Tools & Tips – Page 37

Random Facts About Twitter

March 26, 2009

I’ve had a Twitter account for over a year now but have truly only been active for about four months.

Here are some things I’ve discovered:

1) There are ways to lengthen the conversation. It’s hard to carry on in-depth conversations with only 140 characters per tweet. Many Twitterers overcome this by posting their messages over multiple tweets.

2) Some people tweet about really stupid things. People who don’t use Twitter scratch up their faces and say, “why on earth would I want to know that my friend is standing in line at the checkout counter or that their dog just pee’d on the carpet?” … And they’re right. Those are inane conversations

3) Some people Tweet about really interesting things. Think of the Twitter-sphere as a worldwide bar or bistro, if you’d like, where the noise level is high, and many people are posturing to make a “score.” Imagine what you might find: two college kids are blathering on at the bar about nothing. But you may also find that there’s a couple in the back booth who are engaged in a fascinating debate about one of your passions. For all the stupid dialogue there are so many other intelligent conversations going on.

Discerning the Inane from the Interesting

The trick is to find the compelling conversations. That’s where search.twitter.com comes in so handy. This simple tool allows you to search for the conversations that matter to you and find the kindred spirits who have your passion who share your passion.

Can LinkedIn Build Your Business?

March 24, 2009

Right up front I will admit that this article will not answer the question the title poses. But you will learn more about this business networking Web site if you keep reading.

I’ve been on LinkedIn for about 15 months but had not been very active. For the next six months I’m conducting an experiment. I want to discover whether feeding LinkedIn lots of attention and good stuff will reward me with what I want (more and better business contacts and visibility.) I believe it’s possible that LinkedIn could help me find vendors, keep up with business education, promote my business and maybe even provide some solid clients.

If you’re interested in this concept, here are eight steps you could take.

Spruce up your LinkedIn profile
I heard one guy complain that LinkedIn only considered him 40 percent of a person. That’s because his profile wasn’t complete. You won’t be taken seriously if you don’t include a professional photograph and complete the rest of the profile. Your profile should have lots of juicy tidbits about your business talents and successes.
Give and get recommendations
Ask your clients to recommend your services on LinkedIn. Their recommendations will appear in your profile and serve as great endorsements. How do you get recommendations? You get by giving. Recommend good, solid people you’ve worked with. It’s fun and rewarding to recommend good people.
Obtain at least 100 connections
I’m told the magic starts happening when you are connected to at least 100 people. So go through your rolodex and invite people to link with you. Visit the profiles of people you’re already linked to and check out their connections to see if they know people you’d like to know. Then ask for a LinkedIn introduction to them.
Ask Questions
I had a client problem and used the LinkedIn question feature. Within two hours I had four good answers to my client problem.
Don’t Sell
Perhaps this should be number one on this list. There’s nothing worse at a cocktail party than the guy running around basically saying to anyone who will listen, “Wanna buy from me? Wanna buy from me?” Please don’t use LinkedIn that way. Find ways to make yourself useful to others. It’s true: Givers gain.
Join Groups
To learn about a topic or get closer (electronically) to a market, search for LinkedIn groups you can join.
Find People
LinkedIn has a feature that lets you search for people by name. You can also search by company name for LinkedIn members. And you can search by job title within a geographic area. These are good ways to find people in your market or people you know but have misplaced along the business way.
Add Applications
You can choose from about ten pretty cool applications. One app lets you share slide shows. Another lets you take online polls. I have added to my profile the application that lets you share book recommendations.

Your best bet is to go to LinkedIn and experiment. See whether you think there are tools there to help your business. Give the site a fair chance by putting in your time to create a good profile and build connections. I heard one LinkedIn expert say you need to devote about 30 minutes a day to the site when you first join if you want to maximize the site’s effectiveness. Try to add value for other people you run into on LinkedIn.

May your business prosper as a result. See you out there.

Submitted by:

Chris John Amorosino
Amorosino Writing, LLC
Writing Business Stories That Live Profitably Ever After
860.673.0089

What is Twitter?

March 12, 2009

For social media junkies, they already know the answer to this question, but for many, they know that they should know the answer, but they don’t know.

So here’s my twitter 101 discussion, just to get you started. The concept of Twitter was originally that participants answer, in 140 characters or less, one question: what are you doing right now? Your answer (called a “tweet”) is intended to spark short messaging conversations and deeper engagements with those who share your interests.

It’s a fledgling media, one that is changing and growing day by day. However, I don’t think it’s going away anytime soon, so I suggest you get to know it. Now, that doesn’t mean that you may be somebody who spends their life on Twitter. As a matter of fact, most people don’t. The only people that I know that do are those who are engaged in the social media world. However, I have found it to be useful.

In May, I am giving a talk to the financial services industry on New Media Marketing. I wanted to research who was engaged in new media marketing in the insurance world. I put a tweet out on Twitter and Facebook, asking for ideas and information. Many people got back to me, giving reference material, lists of those engaged in social media, as well as connecting me to people relevant to the topic. As a matter of fact, I got hooked up with a director of social media at one of the major insurance companies and was able to get enough information for a case study. If you need to do some research or find the right person, chances are you’ll find it by crashing around on Twitter.

Now most people don’t actually answer the question posed, “What are you doing right now?” They simply comment on interesting things that they found around the worldwide web. Twitter becomes, then, a type of human search engine, pointing out interesting or relevant information to a particular group of people that you have decided to associate with or “follow. “

In addition search.twitter.com can help you find the conversations and the people engaged in activities that are of interest to you. I suggest you spend a little time getting on Twitter and trying it now. Just listen. That’s what everyone else is doing too. If you’re old enough to be puzzled by Twitter, you may be old enough to remember life before e-mail or voice mail, and look how helpful those tools are. This is just another technological tool to be used to communicate and engage with your clients and your customers, your friends, your family and your neighbors.

