Mar 25

HOW TO: Save Money by Loaning and Borrowing eBooks

Holbeach e-book marker [old photo]Buying an ereader such as the Kindle or Nook is an investment. You aren’t buying books, rather the license to read and reread books, keeping them on your device. However, you are finding a way to easily access and read as many books as you like, which most would agree is a positive for anyone. Already, services like Amazon and others have thousands of titles for free from the pubic domain, or else donated by the authors for you to read at no cost.

But what happens when you don’t have the title you want for free? Buying a book is expensive, and if you only plan on reading it once you might be reluctant to do so. After all, you aren’t buying the actual book, just a digital rendering. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to borrow ebooks, rather than just through whatever friends might have a similar device? Guess what? There are several!

Public Library

Public libraries

You may be surprised to know that many public libraries now offer you the ability to borrow ebooks from their website. Of course, not all libraries offer this, but if you find one associated with your city or county, you can check. They may also have an audiobooks section, which can be downloaded from another area (Here’s a good list of them by the way).

When you get an ebook from your library, they will usually have a license available for a certain period of time, for one or more devices. Once the license expires you will lose access to the ebook, unless you check it out again, or renew it prior to the expiration date. Audiobooks work in the same way.

The only real negative to using the public library is that the concept of ebooks is still new to most. Therefore, the number they have available is limited, so you might find their selection less than stellar.

LendInk

Borrow ebooks

LendInk is a community based book sharing website. Just like those that allow you to ship and swap books with other members, you can find tons of titles that people have put on the site for lending. You can also put up your own if you have purchased them from another site, and have a Nook or a Kindle (no other software is compatible at this time).

Borrowing from LendInk is easy. Just go through the offered books until you find one that you want. Once you have, select the option that allows you to request a loan. From there the request will be sent to the book owner, and you just have to wait for an approval or denial. Once you have been authorized, you will get an email with instructions on how to download a copy of the ebook.

Borrowing Is Easy!

You don’t have to spend all of that money buying a book you are only going to read once before moving on to the next. Those of us who are huge bookworms have learned the value of borrowing our tomes, and we now have plenty of options for the digital age. Whether you use your library, LendInk or another provider, swapping books is easy!

Annie is an Autralia-based mom and frugal mom earning her living online. She loves discovering and playing with free web tools. One of her recent discoveries is this free tool that lets you compare home loan interest rates Australia. Non-Australia users may enjoy various money saving guides available for free by HomeLoanFinder.

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Dec 08

Six Things Businesspeople Can Learn From Infomercials

Most of my encounters with infomercials have happened when I’ve been ill. Why else would I be up late enough to actually watch one? After about two o’clock in the morning, the TV options narrow to half-hour “programs” about diet pills, exercise programs, zit medicine, a blanket with sleeves (like I would wear that to a football game) or a “magic” mini-blender. I don’t care to watch any of them, but I want some background noise while I sip my soda, so I pick one and try to ignore it. After ten minutes, I realize I’m not ignoring it. The presenter is over-the-top enthusiastic and sort of tacky. The demonstrations are pretty obviously “enhanced”, and the testimonials are probably paid…a pretty lame production all around. Then, after about twenty minutes, I start to change my mind. Yes, these people are awful actors, but who doesn’t want an appliance that can make salsa in fifteen seconds? My life would be so much better with fifteen second salsa. The presenter says, “is your blender a nightmare to clean?” and I realize that my blender hasn’t been truly clean in about a year. They slash their price from forty dollars to twenty and throw in an extra set of cups AND a knife that can saw a shoe in half. Then they tell me that their offer is only available for the next five minutes and, after I place my order, I understand how this tacky and obnoxious industry makes billions of dollars a year. They are marketing geniuses. Not every business makes products that are right for the direct-marketing infomercial format, but everyone can take a few tips from these marketing gurus and use them to their benefit. Here’s what we can learn from infomercials:

