Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Best Twittering Tips On How To Twitter Using Twitter Tools

By: Tantawi Sagara

A glance on what is Twitter. Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

This network is one of many ways for you to meet yourself online. Twitter asks you things like "What are you doing?" which gets us thinking about what I'm actually doing right now. Typically, we don't realize what we're doing or thinking until we're asked, at which point we're compelled to think about it, even if the asker was in fact a social networking site.

In March 2009, a Nielsen.com blog ranked Twitter as the fastest-growing site in the Member Communities category for February 2009. Twitter had a monthly growth of 1382%, Zimbio of 240%, followed by Facebook with an increase of 228%.

Because of such a high popularity that Twitter has created, people are constantly looking for a way on how to twitter, some twitter tips, who is the best twitter which in this case twitter refers to a Twitter user. Some programmers even created software that is refer to as twitter tools. Unofficially, twitter is a word now, where twittering is known as the verbs.

Now, I'm going to talk about the misuse of Twitter, the misuse of twitter tools to be exact. There is some software that let you automate your tweet. Well, a lot of people use this kind of software to pretend friendly which is actually good but they are using it the wrong way or maybe the worst way.

What I'm talking about is they are abusing twitter using the tools; all they are twittering about is sales, sales, and sales. Some even use automated Direct Messages to instantly message you when you follow them. Now let me show you how to not twitter your account to dead with messages will look like this:

1. Hello there, thanks for the follow. Want to know how to earn $576K within a year online? Check this out. (They will put a link that leads to their capture page or some even worse to their affiliate page.)

2. Hi there, do you want to make money online? This is the best marketing system ever. Don't believe it, just see it. (Another stupid looking link)

Now I was using that kind of way to market my business too which is absolutely wrong, and I changed. Some of you may be doing that kind of way too, but you're reading this article which makes you better because you found a way to change and you want to change. Just take a look at the twitter tips I provided using twitter tools to automate your message and tweet but better:

1. Hello there my friend. Many thanks for the follow, are you on facebook? Let's connect there too. (Then put a link to your facebook)

2. Hi there buddy, great knowing you. It's so great that I just met a wonderful new friend today. You, let's talk again.

There it is, it's actually quite simple and that's what you want, simple and friendly to the point that they won't be afraid to talk to you. Now you have learned how to twitter well and survive in the stupid world outside that is full of useless tips and maybe hazardous to your health as a twitter. Now let's do some twittering.

Twitter Demystified for Business Users

By: Nancy McCord

Twitter is the current top "hot property" on the Web, but its popularity and how to use it has mystified many business owners. Many people think that they want to, or should be using Twitter, but simply do not understand the platform, its use, or its place in building web exposure. This article will demystify Twitter and help you to learn how to use it in the workplace and to promote your business.

First, I have to say that I had been confused on how to use Twitter to benefit my own business until I downloaded TweetDeck. TweetDeck is a desktop application that allows you to review and post status updates on Twitter and Facebook simultaneously. I consider it a "must have" application for anyone who wants to make sense of Twitter. TweetDeck allows you to sort the people you follow on Twitter into groups, allows you to limit the number of Tweets (Twitter micro posts) to be shown at any one time, and also allows you to remove all Tweets you have seen with one click. Additionally, using TweetDeck, finally a Twitter search on a topic makes sense.

Since using TweetDeck, I have had a much better Twitter experience. As a Twitter newbie, visiting your own Twitter home page is intimidating; it consists of post after post from people who you are following, who you may not know much about, and it just seems like a huge volume of content. To get started effectively first group the people who actually have something interesting to say on TweetDeck and voila, you have a powerful tool that keeps you at the forefront of what is happening in your industry and on the Web.

So how do you get started with Twitter? Well the first thing is to start on Twitter yourself to understand what you like to read, who you like to follow, and to clearly identify what you like about Twitter. For me, it boils down to this: I like to follow people in my industry who say something of value, who provide a link to a new application or point me to an interesting new article, video, or blog site that I should review but may have never have found myself. Based on what I like, and the people who I find interesting to read, I now write my Twitter posts using this same formula to grow my own Twitter audience.

What I also like about Twitter is that the people who I follow also know how to show their true personality in their Tweets. Ye,s I do like to know what Danny Sullivan (famous search engine marketing guru) ate for lunch, but better yet is the link to the video he thought was funny. I love following Ashton Kutcher (movie star married to Demi Moore who just hit 1 million Twitter followers in April). Man, that guy is really funny and is having a ball with Twitter. His posts are great and he has just earned the status of the user with the most followers. This is why you can’t hire someone to "Ghost Twitter" for you. It's about showing the real you - you can't fake that!

So how can you use Twitter for business? Twitter is an excellent tool for linking and this is the real value for businesses. By using Twitter to point people to content on your website, articles you have written either on or off your website, or by linking to a service you want to highlight, you drive traffic. On top of that, Google actually indexes Twitter and so your Twitter page can appear in the organic search results so make sure your bio is well thought out. Don’t waste time using Twitter to point to blog posts, use TwitterFeed to post your blog posts directly onto Twitter. If you have a blog or website, you'll get new Twitter followers by posting your TwitterFeed right onto your web pages. People who may not have known your Twitter ID can simply click the bottom "follow me link" and start following you on Twitter.

