Be Careful What You Post…The Internet Is Forever

I have said it time and time again…Be careful and mindful of what you are posting online as it will come back to bite you in the you know what! I have been hearing several horror stories lately of youngsters who have posted less than flattering photos of themselves or pictures of themselves with alcohol while underage and losing scholarships to college. I shake my head at the carelessness that is given when people click the “publish” or “update” button.

I was caused to pause today when someone shared a story that is not new news, but just reminds me that I need to continually encourage people young and mature that the internet is like a diary with all of your secrets and if it falls into the hands of the wrong person…it can be spread within a few seconds just from one person clicking the “share” button. The latest story I heard about was about a gal named “Vodka Samm” who made the unfortunate mistake of living recklessly in college by

Morning Cup of…Facebook?

I got to wondering today. “What’s the first thing normal people do in the morning?” I mean..for me, it’s wake up, log into Facebook and see if I have any messages, then see what everyone else is chatting about (there could be some happening news ya know), then check to see if my fan page has any questions or leads. After that I hit up Twitter…This process lasts for about the first half hour of my morning before I ever leave the house. So I started to wonder…Am I the

How are you using your Facebook and Twitter Lists?

I had an interesting conversation with my boss the other day. For those who don’t know, my boss and company I work for have been adamently against the use of social networking for business from day one. Well, now that they know that I have been using Twitter for us and gained about 100 strong leads (which are about to close for orders totally over $500K) they are very interested in what I’ve been up to. He wanted to know how we could leverage Twitter for an upcoming trade show. His concern was how we could target certain states. Lucky for him, I had already

My mouth has been taped shut on Twitter..

I find myself getting questioned about many of my tweets and status updates on Twitter and Facebook lately. Social networking used to be so much more fun when you could make a joke and people would laugh “LOL” or just comment with fun loving remarks. I will admit, I have always tried to steer clear of anything political or religious only because I believe that is usually a little different in social networking. If you make a statement that most of your “friends or followers” don’t agree with, well you are just setting yourself up for a bunch of criticism. Never mind that whole “Freedom of Speech” thing that we used to love to call America’s finest quality..Just tie me up and tape my mouth closed instead!

But here’s the deal, I think some of my followers, friends, and such, are just taking things I say too literally. I will give you an example. The other day on Facebook I said, 

Sending DM’s to multiple Twitter users…YES YOU CAN!

Amit Agarwal, tech columnist and professional blogger (and quite possibly a genius for figuring my personal social media frustration out), has just posted one of the best kept secrets (in my opinion) regarding Twitter DM’s (Direct Messaging) and how to send them to multiple folks at one time. This is HUGE for those of us managing several Twitter accounts for business when we’re trying to reach a specific demographic.

Now, I know I have spoken about a lot of different Twitter strategies in previous posts, but this one might be at the top of the list!

A link to his insightful post is below:

For the full story, click here.

Twitter background tips for business

If you are trying to create a Twitter background for your business, then there is help! You can hire me! Just kidding. As much as I would LOVE your business, it’s really not that difficult. I have given steps in previous posts, but I keep getting folks asking me for more tips. So here you go guys:

1. If you have a website, you need to make sure the basic design of that site is followed through on your Twitter background before you even think about starting. (remember, consistency is key)
2. It’s fairly important to have a good photo editing or paint type of software. I use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, but any will do such as Corel, Paintshop Pro, etc. I have even heard of people using Paint (yes, the free thing that you get with windows!).
3. You’ll want to keep the design easy enough to understand what it is you do or what your product is by just glancing at the page. The same rules apply on Twitter as they do on a website. You’ve got about 4 seconds to hold a persons attention before they’ll move on. So, be clear on what your purpose is.
4. Use a photo of yourself, your business, or your products within the design. People on Twitter have gotten “hip” to spam, and we know that if there isn’t any photo of yourself..well…you’re probably spam. So if you wonder why folks aren’t following you back, try adding a photo..if it works, leave me a comment please.
5. If your business is to sell apples, then SAY THAT! Don’t have a design with hearts and balloons. Remember, you’ve only got 4 seconds, use them wisely.

If you’re still having trouble, you may want to consider hiring someone who can lay your page out for you. Keep in mind the prices can range from $20 – $200. But what I always say is you get what you pay for, however, if you can find the right starving artist…you might just end up with some of the best designs you ever saw! (No, THAT is not a shameless plug for me!) If you need some inspiration, visit my portfolio and feel free to be “inspired!”

Get your blog posts and links retweeted faster on Twitter

When I post my blog articles on Twitter I usually get about 10-50 reads depending on the time of day I send it and the leading text I use in the tweet. That can be half the battle. However, if you want to see major increases in your blog reads and pick up new followers of your blog, I have found a great tool that I would like to share with everyone. Some might say I am crazy for sharing this information, but lets be real, if you are not Mashable , then you can probably use all the help you can get!

So, what’s my big secret? Well, for some of you this may be old news, but to a good portion of you, it may be new news. First off, you need to have a

Segmentation…even with Twitter and Facebook!

Segment your customers into different markets.  Once you have your customers segmented (this can be extremely detailed or not – depends on what type of life cycles you put toward the segments) you can begin targeting them in a more focused manner or you can broaden your marketing efforts.  Either way, you will understand more about your customers by the process of segmentation. Many of these techniques can be used in social media marketing as well. You can segment your followers on Twitter with the use of lists. You can segment your friends on Facebook through the use of lists through the customize tool in the privacy settings, not to mention all the different tools within Linked In, MySpace, etc. Understanding the importance of segments will allow you to better market! Keep reading to find out how.

Buying Behaviors

Past response is indicative of future response.  The most predictive piece of marketing is the

What are you doing with your Twitter lists?

I have had a lot of people ask me how I got listed so many times. At the time of this post, I had 88 listings on Twitter, however I believe that the reason I have been listed that much is because people have decided I fall into certain groups. Mostly, I have been listed as a social networking or marketing expert. I say thank you to everyone who thinks this, but the reason for todays post is “What are you doing with this information?”

Although it may seem like I have been listed a lot, really, I have not. There are some in the industry that have been listed thousands of times like Richard MacManus on Twitter, who has been listed over 4000 times.

So what I have decided a list is not good for is just following. I don’t necessarily think

What’s your strategy to get people to open your blog via Twitter?

I have seen several methods used on Twitter and have tried most of them. There is the good old “Hit them hard and hit them fast” method.  This method consists of sending 4 – 5  different