  1. Ask questions. One of the most powerful ways to inspire an emotional response in a potential customer is to ask them questions about their own life. This instantly makes your product and your offer more personal and helps them to imagine their life as it is and how much better it would be with your product.
  2. Give demonstrations. Sometimes it’s hard for customers to visualize and fully comprehend all fifteen of the different ways they could use your product when all they have to go on is a photo. Make a demonstration video to go with your product or take pictures of the many things it can do.
  3. Provide testimonials. Customers like to hear what people like them have to say about your products. If you don’t have a ready collection of testimonials to use, you might want to give a few products out in exchange for honest feedback. Any positive reviews can be used in your ads.
  4. Sweeten the deal. Most infomercials will begin advertising their products at a slightly inflated price with the intention of cutting the cost at the end of the ad. Many of them will even throw in a second product on top of the price cut to make the deal completely irresistible.
  5. Tell people what you want them to do. Most people will tell you that they don’t like being told what to do, but their purchase habits will usually prove otherwise. When customers are watching television or surfing the internet, they aren’t always fully engaged in what they are doing and, despite what they think, they are much more receptive to commands. That’s why so many websites and commercials will throw in a call to action like “reserve your copy today”, “click here”, or “buy now” – customers are much more likely to do what you want if you tell them to.
  6. Create a sense of urgency. Every infomercial that I’ve ever seen places a time limit on their offer, whether it’s real or not. Most people don’t really think the offer will be off the table if they don’t “call now”, but even the tiniest sliver of doubt can inspire customers to take action.
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Nov 30

A Lesson in Blog Marketing: Oprah’s Favorite Things

Oprah’s “favorite things” episode aired this November 19th to the delighted squeals of many a 40-something American woman. Cashmere blankets, diamond jewelry, 3D flat screen televisions, and the yet-to-be-unveiled 2012 VW beetle were some of the gifts Oprah showered upon her grateful audience. Those in the audience on the day of the episode did the most squealing, obviously, but the internet has been buzzing about the extravagance of Oprah’s final “favorite things” episode ever since. Nobody can resist the draw of free stuff, and you don’t have to be Oprah to make this marketing tactic work for you. If you are a blog owner, giveaways are a great way to boost traffic and engagement, and build rapport with advertisers.

Make your readers love you

Every time Oprah hosts one of her yearly “favorite things” shows, the entire studio audience is gifted with every featured item. Most likely, each audience member shares their experience with all of their friends and they all become lifelong Oprah fans and loyal watchers. The audience at home gets to see an entire episode dedicated to their favorite talk show host’s favorite things and swoon over the expensive gifts. They also have to visit her website to find out how to get tickets to the taping of her next show. The media goes crazy every time Oprah loses a pound or recommends a book, so the favorite things event is nothing short of a melee.

Your blog may not have Oprah’s massive worldwide audience, but you don’t need it to make this marketing strategy work for you. What bloggers have in common with Oprah is a platform for personal interaction and an interested audience. Hosting giveaways will keep your audience engaged and bring in new readers. Choose products that you like and that would appeal to your readership. It’s a good idea to start by finding smaller businesses to feature in giveaways. Each time you host a giveaway, explain the rules carefully and create a nice profile of the company that makes the product. Most bloggers require giveaway entrants to leave a comment on that post and simply choose a random number for the winner, but it’s your blog so you can make up whatever rules you like.

 Entice advertisers with quality exposure

Not only does Oprah get devoted fans when she showers her audience with gifts, she gets devoted advertisers. Oprah has the kind of fans that listen to her and buy the products she recommends. Every item on Oprah’s favorite things list is a guaranteed bestseller. Oprah doesn’t buy the gifts she gives to her audience, she selects products she likes and gives the companies the opportunity to give their product away to her fans. Why would any company want to give their products away? Simple: it’s cheaper and more effective than regular advertising, especially if Oprah is the one schilling for them.

If you have a blog that people read, you can build the kind of engaged and interested audience that will be receptive to your product suggestions. Most companies have to spend a lot of money to find willing buyers, and for certain companies you can probably take a lot of the guesswork out of building trust and appealing to their audience. Plus,  for the cost of one item, they get to put their product in the hands of a grateful and enthusiastic customer that will tell their friends about their big “win” and ultimately improve their business. Bloggers have the unique ability to build trust with their readers because they can interact with them directly. As your blog grows, you will probably have offers for sponsorship and product giveaways left and right. Keep your audience in mind every time you accept one of these offers. It may even be a good idea to reach out to companies that you know you love, so you can give sincere praise for their products.

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Nov 24

Building Your Website’s Credibility

The internet is a fantastic resource for people that want to do research and buy products. Most people turn to the internet first for information before they make a purchase. The internet’s anonymity is simultaneously a blessing and a curse for web-based entrepreneurs – the fact that they don’t need to be physically available for transactions to happen makes life easier for them, but not necessarily for customers. Everyone wants their website to make money, but without a personal interaction, some people don’t feel comfortable doing business online, especially with smaller companies. Luckily, there are many things website owners can do to gain the trust of their customers and readers.

Every website owner should try to create a cohesive visual experience from page to page. Pages should be clean and easy to navigate. Any additional branding like custom logos will further enhance a website’s appearance and help customers trust the business.