What's important to be successful in using Twitter is to identify what you personally like about this new media and then deliver the same type of things that you like back to your own followers - work to provide value not drivel! So you've got to play with Twitter and learn how to use it first before you can really become successful with it for your business.

So how do you get followers? Well, I started by following everyone (who I found by doing a Twitter search) who had the last name McCord. Then I searched for web design, search engine optimization, and pay per click. Any site profile that looked good, I clicked to follow the writer. It was that easy. Many times people who you follow yourself will choose to follow you. That's how you initially build up your Twitter base. Over time you will start to identify your "Twitter voice" and refine the type of Twitter presence you want to have by changing your content style and the things that you Tweet about. As you refine your presence, you will build a following.

Another cool Twitter use is that you can reply to any of your followers by simply putting an @ in front of their Twitter ID. For example to send something to my attention use @mccordweb at the very front of your Twitter posting and click enter. Just remember that this post is seen by all followers on my site and on your Twitter site. If you need a more private exchange, go to the direct message link on the Twitter.com site and select a follower by Twitter ID name and send your message from there. This note will be private. If you are using TweetDeck you can click on a follower's Twitter ID icon and then select to send a direct message or @reply to them. TweetDeck will automatically insert the correct syntax for you in the Tweet.

For many businesses the ability for users to communicate with top management using Twitter is an invaluable resource. This one-to-one exchange allows a company principal to keep tabs on customer viewpoints, concerns, and interests. As a Twitter reply or direct mail does not use email and does not require a response, this is a great way to tap into social networking to test new ideas and to ask for user feedback. For example, if you have a new software product ask your Twitter followers for feedback on a specific feature, or provide a link to your beta version for their testing.

How you use Twitter is all about your personal business needs. The best advice that I can offer to you is that you need to use Twitter a bit yourself first to understand the medium and to find out what you like to read best using Twitter. Then, create your own Twitter network sharing information that you find interesting and have some fun.

Currently I am following 204 people and 183 people are following me on Twitter. Personally I find Twitter great fun and a very cool way to find out first what's happening in the world before you see it on TV, read it on the Web, or see it in the newspaper. That's the real power of Twitter; you share, you find out, and you know, all by a person-to-person exchange of information.

For those of you clicking in from my e-newsletter the rest of the content on Twitter applications and uses follows.

Below are some of the Twitter applications that I like and use regularly for my business.

Twuffer – I love this one, it is a Twitter post scheduler. Some people feel that Twuffer defeats the immediacy of Twitter posts or Tweets, but I like it as I will schedule Tweets on days that I am not blogging to keep my followers advised of things I find important. It is easy to use, allows you to Tweet ahead, and lets you select a posting schedule by day and time. If you are pushing content on a service or product this is an excellent tool to use. Set your Tweets up one week or one month at a time and feed your content to readers in addition to your regular Tweets. Make sure to use www.TinyUrl.com to change any long URLs you point to in the Tweet to a Twitter-friendly short version to save space.

Twitter Feed – This is another one of my top favorites. TwitterFeed allows me to show my blog posts from “The Web Authority” directly onto Twitter. It also allows me to post my Tweets back on my blog (by installing a widget) in my blog template - very cool cross interaction! I pick up many Twitter followers with this technique. Readers come to visit my blog and then choose to follow me on Twitter.

Twitter Grader – This one is a vanity application that allows you to see where you stack up against other Twitter users. Twitter Grader measures the power of a Twitter user based on followers, number of updates, and posting frequency.

TweetBeep – With this application, you can manage your online Twitter reputation. Alerts will be emailed to you whenever a Twitter user Tweets about your business, name, or domain. You select the alert criteria and what to watch for using TweetBeep. This is great for a business that is concerned about branding and online identity. PR professionals should make sure to use this tool to watch for comments about their clients.

Twitoria – Clean up your Twitter followers by finding out which people never use Twitter or post infrequently so you can delete them right from the Twitoria interface.

Qwitter – If you want to know when someone stops following you, sign up for this service. Actually, this can be an excellent tool to find out what a reader hated that you posted about and caused them to “chop” you, so you can fine tune your message. If you get a flood of drops after a Tweet, it allows you to learn that people don’t like a certain type of Tweet – instant feedback at an anonymous level!

One big thing about Twitter that I have not even mentioned yet but is actually one of Twitter’s best features is the ability to text-in Tweets from your mobile phone. Although you can’t easily link to great content typically on the fly like this, the ability to connect with others without being tethered to a computer is an opportunity to show the “real you”. Maybe your followers do want to know what you are eating for lunch or about a seminar you just attended, just be kind and don’t vomit out Twitter spam using your Blackberry on meaningless drivel.

