Twitter is a useful tool for both personal and business needs. If you are new to Twitter, it may be helpful to learn how to use it to your best advantage. Here are a few do’s and don’ts to get you started.

Twitter was revolutionary when it started. It’s a platform that uses short messages to communicate with others. It could be up-to-the-minute information about you or communication with clients and co-workers on projects and the like. And, you can follow others just like on other social networks.

With Twitter, there are very few established rules. Most of the advice given on how to use Twitter is about etiquette and using the service to connect with other business professionals, clients and the like.

Do’s on Twitter

So, let’s take a look at some of the positive things to do on Twitter.

Follow others – It is not just about you; it’s also about connecting with people. Get involved in what is going on in your area of expertise. Follow people with similar interests. This gives you a higher visibility and can help establish you in that niche on Twitter. If you see something interesting, retweet it so others can follow too.

Tweet – It’s just like posting on Facebook. Leave meaningful information for others. You can talk about yourself, but not too much. Intermingle some useful content with your conversational pieces.

Create a compelling biography – Use your bio to its utmost. You have just a few characters so use keywords that are searchable to describe yourself and help others to search for you and find you.

Be professional – This includes using proper grammar in your tweets. Abbreviations don’t lend themselves to professionalism.

Don’ts on Twitter

Don’t tweet every second – You often hear about people who tweet about eating dinner, inappropriate habits and every other thing they do all day. This is not what people want to hear from you. In fact, it is one way to lose your ranking and current audience. It just clogs up the works for those following you.

Be careful what you say – Once you have entered something on the internet, it will be there forever. Inflammatory tweets reflect negatively on you and can come back to haunt you later.

Don’t be too negative – People who are always looking on the downside crash the party. Misery loves company but you will lose yours if you persist.

Learn to use hashtags properly – Hashtags can help you and others to follow a conversation more easily. But, use them the right way. Don’t put a hashtag on each word in your tweet. And, don’t hashtag a run-on tweet.

Using Twitter doesn’t have to be complicated or hard. Be yourself and use the above advice to make the most of your time there.

You can produce the most compelling, interesting video online, but without a clear call to action, your video is just pure entertainment. Whether you want a viewer to buy your product, sign up for your list, or take another action, you have to tell them what you want them to do.

A call to action can take many different forms. Do you want the viewer to click on a link, click the “buy now” button, watch another video, or take some other step? Know what you want from your viewer before you even create your video so everything you do points to that desired end result.

Some people believe that if you push your message on your audience, they will resist any kind of “sell” and turn away. While you want to avoid the used car salesman approach, remember that when you have the solution to your audience’s problems, you’re doing them a favor by sharing it with them.

Your call to action can take many forms. Here are some examples:

• Click here to download your free report on X.
• Click here to visit X and sign up now for more information!
• Enter your name and email below to sign up for the free teleseminar now.
• Fill out the form below to request your free consultation.
• Enter your information below to apply for this special program.

The logistics of creating a call to action within in a video will vary depending on the type of video you use, the location of the video and the rules of the site where you are hosting your video. Here are some ideas:

Mention in Video – You can include a call to action within the video itself. Create the video to capture the attention of your audience, give them the information they need and then tell them what action to take next.

Text on Video – Another way to tell your viewers what move to make after the video is to add it across the screen of the video. This text can be a link to your website or an explanation of any other action you’d like them to take.

Clickable Video – By using ‘Flash’ software or YouTube’s video tools, you can create video that, when clicked on, can link the viewer to the desired page.

The most important part of your call to action is ensuring it fits with what your audience needs. When the call to action matches the exact needs of your audience, taking your recommended next step will be a natural next step for your viewers.

Are you ready to learn how to use video effectively in your marketing? If so, join me on Thursday, February 2nd for a free teleseminar with video marketing expert, Lou Bortone, about Easy Biz and Video. Sign up by going to:

easybiztelesummit.com

Search engines matter because without them you would receive minimal traffic to your website. Use them well and you will receive very targeted traffic to your website. Targeted traffic turns into customers and repeat visitors. This means it’s not only where you’re placed on the search engine rankings, but the keywords you use as well. You want to make sure you’re attracting targeted traffic to your site.

