StacyKinney.com » Twitter http://stacykinney.com Rock Your Business Online Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:20:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 How to Use Twitter to Improve Your Visibility and Reputation http://stacykinney.com/use-twitter-improve-your-visibility-reputation/ http://stacykinney.com/use-twitter-improve-your-visibility-reputation/#comments Thu, 16 Jun 2011 13:18:15 +0000 stacykinney http://stacykinney.com/?p=3938

Your Prospects Are On Twitter

Twitter is one of the world’s largest and most productive marketing tools. Careful use of Twitter can improve your visibility and reputation in the digital world. Twitter is perfect for a number of things including selling yourself to a potential employer and promoting a product or a web site.

The social media site has the potential to make you or your product known worldwide in a matter of minutes or days if used correctly. The right tweet at the right time will be read by millions of people worldwide and, if properly planned, can produce the attention and web traffic you are striving for.
Twitter Money
Like everything else, though, it takes thought, preparation, and planning to improve your visibility and reputation on Twitter.

Differentiate Yourself from the Crowd on Twitter

An effective Twitter marketing strategy requires that you know differentiate yourself from your competition. If you are selling yourself as a prospective employee do not just post a resume. Post your accomplishments as well. Post tweets that prove you are the best choice for the open position. For example, show that you understand how new developments in technology will affect your industry.

For those selling products or services, stand out from your competition by sharing how your product can help prospects achieve their goals. Look at what your competition is doing and think of ways you can do things differently. Partner with people that are in the same industry who are willing to promote your business or service on their twitter page.

Think Before You Tweet

Many people have scared away prospective employers and customers by tweeting before thinking. Even if they didn’t mean to be offensive, the way they worded their tweet gave a negative impression.

Carefully consider what you are tweeting and the reaction you want to elicit from your audience. Every word is judged by every reader. You want to make the best possible impression on the most readers. This takes careful planning because you only have a few words to get your message out there with.

Choose Your Twitter Friends Wisely

Do your homework about friends. Look up people that can assist you with your goals. For example, connect with potential employers or people who can help you in your job search and invite them to be friends. Look for people who can use your product or service as well as partners that would be willing to promote you service on their Twitter page.

Defriend advertisers, lost souls, relationship seekers, and anyone else who does not support your purpose for being on the social networking site. Get the garbage off your wall.

Maintain Your Twitter Profile

Regular maintenance of your account is essential to using to Twitter to improve your reputation or further your marketing goals. Respond to tweets and direct messages sent to your by others. Ignore the spam. Ask people that are your customers or supporters to retweet your best tweets.

Twitter is a numbers game and you need good planning, a definite goal, and regular maintenance to increase your chances of success in promoting yourself and your business. Knowing what you want to get out of Twitter, making a small number of well-planned tweets, finding the right friends, and regular maintenance of your Twitter page will improve your chances of attracting the right kind of attention.

Social media marketing is a large and growing industry that it is difficult to know exactly where to start. Save yourself some time and aggravation by downloading my social media checklist (form in sidebar). I love helping people to succeed so call me for a free consultation on the best way to use internet marketing tools, like Twitter, to increase your brand visibility and value.

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Social Media Pet Peeve: Automated Direct Messages on Twitter http://stacykinney.com/social-media-pet-peeve-automated-direct-messages-on-twitter/ http://stacykinney.com/social-media-pet-peeve-automated-direct-messages-on-twitter/#comments Sat, 14 May 2011 13:35:09 +0000 stacykinney http://stacykinney.com/?p=3762

My biggest pet peeve on Twitter is the automated dm on Twitter. It drives me crazy. And I’m not the only one. I’ve spoken to other people on Twitter who say that they will delete anyone who sends them an automated direct message on Twitter.

I don’t blame them. All it does is clog up the inbox and makes no effort to actually start a relationship with the person who has chosen to be a part of your network. I don’t want to get a robotic message from you. I would rather talk to you about what you do and see how I can help you.

