Twitter

August 31, 2009

• Twitter For Business – Use Twitter To Help YOUR Business: NOW

  

  Use Twitter To Spread Your Word Of Mouth

  Some people lead the dance, some follow – and some have to be taken onto the dance floor kicking and screaming.

  This is not a surprise for those of us working in Social Media Marketing, but it's still a surprise to me to read this.

  I really have to chuckle: Hollywood is all a buzz about The Twitter Effect.

  Where the heck have they been?

  Don't they have anyone on their staffs who understand Social Media?

  (OK, I admit it: I ALMOST said "don't they have anyone on their staffs under the age of 30, but since I passed that milestone years ago and clearly know how to use Social Media, I won't continue that stereotype any longer!)

  Newspapers Tell About Hollywood's Fear Of People Who Send Tweets

  Did you see this article in your local paper? (You DO still read the newspaper, right? If Baby Boomers are part of your market you should – THEY still read papers almost as much as they read online information and watch nightly news.)

  The headline was, "Hollywood a flutter about the 'Twitter Effect.'

  It's as if Hollywood producers just woke up.

  Didn't they see all the reports about Iran's election when the population sent messages around the world? Don't they believe the reports that people like Proctor and Gamble (you can't get much more "main stream" and "institutional" in advertising than P&G) are using Social Media? Don't they see that the "kids" are using text messages in the THOUSANDS each month, going one on one with their friends… and then using the same texting technology to use Twitter to go one to MANY?

  So… what is Hollywood so afraid of?

  YOU. Me. And THOUSANDS like us being able to communicate freely and within seconds of discovering what we like or dislike.

  WHY are they so afraid and what happened to make them stand up and notice?
  Read more on Twitter For Business – Use Twitter To Help YOUR Business: NOW…

August 5, 2009

• Podcasting – Podcamp Boston 4 Filled With Great Content

  

  Podcasting – creating audio or video articles or reports to share with people over the Internet.

  Four days on the road – creating videos, audios, making notes for written pieces, and it will all help my many businesses because creating better marketing pieces gets the word out about what I'm doing.

  I'm been blogging, podcasting, and creating interviews for years. My first feature-length videos were mostly creating in a question-and-answer format based on an NBC TV reporter I liked who took his (then movie-film) camera into Vietnam and captured some terrific documentaries.

  That's how I see much of my work.

  As a pro photographer, I'm an historian with a lens. In my Spotlight series of videos I'm an interviewer. In my podcasts I'm often following an outline, but then just talking or interviewing.

  So, when the chance came to stretch my own thinking and abilities AND get the chance to return to Boston (where I went to Tufts University as an undergrad AND where our older daughter, Stacie, still lives), I jumped at it.

  Some of the topics will include:

  – How do we measure the impact of social media?

  – What's a video Yankee Swap?

  – How can we throw media professionals a social lifeline?

  – How do you sell social media services?

  – What is the future of writing in social media?

  – How can you build community for the enterprise?

  – Can you measure social media interactions in a meaningful way?

  – How do you start with SEO?

  – How does social media figure into the future of documentary film?
  Read more on Podcasting – Podcamp Boston 4 Filled With Great Content…

July 15, 2009

• Social Networking – How Do YOU Stack Up?

  

  Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn – What Do They Say About YOU?

  Social networks – Yep: believe it or not, people study what people are doing on Social Networks.

  And you can just imagine: when they study something, they find results and then work to attach meaning to them.

  Such is the case of the Social Network Survey that Anderson Analytics produced, as reported in Advertising Age.

  You've been analyzed, your likely interests prodded, your buying habits studied, and your media consumption ranked.

  For example: They ask if you use Twitter. If YES (whoops, I DO), then you are more interested in SEX than the average Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn user.

  If you like LinkedIn (I still haven't quite figured out how to make it work, other than asking people directly for help), then you're more likely to watch soap operas.

  Is MySpace number 1 for you, then you probably don't like exercise.

  Wow… all that from asking a few questions and tabulating the results?

