Archive for Social Networking
7 Twitter Tips
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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.
How to Get Started on Facebook
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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:
Web 2.0 Marketing
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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.
Increase Your Twitter Vocabulary with Popular Twitterisms
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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 Strategies for Business Success
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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!