To me automated direct messages on Twitter just sends a message that you don’t care enough about your followers to personally interact with them. What do you think? What are your social media pet peeves?

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How To Build Your Brand On Twitter http://stacykinney.com/how-to-build-your-brand-on-twitter/ http://stacykinney.com/how-to-build-your-brand-on-twitter/#comments Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:15:08 +0000 stacykinney http://stacykinney.com/?p=3128

When you building your brand on Twitter you have to remember that perception is everything. It is important to learn how to build your brand on Twitter and learn what to do and not to do.

What is Twitter?

•Twitter is a social networking and microblogging site that was started in 2006. In 2007, approximately 1.2 million tweets were posted.
•As of June 2010, Twitter has 190 Million Users Tweeting 65 Million Times PER DAY.
•Interestingly, most of the users on Twitter are Adults, not teens. Teens only make up 11% of the site’s demographics.
•Businesses use Twitter for customer service, marketing, and to monitor their reputation. It is also a place where you can assess client’s needs and research social trends.
•Twitter is where the conversation between you and prospective clients START. It is a place for building and maintaining relationships.
•If social media was a dinner party, then Twitter is where people would socialize before dinner was served.

Setting up a Twitter profile:

•Your Twitter profile is fully brandable. You have full control over how your profile looks (except for the format).
•Upload a picture of yourself. Preferably the same picture you use on other social media profiles.
•Use a custom background and color scheme that is consistent with your blog and/or website.
•TwitBacks.com: Backgrounds for your Twitter profile.
•Have fun with your bio. Be professional but show your personality.
•Link to your blog rather than directly to your business site. If you don’t have a site link to one of your other social profiles.

Twitter definitions:

•RT = Retweet: When you repost another member’s tweet to your audience.
•Hashtag: Twitter’s version of categories. You can tag your tweets as well as search by hashtag for tweets other users have tagged.
•Link Shortners: Use Bit.ly and similar services to truncate long links to allow more room for the tweet.
•Follow: To sign up to see a person’s tweets on your home page.
•Unfollow: To stop getting updates of a person’s tweets
•DM: Direct Message. Twitter’s private messaging function.
•Trending Topics: Topics that are popular for the moment
•Lists: You can categorize your followers and people you follow into lists to help organize your account. (private or public)

Twitter Etiquette:

•DO NOT SPAM. Spam on Twitter comes in several forms.
1.Only promoting your stuff 24/7
2.Sending DMs that ask people to visit your business or buy your stuff
3.Sending tweets to people asking them to visit your site or buy your stuff
4.Letting robots tweet for you
•However, don’t go the other way and never promote your stuff. Find balance.
•Log in regularly to check and respond to messages. 100% automation is not recommended. People want to talk to you, not a robot.
•Thank people for following you and retweeting your content.
•Don’t be afraid to be controversial but be smart about it. Engage in friendly discourse. Avoid public Twitter arguments.
•However, unless you can take the heat, avoid hot button topics like religion and politics.
•Promote your Twitter account like any other web property you own.
•Don’t just talk business. Talk about your other interests as well. Be a real person.
•Find what works for you and do it.

Tweeting:

•You are there to connect with people. Therefore your tweets should be interesting and high quality.
•Focus on providing information that your target audience is interested in receiving.
•It is okay to tweet links to your blog and business. However, it shouldn’t be the only thing you are tweeting.
•Tweet tips and advice to help your target audience with their problems.
•Comment on the tweets of other members.
•Avoid Auto DMs or at least make them interesting
•Tweet consistently. Once every day, 5 times, etc.
•Find a few blogs in your industry and tweet links to articles of interest from them.
•How much you tweet is a personal preference. Some people love to talk and some don’t. The important thing is to be consistent.
•Try to tweet at times when your target audience is on the site. Popular times include in the morning before work, at lunch time, and after work.
•Retweet and promote other people.
•Engage in conversation.
•Be yourself. No one else can do the job.

