AJ Vaynerchuk

What is a brandable avatar on Twitter?

A brandable avatar is an image that is associated with an individual’s or company’s twitter account based on appearance.

Why is it important to have a brandable avatar?

Your avatar shows up on the profiles of your followers! That means every time someone visits a follower’s profile, there is a chance that the individual will see your avatar. I know for a fact that I have checked out twitter users based on seeing the same avatar over and over again while browsing through twitter.

Examples of brandable avatars

* Please reference the image above for the numbers.

#1 - @LaughingSquid - This avatar is a unique image using the color scheme of black and green. Every time I visit someones Twitter profile and check out the followers montage, I notice this one. I think originality wins out here for Laughing Squid.

#2 - @JasonCalacanis - Jason’s avatar sticks out due to its simplicity. A nice soft green background and a giant flower (Mahalo’s logo) allows you to instantly make the association to either Jason or Mahalo.

#3 - @ijustine - Justine utilizes the fact that her pink background instantly catches your eye. Since most avatars feature soft or dull colors, FF1CAE works well here.

#4 - @cc_chapman - C.C. utilizes the same strategy I use. Since his name is merely 2 letters, he can blow those 2 letters up and make them prominent. If I see C.C. I automatically think C.C. Chapman - branding at its finest!

#5 - @photomatt - Matt kept it SUPER simple. His use of FF8FFF sticks out since it is one of the few avatars on twitter that merely is a color. Maybe this doesn’t lend to Matt’s personal brand, but I know who I am thinking of every time I see that avatar.

#6 - @centernetworks - Allen Stern of Center Networks did a nice job of incorporating his company’s brand as his avatar. The logo is very clean and nicely designed, making it easy to associate the logo with both Allen, and his company.

#7 - @pop17 - Sarah Meyers of Pop17 uses the same strategy as Allen here by using the pop17 logo for her avatar. Another aspect playing into Sarah’s favor is the fact that the logo is on the smaller side and round. These two features distinguish pop17 from most other avatars.

#8 - @somewhatfrank - Frank Gruber is another one who uses his blog’s logo to build his personal brand on Twitter. The bullseye behind the big “SF” also catches the eye.

#9 - @bloggersblog - Bloggers Blog uses the same trick as CC and I use, with the two big letters dominating the avatar. The company also uses the unique use of color to stand out (limeish green).

Last thoughts

It seems the best tactic to maximizing your avatar’s effectiveness is the use of an original color. Pink and Green seem to be the two colors of choice for this tactic.

What do you think about branding your avatar? Is it useful or is it a waste of time? Are you doing it right now? If so, how?

Quick question for anyone who follows me on Twitter and / or reads my blog:

How can I improve?

From looking through my twitter archive I noticed a few trends: I rarely use the @reply feature (I’d rather use Direct Messages), I post about a link a day, and I often ask questions of my followers.

How can I improve? Am I lacking in certain areas? Am I doing too much in others? Let me know either in the comments or via twitter (although I prefer the comments section since it will keep every suggestion in one spot)

* This was just for fun

Shocking announcement

Twitter isn’t perfect. Alright, maybe it’s not so shocking, but I felt as if it was something I needed to say since I am always praising Twitter. The good always comes with the bad, so here is a feature I think Twitter is missing and can easily implement.

Email Notifications for lost followers

When someone stops following me I feel as if I may have let that person down. When someone follows you on Twitter they expect a certain amount of value. When someone stops following you on Twitter that most likely means that you did not provide the proper amount of value. I personally would love if Twitter provided us the option to receive emails when we lost followers. Every time I lose a follower I would either direct message or email that person just to send them my regards.

What do you think?

Do you think this would be a valuable feature? Do you feel bad when someone stops following you?

This morning (on my last day of classes, woohoo!) I was struggling to write a new blog post - writer’s block if you will. Rather than laboring through a brainstorming session I decided to ask my friends on Twitter:

Within minutes I was receiving a flood of responses:

My friends on Twitter inspired me. While reading through the suggestions I thought to myself how great all of the ideas were, and how hopeful my followers were. Rather than write about their suggestions today (I will in the future) I want to emphasize how wonderful the Twitter community is. The people who are currently use Twitter are friendly and intelligent. The people who use Twitter are “ahead of the game.” The people who use Twitter are legitimately interested in learning, not only about technology, but about other people.

So to everyone who uses Twitter, thank you - thank you to everyone who is following me, and an extra thank you to all of you who helped me with my writer’s block!