How To Use Twitter - Simplified

May 21, 2008 | 16 Comments

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Do you find yourself asking “what is this Twitter thing I keep hearing”? Let me simplify what Twitter is and some tips on the best ways to use it for you and help you move along in the process of using this great free tool to further your reach.

Nutshell:Twitter is a free web interface that is part of the social networking world. I consider it “micro-blogging” or similar to instant messaging. What makes Twitter different is how SIMPLE it is- so don’t over complicate things and follow some of my basic tips below and you’ll be up tweeting soon and seeing some business effects just as fast! Think Knowledge, Network, Partners, New Customers, so many more options… Welcome to the Twittersphere!

Why You Should Look at Twitter

Twitter is growing fast and has caught the attention of companies large and small as well as the individuals who just want a quick and easy way to chat with friends. Some companies have profiles on Twitter- such as Amazon and CNN while others have hired people to monitor Twitter for industry tweets or customer service. TAKE NOTE PEOPLE!!!

The question remains, HOW can Twitter help you in your current day or is it just another time sucker for your already full day?

The biggest reason is NETWORK- and network fast. You hear the term all the time and you may try to do the chamber networking events or forums.. well, basically, I have found that Twitter blows these out of the water. I use Facebook and Linked in to create a network, but Twitter is just so easy- one click.

First, who are the experts or your industry leaders? I bet they are here (on Twitter) and you can follow them with a click of a button. What are the chances of you networking with your industry expert at an offline event everyday?

Why is this important? They will usually tweet useful tidbits that you would otherwise not find. They also include smaller nuggets that they may not create an entire blog post about, or perhaps you just want to know more of their daily actions so you can follow in their successful footprint.

You may note that some of them tweet about very personal things- what they are doing- right then and there- from movies to food to life events. Note to self: They are building a relationship with their followers! Learn from this example and remember WHO do you want to build a relationship with and HOW do you want them to perceive you? I challenge you to find a way to create a relationship with so many people as quickly and easily.

What’s one of the easiest things to fit in 140 characters? QUESTIONS… People love to ask questions and anyone can answer. That means you can have a direct link to someone. They ask a question, you reply- remember that bio/picture/web link? If you reply with an interesting answer there is a high chance that they will check out that profile and find out a little bit more about you.

Second, if you follow them, perhaps depending on their own social networking strategy (more to come…) they may FOLLOW you! Yes, your industry expert can actually know that you exist and you may catch their interest.

Here is a quick list of ways you can use Twitter to benefit your day:

Quick and easy communications with a large number of people
Super easy to follow and be followed
Easy to see what hot topics are
Build relationships
Find potential joint venture partners
Potential customers- lots of people are looking for someone to do xyz… if you have that relationship with them they are more likely to ask you then a random google search
Trust- double edge sword I know, but it can build someones trust in you
Fast broadcast messages- free
Tweet about a new blog post and someone may read your blog that normally wouldn’t have
Tweet about a special discount just for twitterville- do this cautiously, nothing will get people to un-follow you faster then getting commercial intent messages over and over
Spread the word of a cool tool-
Spread the word of a cool blog or post
Spread the word of contests, surveys or polls
One of my second favorites? Online to Offline networking; PHYSICAL MEET UPS! I see these posts alot, especially from industry leaders who are traveling. They will post what city they are in and where they are going to have dinner/drinks if anyone wants to meet them. One such tweet ended up with a group of 40 entrepreneurs and pr folks meeting up in Boston- Great opportunity! Think of how you can use this at a tradeshow!

How to Start

First, visit Twitter and sign up for the FREE account. You will be asked to create a username, choose carefully since you can not change this! Your username will show as twitter.com/username mine is twitter.com/TubbyBundle- add me for practice and I’ll follow you back

There are two different tactics people use for this, first is to use your actual name. This can be accomplished by using upper/lower case letters like LisaFox or by using an underscore Lisa_Fox or just LisaFox. This works well if you want people to easily find you or even if you are using Twitter at only a personal level. If you are going to be using this tool to help increase the branding of your business you may want to choose your company or product name unless your branding yourself. The key point to remember- every micro-post/tweet you send will have your username attached so this will how the world will see you.

I also suggest adding a picture. I have found that Twitter is one of the most personal social networks and it is nice to see a real picture of a person and not some strange abstract.

