10 Easy Tips and Tricks to Successful Twitter Microblogging

People have been searching for the formula to finding value out of twitter. My previous post on 10 steps to finding business value in twitter. Now that you're using twitter, you'll find these will launch your experience and value into hyperspeed.
I use SharePoint as my community example throughout, if you're not a SharePoint person you can easily replace with .NET or whatever.
1. Twitter to Facebook - Add the facebook twitter app at http://apps.facebook.com/twitter then put in your twitter account. One draw back... if you tweet a lot you get a lot of wall posts, including replies. It does say it comes from twitter so the techy people should understand, but your family may be confused. It does allow for a nice interesting threaded discussion on your wall.
2. Blog to Twitter (to Facebook) - Twitterfeed.com as simple as logging in and putting in your RSS. I suggest putting "Blog:" so we can tell immediately what this is. Cool thing it can automatically be shortened even.
3. Twitter & Blog to FriendFeed - Yet another aggregation service, but I like this one better than legit. FriendFeed.com consolidates all your twittering and blogging and flickr and about 50+ other services. Scoble is recommending it based on the ability to see what you're doing across the web. My initial feedback is, yes it's worth it. You don't have to spend any time there, but it is a decent way to provide web consolidation of your various feeds. This will make your twitters and all the rest available via RSS via a "Home Feed." (You can view and subscribe to my friend feed at http://friendfeed.com/joeloleson)
4. Twitter to blog with Twitter Widgets - You may or may not have seen my recent post on SharePoint Widgets and Webparts. The Twitter widget that you see on my blog is from widgetbox.com.
5. Use Global Search - On twitter.com in "Find People" you can search. http://twittersearch.com/statuses?searchstring=sharepoint or http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23sharepoint If you search for SharePoint, you can see recent tweets where people use the term "SharePoint." The real value I've found in tweetdeck the ability to add a search for "SharePoint." There are always some interesting tweets from people who are having conversations, people needing help, or people beyond help. Tweet deck adds a pane so you can watch your normal following, plus this pane. I'm also a fan of the twitscoop pane. If you follow twitscoop you can add this pane. This will show you current trends, from Windows7 to DOW to Palin. The latest SNL Palin with Tina Fey... if it's any good :). You'll stay ahead of the days trends and news minus the commercials and repetition. Without doing much I can simply do a quick scan and see how I can help people in the SharePoint community. Obviously it's much easier to do when they follow me or @ contact me.
Using search.twitter.com you can actually subscribe to the RSS feed of query. http://search.twitter.com/search.atom?lang=en&q=sharepoint
6. Use Hashtags - hashtags.org has setup indexing if you follow @hashtags and use one. Check out their site hashtags.org for more information #SharePoint, whether you follow hastags or not, it will be much easier for all of us to see your posts if you include #SharePoint or SharePoint in your interesting SharePoint posts. Many events will have special tags like #TEUS08 (Teched US 2008) or #Gartner (Gartner Symposium). Hashtags will give you visibility outside your followers as people search or even retweet these tags.
olivermarks #cse I'm at Cloud Summit Executive conf at Computer museum mountain view ca, high end saas business discussion
#Gartner new analyst video now available on YouTube: www.youtube.com/gartnervideo
More on hashtags on the twitter wiki. That's another place to learn and get better. There are some people that are annoyed by hashtags and would prefer you use the new Track options. I don't want IM notifications, I simply want to be able to filter the relevant community related content.
7. Follow to be followed - Enter your real name in your profile. If you search for your full name and can't find yourself, how can anyone else? Those who understand the value of twitter, understand that those you follow dictate the level of interesting conversation.
Secret: I follow people who follow SharePoint. This means I look at the followers of SharePoint, SharePoint MVPs, and MS SharePoint people. I now follow over 1000 people and see 10 tweets every 5 minutes. I went from having a tight following of just SharePoint folks to a much broader base of SharePoint Users, Admins, Developers, and people who occasionally complain about SharePoint amongst other social networking and news contacts.
8. There's MORE! It's not just marketing or lame status updates - I actually find a lot of conversations revolve around development, support, even venting can be therapeutic. :) Let me give you a glance into the future. Today there's a lot of people who don't get microblogging. They wouldn't see twitter as a place to go for answers... cause what can you really get in 140 characters? In the future people will say... I do a search or pose my question to my favorite microblogging interface and ask my 5000 friends (followers) and within seconds I can have the answer and a source (URL.) Your following becomes very valuable. Think about the millionare game show. If you could ask your 60 second million dollar question to twitter, google, or facebook. You'd have a different experience on each.
LLiu Finally! Someone said "everyone is a marketer - support, dev, etc." I heart you man! :-) Social media not just a marketing thing. #nms08
9. Retweet incredible things and big announcements - RT at the beginning of your post means ReTweet. This is a way of passing on an important or incredible message. It's amazing what you can fit in 140 characters, but these will give you visibility. I recently retweeted where someone lost their teenager daughter. In the next 10 minutes I saw the message retweeted a half dozen times.
RT @genochurch's 14 yr old daughter is missing http://tinyurl.com/5yodvb. Please retweet! (via @tranqy)
This one spread like wildfire on twitter. I see a rate of 20 tweets per minute of this tweet now. More like 250 per minute according to this article
10. Twitter Mashups and Community - There is so much possibility here. When you mashup maps and twitters you get twittervision.com and twitspy.com. Look at election.twitter.com and you can imagine a sharepoint.twitter.com where you see the top recent tweets and topics and realtime rolling search results.
Developer? Check out the twittervision API
Did you know you could follow Barack Obama and Joe Biden or Stephen Colbert? They'll tell you what to watch and where to go. Mccain isn't on twitter? Guess we shouldn't be surprised. I'd like to follow Palin. Not just what people are saying about her... (in election.twitter.com you can do this.)
Twitter - Life or Death? Add the Red Cross and they can tell you where to go, what to do, and communicate with you if there's a disaster. You can imagine using your phone to respond... Very practical. In your profile you can update where you are, or use twitteriffic on your phone to send GPS location.
If advised to evacuate, do so immediately. Wear protective clothing, take important papers, tell someone where you're going. #LAFIRE 11:11 AM October 13, 2008 from web
CA Wildfire evacuation shelter is at San Fernando High School San Fernando High School 11133 Omelveny Ave San Fernando, CA 91340 #LAFIRE 10:55 AM October 13, 2008 from web
The dev.twitter.com guys are doing a bunch in this area...
"What kinds of new methods will you be adding to the API?
Well, search-related methods, as you might guess. We're embracing the concepts of searching and filtering statuses, and we have a bunch of ideas about how that's going to fit into Twitter. Expect the ability to filter many API responses by provided search terms, for example (ex, an API method that can answer the question, "what are the people I follow saying about 'iPhone 3G'?")."
One last thought... Have you looked at http://status.twitter.com/ Have you ever considered building one of these for your users? You can communicate your downtime, people could subscribe to the feeds. It's essentially a team blog with the whole intention of speaking broadly to your user base, but then allowing them to comment without having to pick up the phone. The 2 way communication from the small twitter team to the millions of twitter users may seem daunting, but now compare that to your environment. It can definitely increase user/client satisfaction.

