sorry. security check may take a few minutes

I'm honored that AdBroad was Friday's pick for Blogger's Blog of Note. You'd think Blogger would notify you of this, but they don't. You notice only that your statcounter is going ballistic. My normal 3-digit daily readership shot up past 5,000 and I was dumbfounded that so many visitors were drawn to the mad men dispute. I thought maybe Mad Men viewers were crazy for 60s content in the off season, until someone congratulated me in the comments.

I'm thrilled, of course, to see graph bars shoot up (a nice contrast to 401.K graphs I've been watching) but the downside of newfound popularity is spam comments. Most are long lists of nonsense in various languages. So, I now have to add an annoyance to the process of commenting. A security check before comments can be published. Which I hope won't discourage you, if you're a human moved to say something. Security check isn't for you. It's for all those bot terrorists. At least you won't have to take off your shoes. 

how not to sound like a zombie on twitter

One of the most enlightening things about my extreme twitter experience has been to learn which tools are effective in building a twitter audience--and which are not.

For instance, by signing up for a service like TweetLater,  you can enhance your chances of retaining new followers by generating a welcome message to accompany the standard alert they receive from Twitter. I've never gone to this extreme myself, but check out this auto-greeting sent last week by the other twittering Betty Draper. Hats off to her, I think it's a winner:

Will you be my friend? My husband Don is on an endless ‘business trip’ and I’m not even sure I need him, anyway.

Her appeal, though canned,  is effective for three reasons: it sounds personal, it gives followers an idea of what kind of content to expect and is 100% free of marketing jargon. Twitter newbies might even be convinced that January Jones is staring at a screen somewhere, breathlessly awaiting their next post. 

Of course not every auto-greeting is as savvy as this one. Most are salespitches for things you don't want, from someone who obviously hasn't read your tweets, and sound transparently bot-generated, making you want to unfollow promptly. (Suspect you're one of these clueless senders? Track who unfollows you, and when. Sign up for Qwitter.)

Here are the lamest auto-greetings I received, tweeting as Betty Draper. Proof that as useful as bots and zombies can be, they still can't do the job of a good copywriter.

Elizabeth, thx for following.
— Beware the bot that formalizes nicknames.

Hi! I am a personal development coach. What are you doing in your life and your business?
—I'm an imaginary character in 1962. The only personal development coach here is Dear Abby.

Thanks for the follow. Btw, what are you working on at the mo?
—Mo?

Hi! Feel free to ask my your most pressing lead generation questions for real estate.
— Not even if divorce puts the Ossining house on the market.

Hey cool! In one tweet, what makes you unique?
— It would take a whole season.

Let's make Money Online Together!!
— Sure! I've been sitting around just waiting to meet a business partner this way.

Hi, Champion! Special Bonus for you "177 Motivational Success Quote"
— Um, did you mean to follow my horse?

Hi, would love to know what you think of my blog.
— Enough about you. Let's talk about you.

Thanks for the follow! Hope you have a fabulous day!!! The Blouse Gap Eliminator 

—Talk about a product with limited market potential. Better try @joan_holloway or @jane_siegel.