Product Description
“It’s one of the fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet.” – New York Times Twitter Tools To Enhance Your Business – Discover Free Twitter Tools That Will Help Boost Your Website’s Traffic & Sales Dramatically. Many companies are using Twitter in innovative ways. Dell has sold over $500K in products via twitter. Zappos is forging stronger relationships with its customers on Twitter. It has over 100 of its employees actively using twitter including its presi… More >>

Twitter: Free Social Networking For Business – 100 Success Secrets To Increase Your Profits and Sales Using Twitter Business Strategies

Popularity: 1% [?]

There’ s no question that Twitter has become the next big thing in internet social networking. Yet to this day, less than 10% of North American internet users actually “Twitter.” But unique visitors the Twitter website has grown over 1300 % in one year.

So what exactly is Twitter?

Twitter is an automated service for sharing of short 140 character communications. Why 140? So that you can send “tweets,” or communications from your cell phone as well as your computer. Most celebrities have a twitter channel as part of their marketing and promotion. And now businesses are seeing Twitter as a business tool.

Some feel that Twitter is just a vehicle to kill time, filing any moment with useless drivel. But does it serve a deeper need?  Moses Ma, writing in Psychology Today, believes it does. He says that we are living in a culture starved for real community, which is a message that Robert Putnam gave us in Bowling Alone. Our brains have been biologically hard-wired to operate within a social community, but the industrial age and its extension, free market capitalism has weakened those bonds. People are compelled to tweet, facebook, and to email as well as meet face to face, because they crave social connection.

The critics of Twitter would argue that it is a near perfect example of an intermittent variable reward, a key addictive element of slot machines, and Twitter can trick the brain into thinking its having a meaningful social interaction when you actually aren’t, and finally, Twitter can add to the already recognized problem of overwhelm through multi-tasking, reducing your ability to perform.

The proponents of  Twitter would argue that Twitter, like all social networking, aims primarily at social needs, like those for belonging, love and friendship. At  higher level, Ma suggests, Twitter is related to self-esteem and social recognition. Twitter allows normal people to feel like celebrities. You get a following, and people “like you.” Dr. David Lewis, a cognitive neuropsychologist at the University of Sussex argues that Twitter helps people feel less insecure.

So do people use Twitter to self-actualize, the highest human need according to Maslow? Deepak Chopra and Tony Robbins and scores of other personal growth and spiritual gurus have twitters. Or are they just exercising a new form of smart marketing and promotion of their products?

One way to look at Twitters is what is the impact if you participate. Are you just adding to the crushing weight of spam and useless garbage already out there in cyberspace, or are you participating in  great planetary social experiment that will help us all evolve into better human beings?

Ma would argue that being in the “twitterverse” is like a rive of human awareness, composed of billions of 140 character molecules, each a snapshot of life or thought or reflection, and that river of pure information equals energy in the quantum universe.  And therefore it is a good thing.

Given that as a background, will Twitter go the direction that Facebook is now heading, and become a new vehicle for business marketing and promotion, and the distribution of unedited news and information? 

Popularity: 1% [?]

Product Description
An autobiographical account of my life as a film and television composer, and how drastically my life changed over a 12 month period, both personally and professionally, by my marketing style on the social media network Twitter…. More >>

In the Belly of the Fail Whale: How Twitter Changed My Life In One Year

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This morning, I tuned in to an early morning newscast. It’s nice to know what’s going on around the globe. There’s the US led boycott of the U.N. anti-racism conference; a former head of the CIA slammed President Obama for releasing four Bush-era memos; and sadly, 4 kids died when their intoxicated father veered into a Houston bayou.

Then there is this race between CNN and Ashton Kutcher on Twitter. As the whole world knows by now, Kutcher won. Amongst all news-worthy stories out there, why would this CNN vs. Kutcher feud become such a newsmaker? And it is just about getting 1,000,000 followers in Twitter!