Don’t forget the ever important Bio- make it short, real and include your URL. People will see this and this will be your first impression. Save the Spam, please don’t use this as an advertising board, keep it real and if you can add humor people love it. You want to add points in here that make people “connect” with you.

Samples: disclaimer: If I stole your bio as a sample, please don’t curse me, just enjoy it…

Brian Clark is well known in the blogging world his bio “I run Copyblogger.com and other sites that won’t fit here.”

Random Follower “Blogger, rancher, all around great gal to know. ;)”

Random Follower “Dang passionate about helping people start & grow a business while maintaining life balance (somehow)”

Get the point? They are all descriptive, but not spammy.. hint hint… if there is ever a place NOT to push your business this is it. I’ll show you tips for integrating your business coming up.

Definitions

A couple key terms:

Tweet- I’ll explain further below, but a tweet is a micro-post that you enter

Followers-Readers who add you and follow your tweets

Following- Other Twitter users that YOU are reading and following

Direct Message- a private message you send or receive from another Twitterer

Devices- You can add your phone or hand held to your list of devices and have Twitter available all the time.

All words with Twit…. I love to come up with new words …Twitterer, Twitteractic…who ever came up with that brand name should be given a very hefty bonus..it’s just a fun word to play with!

Public or Private

Next- Private or Public - “Protect my Updates”. This is a feature that allows you to choose if you want the world to see your tweets or only those people you have added as “followers”. If you are trying to use this as a networking tool I advise you keep your tweets public.

Don’t forget to set up your phone or IM. Word of caution; Twitter is VERY active and there are those that tweet from what they are eating for lunch to earth breaking news- literally, I first heard of the massive China Earthquake on Twitter before it even hit the Media. So with that said, beware of your phone updates. You can choose to be only notified on your phone when some Direct Messages (DM) you and this is the better choice in my preference.

Once you have your account and you are logged in you will see your home page. The box is pretty clear, enter your message and click update. Simple. The four tabs are just as simple:

Recent: These are going to be all the tweets of who you are following and any messages you send.

Replies: Are just the tweets that have gone back and forth direct

Archives: are well, archives

Everyone: This is where you can see what is happening with anyone on the system. If you see something of interest you can click it and decide if you want to follow them.

For the most part, you will spend a majority of your time on your home page just seeing the messages of those that you follow. Depending on how many people you are following will determine how active this page is and how often it changes. Some people are more active then others.

Twitter Tweet Box

OK, Checklist:

You created your Free Twitter Account
Uploaded a picture
Created a Crafty Bio
Decided if you want the world to see your tweets
Set up your phone and IM

Publicize

Next you will want to send out a Tweet- KIS- KEEP IT SIMPLE. You only have 140 characters- spelling and creative abbreviations count. Until you get the hang of it, you may wonder “WHAT am I supposed to say” and my response is answer the question “What are you doing?” You can simply enter “My first Tweet, How am I doing?” and see if anyone shoots a reply.

However, don’t hold your breath, you can fly under the radar screen until you get some followers. Let’s start with some basics. Once you create a relationship and know your followers this will work itself out.

Who to Follow

Visit some of the blogs or websites that you enjoy and see if they have a link to their Twitter account and you can add someone that way.
You are given the option of adding through your address book
Watch the Everyone page and you can see if anyone catches your interest.
Start clicking on names and profiles. Then click on people that are in their profile.

I personally found that the first and fourth bullet allows me to find the most targeted individuals that I want to follow. This way I’m only seeing messages from people that I think I have some sort of connection with parenting, business, dogs, humor- ohhh there are some very funny and creative people around! And when you work from home it’s nice just to have someone that can make you laugh during the day when you need it.

OKAY we now have the basic points covered. I don’t want you to get overwhelmed, I want you to get in there and poke around maybe just be a silent observer for a little bit. But I want to make one more point. Strategy.

Your online media strategy

Depending on what your business is or your purpose of online networking will depend on your following strategy. Unless you are uber well known already, and you have a regular following of fans you most likely will need to start building your network by following others. Then when you get a new follower you’ll have to decide if you want to follow them.

There are some people that want to follow as many people as they can while others choose to keep their network small. Don’t be surprised if you send out a couple good tweets, hook to a couple good urls or posts and you wake up in the morning with another 20 followers.