The Wrong Way To Tweet : Example in video

My Twitter Marketing Strategy:

•Self promotion – to my blog, articles, etc.
•Promote other people
•RT people
•Funny stuff – StumbleUpon & find on other blogs
•Quotes
•3rd party blogs. ( Mashable, Social Media Today, Tree Hugger, Discovery, Inc Magazine)
•Tweet Tips and Suggest Tools
•Participate in FollowFriday and EcoMonday
•Engage, Engage, Engage
•Have Fun

Getting Twitter followers:

•Add a link to your Twitter account to your website
•Add a link to your email signature
•Place a link on your business cards
•If you do article marketing, link to your Twitter account in your resource box.
•Place a link in your forum signature
•Follow other people. Most people will follow you back.
•Engage, engage, engage
•Avoid programs that claim to get you thousands of followers. Most times they only cause your account to get banned for spamming.
•Share your link on other social networks

Building Your Twitter Network:

•Know who you want to network with. Determine who you target audience is.
•Use  a Twitter directory, like Twellow to find people by categories. Add yourself to directories so people can find you.
•Some people follow everyone and some people don’t. This is a personal choice. Use lists to manage your followers and contacts.
•Go for quality over quantity. Take the time to get to know the people in your network.
•Don’t be intimidated by “Big Names”. If you like what they are saying, follow them. You may be surprised.
•Follow news sites for your industry so you can retweet interesting news.
•Don’t be afraid to unfollow people who have stopped tweeting, only tweet spam, or don’t engage with you. Quality over quantity.

 

Twitter Tools: Explained in video

Twitter

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Have Social Media Sites Shaped Our Way Of Life? http://stacykinney.com/have-social-media-sites-shaped-our-way-of-life/ http://stacykinney.com/have-social-media-sites-shaped-our-way-of-life/#comments Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:57:46 +0000 See Original Source http://stacykinney.com/?p=2828

social media sites

Have Social Media Sites Shaped Our Way Of Life?

The buzz about social media sites is that they are changing the way we live, the way we interact and the way we work. Well this new technology does not shape our way of living. In fact, it is being shaped by the economic, technical, political and social circumstances in which it is designed, developed and utilized. This technology does not shape the way we go about our live, nor change the way we live.

We have to think about how social sites came to life and why they exist. The simple answer is capitalism! Capitalism is the primary context that influenced the development and use of Facebook and Twitter, to name a few. The emergence of these sites responds to the expression of certain class and gender interests. Therefore the idea that social media sites have a causal effect on society is rejected by some people.

We all think and believe that this new technology is wonderful, marvelous. But we do not think things have changed for most of the people out there. Maybe some businesses are using these sites to leverage what they already have and getting more customers through the doors. But as an individual, have you noticed any real change? It is said that people don’t like change. If people have been using an old technology before embracing social media sites, there is a big chance that they will return to their old ways someday.

However, some people may have noticed that some significant change had taken place associated with the introduction of Facebook and Twitter. This technology is streets ahead of what we used to have. You can create a virtual organization and people will know about you within minutes. Yes, thanks to this new technology, this article is being read by most people; which would have been impossible five years ago.

If you think that social media sites have changed the way you live, you have to be aware that this technology emerged as a powerful instrument because some powerful actors or groups imposed it upon us. Thanks to Google, Youtube is what it is today. Thanks to powerful investors, Facebook is the number one social media site. Bebo is now part of AOL, etc… There is maybe another technology out there, but if a powerful group is not interested in, it won’t make its way through the mainstream.

From this point of view, yes, media social sites have a powerful impact on organizations, individuals, employees, working practices, skill requirements, etc.. If businesses, or individuals do not use Facebook or Twitter, they risk being labeled ‘out of touch’, or not being ‘proactive enough’.

One’s view or perception of social media sites in part depends upon where one is coming from, such as the job, experience, personal upbringing, etc., one has. Some people are of the view that this technology is more-or-less complete. Others think it is just the beginning and the possibilities are endless.