Twitter is the micro-blogging service that lets you post and read fragmentary communications at high speed. You subscribe to the tweets of a bunch of people and they will follow you as well. Internet marketing experts Jack Humphrey and Diane Corriette value Twitter as an important tool in gaining traffic for blogs, websites and products etc. And it seems to be true because corporations, institutions and public-relations firms now tweet like maniacs.

For some Twitter “can make you immoral” or “Twitter and Facebook could harm moral values” . What struck me most is this statement from Bruce Sterling: the clearest symbol of poverty is dependence on “connections” like the Internet, Skype and texting.

Aside from the regular SMS typed through our cellphones (which I and 500 million people love to do), Twitter is somewhat similar to that wherein you are only allowed to type in 150 characters per tweet. So, if the cyberpunk writer’s claim is true, all Twitter users can be considered poor! Oprah Winfrey joined Twitter only last week. But I don’t think anyone can describe Oprah  as part of the impoverished class.

And how many forex traders have their own twitter accounts? Traders can tweet easily about currency pairs, market conditions, trading platforms etc. People tend to keep in touch because its part of human nature. We communicate our thoughts and emotions through various means and currently, its Twitter and all other forms of social media that help us broadcast what we “the ordinary people” wanted to say.

So, will I continue using Twitter? Yes. In fact this morning, I just followed Oprah. Three weeks before, I followed Ashton Kutcher as well. I followed several forex traders, hobbyists, bloggers, journalists and John Meyer. For now, I only have 140 followers because I don’t exactly have a celebrity’s popularity. But nevertheless, I get to say what I want, when I want it…all thanks to Twitter.

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5 types of business that should be using Twitter

They’re all talking about it – the online phenomenon for 2009. Forget Google, forget Facebook and don’t even mention Yell.com – Twitter is where it’s at this year!

Founded in 2006 as a way to let fellow members know “what you are doing”, Twitter has expanded way beyond its founders wildest dreams.

2009 is the year Twitter has become more “mainstream”. This has been helped by celebrities such as Stephen Fry, Ashton Kutcher and Jonathan Ross espousing its virtues but also by the number of businesses out there realising the marketing and promotional capabilities of Twitter.

However it’s usually when I talk to potential clients about using Twitter as part of their social media marketing, I hear:

“It’s just for kids and geeks”

“Only IT and Marketing bods make money from it”

and other such comments.

With this in mind, here are a random 5 industries, each with 5 ways they could use Twitter to promote their business:

1) HOTELS

Twitter is fast paced, instant communication, ideal for the hotel & hospitality industry.

Hotels could:

- Communicate last minute offers – Use Twitpic to show pictures of rooms – Post customer testimonials – Request feedback from guests

DM Bonus – If your guests have Twitter, why not DM them a special Twitter code if they eat dinner in the hotel?

2) PHOTOGRAPHERS

While Twitter is seen mainly as a textual medium, it can be visual too.

Photographers, why not:

- Use Twitpic to post a “picture of the day” – Tweet about the photo shoot you’re doing today, so people get a feel for your scope – Post links to your blog/website – Use TwTQpon to offer free studio time (specify purchase of X photos) – Ask satisfied customers to retweet the link to their pic(s) in your portfolio

DM Bonus – If your customers are on Twitter, DM them the link to thier pictures on your password protected server, or private group on Flickr/Facebook etc.

3)ASTROLOGIST

It’s not always easy to get people to sign up to a mailing list on a website if you’re in a very niche industry, but it’s a lot easier to get followers on Twitter.

- Use Hootsuite to run 12 daily horoscope accounts – one for each star sign – Post details of astrologically important days/dates/events – Offer a free reading for every 50th follower – ask people to retweet – Post testimonials from satisfied clients – Post celebrity horoscopes on a weekly basis

DM Bonus – Offer free 140 character descriptions of each star sign – have them ready to cut and paste. Offer them by DM only. (People have to follow you to get DM’s)

4) HOLIDAY RESORT/GUESTHOUSE

If SEO is too competitive and too costly, try Twitter – the only cost is your time, and even that can be minimal!