I hope this was a good general overview on why you should take a look at using Twitter. Especially for mommy bloggers, it’s a great way to connect fast and help spread the word! Remember to add me to your network!

I would love to hear what you think of Twitter- leave a comment if I left out any details you or if you have any other questions on how to use Twitter. I’m thinking of creating a second level post on a few more advanced and detailed techniques.

Like my Post? Maybe you would like to Buy Mama A Java! It will help to keep me reading, writing and scooping out the info

Posted by Kristen | Filed Under Web 2.0

Women Entrepreneur + Ladybug Shoes + Suri Cruise = Success

May 14, 2008 | 10 Comments

This is the story…

of a woman entrepreneur and how she took a small stroke of luck and turned it into something that can benefit others. I could push the fact that she even got her product on Oprah, but I don’t want the “Oprah” factor to influence all the smart moves this entrepreneur made. But I will mention that she started just like many of us, at our kitchen table, learning every step of online business from trial and error.

Let the Story Begin…. Read more

Like my Post? Maybe you would like to Buy Mama A Java! It will help to keep me reading, writing and scooping out the info

Posted by Kristen | Filed Under Web 2.0, Work at Home MOM

Facebook Marketing? or Just Hype?

May 13, 2008 | 2 Comments

Is there truth in Facebook Marketing or is it just a waste of time and one more distraction to the work we should be doing to grow a business?

I’ll be the first to admit that I started a Facebook account..(Come Join Me!)… I don’t know when, but quite a while ago. I’ve jumped in and out of it here and there to check it out but then the Internet ADD gets the best of me and I flake off again. I think I’ve re-set my password at least 6 times.
Read more

Like my Post? Maybe you would like to Buy Mama A Java! It will help to keep me reading, writing and scooping out the info

Posted by Kristen | Filed Under Web 2.0

Lessons a WAHM learned from the “Gurus”

May 13, 2008 | 2 Comments

I haven’t been posting as much as I would like, I’ll admit it. I’ve been so busy reading and trying to learn about how to apply lessons of internet marketing that I got caught up and well, neglected my own blog. I changed themes- some parts are still unfinished, need to complete.

But also, while I was reading all the blogs I found myself in a position of do I blog to share just knowledge or do I blog to share the chaos of my daily life or basically what direction do I take? Then I’ll admit it was about 3 a.m. and it hit me… well, my blog is that of the behind the scenes, real life workings of a work at home mom- and well, that’s okay. I can share my lessons, knowledge AND CHAOS!

So here is my first post that includes a summary of what I have learned so far at an extremely high level that I will be going into greater depth with upcoming posts as well as updating all my personal posts including the one about my latest batch of foster kittens that have arrived, my nephew that has been in Navy Boot Camp and my letters to him everyday have been stealing all my blog posts and he send a letter thanking me for my “DYSFUNCTIONAL” (he meant that in a good way) family stories that help give him something to look forward to. I’ll pull those letters out and post- love that kid especially his own stories of poop schedules in boot camp and banana pudding substances coming out of his nose during gas chamber training.

AHH The Good Stuff is Coming BACK People!!! I’m excited about blogging again!

Here is my top favorites list of what this WAHM has Learned from the Internet Marketing Gurus- Read more

Like my Post? Maybe you would like to Buy Mama A Java! It will help to keep me reading, writing and scooping out the info

Posted by Kristen | Filed Under Web 2.0, Work at Home MOM

5 Easy Steps to Make Your Own Editorial Calender

March 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Most business owners think only print publications create and use editorial calenders. Maybe you have gone through the process of contacting newspapers and magazines for a copy of their editorial calender to plan your public relations or advertising efforts. However, every business, especially now in the world of web 2.0, can benefit from their own editorial calender.

Many online business owners today understand the impact of internet marketing strategies and are working to use various outlets. They are responsible for content on their website, blog, article marketing, and any niche specific blogs or guest blog positions. While outsourcing content is an option, often with the right plan you can do it yourself and still carry out your other business activities.

Creating a plan at the beginning of the month will allow you to focus your efforts into specific keyword rich topics that will provide the highest quality content to your readers. You can then modify that piece to fit the distribution requirements of other publications by re-organizing the content or slightly changing the focus.

