Excuse Me, Who Are You and Why Do We All Love You So Much?

So, after Lisa posted about last week’s Tweet-Up at Providence Piers, Cheryl Phillips, a.k.a. TheDailyBlonde, wrote in to praise the event and playfully mentioned that Ashton Kutcher now follows her on Twitter (he sought her out after she criticized his recent Twitter publicity-no-wait-it’s-for-charity stunt). Nice: One minute, a Rhode Island mother of five starts blogging about everyday life after a car accident leaves her bored at home; months later, her Twitter page is one of the world’s most-followed, and the Hollywood A-lister she just picked on wants to get on her good side.

I was curious how a person might feel about this meteoric rise through the Twitterverse, so I got in touch with Cheryl on Friday. She turned out to be warm, funny, down-to-earth and lovely, all while keeping a very amused ear trained on the kiddos in the backyard. (“Hold on. They just went by in their bathing suits,” she said, moments after answering the phone. “This can’t be good.”) Snippets from our conversation:

How she got started:
“I’d started writing The Daily Blonde (her addictive blog; read it here) and had seen Twitter, but I don’t like chat rooms. I thought it was quirky people in their basement, typing. But someone said it was a great place to connect, so I tried it. I couldn’t figure it out at first, then one day I wrote ‘good morning’ …. I just kept trying it and soon I was talking to people all over the world.”

Why people read her blog and Twitter page:
“I don’t know why people read it. I’m very random and write anything that comes into my head. I think that’s real life. People think I’m this outgoing wild child, but I’m a dork.”

On staying in touch with almost 16,000 followers:
“I love keeping up with people. I remember all of them, which is kind of amazing because I can’t remember stuff I’m supposed to do everyday, but when it comes to people, I’m good because I’m interested. And I have five children. I’m used to talking to five different people at a time.”

On being followed by the occasional weirdo or jerk:
“It’s a little unnerving, but if you’re going to put yourself out there, you have to take it. Or block them—ha ha! But really it’s 99.9 percent positive. People have been really genuine. It’s opened a lot of doors. I consider many of these people my friends. I know that sounds weird.”

 On Ashton:
“About a month ago, he wrote, ‘I’m going to follow you,’ but I've never heard from him again. That’s where he goes wrong.”

Advice for businesses using Twitter:
“You need to engage. That’s number one; Twitter is a numbers thing for some people, and that’s not the way to go about it. Update consistently, and don’t put just a link—add something to it. Be a little personal, ask customers questions, ask for feedback. Twitter is really great for customer relations. Especially in this economy, businesses need to be out there with their customers… Go Daddy (which hosts the Daily Blonde blog) is a pretty big company, and I had a problem once and tweeted a question—two minutes later, I had a response from them, and everyone who follows me on Twitter could see what great customer service they gave.”

Why nursing homes should have Tweet-Ups :
“It is depressing being alone all the time, sitting there, thinking ‘Maybe someone will come pick me up and take me out today.’ For the elderly or people who are housebound, just getting some connection on the computer can be a way to keep in touch with family or find old friends. My dad was in his seventies and he picked up (the computer) in no time. All of a sudden, he became a little more social and it gave his brain a workout to be on there finding and connecting with people. They have senior dating sites, so why not? I love the elderly. They rock.”

Agreed. Check out Rhode Island's other top Twitterers in "Current" in the June issue.