Posted at 1:35 PM by Joel Oleson

http://www.tweethandbook.com/

Twitter Tips For Newbies

I’m still relatively new to Twitter, at least compared to the A-listers with thousands of followers. But I’m getting the hang of it, and finding real value the more I participate in it. That said, I was initially a sceptic. I said more than once, “I don’t really get Twitter, what’s the point?” And now that I do get it, I still hear those same words from other communicators. Here’s the thing: you can’t really get Twitter from the outside. In fact, it takes a real leap of faith. You have to jump in, fully participate, before it gives you anything back. And that’s hard for most of us. We feel lost, a bit stupid for not knowing the “rules.”
So I thought it might help to share some of the things I’ve learned in the last few months, a few Twitter tips to help fellow newbies get more comfortable with Twitter more quickly. Most of this I’ve picked up by observation, following links in other peoples tweets, reading blogs and articles. Some of it is just personal opinion. Please join in and add your tips, or links to other resources.
Twitter Tips for Newbies
Getting Started:
Set up your Twitter account at http://twitter.com.
Add your photo right away (under Settings). The best ones are close-up of your face, since the displayed pic is tiny. Don’t worry about quality of photo, one taken with your phone’s camera is fine. Or crop your face from a holiday pic. You can always update this later, but don’t leave the default graphic even for a day. I’m not a big fan of avatars or other cutesy stuff here.
Add your one-line bio (include IABC in it so fellow members can find you), and link to your blog or website or Facebook or LinkedIn page.
Don’t tick the box that says “Protect my updates.” That just means other people won’t be able to follow you or see your tweets unless you grant permission, which pretty much defeats the whole purpose of being there.
You can access Twitter directly at http://twitter.com, but there are several free applications that make Twitter much better, easier to view, more intuitive to use. My favourite is Tweetdeck, and I highly recommend you download it and use it right from the start.
You can also access Twitter via your web-enabled mobile phone, and again, there are apps that make it better. I use Twitterific and Twinkle on my iPhone. (For non-web phones, it’s possible to set up your account so it works via SMS, but I haven’t done it, so can’t offer any tips.)
Joining In:
Twitter makes the most sense when you are following people you already know or have something in common with (at least in the beginning, later you’ll expand to new contacts). You can find a list of IABC members on Twitter at http://twitter.x.iabc.com.
To follow someone, click through to their profile page and click on the Follow button. You can always un-follow later if you want to.
When you follow someone, most of the time they’ll click to your profile and blog to see who you are (which is why the photo & bio mentioned above are important), and usually will follow you back, so you’ve got the beginnings of a Twitter relationship.
You initial goal is about learning the ropes and building a few relationships, so don’t worry about gaining big numbers of followers right away. Friends and fellow IABC members will be more supportive of your initial fumbling, and will be patient answering newbie questions. Don’t go for quantity until your tweets are adding value.
Once you’re getting the hang of things and want to start building more of a following, the easiest way to gain followers is to follow others. As mentioned above, lots of people will follow you back, either manually or automatically. Remember, though, if they find your tweets annoying or worthless (to them), they’ll unfollow just as quickly.
Messages:
Messages on Twitter are called Tweets. They’re limited to 140 characters. While that means you have to get creative to get your message across, most people (at least the ones I follow) don’t use the same kind of over-abbreviation more typical in SMS text messages.
Any time you reference someone, be sure to use their @twittername (like: @Barb_G). That way the message shows up for them as a reply, so they’re more likely to see it. It also makes the link clickable, so that others reading it can click through to their profile. When you reply to someone’s tweet, it automatically includes their @name.
If you want to send a private message to someone (known as Direct Message, or DM), instead of @, place a D followed by a space before their twittername (like: D Barb_G), then type the message. (If you use TweetDeck, it’s even easier.)
Don’t be all business. Twitter is not an advertising medium, it’s a networking medium. People are connecting with other people, and that means that letting a bit of your own personality shine through is a good thing. Just like at an IABC meeting, you’ll talk to people about serious business topics, and also about frivolous personal topics. The personal stuff – the things that help build rapport – facilitates bonding and builds relationships.
Cross-Pollinate:
If you have an eXchange site or other blog, you can set up a TwitterFeed so that every time you do a blog post, the headline and link show up in your Twitterstream. This can drive traffic to your blog, and is a great way of sharing useful content and building a following.
You can also set up a widget on your blog that displays your latest tweets (if you’re reading this post on my eXchange site, you can see this in the right-hand column).
If you have a Facebook page, you can set it up so that your Twitter updates populate your status updates there. Half the work, twice the presence.
There’s much more I could add, but I don’t think you’ll need it. Once you get started, you’ll easily learn the same way I did (and still do). Take the leap, join the growing ranks of IABC members on Twitter and expand your network in ways you’ve never imagined.