Ivoireconsultancy.org is an online outsourcing site where businesses and consultants meet to work on projects.
Article from articlesbase.com

 

Contact me for more information on marketing and social media strategies.

social media sites

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Marketing through Social Media – Is This Strategy worth Your Time? http://stacykinney.com/marketing-through-social-media-is-this-strategy-worth-your-time/ http://stacykinney.com/marketing-through-social-media-is-this-strategy-worth-your-time/#comments Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:27:28 +0000 See Original Source http://stacykinney.com/?p=2867

social mediaMarketing through Social Media – Is This Strategy worth Your Time?

Social media has become a common buzzword lately and has gained a lot of popularity in the business world. Social media can be defined as any website where users can upload their own content and share it with the Internet. Sites such as Twitter and Facebook are very well attended and have millions of users connecting with each other day and night.

The big question is if marketing through social media is worth your time. According to Facebook, 50% of their users log onto the site every day; Twitter now has 15 million active members that actively post Tweets; LinkedIn has over 50 million members looking to network. If that isn’t proof positive that there is a huge opportunity in social media nothing will convince you.

What Social Media Offers Marketers

The question is how can you use social media to help grow your business? By being present on these sites, you are opening yourself to more possibilities in your marketing strategy. Facebook and Twitter are essentially viral by nature and if a user happens to like your product or service, they will announce it on their page.

When the announcement is made, it goes out to everybody on their friends list and their friends might announce it to their list, and so forth. By putting up strong content and sharing quality information, you can spread the word about your business very quickly.

Social media also gives you another way to stay in touch with your prospects and customers aside from email marketing and blogging. You will be able to reach more people when the time comes to start marketing your new product or service.

Marketing Through Social Media via your Mobile devices

Social media sites also offer applications that are designed for smart phones such as the Android and iPhone. These applications are used by millions of people and many users check these sites regularly throughout the day by using their phones.

This means that you gain more exposure and it enables you to stay in touch with your prospects and customers more frequently. Other features such as private messaging through social networking sites and SMS notifications also offer another opportunity for Internet marketers.

Using Social Media as Part of Your Overall Marketing Strategy

Social media is not a replacement for your existing strategy; it’s a strategy that can make everything in your business more effective. Many Internet marketers are allowing their prospects and customers to receive their information through multiple channels.

Why do this when you can focus on one? It is because people have different user behaviors. One user may like to receive content on Facebook while another one would like to stay in touch by subscribing to your blog with an RSS reader.

By pushing your content out onto multiple channels, you’ll be able to reach your contacts wherever they are, making your marketing through social media an effective way to promote your products and services.

So to answer the question – marketing through social media is definitely worth your time. Many Internet marketers are combining social media and email marketing as well as blogging to get the most out of their promotions and spread the word about their business very quickly.

Want to succeed as an entrepreneur? Learn the skills and strategies you need to succeed as an online marketer. Get in-depth advice on personal development, online promotion, social media, and web traffic by visiting http://www.hasseandre.com/

Article from articlesbase.com

More Marketing With Social Media Articles

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MLM Lead Generation – How to Use Twitter to Create a Steady Flow of Prospects http://stacykinney.com/mlm-lead-generation-how-to-use-twitter-to-create-a-steady-flow-of-prospects/ http://stacykinney.com/mlm-lead-generation-how-to-use-twitter-to-create-a-steady-flow-of-prospects/#comments Thu, 16 Dec 2010 16:37:42 +0000 stacykinney http://stacykinney.com/?p=1962

Social Media and MLM Lead Generation

mlm lead generation

It’s all about social media these days. Everyone is talking about how networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are fantastic places for mlm lead generation. So you sign up and start tweeting or Facebooking but the prospects aren’t coming in like you expected. In fact, more often than not you end up wondering if you are just wasting your time.

