so much for being a guest today on the #TwitterSmarter Podcast. You rock.

May King Tsang: No, YOU rock. Thank you, Madalyn. (laughing).