www.tweethandbook.com

A Better Tweeter in Twitter

Tweeters from all over the world want to learn how to become a better tweeter in Twitter. How will you do this?
Firstly, you need to learn how to ‘re-tweet’. You can definitely improve your standing in Twitter if you re-tweet. When one of your followers posts an appealing article, you can re-tweet it. If you do this, most of your followers will also do the same. Just imagine all your followers re-tweeting. When they add your username to their updates, you will be exposed to many users. Be careful in re-tweeting because you might not be posting interesting or helpful topics. Make sure that you re-tweet only the good ones. How can you re-tweet? You need to copy the original tweet and write the prefix RT together with the name of the originator.
Many users use Twitter to post tweets that no one is interested about. Who cares about what you ate for dinner or what you did last night. Perhaps your closest friends will appreciate that but what about the rest of the social community? It would be better if you send out informative tweets, no nonsense. By doing so, people will think of you differently. They will know and feel that you care one way or another. If you’re addressing your tweets to one person, try to indicate it so that others will know who you are referring to.
Send replies often. Talking all day long is possible through Twitter. If you want to talk, you’d better sign up to this social site. Followers like a person who knows how to listen. You will probably find yourself laughing at dumb tweets but you must restrain yourself. Twitter is an application that allows people to communicate; so matter how funny some tweets sound, try to appreciate them and reply courteously. Most of Twitter users want to be heard on the web and if they find individuals who know how to listen, they are more interested in making friends.
In order to tweet better, you must be proactive. Find some neat articles and helpful info online; when you find one, post it. Some might re-tweet it or you can find other users that are interested in meeting you.
You don’t need to say something all the time. Try to be careful in using your automatic messages and updates because you might be pestering others with uninteresting info. You can also try using hashtags. The keywords are preceded by # and in the past months, hashtags are really hot.
Use the tool Twitpic to upload pictures to your profile page. Try to upload as many pictures as you can but choose your pics well. Your pictures can tell a lot about you and other users will appreciate. Through the pics, your followers can get to know you better. According to expert tweeters, pictures can tell a lot about you as compared to the posts to send.
Follow these tips and be a better tweeter. Why not? You have nothing to lose. If you’re in new in Twitter, these tips can be very helpful. Don’t waste time anymore. Share neat stuff to your followers and your friends. Find interesting information or perhaps post promotional materials.
It’s up to you to use Twitter to the fullest. The site offers endless possibilities. Take advantage of them and have a great Twitter experience.