The world of search engine optimization and keyword development can feel overwhelming. It seems there’s a lot of information to learn, know and use. However, when you drill down, it’s actually quite simple. You want to optimize your website for a few primary keywords. These keywords ideally will have an acceptable amount of demand and supply. They’ll also be keywords that your audience is likely to use to find your information.

Then you optimize your pages for those keywords. You also choose some secondary keywords to support the primary ones. These may be keywords with less demand and less supply. However, they’re still keywords your audience is using to find your information.

How do you use these keywords? Content, content, content. Content gives the search engine spiders something to index. It also provides material that others may link to. This is an important part of SEO.

To help you manage and master your SEO efforts, there are literally thousands of various tools and gadgets. Some of these tools help you check the keyword density on your web page. They make sure your keywords are represented enough to help but not so much that your content reads poorly. There are also link checkers, keyword research tools, and so on. Here are four SEO tools you might find useful.

1. Keyword suggestion tools – This is where it all begins. Keyword suggestion tools help you learn and research your primary and secondary keywords. The most common of these tools is the Google AdWords tool. It’s free and quite useful. There are also keyword tools that you can pay for. They offer a bit more information than the Google tool.

2. Ranking checkers – Ranking checkers help you determine where you rank for various keywords and search engines. It’s a great tool for setting goals and tracking your progress. For example, you might set a goal to move up two pages in the rankings using article marketing. You can use a ranking checker to test and track your success. (You can also check to see how your competition is doing.) You can get a free rank checker from SEO Book by clicking here.

3. Link checking tools – Link checking tools help you determine the effectiveness of your back links. You can learn who is linking to you and how popular their links are. Again, you can also check to see who is linking to your competition. There are some basic, free tools that provide basic information. Or you can hire a service to analyze your back links for you. Click here for access to a free reciprocal link checker.

4. Keyword density tools – These tools can analyze a page or your URL for keyword density. There are a number of keyword density tools. Again some are free and some are paid tools. If you’re going to pay for this service, make sure it analyzes keyword phrases and not just one or two word keywords. Click here to access a free keyword density checker.

New SEO tools are being developed every day. Take advantage of these resources to strategically position your business. The easier it is for your prospects to find you, the faster you’ll achieve your business goals.

If you’re thinking of sharing about your business via Facebook, creating an effective profile is important. It’s easy to go into Facebook and set up a profile that doesn’t do much to reflect what your business is all about. A few tips can improve that. Here are some tips for using for Facebook profile effectively for your business.

1. Be careful – It’s wise to exercise care when you set up your profile for business use. Facebook terms of service says that your profile cannot be used for business purposes. However, you should be fine as long as you are actively using the profile for personal purposes as well. You may or may not already be on Facebook to socialize, but it’s a good idea to consider how to keep your business and personal information separate. It’s also a good idea to limit who reads your status updates so that your personal news does not conflict with your professional news.

You can use Facebook’s privacy settings to control who sees your updates. You can also specify who sees an individual update as long as you use the Facebook lists feature. And remember, privacy settings aren’t perfect; some cross-over is possible, so take care what you post. Some things you don’t need to share!

2. Your name – Most business people suggest using your real, full name in your profile – another good reason to pay attention to privacy settings. But you’re a business, so you want your name out there so make sure to list your business information on the “About” page of your profile. Using your real name makes it a lot easier for people to find you.

3. Your avatar – You will need to choose an avatar. Some successful business people suggest using a professional picture of yourself, but it’s entirely possible to get a good photo with your home camera. Let your “look” reflect the mood of your business (you don’t want to be pictured in overalls, for example, if your business is a professional marketer; but overalls would be an excellent look for a landscape design business). If you have some photo software on your computer, you can adjust the background and so forth to construct a good avatar.

You do not want to use your business logo as your avatar. This is a clear violation of Facebook policy and could get your account suspended. Whatever your choice for your avatar, make sure it is one you’re comfortable with. Consider your avatar’s look, colors and branding message to see if it makes an effective business-like message or not.