Happy tweeting!

Bold is not bold when it’s all bold!

March 10, 2009 Beth Devine

5 quick style tips for website managers and blog newbies:

Use bold only to accent selected words or phrases
Use italics for publication titles, quotes and other phrases as determined but be consistent
Stick to left justification in most cases – avoid overuse of center, right or full justified text
Don’t be afraid of white space – it’s beautiful and makes reading easy on the eyes
Resize photos appropriately for screen viewing and make sure they’re not stretched or fuzzy. It’s good practice to size images in a photo editing program before uploading to your site.

Keep It Clear and Simple

March 10, 2009

Sometimes when I read promotional copy in a brochure on or a Web site, I say to myself, “What the heck is this business all about, anyway?” If you’re trying to educate a potential customer about your product or service, it’s a good idea to avoid big words, industry jargon, or market-y language that doesn’t really make clear sense. Just be yourself and use a friendly, conversational tone.

For example~

Instead of saying this:

“Our innovative approach combined with operational flexibility has fostered customer-oriented service and state-of-the-art product offerings unmatched in the home construction industry.”

Say this:

“We build customized kitchens for homeowners based on their particular needs, and we can do the same for you.”

Honest, simple, and to the point.

So, leave out the gobbledygook, okay?

Nancy Simonds, copy writer

www.simonds.com

Don’t Forget Your Customers

March 9, 2009 Beth Devine

We all know that it takes more time, effort and money to get a new customer than it does to sell to an existing customer. So why don’t we do a better job of selling to our customers? I have a client that provides services to a very finite audience. He knows every possible customer and prospect in the markets he sells to. His company is very responsive to their needs and always creating new products for them, However, he never informs his customers about these new products unless they’re the one it’s created for. The idea of creating a superior product or service and keeping it a secret may seem crazy, but in fact, that’s exactly what so many of us do.

So the question is, what do we do about it? There are two immediate steps we can take. First and foremost, have a plan. We spend all sorts of time planning ways to get new customers but little time planning how to sell more to our existing customers. You need to understand why they buy from you to ensure they continue to do so.

Second, communicate! Talk to your customers. Find out what their needs are and you might find you can fill them. We often assume that our customers understand our business and know what we have to offer them. This is not the case. If you get your name in front of them on a regular basis, you will be the person they call when they have a need, even if they’re not sure you can fulfill it. A cost-effective way of doing this is through e-marketing. It will also drive customers to your website to remind them what you can do for them.

The bottom line is, the more you communicate and educate your customer, the easier it will be for them to turn to you when they need help.

Do you know your SEO score?

March 4, 2009 Beth Devine

If you plan to or have optimized your website for search engines, it’s a good idea to know your SEO status. Domaintools.com has a beta SEO score tool that gives you a SEO score. Just go to domaintools.com and enter your domain name is the Whois Lookup field. When your site comes up you’ll see your SEO score. Click on the SEO score link to see how and what is used to derive your score and how you can make your site more search engine friendly. More details on how the tool works at http://www.domaintools.com/seo-score/

Time to sweep out the digital dust bunnies?

February 27, 2009 Beth Devine

Just like your house, every so often it’s a good idea to go through your web site, sweep out the corners and get rid of the dust bunnies. I’m talking digital dust bunnies – those bits of material that meant something once but are no longer connected to anything tangible. They come in the form of broken links and dated information.

Broken links are frustrating for your site visitors and they can hurt your search engine rank. So take the time to ensure that all you links work. You can check them manually, but if you have more than a few pages that can get tedious fast, so use one of the online link checking resources. There are many online. Google “website link checker” or try this handy tool – http://validator.w3.org/checklink.

The web is an ever-changing dynamic place so if you haven’t checked your links lately, you may be surprised to find that the great resource your site linked to no longer exists at the address in your link.

As far as the dated information, I don’t know of a tool to check for it, but you know if your website has old information. Make sure your website isn’t promoting events that have passed or services you no longer offer. Outdated websites may leave people with the impression that your business is as neglected as your website.

What’s Your Core Message?

February 27, 2009

I’ve been working with a client who needs a promotional brochure, and when I asked the question, “What’s your core message?” she really drew a blank. It’s hard to drill down to what your company is all about at the core, but one way to think of it is to ask yourself: What do I want people to remember about my company after they’ve read my brochure?

Here are a few examples of core messages:

An attorney: “My law practice focuses on small businesses. I help entrepreneurs get started the right way, answering important questions about legal and business entity issues.”

A sub-contractor in the aircraft industry: “Our company manufactures specialty micro tools for the aircraft industry. We don’t mind short lead times; in fact, that’s our specialty.”

A non-profit agency: “Our agency provides case management services to veterans with drug dependency. We’re the only agency in the state that helps men and women make a successful transition from hospitalization to the community.”

See how easy it can be? Just a sentence or two that sums up who you are, what you do, what you provide.

You may never actually use your core message verbatim in your brochure or other marketing materials, but it sure helps when it’s time to develop copy–especially when you create your list of features and benefits.

If you have trouble figuring out the underlying message you want to leave in your customer’s mind, ask your business partners, employees, or even your favorite clients to help you define it.

Submitted on 2-27-09 by Nancy Simonds, copywriter