Community sells. Members discuss shared interests – hobbies, travel, politics, medical conditions, favorite foods, you name it. They create their own buzz and ‘user-generated’ content about their favorite products and services. They recommend things to one another – everything from the cars they drive and the restaurants they frequent to the places they travel for vacation. Think about it: Are you more likely to purchase something based on the recommendation of a salesperson or a family member or friend?

You belong to communities already – your family and friends, your neighborhood, perhaps a school or church or a professional organization. All of these communities can help you research popular products and services and spread the word about what you do and the products and services you sell.

You can tap the full potential of these communities, extend them, access different communities, and even create new communities online via social media sites, including two of the most popular: Facebook and Twitter.

Getting Connected on Facebook

Facebook was created for college students to keep in touch but has expanded to serve a variety of communities – from extended families to alumni groups, fan clubs, advocacy organizations, and everything in between.

After you join Facebook (membership is free) and create a personal profile, you can then invite people to become your “friends.” Other members can invite you to become their friends or request to be your friend, but both members must consent. Only friends have access to one another’s profiles and other content they choose to share. As soon as you have a few friends, you can communicate with them in the following ways:

• Post a message on your “wall” for all your friends to see. Messages can include text, photos, links, video clips, or birthday wish lists.
• Join or create a “group” and share content with members of that group. Groups may include thousands of members.
• Email friends for more private discussions.

Tip: If you must sell, soft-sell. Facebook is a social site, not a sales site. Posting a short message about a product or service you like (and perhaps have for sale) is acceptable, as long as you don’t abuse the privilege. If you wouldn’t do it at a family or class reunion, don’t do it on Facebook.

Facebook is good for:

• Getting a better feel for popular trends
• Identifying potential opportunities
• Promoting items for sale (soft-sell only)
• Letting friends know about your website or blog
• Notifying your friends of a new post on your blog
• Connecting with people who share your interests

Facebook is not good for:

• Hard-sell advertising
• Sales pitches

Keeping in Touch with Twitter

On Twitter, the question of the day, every day, 24 hours a day is this: What are you doing? And on Twitter, millions of members are constantly in the process of updating that question and reading other people’s answers.

Each Twitter update is considered a “tweet” and is limited to 140 characters. Members can post messages using an Internet-enabled computer or via cell phone or a third-party application. Messages tend to be simple and direct, and conversations move along quickly.

You can also send private, “direct” messages when you don’t want to share with the entire Twitter community. For example, if a person has a public question about a business, and you did not want to share your answer with the whole world, you can reply directly so that it would be seen only by that individual.

Spotting Popular Topics and Trends

Tweets are archived, and you can search them at www.search.twitter.com. This is a great way to identify popular topics, market trends, and individuals who are most actively involved in various topics of interest.

Attracting Your Own Following

When people find someone interesting on Twitter, they “follow” the individual. Typically, your “followers” can see all the tweets you create instantly – if they are either at their computer or they have their cell phones or third-party Web applications set to receive your messages. If not, your messages get buried by newer tweets.

By looking at a Twitter user’s profile, you can see all the people they follow and all of their followers.

You can tag your account with up to three terms that describe your interests. To tag your account and find others who share your interests, visit www.wefollow.com.

Tip: One way to grow your list of followers is to put a Twitter badge on your website. Twitter supplies the code, so you can install it yourself. The badge shows visitors your latest messages and lets them see you are involved and current. It also gives them a way to follow you in the future.

Many Twitter users feel it’s polite to follow anyone who follows them. Some automate the process by using a free service such as TweetLater (www.tweetlater.com). If you follow a large number of people, a large percentage of them will auto-follow you, increasing your list of followers.

Recognizing Tweeter’s Marketing Limitations

Marketers have yet to figure out a way to successfully monetize Twitter. Some say if you have a huge list of followers, you can tweet about your business and drive sales. While there are some success stories, they are the exception. Consider using Twitter more for eavesdropping on discussions to find out what’s hot and what’s not.

Twitter is good for:

• Spotting trends
• Connecting with trendsetters and keeping up with their latest activities
• Notifying people of a new item for sale or post on your blog
• Getting quick answers to questions through informal polls
• Maintaining contact with people in your field of interest

Twitter is not good for:

• Driving substantial sales although it can be used to drive traffic which in turn can become huge sales
• Replacing a website or blog
• Developing loyal customers and solid business relationships
• Creating lasting content that people will read in the future

Learn more about twitter here:  http://adamginsbergblog.com/category/twitter/

Supplements, Not Replacements

Both Facebook and Twitter should be considered helpful tools to supplement your current business. Neither of them can replace your website or blog. They can however, increase awareness, drive traffic to your website or blog, and establish you as a credible source of information in a particular subject area (if what you’re sharing is credible).

Facebook and Twitter are free and relatively easy to use. Take some time to sign up, create your profile, and get connected. In time, you too will gather many friends and followers and have a community in place to clue you in on what’s popular and do some of your sales and marketing for you.