- Use 12 second TV to post short video testimonials filmed on an iPhone or similar – Use Twitpic to post pictures of your resort – Post about local traditions/holidays/etc – Tweet last minute special offers/prices – Use TwtQpon to offer money off local/on site restaurants/bars

DM Bonus – Guests on Twitter? DM them to let them know they can check in.

5) SPEAKERS

It might be written communication, but I know a few speakers doing very well from Twitter, so if you’re a speaker, why not:

- Post links to audio files of you speaking – Autofeed your calender/blog into your Twitter account so people know where you’re speaking – Post a “tip of the day” each day, related to your speciality – Use 12 second TV to post short clips of you speaking then link to the longer version on youtube/your website – Use Twitter search to find people talking about your speciality/niche – ask them if they can introduce you to people wanting speakers

DM Bonus – Offer a free ebook / whitepaper / mention on your website by DM only. The only way to get it is to follow you so you can DM them.

So there you have it – 5 types of business that should be using Twitter, and 5 things they can use it for.

Nikki Pilkington is author of TweetMentor from NikkiPilkington.com, a 100 day hand holding support system to help you through the Twitter maze.

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With over 6 million users and counting, there’s no debate as to whether or not Twitter is popular. At present time, Twitter is estimated to be growing at a rate of 8000 new users daily.

Twitter’s attracts all kinds. You’ll find famous actors as well as your average citizen in small town USA. There’s writers, designers, small business owners, big corporations , and even the leader of the free world had a team of Internet savvy supporters that used Twitter as part of the massive campaign that led him to win the 2008 election.  If Barack Obama encourages Twitter, then you might want to check it out.

So, What Makes twitter So Popular?

The funny thing about twitter is, at least at this point, it’s popularity is a huge part of what makes it popular!  When you have a social site with over 6 million users, including large TV networks, the President Of The United States (indirectly), you know it’s beywond “catching on”.

When something is this viral already and then gets major mainstream attention, then it becomes THE place to connect with people, and like it or not, that’s what it is fast becoming.

Before the current hype though, Twitter gained it’s initial popularity from solid features that were new, exciting, and worked well in today’s fast forward digital lifestyle.  Everything constantly needs to be faster and easier, and Twitter delivered that with micro-blogging.

Humans thrive on relationships and interaction with each other, and Twitter created the ability to do that in real time at an extremely fast pace. In addition to the speed, Twitter also makes it possible to make the connection with your friends and followers at any given time. It’s not just for marketing either. Let’s say you’re working late and you  have trouble with an application you are using. Jump on Twitter and post for help. Often, depending on your number of followers, you can have a solution to your problem from a friendly follower in a matter of minutes.

Twitter is also extremely addictive which adds to it’s popularity and viral movement. If everyone you know is “on Twitter” whenever you asked them what they’re doing, then you feel obligated to try it out. Just don’t let yourself get too addicted!

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Lastminute.com founder Brent Hoberman described it as “a fascinating zeitgeist tool. It’s an excellent way of understanding trends, seeing what people are talking about and what’s firing their imaginations. It also feeds into our celebrity culture; the nosiness that makes us human. There is always someone out there having a better time than you and you want a bit of it. “

Brent is not alone; Barack Obama has been at it for ages…

Right now it is the place to be, it’s got the PR and the momentum but it does not have the revenue model at present and it’s purely venture capital funded.

To the uninitiated, messages are known as tweets and people who read your messages are called followers. Then there is the particular Twitter culture and mode of behaviour: sociability is enhanced by retweeting messages you find illuminating by rebroadcasting them to your followers. Among hardcore users, gratuitous self-promotion is frowned upon.

Twitter has stumbled upon a formula that a whole generation of internet start ups has been searching for: a way for people to connect with friends, express themselves and find information that stands a chance of one day becoming as popular as other mass online trends such as blogging and social networking.