Ecommerce sites should take advantage of promoting any nationally recognized brands they are selling. The companies whose products they sell for will appreciate the exposure and the site owner will benefit from their already established and trusted reputation. Any time a business person can include a logo with their product pictures, it will reinforce the credibility of the site as a whole.

One of the red flags that shoppers look for on ecommerce websites is a lack of contact information. Customers want to know that in the event something goes wrong with their order that they will be able to get in touch with you and get the problem fixed. If you have no contact information besides a contact form, customers will take that as a sign that you either aren’t legitimate or that you won’t be willing to help them if they need it. Return policies are also a good idea to entice people to buy, because they feel like they have a safety net if they don’t end up liking the product. Check out pages should be easy to operate and secure. Logos that represent the page’s security will help customers feel more comfortable handing over their purchase information.

For a blogger to build authority in their niche they not only need to know their stuff, need to always think of their readers, especially when accepting advertisers or doing paid product reviews. Bloggers can maintain their site’s integrity by only endorsing products that they like and only accepting sponsors that their readers will be interested in. Building a loyal readership by giving them useful information and product suggestions will make your blog’s money-making potential more powerful in the long run.

Bloggers have a slightly more delicate balance to maintain because they have to please readers and keep their trust while appealing to sponsors and making their monetization strategies effective. Bloggers that want to offer advertising on their site should put together a media kit that outlines their reader demographic, statistics, advertising options, and even testimonials from past sponsors that noticed an influx of sales due to their exposure on the blog.

Anyone can build a website, but it takes a savvy business person to put together a business site that is effective. By implementing these strategies, website owners will set their domains apart as trustworthy and maximize their earning potential.

 

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Nov 22

Keeping Financial Records for Your Small Business

Working for a corporation is a pretty tidy deal. You show up, clock in, sit at a desk and work for eight hours, clock out, go home, and forget about it until the next day. Your health benefits are usually included in the deal and your taxes are taken care of for you. Record keeping for the average corporate drone is pretty simple: collect the w-2 at the end of the year and log on to a tax filing website to claim your government refund. Sure you can write off that hybrid car you bought or your recent home purchase, but other than that your record keeping requirements are mostly automated and pretty basic. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, have to take care of their own taxes and keep track of their own records. This task in and of itself is enough to intimidate some would-be business owners out of starting their own company, and that’s a shame. The benefits of being your own boss and working for yourself far outweigh the extra burden of being responsible for a few records. Once you know what you need to keep track of and establish a system that works for you, the rest is very simple and straightforward when it comes time to pay taxes.

According to the IRS website, business owners need to keep track of gross receipts, or all money that comes into the business along with purchases, expenses, and assets. Gross receipts include bank deposit slips, receipts, invoices, and credit card charge slips. Most banks keep a running list of purchases available online, so business account statements can play a big role in keeping track of income, but it’s a good idea to hold onto paper copies and make sure they match your statement before you toss them.

Purchases are items that a businessperson buys and resells to customers. If, for example, you operate an e-commerce site with a drop shipper, you need to keep track of everything you purchase from the drop shipper either electronically or through paper statements. Expenses are costs that a company incurs that aren’t for items that are bought and resold. Office equipment and internet bills can fall into this category. As with gross receipts and purchases, businesspeople should hang onto paper copies until they can confirm that their electronic records match and print a copy for long-term filing.

Travel, transportation, entertainment, and gift expenses that are related to the business fall under a different category than regular purchases or expenses. Again, receipts should be kept until electronic records can be confirmed and printed for long term files.

Any property that is owned and used in your business, like machinery or office equipment, should be kept track of. Keeping records of how much you paid for each piece of equipment will help you compute the annual depreciation and calculate the gain or loss when the items are sold.

As a business owner or entrepreneur it’s a good idea to get into the habit of thinking about each purchase you make and determining whether it is business related beforehand. Keep a section of your wallet for business receipts and empty it into a file at least once a week for your records. Once a month go through your file and make sure that it matches your bank statements. If it does, you can print out your bank statement for long-term filing and get rid of the receipts. Remember that any money you lose because of your business can be written off and will ultimately lower the total amount of tax you pay for your business, so keeping good records really pays off.

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Nov 15

Target Key Words

target key words with pmi

photo courtesy vizzzual.com

Customers and readers look for information on the internet by conducting searches for terms that they want to know more about. As a website owner, it’s important that you try to make it easy for the people that want the products or information you provide to find you. One of the best ways to do this on the internet is by targeting keywords in your website’s content.