4. Think like a client – If you were a prospective client of your business, what would you like to see on a profile? Be thorough and truthful, but keep your prospects in mind. There are some things your clients don’t need to know, and other things they should know – remember, this is a personal profile being used to help your business. Include those aspects of yourself that coincide with your business intent.

Getting new clients doesn’t have to be an expensive endeavor. The old axiom of “it takes money to make money” just doesn’t have to be the case when it comes to small business marketing.

If you want to give your business an infusion of clients without over spending, read these ideas carefully. Here are several different ways you can promote your small business – all with little to no cash investment.

Networking

Networking is one of the most effective strategies to both build and grow a business. Meeting the right people can practically ensure long term success. Additionally, networking helps you learn and grow personally too. However, finding business networking groups online or off can sometimes be a challenge. Here’s how to go about it.

Search online. This probably seems like an apparent step and perhaps it’s one you’ve already taken. Simply type your industry and the words “organization” or “association” into your search bar and see what comes up. Often, you’ll hit the jackpot with dozens of top level organizations to research.

Look at business networking directories. Yes, there are directories for just about everything under the sun and there are business networking directories you can search through too. For example, the Chamber of Commerce has a directory of other Chambers you can join (www.chamberofcommerce.com/).

Social media. Connect with other people in your industry and ask about networking groups they belong to or recommend. You can find great, like-minded people, this way.

Offer to Write for Publications

If you’re an expert on internet marketing, why not start writing a column for your local newspaper’s business section?

Or perhaps you might want to see if you can get a recurring writing assignment in a small internet business related magazine.

Being invited to write a column isn’t as hard as you might imagine. If you have the qualifications, editors are always on the lookout for more content. Because the better the content, the better their publication.

Finally, try also approaching bloggers to do guest blog posts. Make sure you state your qualifications upfront so they know you know your stuff, and make sure to suggest a few potential post topics in your introductory email.

Speak in Public

Public speaking is one of the most powerful and least competitive marketing methods around. Why? Because almost everyone is terrified of speaking in public.

Speaking in public requires honing your presentation skills. It involves mastering your fear of looking bad. It involves quite a bit of personal and professional development.

It’s a lot of hard work to become a great speaker. However, once you do become a great speaker, marketing will likely become a non-issue for your business.

Speaking in front of groups generates so much curiosity and credibility that if you do it on a regular basis, your business is more or less set up for success.

Promoting a small business doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. If money is your main reason for not promoting your business, let it stop you no more. Instead of using your money to promote your business, use your smarts, wit and determination to do the job.

Twitter is a really great way to socialize and keep in touch, but it can be more than that. You can use Twitter as a tool for various things, from business to advertising. It provides a personal link with your customers and clients that may be lacking in the usual online business relationship. Here are some tips for using Twitter effectively.

1. Keep it short

Regardless of what you are tweeting, you’ll want to keep the message short and to the point. Twitter is not like email; it’s more like text messaging to a group.

2. Make a decision

Regardless of how you plan to use Twitter, go ahead and make that decision before setting up an account. If you want to use it for business purposes, determine who your potential customers would be. If you plan to use Twitter for personal reasons, make that decision ahead of time, too. It can get confusing and problematic if you try to toggle back and forth between business and personal messages on your Twitter account.

3. Avatar

Choose an avatar that reflects your purpose in using Twitter. A fun picture of your dog in a Santa hat may be great for your personal account, but not for your business (unless you sell dog Santa hats!). You may even want to find a professional to take a picture of you specifically for your Twitter avatar.

4. Username

The same things apply to a username as to the avatar – make sure it fits your Twitter intentions. Also, make sure it coincides with your avatar so that the two become synonymous.

5. Advertise

Twitter offers advertising programs that you can use to boost your business. You can sign up with one of these on the Twitter site. They work by connecting Twitter users with advertisers.

6. Share links

The brief nature of Twitter makes it a great vehicle for sharing links to websites, videos, and so forth. This can be a quick and effective way to share the newest and latest products or information with your customers. Sharing links for others can also be a way to generate income. You can share your own links, too.

7. Get a mobile device

Giving your Twitter followers up-to-the minute tweets is what makes Twitter unique. You’ll want to embrace this aspect of the medium, and invest in some kind of mobile device that you can have handy at all times to read and send tweets.