www.tweethandbook.com

Building Your Email List on Twitter

You'll need:
* an account with Twitter
* an account with TweetLater.com
* a free giveaway, maybe a report or article
* an email account which lets you forward emails from Twitter automatically Step by step, here's what to do.
On your Twitter account
Log in. Go to SETTINGS.
Click on the NOTICES tab.
Make sure the check box beside 'New Follower Emails' is checked, so you'll receive email whenever someone starts following you on Twitter.
Click on the ACCOUNT tab.
Then go to the text box where you can add your 'One Line Bio'.
Within 160 characters, craft an appealing hook that mentions the free giveaway you're offering people who'll follow you on Twitter.
For instance, on the Heart Kids Tweet-a-thon Twitter bio at
http://Twitter.com/tweet_a_thon I've used this:
"Heart Kids Tweet-a-thon - Save 12 little hearts on Sep.12th. Follow me and get your FREE report on how to join the conversation & help fight CHD"
It works best if that report is related to whatever business or interests you have, as it
pre-qualifies your new subscribers.
For the Tweet-a-thon, I'm giving away a report that shows interested volunteers and supporters of the CHD awareness effort the different ways they can use social networks
and online resources to help spread the word.
To see how that works, try following the Tweet-a-thon account here:
http://Twitter.com/tweet_a_thon
Next best would be something that enhances their Twitter productivity - since they'll find
you on Twitter!
To make this easier for you to get started with (in case you don't already have
something suitable), I'm offering you the use of either of two special Twitter reports for
this purpose.
Report #1: Mastering Twitter In 10 Minutes... or Less! You can download your copy from this link: http://TwitterProfit.com/MasteringTwitter.pdf
Report #2: Branding YOU on Twitter You can download your copy from this link:
http://www.TwitterProfit.com/BrandYouTwitter.pdf
On TweetLater.com
Go to http://TweetLater.com Register for an account, if you don't already have one.
Log in. Fill in the 'Add a New Account' form.
Check the 'Auto Welcome' box
Under 'Message Sending Method' select "Send private direct message" from the drop down menu
In 'Send This Message', type in the note you would like your new Twitter followers to
receive via Direct Message.
For the tweet_a_thon account, I used this:
“Thanks for supporting CHD awareness. Get yr free report, keep the
conversation going @ http://CHDinfo.com/*****CHD.htm”
The link goes to the download page for the CHD report - you can see how I have set it
up by simply following the tweet_a_thon Twitter account and then clicking on the link
that you'll receive via private message.
In 'Twitter Email Address', type in the email address linked to your Twitter account
(this will allow TweetLater.com correctly identify the Twitter emails that you're going to
forward to them).
Click on the ADD button.
Your TweetLater.com account is now set up.
But wait! There are still a few things to be done
to make this work smoothly.
On Your Email Account
Depending upon whether you use a desktop email client, or a web based service like
Gmail or Yahoo email, the process will vary.
Set up a filter or rule in your email account to 'auto-forward' all your new follower
notification emails from Twitter to the following email address:
twitterfollow@tweetlater.com
You might set it for BOTH these 'conditions':
1. an email from "noreply@twitter.com" and
2. where the subject contains "is now following you on Twitter"
and when a message meets both, it is to be automatically forwarded to
twitterfollow@tweetlater.com
Alternatively, you can also manually forward those emails to the address above. The
filter just makes it automatic and hands-free!
That's it. Everything is set up.
BUT...
Where's The Email List????
You put an opt-in email subscription form on the page where your new Twitter
visitors will go - and promise to send them the free report via email as soon as they join
your list (and confirm their subscription)!
Of course, depending upon your policies and preference, you can do it in any of many
different ways.
1. You could make it mandatory to opt-in - in which case, you should make a
strong case for WHY your new Twitter follower might want that report. Highlight
the value inside it, show how it will benefit your prospect's life.
2. You could permit the download and ask for opt-ins within the report itself.
That way you'll get better qualified and interested subscribers who have actually
consumed your free content, liked it, and want more.
3. You could do both... give away a download link, and at the same time ask
them to opt-in so they can receive even more value from you.
Whichever approach you take, make sure you track response and make changes that fit
your overall business strategy and maximize the value you get from both Twitter and
your email list.
Done right, you can move a significant share of your Twitter followers on to your email
list where you continue to develop a trusting relationship over time.
You're doing this anyway on Twitter (you ARE, right?) and email gives you one more
'point of communication'.
It's easy - if you know how to do it.
Would you like to learn more about how my own Twitter story evolved, about how, after
months of frustration and nearly giving up on Twitter, I turned things around and now
have a rich, fruitful and highly profitable relationship with some wonderful people
through Twitter?
Read my Twitter tale here on this website:
http://www.TwitterProfit.com/twittertale.htm
And if you want more, you can check out my ebook, TWITTER PROFIT at
http://TwitterProfit.com
Why Is This Report FREE?
Because of the Heart Kids TWEET-A-THON
It's an event to raise awareness about congenital heart defects in children, and collect
donations that will help fund expensive life-saving heart surgery for kids from underprivileged
families.
And one of the best ways to raise awareness is to distribute reports like this one that
benefit people enough to get them want to share it with others, spreading it to wider and
new audiences - all of whom learn about the Heart Kids Tweet-a-thon in the process.
So, if you liked this report and found it helpful, please pass it along to a friend or two.
And also, please follow the Heart Kids Tweet-a-thon on Twitter - it happens on
September 12th, 2008, but the CHD awareness effort will keep going for much, much
longer... and we deeply appreciate any help and support you can give us with spreading
the word.
I hope you found this report on how to build your email list with Twitter of some value. I
wish you great Twitter Profit.
All success
Dr.Mani

About the Author:
Dr.Mani is a heart surgeon, Internet infopreneur and social entrepreneur. He is on
Twitter as @drmani and has written a series of Twitter productivity reports.
To learn more about Twitter and turning your social networking into extra income
streams for yourself and your business, go to http://TwitterProfit.com\

www.tweethandbook.com

Social Media Marketing

The Internet has been the rage for almost a decade now. Gone are the days when people would condescendingly look down upon the Internet world as a time passer or a satellite devise to track ones high school pals. Today the virtual world controls the pulse of all important nerve centers of the real world. Authors are using it for virtual book launches, it is indexing the movement of stock exchanges all around the globe, it has become the most important tool for communication, you name a field and it has been revolutionized by cyber networking. And one of the biggest innovations it has probably brought to the world of marketing.

Advertising was never so much fun and interesting. And it is this medley of avenues that social networking has set out to explore, which goes by the collective name of Social Media. So how is it that you can use this creation to market whatever it is that you want to sell? Read on to get the answer. One thing you need to keep in mind is that, the social media only assists in
promoting your brand as against creating it. It only acquaints people of your ambitions and goal in life as against being an aggressive sales portal. So before you log on to one of these sites ensure that you have a brand that has enough meat in it to arrest and sustain the attention of the web traffic you will be interacting with.

