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

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Comment by Polly Neely on June 23, 2009 at 4:34pm: I want to learn more about promoting my consulting business through Twitter, any coaches out there?

Comment by VideoBloom on June 23, 2009 at 4:33pm: My company loves Twitter! twitter.com/videobloom

And the tools that are available for laoding "future tweets", promoting our blog, searching for relevant tweets that might help grow our business, etc... It's like a email blast and search engine in one, but without all the advertising (google) to clog up your results!

Comment by Michael Saguri on June 23, 2009 at 4:33pm: I developed the first Twitter Marketing Software Tweep.net, i use twitter daily for pretty much everything. i am a tweetaholic.

Comment by Sherry Junker on June 23, 2009 at 4:32pm: I twitter to promote our website at www.boltongrp.com Follow me at www.twitter.com/sherryj

Comment by Amanda Jones on June 23, 2009 at 4:32pm: I am using it for two purposes, to create two followings one in the Wellness Industry and one in the Muslim Community and also to lead and update business partners who follow me with Easy Pha Max or potential business partners who follow out of curiousity or because they like the personal development angle.

I don't follow anyone who follows me because that is not in line with my purpose on twitter.

Comment by Duane Roberts on June 23, 2009 at 4:29pm: I use to promote the blog and also my personal interest jobs, video games or softball related news.

Comment by TEDDY A JONES on June 23, 2009 at 4:28pm: Well I have come across all kinds of bulletins about how to harness the power of twitter for your business , and have tried them but so for I am really left to speculate as to whether the whole use of twitter of marketing and promotion purposes is all hype and not much substance. I mean who really has time to read all these twitter updates from the folk they are following, so why should I expect those following me to read my tweets with my business promo. Somebody who is getting real tangible results needs to maybe talk up here

Comment by nemo on June 23, 2009 at 4:26pm: I type something and hit enter and wait for lighting to strike

Comment by Hein Lighting and Electric on June 23, 2009 at 4:23pm: Just miscellaneous personal ramblings for me, not much about Hein Lighting and Electric, maybe I should rethink my twitterology.

Comment by Malcolm Evans on June 23, 2009 at 4:22pm: We use to link back to our blog, to announce new tools online and generally to pump our message that great corporate culture makes more money and more smiles!
twitter.com/cultureship