Three years old, the Silicon Valley company only has 29 employees whilst the basic service will remain free, business users as on Linked In may be charged for extra functions. Meanwhile there is a viral network effect which is giving it great growth. The Twitter phenomenon has much to do with the fundamental simplicity of the idea. Operating at a juncture of blogging, texting and social networking, the service defies easy categorisation. “Because it is undergoing such rapid evolution, it’s hard to slap a label on it” says Peter Fenton a partner at Benchmark Capital, who has joined Twitter’s board.

Businesses have been keen to tap into a rapidly growing network like Twitter. The fact that users can choose which messages they want to receive could open the way to a new “opt-in” marketing says Bob Pearson of Dell. The computer maker for instance , issues a stream of tweets about new discounts on its products.

In summary Twitter’s six secrets of online success:

* Immediacy: Real-time flow of comments and adaptability to mobile handsets makes it more immediate than blogging.

* Brevity: Limiting messages to 140 characters makes it easier to produce and easier to digest.

* ‘Pull’ not ‘push’: The ability of users to choose whose tweets they follow makes it less random than email.

* Searchability: Messages can be searched, making the content more accessible than the comments on a social network.

* Mixing the public and the personal: A user’s personal contacts are on an equal footing with public figures.

* ‘Retweeting’: By copying and retransmitting messages, users can turn the network into a giant echo chamber.

* This past week Twitter has been in the news several times:

* Life or death – A snowboarder was found dead but Twitter had been used in the search and kept searchers up-to-date.

Twitter has been used very effectively to raise money for Comic Relief, after the Twestival and the current hitchhike of Twitchhiker, the TwitterTitters have compiled new book of comedy all this raising well deserved funds for Comic Relief.

On the commercial side-a US based IT company has developed a network of sensors that measure the amount of moisture in the soil and compares it to the optimum moisture level. This data is sent to a local network. The data is then turned into a text or Twitter message, to tell you when you need to water your plants. So how cool it is that your plants can now Twitter you to tell you they are thirsty!

Give it a go….

Find out which UK and US politicians use Twitter the most:

www.ft.com/twitteringclasses

and some well known Twitterers….

Will Carling

Russell Brand

Demi Moore

Chris Moyles

Britney Spears

Lance Armstrong

John Cleese

Snoop Dogg

Noel Edmonds

Bill Gates

Richard Branson

Jamie Oliver

Toby Young

Boris Johnson

Over to you, can interim management professionals afford not to join the Twittering classes?

Inspiration for this blog from the FT, The Observer, Computing and Metro, thank you.

To read the original post, go to Clive’s blog

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“What are you doing?” This is the question that Twitter asks you upon logging in or upon opening the site. Just what are you doing? If this is how the site charms its members, what’s so great about Twitter?

First, you need to know what the site is. Basically, it is a social network and micro-blogging service. If you are familiar with FaceBook, MySpace, or Multiply, then you’ll have no problems getting into Twitter.

As a social network, it aims to gather groups of people who have the same interests. As a micro-blogging service, it provides short updates on the users blogs, or even just his activities.

Twitter is all about the “tweets”, or updates. Updates are the answers to the ultimate Twitter question: “What are you doing?” What’s great about Twitter is that is only requires you 140 characters to answer the site’s central question. To many, the prescribed length of characters is seen as a limitation. On the other hand, it challenges you to say things using fewer words. After all, less is always more!

So again, what’s so great about Twitter? What makes it different from other social networking sites?

The Terms

The terms that Twitter uses are unique and interesting enough to differentiate the site from other social networks, like “tweet”, for example. Below is a list of Twitter terms that you need to be familiar with:

1.Follower – Those who have chosen to receive your tweets. Simply put, these are your friends who want to be updated about your life.