The social media is only fruitful till you can convince other people. According to Dr. Ben Mack, your brand is not the item that you put up for sale; instead it is a projection of that latent quality in your character, that should persuade them enough to be eventual buyers of whatever it is that you are selling. What Obama did was he spread his message of change through his ‘brand’ vote for change; and in doing so, he used today’s most happening tool of
communication - the internet, more specifically the social media. People all over the world liked his brand and bought the product he was offering a presidential term in the White House. They paid for it, by digging into the smallest savings they had as small as $1, $2, $5 etc. and contributed it to his electioneering funds. The rest as they say is history.

Now that we have got the basics of social media clear, let us now venture into its other interesting attributes.

· Social media is a veritable research tool. As stated earlier, social media are great interaction junctions where one can learn about what people are excited about and what events are
causing ripples in the societal circle. It can be about anything -- a happening restaurant that just opened, or an interesting tourist spot that someone is just back from visiting, or a controversial issue that is to affect all the major stock exchanges of the world - absolutely anything.

· Social media can be an effective vehicle for pulling web traffic to ones’ site: The main idea of a social media is to let people know of the services you have for them and in the process, identify the mass of people who really need what you have. Social bookmarking tools, social profile sites, social video sites are just some of the cardinal outlets that can draw massive traffic to your site, if you simply leave your weblinks with them. This assists in the exposition of your brand by establishing reciprocate links to your site and improves your position in the search engine results.

· Social media used as a tool for the diversification of the audience base: Once you have spread your message and your customers start flowing in, you now need to figure out how to sustain them, so that they can persuade other prospective customers to visit your website. This way you are expanding into a wider stretch of the customer base that would have probably been a problem to acquire otherwise.

· Social media in marketing: Only a fool will deny the immense power that the Internet exerts in the promotion of any type of businesses -- small, large, medium -- in today’s
date. Unfortunately the inane lot is none other than a faction of top IT professionals who are still apprehensive about testing the reliability of this potent networking tool. These kinds of reservations are highly disadvantageous to innovating newer marketing techniques; and then, it is not much different than visiting the local chamber of commerce or
networking club where you make new friends and touch base with old ones.

Online networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, all have the same end--to help people find new friends. And the requirements are also identical to the ones we expect in the forming and continuation of any friendship. They are:

· Something that is critically important when networking with other
people is to stand out in the crowd owing to your personal signature style. You need to be beautifully etched in the memory of these people so that they instantly recognize you, when you get back to them for follow up. And how are you going to be that memorable experience to them? By trying to sell your product to them? They will resent ever meeting you, forget about remembering you. Always be an inspirational figure whom these people can fondly
recollect and tell their friends and relatives about. Always try to help them in whatever ways you can.

· Don’t project yourself as an insensitive sales person on these networking portals. That includes not posting backlinks to your product, either on your Blog or on Twitter. Your sole aim should be
to apprise the visitors of the attributes of your brand, nothing else.

· Be engaging. Again like real world interactions, people will despise your company if you fail to excite their attention. Be versatile. Express your views on matters of current significance that is
shaping the world that we live in. If you have to be a bit controversial for this, don’t mind being so, as a bit of contention only peps up the reader’s interest in reading your blog regularly.
Interact with the members of your industry or respond to the judgments of other individuals of your local community by offering them your insight on an issue.

· Your blog should offer enough substance for thought to your visitors. The content in your site need not always be genuine, but they should serve one cardinal end--it must offer your customers that what they are in search of. Develop your content by
researching on the Internet. There is always an abundance of content on the net; more than you could ever imagine using.

· As it is important in the real life to follow up with a customer after the initial meeting, so it is with online marketing. Be in touch with your customer and keep them updated on the latest postings that you have made on your blog. It will only keep the interest of your
customer alive and serve as an additional promotional medium for your product. Remember, the major way of spreading your brand name is by word of mouth. So the more impressed your customer is, the more people they will talk to about you.

Social media is a powerful tool for mass advertising. All you need is the technical awareness of how to use it in the best possible manner. Now that you know the social protocols that need to be adhered to while networking, let us educate you about the technical instruments at your disposal whose services you can make good of.

www.tweethandbook.com

Social Media Optimization

SMO or social media optimization is a system in which by using the attributes of search engine optimizations your web site is optimized amongst the most happening online communities. This can either be done by strewing links all across the community website to facilitate backlinking or by strengthening the interaction podium by writing numerous blogs and constantly updating their content. This will serve to recreate interest in your blogs amongst your regular
visitors and have them coming back for more; though with additional company. This therefore is a more effective method of drawing traffic to your website. So by now it is clear that if you have to popularize your brand you need to popularize your website. The guidelines below will simply help you a little in that endeavor.

Join a social media platform, for example---Digg, Delicious, twitter, facebook or Technorati. Besides the obvious advantage that your website will be looked up as a very ‘in-thing’ it will also improve the ranking and stature of your page in the tech community.

Tag your article in the correct way to increase visibility. Don’t be stupid enough, to tag an article as Acne when it deals with the more specific issue of acne scars. Make your voice heard and opinion counted, by the tactful use of tagging. Focus on quantity as much as you would on quality. Keep on adding articles and white pages so that you give your visitors more than enough to chew on. If you do not update your website regularly they will soon lose interest to visit your site in the long run. This tactic therefore assists in adding to the linkability of your website. The most significant requirement is to provide for methods that simplify ‘tagging’ and ‘bookmarking’ for your customers. This can be done if you provide easy quick buttons or ‘add to del.icio.us’. Allow for tag lists and notes for links to cumulate visibility.