Find Adam Ginsberg on Facebook Here: http://facebook.com/adamginsberg.com

Follow Adam Ginsberg on Twitter Here: http://twitter.com/adamginsberg

Twitter is everywhere - and it seems like everyone is using it.  With all the hype and celebrity endorsements, lots of people are asking “What is Twitter”. I had 3 people email me today and say “Adam Ginsberg please Explain What Twitter is“.

There are plenty of sites out there that will tell you how to use twitter but if you want to learn what twitter is in plain english, Adam Ginsberg has posted a video which you should watch right away.

Here are some great Twitter Tips - what you should do and not do when using the fastest growing social networking website on the internet:

DO self censor.  Unless your status updates are protected, anyone can see what you are Tweeting.  Bear in mind the story of the girl who managed to Tweet her way out of a new job because a hiring manager read her thoughts on the position she had interviewed for.

DON’T use Twitter as a chat client. No one wants to see their screen full of irrelevant Tweets from a conversation they’re forced to eavesdrop on.

DO remember to retweet other people.  This can be a good way to build up a following of like minded people.

DON’T endlessly self promote yourself.  Okay, we get it - you have a blog.  Twitter is by no means one way traffic - interact!

DO follow people back, but….

DON’T be offended if users don’t always follow you back.  Users with tens of thousands of followers are unlikely to see your Tweet through the hundreds of other tweets anyway.

DO be funny, informative and creative with your tweets.

DON’T use the auto-DM feature.  This is the Twitter equivalent of a spam and a faceless “hi – thanks for following” is impersonal and can be off-putting.

DO use it to get help.Once you have built up a reasonable following you’ll find it easy to find answers to your questions quickly.

DON’T tweet if your message is likely to go over the 140 character limitation.Spreading messages over the course of several tweets is just going to confuse and irritate your followers.

DO quote famous people in 140 characters or less.

DON’T auto-DM with an affiliate link on how to get followers on Twitter - unless you want everyone to “un-follow” you immediately.

Whatever you DO or DON’T DO, make sure you are using Twitter.  And, make sure you Follow Adam Ginsberg on Twitter - he’ll follow you right back!

When it comes to marketing online, Twitter quickly becoming an invaluable tool.  It’s a great resource - in part due to one of it’s best features - the search field.

Here are 6 ways to use the search tool to help increase your sales and market yourself (and your business) effectively on Twitter:

1.  Search for your name. If someone is talking about you, you need to know it!  People will often send a tweet such as, “Does anyone know James Smith?” or “Has anyone done business with Michael James?”

If someone is talking about you, they might certainly be a great potential customer.  If someone asks, “Do you know of a great content writer?” and someone mentions your name, then that is a great lead for a client!

2.  Search for your company. If you have a search for Mike Smith Marketing Company and find out that someone is discussing your company, that can be a great lead for business or it can give you an early warning if there is a problem.

3.  Search for your product. If you sell Miracle Widgets and someone is searching for that term, then you certainly have a potential lead.  Or it can give you some insight to your competition.  Either way, it is good to know.

4.  Search for your competitor’s name, company or products. This can give you an idea of what people are saying about him and give you a leg up on the competition.

5.  Search for like-minded people. This can be for local people or anywhere.  Networking with others gives you a whole new circle of business contacts.  You can search for terms like your city, state, niche, or anything else that might help you find people to follow that could work with you.

6.  Search for people who can complement what you offer. If you are great at building websites, but cannot write worth a hoot, then search for writers that might want to partner with you.

These tips will help you focus your search and find the best people to build your customer base and maximize your profits.

Follow Adam Ginsberg on Twitter - Click Here!

How are you using Twitter to market your self online?  Please post your comments below!

Twitter is contagious. Twitter has become a phenomenon. Twitter is used, not only by individuals but by CNN, Fox NEWS, and Barack Obama. Even still, Twitter is in its infancy.

Recently I had a conversation with someone and did my best to explain what Twitter is. I thought I was clear in my explanation, but apparently I was unable to really explain it properly.

Then, I found this amazing video called “Twitter in Plain English”. I was impressed by the simplicity and clarity of the video (and ended up purchasing a site license as a result.)

Twitter in Plain English is a video that explains what Twitter is, how it works and what you can use it for. The video is 2 minutes, 10 seconds. Then, after you watch it, please be sure to post your comments/thoughts - and please let me know if it helped to gain clarity as to what Twitter is all about!

Don’t forget, please post your comments.  Was this video helpful?  Would you like to see more videos posted on my blog?  What topics would you like to learn more about?  Thanks for visiting…

I just found this great article called “15 Innovative Uses for Twitter (That You Probably Haven’t Thought Of) on SiteProNews.com, written by Kalena Jordon.  Great info that I wanted to share with you.  Here goes:

“I recently saw this comment on a blog: “I’ve been tweeting but… from what I’ve seen in the last couple of weeks, it’s either a ‘look at me’ or a ‘look at this’ arena.”

Sure Twitter is a great communication channel and as such, you do find a lot of self-promotion and name dropping. But there is so much more to Twitter. The comment got me thinking, would the critics feel the same if they could see more innovative ways to use it?