2.Following – Those whom you want to be updated about. For instance, if you are following Anna, you will receive Anna’s tweets regularly. Following Anna essentially shows that you want to know what Anna is up to as of the moment.

3.Nudge – This is a friendly reminder to your circle, urging them to give out updates. You can nudge, and you can be nudged.

The Commands

The commands used in Twitter are plain and simple, no pesky steps that need to be followed. If you want to tweet, you simply have to write your message in the small box on top of your page.

The registration process? Simply wonderful! You don’t need to key in a number of unimportant pieces of personal information. You just have to be ready with a username (and Twitter checks out the availability of that chosen name right then and there), a password, an email address, and a URL to your personal site or blog, if you have one. The registration process takes no more than 2 minutes of your time.

The Ways to Receive the Tweets

With Twitter, you are provided with more than one way of sending your tweets. This feature is perhaps the most remarkable edge of Twitter. So how can you post your 140-character updates?

1. Through your home page at Twitter.com. – This is the most widely-used method of tweeting. The home page is so friendly and is neat-looking. As such, you aren’t bothered by pesky pop-ups, complicated commands, and useless applications whose sole purpose is to make the page look heavy. Now with such an atmosphere, isn’t it nice to just randomly type in your thoughts? Even tweets such as “I’m bored” are very welcome on Twitter!

2. Through your mobile phone. – Before you can use this feature, you need to verify your number first. It can be done in a few simple steps.

Before you start, however, you initially need to check if your area or country of residence supports this type of service. Surely, those living in the US and Canada will fully enjoy the advantages of this feature.

3. Through http://www.m.twitter.com. – This is Twitter’s mobile site.

4. Through third-party applications. – Twitter Fan Wiki is the most popular third party application that uses Twitter’s API (Application Programming Interface). As it is a “wiki”, you can add, remove, and edit available content. You simply have to create an account to join this group.

Twitter is a relatively new network. Its official launching can be traced back no more than two years ago – July 15, 2006, to be exact. Despite this, it has gathered more than 3 million accounts in just over two years of operation. This shows how increasingly popular Twitter has become.

So, what’s so great about Twitter? Everything!

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Twitter is that quirky website where it asks “what are you doing now?”, and then gives you 140 characters to respond. It takes only a few seconds to register, and another few seconds to post your latest activities.

Lately, marketers have been discovering how powerful Twitter is for marketing things online. People like Mike Filsaime and Seth Godin are ‘twittering’ now, and building a following of people who get every update they ever post.

Now, no one wants to hear what you have had for breakfast, or any of the other hundreds of boring things we all do each day. Yet there are a growing number of people who have learned how to post very interesting things on twitter, and have in turn developed a following of thousands of people who actively track what they say. Obama Barack is one such person who uses twitter to announce his public appearances and speaking engagements. Doing this has grown his fan base, and increased the number of people who learn about him, and now support him. In short, twitter is a powerful marketing medium when you use it right.

Here are 4 secrets to get you started marketing with twitter:

1. Refrain from posting what you are doing right now! That’s right, don’t post everything you do, but rather just the things that are interesting to others, or things you want others to see. It could be something in the news, or an event that is happening, or an offer you are making – just anything that could benefit someone else and not bore them. It sounds interesting, but it becomes a little challenging to do when you get excited or angry. So be sure to ask yourself the question “is this useful to my followers?” and only post if the answer is yes.

2. Find interesting people and follow them. To do this, you simply search twitter for something that interests you (anything, really), and then look at what others are twittering. After a while, you will find some people that have interesting things to say, and when you click on their username, twitter will show you a button called “follow” that lets you follow that person from now on. By following a person, everything they post will go into your personal timeline – the thing you see when you login to twitter. If you decide you do not wish to follow someone any longer, simply click on their name and then on the “unfollow” link.

3. Go to quotably (a free website) and search for stuff posted on twitter. Quotably shows you everything in conversation mode and lets you reply to peole simply by logging in with your twitter details. In short, you can enter the conversations of others at that site, and find other interesting people to follow.