Reward the incoming links as a sort of inducement to make them come back for more. This will not only bring in the existing customers but also pull in more traffic, who would want to get rewarded as well. Offer downloadable files from your website in the forms of downloadable pdf. files ,audio and video files and make them available to your customer either for free or at a negligible cost. An additional propaganda mechanism can be by sending their copies to various other websites.

Social media optimization has immense potential of escalating the ranking of your website to great heights. Let us now move over to the other technique of social media marketing. So I hope by now you’re convinced of the power of social media marketing and also what’s it and how it works. If you’re determined to make it big this 2009, you must make full use of social media optimization. Indeed there are several social network sites only but in the next chapters, I have discussed about the top 7 social media namely – Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Myspace, linkedin, Squidoo, podcasts and how you can use each of these and generate more traffic to your business.

http://www.tweethandbook.com/

USING SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES TO PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS

The goal of business owners is to make money. This often results with the selling of a
particular product or service. However, to sell that product or service business owners
need to alert their target audience of its existence, right? Customer cannot buy a product
or a service if they don’t know about it.
Although social networking websites are traditionally focused on those that would like to
make online friends or develop online relationships, there are networking sites that are
designed for business owners. These websites will not only allow you to share your
business information with other business owners, but will also allow you to develop close
relationships with those that share an interest that is similar to yours. Essentially, this
means that you could not only learn valuable business information, but you could also
walk away with a new business partner or several new loyal customers.
And let’s be honest… even social networking sites that are not created to target
business owners can be leveraged successfully because of the simple fact that large
numbers of people visit these sites each day, and people love to buy stuff!
So it’s all really a simple matter of just getting involved and attracting to you the people
who have an interest in the information, products, or services you want to share with
them.

http://www.tweethandbook.com/

MULTIPLE TWITTER ACCOUNTS

If you own multiple websites, or you are part of a network you might considering opening up two twitter accounts, one that is used just by you, and one that is used by your team to post updates regarding your products and services. Since Twitter is a great way to communicate and establish or promote an online presence for your website or business, posting updates as often as possible is a great way to keep people informed and generate new business from people who choose to follow you, after seeing your updates on their friends Twitter pages. Using two accounts is also useful if you want to promote your personal ventures on your own Twitter account (personal blogs, etc) or using this account just to chat with family and friends.With your second Twitter account you could keep it all about business, adding only people you network with, share similar business interests, or wish to promote your services to.People have done this with Facebook when they wanted to keep their friends and family separate from their business contacts, since with Facebook your family connections are visible to anyone on your list, including how you are related or know the person.
While Twitter is much easier to use than Facebook (and very small in comparison the many features of the Facebook network), managing two accounts might be something worth considering if you run businesses in various niche markets where you may not wish to disclose to your competition.

www.tweethandbook.com

TWITTER COMMANDS

From your main profile page, when you are logged into your Twitter account, you will see the text box at the very top. This is where you enter in your updates that are visible to your followers or are added to the general timeline, if you enabled that setting earlier. Whenever you wish to send out an update to everyone you just enter it into this text box and click the UPDATE button. Your current activity will be posted instantly and you will be able to see it below, along with the updates from others.However, if you wish to direct a post to a specific Twitter user, you will use the @ command. This will still show your message to everyone who follows you, however it will be evident that it is directed to a specific user in the timeline.For example, if I wanted to send the user Marty-Minor a message, I would write the following into the twitter update box:@Suzie-Q Hi, how are you doing? Long time, no talk!The @ symbol is placed directly in front of the username of the person you are attempting to message.

There are no spaces between this symbol and their username, however there is a space after the username, before you type in the rest of your message.You can do the same thing from your mobile phone if you have activated it via your Twitter settings. Simple send an SMS message to number: 40404, which is Twitters default number. Since your Twitter account has been previously associated with your cellular number, any messages sent from you will be posted under your account, and the system will instantly recognize you.If using your Instant Messenger to send out tweets, you simply send a message to twitter@twitter.com if you are using Jabber or gTalk and it will post it accordingly since once again, you have associated these specific chat programs to your Twitter account from within your Twitter accounts’ settings area.Remember though, that each time you send out a tweet this way, every follower on your list will be able to see your messages and updates on their own Twitter account page.

There are other commands that you should know if you plan to use Twitter. For example, if you wish to contact someone privately, Twitter allows you to reach out to them using the Direct command. Simply enter in d username message and users will receive your ping if they have enabled direct messages on their mobile phone or Instant Messenger account.Example: If I wanted to contact a person who I am following, or who is following me directly, I would write:d johndoe how are you doing?The letter ‘d’ represents ‘Direct” and the message will be sent directly to the username I specify in my message.If you decide to use twitter with your mobile phone or Instant Messaging system, you have additional options available to you including the ability to receive phone updates from specific users by using the follow command.Follow janedoeTyping this into your Instant Messenger system will ensure that you receive updates and alerts from ‘janedoe’ (replace this with an actual username of someone on your list).If you wish to disable receiving updates from a specific user you use the off ‘leave’ command like this:leave janedoeAnd you will no longer receive tweets to your phone or Instant Messenger from janedoe.You can explore all of the different Twitter lingo commands by visiting: http://www.Twitter.com/help/lingoIn addition to the options available to those who use Twitter mobile or Instant Messenger, you should get familiar with the commands used on the actual twitter website, whenever you plan to post an update or wish to direct a message to a specific user.As mentioned earlier, if you wish to reply to someone publically, where your message will be visible by all but highlighted to the person you are directing your message to, you use the @username command:@janedoe Hi! How are you? Love the blog design!However, there are other commands that you can type directly into the Twitter update text box from your account, such as if you wanted to retrieve the profile information for a specific user on Twitter you use the WHOIS command:whois janedoeAnd information pertaining to this specific user will be displayed provided they have included a Twitter profile.When you enter in a WHOIS request, into the Twitter update box, the users information will appear instantly right above the text box but will disappear in a few minutes, so be sure to pay attention to the information before it’s gone.

