Golfing Legend John Daly Twitters Up a Storm

It was getting late in my neck of the woods. I checked my email one last time to see if there were any alligators lurking there, needing attention before I hit the hay.
Nothing too urgent, so time to put my laptop to bed.

Little did I realize that I was about to get the lesson of my life from golfing legend and 1991 US PGA and 1995 Open Champion, John Daly. Not a golf lesson - but a lesson in the masterful use of social media. Twitter in particular.

I glanced over to TwitRGolfers and there he was - holding court.

For the uninitiated, John Daly has become something of a Twitter phenomenon. He was not the first PGA Pro to get on board with Twitter but now he is playing it like it is another Golfing Major.

What amazed me was the way he was working the room. He must have been holding conversations with at least another half dozen tweeters before I decided to throw in my own comment. I recommended he "grab some fish and chips" from a place I knew around the corner from Wentworth, where he was practicing tomorrow. Yep, pretty silly suggestion - but small talk has never been one of my strengths.

I felt, if this was the best I could contribute to the banter, then my chances of cranking up a conversation with the golfing legend were pretty close to zero.

Not so, the subject of food seemed to grasp his attention.

Whilst this was going on, fellow tweeter and prominent blogger, Andy Brown from St Andrews in Scotland was lining up an encounter with John Daly at the London Club

Not only that, but a few other Tweeters were helping him upload photos to the Net. The tweets were flying back and forth in every direction. He was driving the conversations.

John Daly was having fun last night - we all were.

He was laughing out loud (LOL). At one stage he said "Send some more twitters my way I'm liking the new meets on here"

The Hog jumped in for a fashion discussion with the big man. More silliness.

Others were wishing him well on the European Tour. He is currently in exile from the US Tour after a a slight indiscretion which caused the powers that be to slap a 6 - month ban on him.

So, what was the big lesson in all of this?

For me it reinforced the assertion of wine entrepreneur, Gary Vaynerchuk, who said that Twitter is "word of mouth on steroids". He was dead right.

How many of us are today telling our friends about the one-on-one conversation(s) we had with John Daly? We all had a story to tell. We all touched the hem. We all felt that we had his personal attention - and we had, if only for a few fleeting tweets.

There is no doubt that John Daly used Twitter to grow his fan base last night. In fact he repeats the performance almost on a daily basis. The man is reinventing himself on so many levels. And twitter is one of the most potent, viral marketing weapons in his arsenal. More fans, more eyeballs, more value for the sponsors - everyone wins.

And then the hunger pangs kicked in. At last my inane fish and chip comment was given some context.

John Daly gave up on the camera and went off to grab some dinner.

Hope you enjoyed the steak John. He would no doubt have tweeted about the experience later but it was all too late for me.

Congratulations, John Daly. Your talent extends well beyond the golf course.

You can tweet with John Daly and other leading Tour Players at PGA Tour Player Tweets.

And for golfers who Twitter (and for those who don't :-) come join our dysfunctional little community at TwitRGolfers - Because We are Crazy About Golf.

Tags: aidan, daly, golf, hog, john, montague, the, twitrgolfers, twitter

Share This Page

Add a Comment

You need to be a member of StartUp to add comments!

Join this Ning Network

Comment by Robert Sloan on June 24, 2009 at 12:27pm: Twitter is so frustrating to me because of the short character limits. Most of the time if I have something to say, it'll run way too long for a Twitter comment. I've used it to post links to my most recent articles, though.

For that kind of conversation I'd be more comfortable with a chat room than Twitter, it's much easier to see what's going on when it's all together in one chat. I haven't chatted for years though, need to keep the stress down.

Comment by Dennis G Hebert on June 24, 2009 at 12:17pm: So far, I've seen more people twittering to promote themselves about their expertise with Twitter than I have people actually using it. I'm not sure it's worth all of the noise. I do spend a lot of time following things that actually look interesting, but then removing after I decide that they are either just promoting themselves, or making too much noise. I guess it's obvious, but I still don't have a handle on it.

Comment by Shouvik Mukherjee on June 24, 2009 at 11:12am: We use Twitter to make everyone aware of the new posts and updates on our non-profit social network with one single click.
Follow us on Twitter
http://twitter.com/seramporesocial

Comment by Meditations by Matthew on June 24, 2009 at 10:46am: Twitter is fun but really never knew that you could basically hold a conversation like that with someone. I don't know to many other "friends" with twitter but I am going to add John Daly.

Matthew.... http://www.twitter.com/matthewsmusic

Comment by Lester Sheets on June 24, 2009 at 10:12am: I twitter to wake up the USA Voters ~ 10 minutes a DAY for YOUR USA. TELL YOUR EMPLOYEES WHAT YOU WANT DONE. and to promote my internet marketing effort. http://bit.ly/4D4aM

Comment by Shane Stokes on June 24, 2009 at 10:07am: I use Twitter everyday for Discount Sales Alerts, Promote Our Website, Promote Our Company, Promote My Blogs, etc. The 1 key strategy that i have learned from twitter is to leave your audience in suspense! I've noticed that the more intriguing i can make the tweet, the more attention i receive w/ not only adding followers, but email response to my tweets! I have tripled my followers in a matter of weeks by using this strategy & you can too! Feel free to follow me in twitter & see what I'm talking about! Twitter Name: stokesdock

Comment by Kristen Scott on June 24, 2009 at 9:29am: Still trying new things with Twitter. Not sure how it will play out. I don't think I am interesting enough for people to care what I'm doing everyday...lol.

Comment by Christine Carol on June 24, 2009 at 9:06am: I use in once in a while but I plan on using it more often. Especially to introduce new products in my Etsy shop.
www.christinecarol.etsy.com

Comment by LionWolfe on June 24, 2009 at 8:17am: I just signed up for twitter 2 days ago and have no idea what it is or how to use it. I would appreciate any tips anyone can give me. I do see the way this could help out a business but don't see how you gather followers to view it.

Comment by Darrell Kirby on June 24, 2009 at 7:54am: I have not jumped head first into Twitter but I do use it to network and share ideas with others. Especially in the IT arena, financial tips and also keeping my options open for finding a management job.

Join me on Twitter at www.Twitter.com\Darltk