You would like to get in on the social networking scene, but maybe you aren’t quite sure where to start. Whether you are interested in promoting your business through social networking or just want to catch up with friends, it can be intimidating if you aren’t sure how it works. Facebook is a good place to start for social networking. To start using this popular networking site, here are some ideas that tips that can help you take the first steps to getting on the networking scene.

What Is Facebook?

You can think of Facebook as a way for people to stay connected. You update your status and read the status updates of other people, and you can search for people whom you know and who know you. You “friend” people and accept friend requests from others. You can join and start groups, and invite others to join. Facebook allows you to share sites, pages, and information that you like.

1. First, log on to Facebook.com and follow the on-screen directions for setting up an account. It’s quite user friendly, and you can change the information you put in your profile at any time.

2. Your profile should say pertinent things about you, whether it’s your business or your personal account. You do need to decide whether or not you are going to go at this from a business or personal perspective, because the general opinion is that personal and business communications on Facebook should be separate.

3. Once you set up your account, you can search for friends using the Search feature. Facebook allows you to search groups, or search for people according to a certain demographic (people who share your graduation year, for example, or your home town). Once you have a few friends, you can search for friends of friends – those mutual friendships you share. Then your friend list will start growing.

4. Privacy settings can be adjusted according to your preferences. Check into the guidelines and make sure you have the settings where you want them. You are in control of who sees your profile and updates. You can also block people you don’t want to contact you on Facebook.

5. You can communicate with your friends in various ways. If you “write on their wall” then you are posting something others can see. The friend whose wall you wrote on would have his or her own privacy settings, and your friend decides who sees what’s on his or her wall. So just beware that the wall is considered “public.”

You can also send messages to individuals. If you hover your mouse pointer over a person’s picture, the option to send a message comes up. Messages sent this way are not readable by others.

6. Groups are a nice feature of Facebook. Take some time to participate in groups within your specific niche.

If you would like more strategies for using Facebook for business, I suggest taking a look at Facebook 4 Biz…a new session is starting on Monday, January 9th. Get more information about the class and sign up today at:

www.facebook4biz.com

Web 2.0 is a very popular phrase these days, although a lot of people really don’t know what it means. It’s basically marketing your business via social networking sites. The whole idea is to enable you to get into a conversation with your customers. So instead of pushing your sales message at them, you will be listening to their needs, and meeting them.

What is a “2.0 site”?

It’s just another word for a social networking site. Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are prime examples of 2.0 sites. They could also include your own blog.

No matter which 2.0 marketing method you choose, the most important tip is that you get involved helping others. Today, more than ever, trust is very important for businesses. Customers are very wary of people trying to sell them something.

Web 2.0 is a way to get you past this barrier, and help people trust you. It’s no longer enough to just have a sales letter and email list. You have to involve your customers.

What’s the key to success with 2.0?

It is genuinely trying to help people. One of the best ways is to answer their questions. Sure, you have a reason for doing it: trying to increase trust, and ultimately your profits. However, when you genuinely answer questions with an eye to really helping them, people will be more likely to trust you.

When they know you really want to benefit them, they will trust what you have to say more. “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” So the key is to get involved in discussions, and establish yourself as an expert.

Where are the best places to market?

Forums are awesome places to get involved and start answering questions. There is a lot of discussion going on here. Therefore getting involved and answering questions will really establish you as an expert.

On some of the sites, like Squidoo or Twitter, you can add informative posts. Assuming they are interesting and have good information, people will then leave comments on them, which you can respond to.

Also, video marketing is very effective. And if you do good keyword research and post them to the right sites, you can get your videos ranked in the search engines. Finally, you can start a blog on your own domain, and get that ranked. Basically involvement is the key.

Finding and establishing a way to connect with your potential clients via social media is what web 2.0 is all about. Start getting involved and you will benefit with increased profits and expert status.

Do you have trouble understanding Twitter? Whether you want to use it for marketing or social purposes, you still have to understand the language. Here is a list of the more popular terms to get you up to date.

Twitterism – Any word that is only used by the Twitter community. They are generally formed by putting the letters TW before a basic word, like Twaffic in place of traffic.

Tweet – Your 140-character or less message. This is the backbone of the site.