If you don’t want to know everything that is contained in a specific Twitter users profile, and you just want to know what they are currently doing, you can enter in the GET command to retrieve their most recent update:get janedoeThis will load an info box with their current status message.If someone hasn’t updated their Twitter status in awhile and you wish to remind them, you can send out a nudge which will prompt the user to log into their Twitter account and post a status update.You nudge someone by typing in: nudge usernameQuite simple, really! And finally, if you really enjoy a specific users updates you can add them as a favorite by entering in:fav usernameThis will make the users last update as a favorite, and also save them for you under the “Favorites” link in your stats area on your main page:At the time I have no favorites selected. If I sent out the fav command after seeing a specific users update, my stats area would change to reflect and store that favorite tweet:If you wish to remove a stored favorite, just click on the “Favorites” link and you will see the tweet, along with the username of the person and a yellow star under their post. Click on the star icon to de-activate and remove the favorite. You also have the option of contacting this user directly from this area by clicking on the arrow icon. BorWhenever you post an update on Twitter, it instantly gets broadcasted via the community wall visible to everyone who is following you. The downfall to these messages, known as ‘tweets’ is that they are limited to only 140 characters which can make it difficult to get your message across with clarity.To work around this, you will see many marketers simply posting a short ‘tweet’ and include a URL to their website or blog so people who are interested are able to follow the link to find out more information.Part of the reason for limiting the messages to only 140 characters is due to the feature that Twitter offers where users can have these messages sent as a single SMS alert. You can also post messages on Twitter that only specific users or individual Twitter members can see, or you can choose to make your twitter broadcasts available to the entire community, which means that anyone can see your messages and subscribe to follow you and keep up to date on what you are doing.Remember that every tweet you send out is readable by everyone following you, so focus your attention on sending out general news and updates regarding your websites, projects, new releases, products and services or just cool websites that you come across, and always remember to use Twitter-Netiquette by not spamming out tweets and finding a good balance between keeping your updates fresh and current without looking like you are begging for attention.Keep your tweets interesting and don’t focus just on self-promotion but instead, provide a personal glimpse into your life by including every-day tasks, and interesting tidbits that people may otherwise never know when doing business with you.Twitter is a great (and easy) way to market your websites, if you do it properly.

FROM: www.tweethandbook.com

CUSTOMIZING YOUR TWITTER COMMUNICATIONS

Click on the “Devices” link from the profile page in your Twitter account to customize your notices.The first option you will see is the ability to receive nudges if you fail to update your twitter account with a new tweet within 24 hours. If you click on the check-box, Twitter will send you out a notice, reminding you to update your twitter with a new status message to keep your updates current.These nudges are sent via a text message to your cell phone or a regular message through your Instant Messenger service.You will also see the option to display replies to your twitter updates as well as tweets between people on your list.Here is what the three available options mean:@ Replies to the people I’m followingThis means that you will receive replies from people that you personally follow, as long as the person they are talking to is also someone that you follow.For instance, if you have two people on your list, Linda and Thomas and they message one another directly on Twitter, you will be able to see messages going between the two users, since you are following both of these people. Always: All RepliesThis option is for those who wish to receive updates from everyone you follow even if they are directed at someone that you currently do not follow.Never: No RepliesIf you choose this option, you will not receive replies from those you follow, or those that they follow.According to Twitter, this option is for those who are looking for minimal interaction in the Twitter community.In other words, you are slightly anti-social JOnce you have decided what option is best for you, select it from the drop down list.The next option in your “Notices” section is to choose whether to receive specific Twitter based emails including:Receiving emails whenever someone starts following you.I recommend turning this off, unless you want to receive a ton of email each time someone adds you to their list.Receiving Emails When You Receive a direct messageTwitter will email you each time someone directly messages you via the Twitter update system. By default, this is turned off but if you would like to receive notification which may make it easier to stay up to date with current tweets, you can ebale this option.The final option is to choose whether you wish to subscribe to the Twitter newsletter, an ezine that goes out once in awhile with Twitter updates, current feature add-ons and upcoming releases.If you want to stay on top of what the team at Twitter is up to, this is where you will opt to receive their mailings.Note: The newsletters will be sent to the email address that you entered into your profile, so be sure that this is a valid email address and that you have added Twitter to your whitelist (or check your spam folder from time to time to ensure that it didn’t end up there, especially if you use Gmail.com)Click “Save” to maintain your changes.To complete your profile, you should click on the “Picture” tab and upload either an avatar that represents you and your website, or a personal photo of yourself. The more personable you are on Twitter, the more people will follow you, and therefore the more exposure your business will receive, so don’t overlook this option.One thing I have noticed from my activity on Twitter is that those who choose to use a colorful, interesting or different avatar capture my attention easier than just a basic photo, since using something different will help you stand out, so keep this in mind when you are uploading an image to represent yourself.The last option in your settings is called “Design”, and in this area you are able to customize your Twitter profile page to look however you like, with restrictions. At the time of this writing you are able to change only the color scheme and upload a new background image to your Twitter account.