5 Easy Steps to Get Started

Step 1
Print a monthly calender template from Outlook or another online calender maker.

Step 2
Choose your keywords using Google, Wordtracker or SEO Tools related to your market. These will be the pillars of your authority posts.

Step 3
Determine your deadlines and schedule. An example might include posting on Blog 1 on Tues/Thurs and Blog 2 on Mon then post 2 articles a week on Friday.

Step 4
Brainstorm or use Mind Mapping methods to create your list of article topics, potential interviews or podcast topics.This method will also help you determine if larger topics should be broken into a “series” of information.

Step 5
Include scheduled time for research, organization and marketing. I have found that I need to schedule my social networking time as well since this can become overwhelming and suck time away from other activities.

While this method will keep you on track, remember that to add in spur of the moment content. That’s what keeps the blogging world so current so don’t be afraid to “sprinkle” on a few smaller posts that maybe build on other another bloggers post that caught your attention.

As an extra bonus, stop by clickbank, share a sale or commission junction and see what affiliate programs may apply to your keywords and include those for an extra income stream.

For an excellent example of an Editorial Calender or you can download a copy from Andy Wibbel of Six Figure Blogging and customize to meet your needs.

Like my Post? Maybe you would like to Buy Mama A Java! It will help to keep me reading, writing and scooping out the info

Posted by Kristen | Filed Under Small Business Blogging, Web 2.0, Work at Home MOM

New Version of Keyword Research from Google?

February 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment

TOOL SUGGESTION OF THE DAY:

The Google Experimental site allows you to opt into one of several experiments that Google is researching- they include, keyword search, different views of search results, and keyboard shortcuts.

I generally use Google Sandbox, Keyword Discovery, Wordtracker, or Yahoo and several more methods when researching a new word or phrase. I find this can often takes a great deal of time and like life, you can over analyze and never get anything actually accomplished. I relate it to sitting at a slot machine, you may find that perfect Keyword that is going to magically bring you a niche with tons of traffic/money with the next pull.

I opted for the Keyword Search Results experiment, clicked one easy button and it brought me to a search box that is shown in the screen shot.

Notice that as I started to type in words for my search, the tool offered suggstions. Then the best part is they offer the actual results number before you even leave the screen. I know off the bat that I’m not going to try “Senior Move Management” with over 2 million results, but “Senior Move Manager” is in the 600,o00’s - that’s a much better start to work into a niche.

Google states the following about the details:

That’s pretty cool. How does it do that?
Our algorithms use a wide range of information to predict the queries users are most likely to want to see. For example, Google Suggest uses data about the overall popularity of various searches to help rank the refinements it offers. An example of this type of popularity information can be found in the Google Zeitgeist. Google Suggest does not base its suggestions on your personal search history.

Google works well as is. Why should I use Google Suggest?
By suggesting more refined searches up front, Google Suggest can make your searches more convenient and efficient by keeping you from having to reformulate your query. Google Suggest might offer suggestions that you will find novel or intriguing.

Go ahead, give it a try. Due to the fact it’s in Experimental, I don’t know how accurate the information is but it’s better then starting from scratch.

Like my Post? Maybe you would like to Buy Mama A Java! It will help to keep me reading, writing and scooping out the info

Posted by Kristen | Filed Under Keyword Research, Tips & Advice, Web 2.0

Getting Techie with Technorati

February 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Technorati Profile

I’m getting “techie” today- I’m putting the pieces together and finally working to complete all my profiles with Technorarti, Digg, Stumble Upon and setting up the list of urls to PING with each blog post.

I don’t know why I waited so long to join Technorati. I had it in my thoughts that as a “non-techie” joining would be a difficult process, so procrastination kicked in. Once again, I ask myself why I took so long.

For anyone that does not know what Technorati is, let me give a brief overview.

According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Technorati is a search engine searching blogs and competing with Google and Yahoo. As of December 2007, Technorati indexes over 112 million weblogs.

Visit the home page and create a free account, select your username and password, then you can choose and your email.

Then you have the offer to include your blog address. You will be prompted to “claim” your blog. They give you two easy ways.

You can claim it by making a post with a line of html code that looks like the one I did above. You publish it then tell them to set the spiders free.