The truth is social networking sites can drive thousands of prospects to your business. Unfortunately, it is not a form of mlm lead generation that produces instant results. In fact, it takes time and effort to generate the steady flow of contacts you are looking for. However, like a water faucet, once you turn the knob the right way you’ll be rewarded with a constant flow of people hungry for your business opportunity.

You Need a Following for Effective MLM Lead Generation

The first, and most important, step to using Twitter as an mlm lead generation source is to build a following. Without a following, you have nothing. You need people who are interested in you enough to follow your Twitter or Facebook stream. Developing this following can be a challenge. Unfortunately, many people listen to social media gurus who tell them that building a following on social networking sites is simple and easy.

These gurus make people think that all they need to do is set up a profile and their prospects will practically flock to them like geese to offerings of bread. What they forget to tell you is, this only works if you are a social media guru who has already built up a following using another platform. The truth is it’s a little bit tougher for an unknown person to use social media for mlm lead generation because you are basically starting from scratch.

But it can be done!

The best way to build a following is to provide valuable content (links, information, tips) that caters to the needs of your target market. Socializing with other people in the community and marketing your profile link wherever you go also helps. Once you have a following, you can then implement the following tips to use Twitter or Facebook as an mlm lead generation source.

Tips for MLM Lead Generation on Social Media

Post Links to Capture Pages – The ultimate goal of mlm lead generation tactics is to capture their prospect’s information so they can start the sales process. The direct way to do this is to weave links to capture pages in with your other status updates. These Tweets or updates should be wrapped in lingo that motivates the reader to take action.

For example, your tweet could say something like, “To learn about the ten reasons your business will fail click here”. You would then link to a capture page offering a free report or e-book that provides them with the information they were looking for.

Link to Problem Solving Content - There are going to be people who won’t respond to your capture page and so you must use a different mlm lead generation method. Posting links to content (articles, video, audio) produced by you that solves a problem they are having is a great way to get their attention and looking at you like an expert on the topic. This content will give them a preview of what you have to offer and induce prospects to seek you out for more details.

Provide Networking Opportunities – Give your followers an opportunity to meet up with you offline so you can network with them. For example, if there is a training seminar being held in your area you can invite people online to attend. They will be able to see firsthand what the business entails and you’ll have the opportunity to turn them from prospects into business partners.

While using Twitter or Facebook as an mlm lead generation source is a little more challenging than you may have first thought, it can be done. Use these tips to generate a continuous flow of prospects to your mlm business.

Download my free social media checklist (sign up in sidebar) for a daily to do list of all the things you need to do to increase your following. For personalized help with MLM lead generation, contact me for a free consultation on the best way to market your business online including using Twitter and other internet business tools.

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TweetDeck Training – How To Use TweetDeck http://stacykinney.com/tweetdeck-training-how-to-use-tweetdeck/ http://stacykinney.com/tweetdeck-training-how-to-use-tweetdeck/#comments Tue, 02 Nov 2010 14:56:24 +0000 stacykinney http://stacykinney.com/?p=1527

Here is a training video that shows you how to use the popular Twitter application Tweetdeck. This application can boost your effectiveness on Twitter ten fold. It’s only ten minutes. Give it a watch.

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Are You Missing the Social in Social Media? http://stacykinney.com/are-you-missing-the-social-in-social-media/ http://stacykinney.com/are-you-missing-the-social-in-social-media/#comments Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:38:54 +0000 stacykinney http://stacykinney.com/?p=667

Social Media is About Being Social

Communicating with people, whether they are customers or clients, is the key to building a successful business. Social media sites, like Twitter and Facebook, make it easy to engage in conversation with others and build the trust necessary for good business relationships.

Unfortunately, more often than not, instead of using social media as a two way conversation relay, many businesses are using it as a bullhorn. They are telling their audience all about their business but not really engaging them in a way that encourages them to be their most passionate fans.

Getting to this level requires that you get to know your followers and allow them to get to know you. That means putting the social back into social media.