Twitterjacking – Where people hack other twitter accounts and pretend to be that person. Celebrities are particularly vulnerable to this.

Twitterer – Any user of the site. Also called Tweeple on occasion.

Twitterverse – The whole society of people who use the site. This includes both those using it for business and those just using it for social reasons. Also sometimes called the Twittosphere.

Twittersona – Someone’s Twitter persona.

Retweeting – Alerting those following you to another person’s tweet. You are basically quoting that person’s tweet and reposting it on your account. Just make sure it’s clear you didn’t originate it. You must add RT at the beginning and then provide the username of whoever you are quoting. For instance, if you are quoting JanetSlack, you would say RT @JanetSlack and then the message. If you don’t format it this way, you are actually claiming their tweet as your own. This is a violation of Twitter policies, and could get you in serious trouble.

Followfriday – This is where you provide the usernames of people that your followers should follow themselves. You don’t necessarily have to include a reason. You format it #FF @the username of whoever you are suggesting.

Twaffic – All the visitors you get from using Twitter.

Tweekend - When you devote an entire day of the weekend to using the site.

De-Follow – When you stop following someone. It’s a play of the standard “de-friend” term used by most social sites.

Hashtag – Tagging a specific tweet by placing the hash prior to the tag. For instance, you would put #pgatour if you were talking about the PGA Tour.

Mistweet – When you send one of your messages to someone you didn’t intend to.

Tweeps – Used to describe people following you that you also interact with on other social sites.

There are many more terms to learn, and this just gives you a rundown of the essentials. You will discover the rest as you start using the site more regularly.

Twitter can be a very effective marketing platform for your business. Hopefully this article has helped you understand this complex world a bit better, and will help you use it properly in your business.

LinkedIn is like an always-accessible online resume. Unlike a resume, however, it can also help you meet new professional contacts, impress potential clients and reconnect with former co-workers. Learning to use LinkedIn intelligently can help propel your business career to the next level.

Here are four strategies to help you make the most of LinkedIn.

1. Ask for Recommendations Often

Most people only have a couple recommendations. That’s why if someone opens up your profile and sees twenty recommendations, they’re automatically going to assume that there’s something special about you or your skill set.

Getting recommendations isn’t difficult. Anyone who’s on LinkedIn can write a recommendation for you. Whether it’s co-workers or employers, business partners or past clients, make it a point to ask for recommendations from everyone.

It’s like having twenty letters of recommendations attached to a resume.

2. Go through Your Past Contacts and Add Them

A lot of people don’t make full use of LinkedIn because they haven’t added their past contacts. People from past jobs, past employers, past partners (even from years and years ago) may have valuable contacts that you can meet in the present.

Go through your old phone books, old phones, old email addresses and look for people you might have forgotten to add.

3. Update Your Profile Regularly

Not everyone uses LinkedIn every day. Some people only use LinkedIn when they’re looking for a job. Others only use it when they’re looking to hire, or looking to find new clients.

During “off” periods, a lot of people let their LinkedIn profile stagnate. They forget to ask for recommendations, forget to add new contacts and forget to add new workplaces.

Unfortunately, anyone you meet could look you up on LinkedIn at anytime. If they see an old profile, they’ll likely think you’re less connected, less skilled or less experienced than you actually are.

Keep your LinkedIn profile up to date. Even if you aren’t using it at this particular moment, make it a point to update it at least monthly. Remember: it’s a publicly visible resume.

4. Search for New Contacts

LinkedIn allows you to search for contacts that are two degrees of separation away. In other words, if your friend Judy knows Jane, who knows Mark, and you want to get to know Mark, that can come up in a search.

You may be more connected than you realize. Potential mentors, investors, clients and employers could just be one or two degrees of separation away.

Get in the habit of searching for people who could help you in your career. Ask people you know, who know people you want to know, for referrals and recommendations.

These are a few LinkedIn strategies you can use to really take your networking and business contacts to the next level. Spruce up your LinkedIn page with recommendations, add past contacts, update your profile regularly and use the search feature to find people who could help you advance your career.

If you want additional tips for making your LinkedIn profile better, join the Social Media Newsflash today!