You can pass them the user name and password to your blog. I’ll be honest, I tried this the first time and my password didn’t work… oops, got a little used to that bookmark for posting and didn’t really feel like searching for the piece of paper with my hundreds of passwords.

I then updated my little bio- I need to find a way to be more creative like everyone else and find a way to stand out.. but really, I’m just too tired all the time to be REALLY creative. Maybe when the baby starts sleeping thru the night?

Be prepared- you will need to create a 250 character summary- I’ll admit, this is my biggest downfall. I include my URL’s.. but, after browsing the site again I see noone else does this… I’ll go back and re-do my profile.

Have that picture ready! I need to actually find a picture of me that does not have me displaying my product… sad, but true, all my pictures are of my kids..the dogs…the cats..crazy things like the hawk that wouldn’t leave my driveway… I’m always taking the pictures. Put that on the To Do list.

Okay, check back.

I created a username/password
I claimed my blog
I did a search and found some of my favorite blogs like, 5 minutes for mom, and added them to my profile.s is something that has been lingering on my To Do list for some time, but hey, as a one women show with a business, a husband working 7 days a week at 12 hours a day, four kids and a house… it seems to slip to the bottom of my list….just above sleeping.

Ok, I’ll finish this post later, must start dinner first….

UPDATE: Dinner is done, here goes the rest of my Techie Post.

I’ll make a very simple and visual introduction to Technorati and hopefully it will save you a little time when you create your own account. Ready?

Step 1: Using my Profile as an example, you can see I have already created my account and claimed my blog. Sorry my lovely picture isn’t showing up in the profile..server must be busy. shucks.

Welcome to Technorati

Since my profile rank is shows that I almost don’t exist

Step 2: A view of the Favorites page. Notice the “Add a Favorite” option box allowing you to add a blog manually. To create a fresh selection of new blogs you can browse under the headers - Front Page-Business-Entertainment. When a blog catches your intesest simply

Technorati Favorites

Step 3: Under your Favorite page you will have access to these tools that make Technorati fun and easy to work with. Drag a

Technorati Options

You will be able to add a button to your toolbar to make bookmarking easy and fast while browsing.
Ping Technorati and let them know you have some hot new content and they can come get it while it’s hot.
Grab a button to add to your blog or site to encourage readers to tag you
More fun options to play with and see what works for your objectives and site

Step 4: Explore Bloggers Central - This is an easy place to get a feel for what the hot topics are by browsing top blogs and watchlist. Depending on your own techie savy, perhaps you want to take a spin in the developers area to see what you can use.

Blogging Central

Step 5: Expand Your Reach. Easy point, click and copy code to help combine your blogging world and your Technorati world.

Options

Entice readers with a couple options that can be easily added to your blog- my personal favorites are the widget and tag cloud.

Blog Widget Tag Cloud

The Tag Cloud is a good example of why it is important to Tag your posts, videos, pictures on Flickr, podcasts. When you ping your blog, these tags will be picked up. Easy way to share a topic of interest!

One last point I want to make. As I mentioned before there are millions of blogs on the intenet today and thousands moving thru systems like Technorati every minute of day.

Before your next post is “pinged” stop and think about how your going to make your post stand out from the rest. Is your headline catchy enough? Are you nichy enough?

Standing Out From the Crowd

and second. When you create your account create a good blog summary. Here is an example of a blog that took time to create a good description and another without one.

Notice that each blog has the options to [add tags]. I can add my own tags in my favorites to help me catagorize for easy reading. Cool!

Good Descriptions

You will also see the word “Authority” under each blog. What is Authority and How do you increase your Authority?

“Technorati Authority is the number of blogs linking to a website in the last six months. The higher the number, the more Technorati Authority the blog has,” explains Technorati’s blog.

Your Authority increases by 1 for every link to your blog. So far my Authority is a four.. OUCH! Quick, post a little link to me :)

Process Simplified if you want to be on the tag page; Create an account, claim your blog, tag your post, ping your blog (manually or automatically depending on your blog set up). Ta Da! Hope this simplified introduction helps. I’ll be posting a more in depth look soon.

Like my Post? Maybe you would like to Buy Mama A Java! It will help to keep me reading, writing and scooping out the info

Posted by Kristen | Filed Under Social Bookmarking, Web 2.0