From twitter profile designers, to ready-made templates that you can manually customize, there is no shortage of options available.For your reference, here are a few to help you get started:

http://www.mytweetspace.com/
http://www.twitterimage.com/
http://www.brandabletweets.com/
http://www.tweetstyle.com/
You can play around with the settings in there if you wish to customize it a bit or leave it as default, if you wish.Just be sure to preview your design before you choose to keep it just to be certain that your updates appear correctly, and that you aren’t using a text color that makes it difficult to read.Unfortunately, there is no way to check the design prior to saving it, so you will have to make your changes, save it, look it over and go back to the design editing section if you want to change things again or revert back to the original default design.

MORE INFORMATION GO TO: http://www.tweethandbook.com/

CREATING YOUR TWITTER ACCOUNT

Here is a step-by-step guide to creating your very own Twitter account: First of all, load up the Twitter website in your browser by going to http://www.Twitter.comClick on the “Join For Free” link to get started. I do suggest using your real name on Twitter if you are comfortable with doing that, or another name that represents your brand, website or blog so that people can easily identify who you are when they are scouting for new friends to follow.Once you have created your account you will be able to log into your user center immediately.

The first thing you should do is create your Twitter profile, which is visible by anyone who follows you, as well as the general public who locate you via the search box. To begin, click on the “Settings” link in the navigation bar on the top right corner of your Twitter account.On the profile page you see various options including “Account, Password, Devices, Notices, Picture and Design”.

To begin, click on the Account tab, which might have loaded on default when you clicked on settings a moment ago. If this is the case, once you see the account profile page you should take a few minutes go o over the various options and fill out your account information.This includes:Name: Once again, I suggest entering in your real name so that people can easily recognize who you are.Username: Whatever you choose here will become part of your unique Twitter link that directs people to your front page so they can choose to follow you or read your current updates. Example: http://www.Twitter.com/YOUR-USERNAMESince your username is part of your twitter link, choose carefully!Email Address: Enter in a valid email address. This will not be visible to your followers, however whenever Twitter receives a message for you via their online private message form, or if they have news and special announcements to make, these notices will be sent to this email address.Time Zone: Select the time zone applicable to your location. This is important if you want to read notices according to your actual time.More Info URL: This link will appear on your profile page so be sure to choose a valid URL that will direct people to your website or blog. In addition, this area provides a “do follow” link, meaning that it will count as a quality back-link to your website and help with Search Engine Optimization.Online Bio: Write a few lines that describe who you are and what you do. Your bio page is limited to only 160 characters, so be sure to be as direct as you can, describing your skills, your occupation or your website.Location: You can choose to leave this blank or enter in your country or city. Language: Choose your preferred language. Twitter offers the ability to translate the entire website in either English or Japanese at this time.The last option on the account page is whether or not you wish to protect your updates. If you select to keep your updates private, only people that you have manually approved will be able to follow your updates, and your posts will not appear in the public timeline, which is a general page showing recent twitter updates.If you plan to use Twitter to promote your websites, blog and general activity, you will want to leave this box un-checked.

The next tab on the top is marked “Password”. If you ever wish to update your password for security purposes, this Is where you would do it. For now, let’s click on “Devices” to customize that area of your Twitter account.Twitter MobileTwitter offers the ability to receive updates via your cell phone or through Instant Messenger such as gTalk. If you want to try this out, you will need to enter in your mobile telephone number into the first option box and save it to your account.You can use Twitter mobile regardless where you live, but you need to ensure that you add your country code with your direct number. Since each phone number has a specific country code depending where you are located, you will need to locate it prior to entering it into your account area.You can visit the following site for help locating your country code:http://www.consumer.att.com/global/english/country_codes.html

Once you have entered in your mobile number, you will need to confirm it before you can receive mobile updates. The verification code will be sent to your phone number, and you will need to enter it into the site before your phone is activated and permitted to receive these updates. This is done to ensure that you are the actual owner of the telephone number you enter into the system.You should also check with your service provider to determine what charges will be applied, if any, to your account for sending or receiving Twitter updates.
Tweet Via Instant MessageYou can also choose to receive messages via Instant messenger, although at this time Twitter only offers this option to users of Gtalk (Googles’ Instant Messenger System), Live Journal and Jabber.If you wish to add your Instant messenger to the list, you can do this from the “Devices” section of your Twitter account. For GTalk, you simply enter in your GTalk username.

Once you do this, a special code will appear on your twitter account page. You will need to log into your Gtalk account to verify this before you can receive tweets this way.

To sign up for Gtalk, visit: http://www.Google.com/talk
The download software for Gtalk is currently only available to PC users, however Mac subscribers can use the online chat gadget via the web based application, although the features are a bit limited.GTalk is also fully integrated with your gMail account, which means that whenever you log into your email account you can see who is online as well as instant message these users.The other two options for Instant Messaging via Twitter is via Live Journal and Jabber, both available below:http://www.LiveJournal.comhttp://www.Jabber.com

MORE INFORMATON AT: www.tweethandbook.com