  Which Social Network You Favor Says A Lot About You

  Did the information above surprise you?
  Read more on Social Networking – How Do YOU Stack Up?…

May 4, 2009

• Twitter For Business: Top 37 Steps You Should Take Immediately

  

  Twitter, When Used Correctly, Is A Great Part Of Your Marketing System

  Too many people don’t understand how to use Twitter for business, but that hasn’t stopped them from blogging about it.

  Twitter, the micro-blog that lets you send 140 characters across the Internet to anyone who has followed you (and then be resent (ReTweeted) by others), is a highly-targeted tool for marketers – and it works well with other social media marketing tools.

  For those of us old enough to remember party-line telephones, it’s like listening into the conversations of your neighbors and then adding to their chat only when you have something that applies to them. No need to send messages about photography to people interested in politics or television. So in THIS way, Twitter lets you laser-target your messages.

  For me (and I admit there are other ways to approach this), I have 10 Twitter accounts, each based around specific keywords. For some of my accounts I’m building a list of followers who are interested in businesses I already have operating. For others, I’m building lists around topics that interest me and will figure out later how I will monetize them.

  After all, having a LIST of interested prospects is the most important part of marketing and running our businesses.

  So, with that as prologue, here are my top 37 steps you should take immediately to use Twitter for your business.

  Twitter: Get Set Up

  1. Set up an account at Twitter.com, using a keyword phrase as your username. You have 14 characters, so be succinct. (Two of mine are UltimateWAHDads and PhotoCharlie)

  2. Add some personal information to it – people like to do business with people they like and they like people who are like them.

  3. Add a photo – not one of you and you cat, not one that twirls around (I guess those folks are trying to attract more attention, but most people find them distracting), but one of YOU that shows you clearly.

  4. Add your business’s website URL (you DO have a website, right? If not, stop this, find another blog about setting up your own website that includes a lead generation name capture form, and come back to this one!).

  5. Step away from your computer, grab a pad of paper, and write down at least FIFTY keywords someone might use to describe what you do and use when they search for someone like you in Google. Most people skip this step and never come back to it… and then wonder why they aren’t successful.

  Read more on Twitter For Business: Top 37 Steps You Should Take Immediately…

April 24, 2009

• Marketing Power of Bit.ly – Use Bit.ly To Shorten And Track Your Links

  

  Sharing With My Mastermind Group, I Want To Be Sure To Share With You Too

  Thought I'd follow up about Bit.ly since I'm using it extensively and it has taken me a while to figure it out.

  1. Did you see that TweetLater is now using Bit.ly? Nice endorsement for this sweet F*R*E*E product that shortens your links AND lets you track the results!

  2. I was confused about HOW I could FIND the metrics once I shortened a link and used it in Tweets, blog posts, etc. Then I discovered the SEARCH capabilities – if you put your Bit.ly link in the Search box and press Enter, you get the graphs of how well you've done. HOWEVER, that is only what has been done on TWITTER. Still good info, but not all the info I want.

  3. THEN… probing further, I found out how to find ALL the results. Just add a "+" after the link and you get all the info. Really sweet.

  For instance, if you click http://bit.ly/me7q, you go to my Lead Generation Video on Lead Generation. (It's a Lead Gen free giveaway magnet designed to show people some of my knowledge and trade this 68 minutes of jammed-packed info for their name and email address.)

  HOWEVER if you click http://bit.ly/me7q+ (notice the "+" at the end), you go to the page of all the metrics. And they can be VERY helpful.

  I used to use Ad Trackers in 1ShoppingCart all the time so that I could see how well my campaigns were doing. HOWEVER, when 1SC would screw up, not work properly, fight with Comcast (my ISP) and blacklist a whole section of the US (which I used to discover even when even they didn't know it had happened), I couldn't find any metrics AND my site would shut down because my links wouldn't work. I'm hoping that Bit.ly (without the possibility of email blacklisting since it doesn't send emails for people) will be much more reliable.

  Now… how do you know what your Bit.ly link is when you have HUNDREDS or THOUSANDS (as I now do)?
  Read more on Marketing Power of Bit.ly – Use Bit.ly To Shorten And Track Your Links…