1) Community Help Desk - I’ve already used Twitter several times to investigate an issue I’ve been having with my computer, or a problem one of my clients has come across. Just yesterday I was able to pinpoint the source of a domain redirect issue because my followers in other countries could reach the site even though I was being redirected.

2) Write a Collaborative Book - you and a bunch of your favorite Tweeps could write a novel, one sentence (tweet) at a time. The results could range from hilarious to Shakespearean. I thought of this while reading about the popularity of Japanese novels composed via mobile text messages, but it turns out that some attempts have been made at this already e.g. 140 Novel and Good Captain. You could do a similar thing with song lyrics.

3) Live Webinars/Tutorials - you could create a new Twitter account with protected updates and ask invitation-only participants to follow you. Then you could hold a *closed* webinar at a pre-arranged time using Twitter for delivery instead of expensive webinar solutions. Twitter allows you to live chat, post links, photos, videos, audio files and text so there is no need for any plug-ins. You could even use a Twitter buffer like Twuffer to space out the content of the webinar via tweets over a specific timeframe.

4) Free Market Research - Who needs to pay expensive market research companies to learn stuff about your latest product? Just send a link, a free sample or a short survey to your followers and watch the feedback flow in.

5) Online Reputation Management - Twitter is ideal for tracking what people are saying about you, your company or your product. You can use Twitter Search to enter keywords or hash tags. Or you can use purpose-built widgets such as TweetBeep which work just like Google Alerts and send you regular emails containing any discussions involving your chosen Twitter accounts or hash tags. These work well for competitor tracking too.

6) Laugh a Day / Therapy - I’m consistently amazed how many long-term Twitter users fail to use the favorites option to bookmark tweets that they like. Whenever I read a tweet that makes me laugh out loud, I favorite it immediately. Then, whenever I am feeling a bit flat, stressed or sense a bad mood coming on, I turn to my favorites list knowing I will be giggling in no time. You can also rely on your followers to sense when you’re down and cheer you up.

7) Competitions - Companies like Zappos and Hand Bag Heaven have been holding competitions on Twitter for a while now. You basically elicit a response from your followers in exchange for the chance to win something. You could ask a question about one of your products or ask followers to find something on your site to win a gift certificate. But with a bit of ingenuity, you can be even more inventive.

DVDQuotes posts questions starting with WMITF, (which stands for Which Movie Is This From?) and gives away random DVDs to the Twitter user with the first correct tweet. Actor and Comedian Stephen Fry declared December 1 to be Oscar Wilde Day and asked his 30,000 plus followers to post Wildesque tweets using the hash tag #oscarwildeday for a chance to win downloads of his audio book. The competition took on a viral quality and earned the comedian at least 2,000 new followers within 48 hours.

Virtual Alarm Clock - Did you know you can use Twitter to set appointment reminders for yourself or others? You can use tools such as the Retweet Timer and Twittercal to tweet events from your Google Calendar as @replies to your Twitter profile at pre-set dates and times.

9) Idea Sharing / Community Mind Mapping - So this amazing business idea comes to you in the shower and you are busting to make it happen. But you want to be sure that your stroke of brilliance is fabulous and not folly. This is where your Twitter followers come in. Whether you tweet publicly or DM only your most trusted followers to keep it under wraps, you’ll get unbiased and practically instantaneous feedback on your big plans. Would you use it? Could it work? How much would you pay for it? What features should it have? Tapping into the combined brain power of your Twitter community is a great way to flesh out a business plan.

10) Competitor Tracking - You can use Twitter to monitor the activities of your enemi… er competitors without alerting them. Simply create an anonymous Twitter account and start following them. If they bad-mouth your company, or tweet about a product that may threaten your market share, you’ll know immediately.

11) Bug Testing - Along the same lines as 4), you can use your Twitter followers as live BETA testers when you roll out a new product or software version. Your followers will often report bugs faster than paid customers because they *know* you and want you to succeed.

12) Become Your Favorite Character - Ever idolize a particular movie star or TV character? Why not create an account for them and tweet in character? A few tweeps have done this already, with hilarious results e.g. Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie and wheelchair-bound Andy from Little Britain. Just make sure you don’t step on the toes of the official sites representing the character in question.

13) Sport / Treasure Hunt Aid - With it’s 140 character limit, Twitter is the perfect medium to deliver clues for online and offline scavenger hunts and popular sports such as geocaching .

14) Live Presentation Aid - Presenting at a conference or other event with Internet access from your laptop? You can tweet on the big screen to a) make a point b) elicit a response from Tweeps in the audience c) conduct live research d) gain instant feedback on a topic or question. I’ve used Twitter this way in the past and not only is it entertaining for the audience, but it’s also a great way to overcome stage fright.

15) Build a Twitter Application - Despite not being monetized yet, Twitter’s phenomenal growth has spurred the development of hundreds of applications that make money from Twitter either via advertising or donations. Why not build your own application around Twitter and make your fortune?

About The Author
Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running a daily Search Engine Advice Column, Kalena manages Search Engine College - an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and other Search Engine Marketing subjects.

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