The Benefits of Getting Personal on Social Media

social media girls talk on phone not to each other
Engaging in real conversations with the people in your social network provides many benefits. Primarily, it allows you to get to know their likes and dislikes, what motivates them, and the things they are passionate about. Additionally, it allows them to learn the same things about you which promote a comfortable relationship between you.

You will be in a better position to meet the needs of your customers and prospects if you know what their real goals and dreams are. For example, most people want to make more money. There are hundreds of ways that can be done but, generally, people have a specific idea on how they would like to earn that income.

If you are selling a business opportunity, you won’t really know whether or not the business is a good fit for them unless you take the time to get to know what your prospects are all about. Your business opportunity may require them to handle inventory. If they don’t want to deal with that, then you may be wasting time trying to convert someone who isn’t really interested in what you are doing. And if you manage to get that person signed up, they will be more likely to drop out because that’s not what they truly want.

Your social media marketing will be more effective because you will have a deeper understanding of who your target market is and how best to approach them with your marketing message. Lastly, but certainly not least, you’ll be building long lasting relationships that will enrich both your business and your life.

How to Bring Social Back to Social Media

Getting personal on social media outlets is really not that difficult. All it really takes is an adjustment in your mindset. Instead of talking shop all the time, bring up other subjects of interest. Look for common ground between you. For example:

* If you both are trying to go green, you can talk about environmental issues as well as share tips on how to live a more eco-friendly life.

* For those with children, you can talk about the challenges of parenting.

* Current events are always good conversation fodder although some topics, like politics and religion, can be tricky.

* Go to their profile and see what they are talking about and join the conversation.

* Visit their blog and talk to them about topic they wrote about.

It may feel a little awkward at first, especially if you are not used to just starting a conversation with “strangers”. The more you do it, though, the easier it will become. Eventually, it will feel like you are conversing with old friends. After all, strangers are really just friends we haven’t met yet.

Download my free social media checklist (sign up in sidebar) for a daily to do list of all the things you need to do to increase your following. For personalized help, contact me for a free consultation on the best way to market your business online including using Twitter and other internet business tools.

(photo credit: PublicDomainPictures)

For more tips on how to use social media to rock your business, visit my archives.

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How to Unfollow people on Twitter http://stacykinney.com/how-to-unfollow-people-on-twitter/ http://stacykinney.com/how-to-unfollow-people-on-twitter/#comments Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:30:55 +0000 stacykinney http://stacykinney.com/?p=254 How to Unfollow people on Twitter ]]>

How to Unfollow people on Twitter

UnTweeps

Unfollow Tweeps who do not Tweet often enough

Your Twitter Karma

Who is following you & who is not – Bulk unfollow

Friend or Follow

Who is following & who is not – Se more detail on each person

*TwitFresh (New one I came across – Awesome !)

Unfollow everyone not following you – happens within minutes (WARNING – does no take you to another screen or allow you to pick people. If you put your info in and hit submit then BAM they are all gone)

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Download my free social media checklist (sign up in sidebar) for a daily to do list of all the things you need to do to increase your following. For personalized help, contact me for a free consultation on the best way to market your business online including using Twitter and other internet business tools.

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How to use Tweetminer (now Pluggio) – My Favorite Twitter Tool http://stacykinney.com/how-to-use-tweetminer-my-favorite-new-twitter-tool/ http://stacykinney.com/how-to-use-tweetminer-my-favorite-new-twitter-tool/#comments Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:57:55 +0000 stacykinney http://stacykinney.com/?p=399

TweetMiner (now Pluggio)

*** A new tool I just started using and it is awesome! ***

This tool allows you to schedule RSS feed for content from your favorite sites, RT your favorite people and either schedule specific time or add to rolling schedule. New feature to help you find people to follow ! Definitely check it out !

Tweetminer 1

(Click the image to get a better look a the features.)

Tweetminer 2

(Click the image to get a better look at the features.)

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