If you’re just setting up a business and you haven’t yet decided what to sell or what your focus will be, it’s a good idea to do some keyword research to evaluate the demand of specific products on the internet. If you use Google’s Adwords Keyword Tool, you can find out how many searches each keyword gets. You want to focus on products and topics that are in demand, but if you choose something that’s too common, your competition do dominate the search engine results pages (the ultimate goal of SEO) will be much greater. You want to focus your website on topics and products that get at least one thousand searches per month. If you find a keyword phrase that gets much more than that, click on the phrase in the Adwords Keyword Tool and you will see what your top competitors are.

If you own a website that sells silver jewelry, it would make sense to target the keyword phrase “silver jewelry”. It would also make sense to target any variations on this phrase, like “silver necklace”, “silver earrings”, “silver bracelet” etc. It’s a good idea to use these commonly searched phrases, but it’s also important to target keywords with much more specific focus as well. It’s easier to rank at the top of search engine results pages for more specific phrases, and the people that search for specific phrases are more likely to convert. So, not only can you target phrases like “silver necklace”, its also beneficial to target phrases like “key shaped charm necklace with 18 inch chain”.

The keywords you settle on should be used judiciously on your website. More general key words can be featured in the website title, header, and even domain name. Specific key words can be targeted in blog posts and on product pages. When you write your website’s content, place key words wherever it makes sense to have them, but don’t try to stuff your content with keywords in unnatural places. Search engine spiders recognize keyword overuse as spam and will penalize sites that try to use this tactic to bring traffic to their site. As long you are mindful about what keywords you want to target and you don’t force them into your content, targeting keywords will help your website build relevance and attract qualified traffic.

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Nov 01

How to Monetize Your Blog

photo courtesy emdot

The blogosphere seems riddled with mediocre content. This is both a good and a bad thing for entrepreneurs. It’s bad because there is a lot of crap to compete with if you want your blog to get noticed, but it’s also good because it’s easy to put yourself in the top percentage of bloggers simply by creating quality content. Bloggers that can find a niche to blog about put themselves in an even better position to stand out because they can dominate their topic pretty easily. One of the best things about blogging is that it’s very personal and easy to create a space for people with similar interests to interact. Not only is this type of community great for adding value to the internet, but it provides bloggers with a community of engaged readers and customers, and the perfect  opportunity to earn a living from blogging by marketing to that community. There are lots of ways to make money from a blog, but here are some of the most popular methods:

Affiliate Products: There are affiliate programs for any product you can think of, so it’s pretty easy for bloggers to track down products that their readers would be interested in, provide a link, and make a commission from those products.

Selling Ad Space: A huge number of bloggers rent out side-bar space on their blogs to advertisers. Most bloggers create monthly contracts or pay-per-click programs for advertisers which can translate into substantial and sustainable income.

AdSense: Google AdSense is a popular option for blog monetization because it’s automatic. Bloggers can sign up for an AdSense account, designate where they want ads to be seen, choose what kinds of ads can compete for space on their site, and make money whenever someone clicks on the ads. It’s easy to set up because bloggers don’t need to have a ton of traffic on their site to start making money and they don’t have to find sponsors to support them, the downside is that AdSense commissions are pretty small.

Product Reviews: A lot of companies will pay for bloggers to review the products. Bloggers can work directly with distributors, or they can work from a website like ReviewMe.com where bloggers can apply to be accepted into the blog network and get paid to post reviews of products from advertisers that bid on reviews from bloggers. Bloggers should be careful to only review products that their readers would be interested in. Your readers are your greatest asset when it comes to monetization, so try not to become such a shill that your content suffers.

Ebooks: If you’re publishing consistent quality content on your blog, it’s not much of a stretch to compile some of your content into an ebook that’s relevant to your niche. Ebooks are fantastic because they are cheap to create and free to distribute. Any sales you make are 100% commission.

Outside Opportunities: Tons of bloggers have been able to translate their blog popularity into other opportunities like book deals, speaking engagements, consulting gigs, and writing gigs. A blog is a great place to showcase writing and branding skills, so it makes sense that people would be able to create other opportunities for themselves with their blogs.

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Oct 27

What is Affiliate Marketing?

In the world of online commerce there is probably no option more appealing to entrepreneurs than affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing gives business people the ability to make money off of another company’s products with little overhead, no commitment, and no customers to worry about. How is this possible, you ask? It’s actually pretty simple.

Affiliate marketers help distributors make money by advertising on their behalf. When a customer clicks on an affiliate advertisement, a piece of code is attached to the customer’s internet session. If that customer then goes on to make a purchase on the distributor’s website, the affiliate makes a commission. Some affiliate arrangements even pay marketers for clicks rather than conversions. Because affiliates are paid based on the effectiveness of their ads, there is a huge incentive to create great ads and place them strategically.  