You can easily set up the ability to receive text messages from your Twitter account to your cell or Blackberry, but be careful as you may be inundated if you have a large following. I would recommend receiving Twitter updates via text message to your cell only from a small group. For example if you have a project team, set up a Twitter account for each member to allow them to post just to this small unique circle of team members. The value to track and interact with each other at anytime and anywhere using Twitter by computer or by cell phone adds real value for work groups and teams - particularly team managers. Twitter even allows you to make this type of group private.

Another feature of Twitter is the ability to add hashtags in front of keywords in your Tweets to help with sorting to allow others to find your important content. For example if you wanted to Tweet about a recent earthquake in LA you would use #laearthquake in the front of your Tweet. By using hashtags you enable Twitter to return your information for topic searches on newsworthy Tweets. You can visit Hashtags.org for more information on the current hot hashtags that are in use for today so you can follow, add to the topic, or create your own. For example in Twitter World, Fridays are the day you post with #followfriday and enter in the Twitter IDs you want to recommend to others. You would be amazed at the cool new people you can follow and interact with from recommendations of the people you follow.

In conclusion, Twitter is one of the hottest new mediums to arrive on the Internet scene since Facebook. Although it is not exactly “new”, Twitter has just recently become very high profile. If you are in business, Twitter definitely warrants your attention. Not only is it a very smart new tool to use in your marketing arsenal, but I think that the more you use it you will grow to love it and find it fun to use. The ways that you can use Twitter are endless: for teams, for family members, for business networking, to stay at the forefront of news, to promote yourself and your services, and to just have fun connecting with others online. Just remember you can’t really make sense of Twitter for business without using TweetDeck or another similar aggregating and sorting application. Thanks for reading, see you on Twitter, you can reach me at @mccordweb or visit me at www.Twitter.com/mccordweb.

About the Author

Nancy McCord is the founder and President of McCord Web Services LLC which provides search engine marketing, web design, blog writing, and webmaster services globally. Since 2001, Nancy McCord has developed a national reputation as an expert on search engines, blogging, and how businesses can harness the power of Web for profit. You can visit Nancy and her firm at www.McCordWeb.com.

Realtor Safety Online: Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and More

By: Carolyn Capalbo

When you are aggressively promoting your name and your business using all the social media you have available to you, keeping your activities private may not be the first thing on the list. However, because of the nature of the real estate agent’s job, it may be in your best interest to be a little vague about your exact whereabouts on Twitter, Facebook and other social media. There are many predators that use the Internet to identify and stalk people and real estate agents are no exception.

“JaneRealtor… is having an open house at 123 Anyroad today at 12!” is not a good status.

Open houses are frequently staffed solely by the agent (not the greatest idea ever) and provide predators with a private place to commit crimes. Open houses are one of the worst situations for real estate agents to be in – and predators are very quickly learning this, as evidenced by the rising numbers of crimes committed in them.

Telling the world where you’re going to be is not the safest course of action. If people are really interested in open houses, they’ll find you without you having to tell them.

Telling the world the exact time you’ll be in a specific location is not wise either. It’s like hanging an “Open for Your Business” sign out to predators.

Be aware of who your ‘friends’ on Twitter, Facebook, etc. are. It’s a good idea to have two separate accounts – one for work and one for your personal life. Make sure the personal profiles are private. It may be a little extra online hassle for you to have two profiles for everything, but it’s much safer.

Take the time to find out what the privacy policy of the social media you’re using is. Some sites won’t make your profile private unless you specifically tell them to, some will publicize your photos and information unless you make sure that you have turned on privacy controls. Some social media even have fine print that gives them control over the media you post on their site. Be aware and protect your privacy accordingly.

If you have children, make sure that their profiles are private and that they don’t have online ‘friends’ who you don’t know. Stalkers make it a habit to know what the family and friends of their victims are doing, to get a better idea of what their victims are up to.

The possibility or reality of stalking does not mean that you have to stop promoting your business; it just means that you should take extra care to make sure that you are giving out only the information that you really want to via Internet social media. Your safety is paramount.

Online Twitter Network Marketing Strategies Everyone Can Use

By: Kurt Henninger

As many of you know, the twitter network marketing combination has been making a huge splash in the home business industry recently. As one of the hottest social networking sites, Twitter has influenced how many of us connect on a daily basis with others and network. However, here is one very cool way to use twitter to get increased exposure for your business that you probably don't know.

Twitter itself is open to many 3rd party software sites, and what that means for you is that there are many many ways to use twitter, aside from just sending out tweets all day and is a great way to approach internet network marketing.

One way to use network marketing and twitter, is to set-up your account so that any kind of content from your own MLM blog that is out there, a link to it can automatically be posted to your social networking account.

For example, let us say that you recently updated your network marketing blog. What you can do is, once this is set-up once, a short "tweet" will be sent to all of your twitter network marketing followers out there, notifying them that you have fresh informative content for them to look at.

Now, the key here is that you need to have good, informative content on your blog, not just spammy information, or people on social networking sites won't come back to your site. But, over time, you can keep adding content to your blog, and people will come back more and more to your site, and enter your marketing funnel and in turn eventually become a customer or partner of yours.

So, head on over to a site called twitterfeed.com and set-up your account over there to start spreading your twitter network marketing content out there automatically.