For the last four years, my focus has been on building two brands from scratch: Cali Lewis and GeekBrief.TV. GeekBrief.TV has been a top technology podcast for four years running. Cali Lewis has 67,000+ followers on Twitter, and the most exciting thing for me is that the brands we built from scratch (and eating ramen noodles) have influence in the consumer electronics industry. That’s neat!

We recognized some really good strategies that can be replicated, and I’m now applying what we learned from building Cali’s brand to my personal brand. One of the things we did to grow her followers was to give things away. We didn’t do it often, but it was effective when we did. Scott Bourne is the king of using give-aways to grow his influence on Twitter, and I recommend studying what he does if it’s something you want to try.

Some people are only on Twitter to enter contests
This may not be shocking to anyone but me, but I was shocked to learn some people are only on Twitter to enter contests. They follow people to enter and Re-Tweet entries over and over again. I had an interaction with one woman who was working to make it as an assistant director in Hollywood. I asked her why she isn’t using Twitter to develop a personal brand. Her answer was she hadn’t thought to use Twitter like that. If she tweeted about her life as a struggling assistant director, it very well could be fascinating and who knows what that could lead to? I’m sure something more valuable than a chance iPad.

People are on Twitter for whatever reason it makes sense to them. Some of us are there for friends. Some of us are there for news and information. Some of us are there to market, and I guess some of us are there to win things. Almost once a day, someone told me they followed me for a chance to win the iPad, but they were glad they did because they got value from the information I share on Twitter. I learned that just because a person only tweets to enter a contest, it doesn’t mean they aren’t paying attention to who they’re following. It isn’t a two-way conversation for most of them, but ultimately if they weren’t interested in what I tweeted, they unfollowed when the contest ended.

A few people get mad if they don’t win
Every time we’ve given something away through Twitter or GeekBrief.TV, a few people have gotten upset with us after not winning. It isn’t something I really understand, but it’s good to prepare yourself for it so you’re not caught off guard. I try to respond sympathetically. My wish for every person who likes me or hates me is that they should have an iPad, so I’m disappointed for the people who didn’t win. The old commercial was about buying the world a Coke and everyone living in harmony. That sums up how I feel about iPads.

twitRand is limited by the Twitter API
twitRand is the best way I’ve found to pick a random follower, but the Twitter API has limitations that keep twitRand from being a perfect solution. From what I understand the best solution would involve sucking all the tweeted entries into a database and selecting from that. I had a conversation with someone after the contest ended and he might build something that does just that. I would pay a fee to a company that handles entries and insures the process is as fair as technically possible. I learned about tweetaways.com after the fact and that might have been the best solution, but at the time I announce the give away, twitRand was all I found.

Re-tweets work, but are they worth it?
Since I made the mistake of not developing my personal brand at the same time I worked on the Cali brand, I’ve had to correct that quickly. I’m still working on it and have a long way to go!

I don’t like the idea of contributing to noise on Twitter so I had to compromise THAT value in order to kickstart my personal branding campaign. Having people retweet my brand helped me increase my Twitter stats, but I’m sure it annoyed people too. One guy was so annoyed he created a parody twitter account and followed people who were following me. Some thought it was me. Ultimately, he made it clear he isn’t me and was just having fun at my expense and I can definitely live with that.

The biggest problem with the re-tweets is that I fear they’ll never end even though @TheNobber already one the iPad. Lots of people re-tweeted the links without ever going to Neal.TV to learn the details about the contest. All-in-all there were just over 6,000 tweets referencing Neal.TV during the time of the contest. Only a small number of people continue to tweet the link, but it could conceivable continue for a long, long time. Maybe I’ll start DMing them one at a time to let them know.

Overall, I’m happy with the results. There are things I would do different next time, but I can’t say the negatives outweigh the positives. After the contest ended, I lost about 150 followers and now the number is slowly growing again. The contest increased my numbers by almost 4000. Numbers in social media, when you’re doing it right, are about influence and credibility. My hope is that I either add value to people’s lives when I tweet, or that I make people smile by linking to something funny. My previous mission was to do whatever it took to help Cali succeed. I hope my new mission can be to help lots of other people succeed in using Web video to enhance their brands, and maybe I can continue to win along the way too.

Since November I’ve lost 36 pounds. A big part of that was giving up alcohol … martini’s in particular, which were about 200 calories each. I was in the closet this morning and none of my pants fit me. I looked down and saw a pair of Abercrombie chinos that belong to my wife. They’re pretty unisex looking, so I thought … what the heck, I’m sure they won’t fit. I tried ‘em on and they did! I tend not to get embarrassed all that easily, so I tweeted about it. @TomBraselton said put up or shut up. He tweeted that if I didn’t show pictures of me in the Chinos, it didn’t happen. Here ya go, Tom!

I’m still a little top heavy, but I think if I drop another 10 pounds, I might be able to borrow one of her bigger T-Shirts.