4. Use a twitter agent to have all your essential twitter information at hand at all times.

Twitter is a powerful tool, and more and more people are learning how to use it to develop their contacts and business. Now you can, too.

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What if you could reach a few million people, improve customer support, tap into an incredible wealth of customer satisfaction data, protect and enhance your brand, and obtain some positive coverage, all for under $500? But wait, there’s more! Sounds like a late-night infomercial, but in fact, a minimal investment (mostly time) can help you establish a highly visible and rewarding social media outpost on Twitter.

If you’re trying to figure out how social media can be integrated into your corporate communications strategy, follow this simple program. Don’t hire expensive consultants, don’t spend millions of dollars on viral marketing programs, and don’t wait to be shown proven ROI for social media initiatives. Just roll up your sleeves, get on Twitter, be genuine, and actually respond to and assist consumers.

Of course there are other social networks and opportunities to use social media in your corporate communications initiatives, and Twitter hosts a relatively small audience, perhaps two million people. But online, two million people who are extremely well-versed in the use of social media tools can be a very influential audience. Their comments on your company, its willingness to engage with customers, and the quality of its customer support not only reach a potentially much larger audience, but once published, are on the web almost forever to be retrieved via a search on your company name. If those comments are negative, wouldn’t you like the opportunity to respond? And if they’re positive, wouldn’t you like to know that as well?

I’m sure you’ve heard it said hundreds of times, that there’s an online conversation going on about your company. And as much as this is a metaphorical conversation, it is also, in many social networks, forums and chat rooms, an actual conversation in which real people are sharing their experiences with your company.

I was inspired to write this piece as I watched this morning as a well known vehicle rental company come under attack on Twitter. A Twitter user with more than 1500 “friends” commented on a bad experience involving the company. Perhaps feeling that the company didn’t care about his plight, he invited other Twitter users to share their negative experiences with the company, and thus was born a groundswell of negativity. The company in question had no clear presence on Twitter, and did not get involved in the conversation. Here are a few of the comments:

“horrendous service…fails on many levels…poorly maintained trucks too.”
“I’m going to need a moving truck soon…maybe I should try another company this time around”
“abysmal customer service”
“I have had way too many problems with them – bad equipment, oversold equipment, etc.”
To get an idea whether your company is being talked about on Twitter, go to http://www.search.twitter.com, and enter your company name. You will be able to scan, in chronological order, user comments about your company. Whether these are largely negative, positive or neutral, each is an opportunity for you to weigh in, which is perfectly legitimate to do on Twitter. And you would be remiss not to.

It’s difficult for me to say that they “should” have been on Twitter, but I have to ask, why not? One company after another has been in the news as they have established a presence on Twitter and started engaging one-on-one with consumers. I am not exaggerating when I say the cost of being on Twitter is under $500. Twitter membership, even for corporations, is free, but I was allowing $500 to pay for the time to have someone in corporate communications sign up, create a simple graphics backdrop for the page, complete the very brief profile, and begin the conversation.

It’s not that hard to do. I recently wrote on my blog about the Seven Rules for Establishing a Corporate Presence on Twitter. These are very simple guidelines for branding your Twitter account and making it clear to consumers that it is an authorized company communications vehicle.
There are no barriers to Twitter entry. As I said, it costs nothing, and you do not need to create any content, but you do need to identify one or more company spokespeople who can be online periodically to respond to consumer inquiries, questions and concerns. Home Depot’s account is staffed by Sarah, a PR person who has agreed to “moonlight” on Twitter to respond to customer comments and issues. Comcast’s account is staffed by its “digital care” group, and jetBlue’s is managed by the company’s corporate communications team. Surely there are one or two people in your company who are social media savvy, and connected either to your communications or customer support organizations, who can spend 30-60 minutes a day engaging with consumers, solving problems, and improving the company’s reputation. Not doing so doesn’t seem very smart.

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