I’ve been Tweeting since May 2008, but over the past few months I’ve slowed down. I’m fed up with the spammers, the self-appointed experts, the irrelevancies and the bores. And Stephen Fry; not that I follow him.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still relevant to so many businesses, although it’s more effective in certain sectors than other; and it’s certainly not THE answer.

However, it’s just one of many social media tools all of which are growing in importance but to be effective need to be, not only, managed correctly but used in conjunction with the rest of the marketing mix; and by that I mean online and offline because they both feed off each other.

I’d really have liked to have written this article, Twitter faux pas: 20 dreadful types of tweet, but the Daily Telegraph did it first. Enjoy it.

Aubin & Wills is a high-end clothing company with five stores in upmarket places, as well as an impressive e-commerce site.

Their latest catalogue landed on my doorstep a couple of weeks’ back, complete with a black and white arty cover showing a variety of place names in an assortment of font styles and sizes, none of which seemed to be linked to each other in any way (or A&W, come to that), or be themed other than they were northern.

But standing out like a crocodile at an alligator conference was the name Teeside. And for those that haven’t noticed, or think I’ve made a spelling mistake, it should, of course, be spelt Teesside. Read the rest of this entry »