Distributors also benefit from affiliate marketing arrangements because they are giving highly-interested parties incentives to create great ads and place them effectively. They don’t even have to pay for the advertisements unless their affiliates can actually drive traffic to the website or produce sales. Affiliate marketing is a win-win situation for both affiliates and distributors.

Affiliate marketing is an effective way for bloggers to monetize their websites. If they find affiliate programs for products that their readers would be interested in, they have a perfect place to post affiliate ads and an audience of qualified buyers to click on them. Those without blogs or websites can make money with affiliate marketing too, but they typically have to spend a little bit of money on ad space in order to make a profit. One of the most effective methods of online marketing for an affiliate product is through search engine pay-per-click programs. Affiliates who bid low amounts on a large number of keywords can usually make a decent profit. Facebook and Twitter have also proven themselves as effective platforms for affiliate marketing. Facebook allows marketers to post ads that are targeted by region and interest, so it’s easy to target a specific demographic. Twitter users will sometimes set up business profiles and link to their affiliate offers in their tweets.

There are many ways for affiliate marketers to make money online. Affiliate networks like cj.com are great for aspiring affiliate marketers to find offers to get started with. More experienced affiliate marketers can sometimes work out deals with distributors that offer higher commissions and more control. Affiliate marketing is the perfect opportunity for anyone that wants to use the internet to make money independently and in their spare time.

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Oct 18

Building My Website: Finding a Niche

Let me just start out by saying that I’m no internet expert. I get on the interweb to blog for PMI, read other blogs, and check my email – that’s about it. I’m a writer, so for my job all I have to know how to use is a word processor. On top of that I have a bit of an aversion to technological advancements. I’ve just figured out how to use my phone to send picture texts, I hate the idea of tablet computers, I only barely got a twitter account, and I prefer reading books that are made of actual paper. A month ago I had the silly idea that I should start my own ecommerce site for the purpose of learning and having something to blog about, and I then made the mistake of sharing that idea with my boss. She thought it was a great idea, and now I’m committed to becoming an internet genius whether I like it or not. All joking aside, I’m really excited about trying my hand at website building and SEO, but it’s scary too. I think it’s this fear that’s got me all hung up on step number one: choosing a niche.

You see, ecommerce works best for little internet companies when they focus on one very specific thing, like compression socks for the fashion forward, or elvish translation software. Narrow focus means narrow competition and even though your customer base might also be small, it’s easy to dominate the market. Even if there are only two thousand people in the country that would ever be interested in cashmere compression legwear, they’ll be coming to you whenever they need their pretty socks, and that can translate into perfectly respectable profits.

Before you go stealing my internet business niche ideas, you should know that there’s a bit of a trick to choosing a good product niche. First, you want to pick a niche in which the products will earn you at least $15 per sale after paying the manufacturer and shipping. Legwear might be out on that one. A good way to check average product prices is with Google product search. Then, you need to pick products that people are actually searching for online. Google Adwords keyword tool is a great place to see how many searches a key word phrase is getting. A good rule of thumb is to stick with niches with key words that get at least a thousand global monthly searches. “Elvish translation software” is getting exactly zero searches per month, but “elvish translation” is pulling in a whopping 9,900 searches (is anyone else shocked right now?) but it looks like most elvish translators are actually free, so it’s probably not such a good product niche.

On top of everything else, it’s really helpful if the product niche you select is something you’re actually interested in, since you’ll be spending a good bit of time working with it. I have a few niche ideas flipping around in my head that fit the bill, but commitment is always difficult. I’ve heard from other people here at PMI that the product you pick is a lot less important than how you market it, and that it’s better to just pick something and get going than to waste time analyzing the options. I believe them, so I’m giving myself ’til the end of the week to settle and move on to step number two: registering my business.

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Oct 13

Twitter 101

photo courtesy edu_fon

When I first heard about Twitter, I thought it sounded like a seriously lame concept. I mean really, microblogging? I could just see all the social networking addicts in my neighborhood tweeting about their baby discovering their feet or their trip to the grocery store. It seemed so unnecessary and…boring. Do people really need constant updates on their friends’ most mundane activities? And what could anyone possibly say in 140 characters that’s actually worth saying? I resisted the Twitter craze and became even more entrenched in my hatred of the concept as I watched news-persons declare that twitter would “change the way we live” and as starlet after starlet use it to give their fans TMI (which sounds like an STD in this context, but it’s just means “too much information”…you knew that). Eventually, as I learned more about Twitter and its potential in a marketing sense, I started to come around. By this point, however, I was way behind the Twitter learning curve, which is considerable (Hashtags? Retweets?), compared to some other social networking websites. Anyway, I finally feel like I have a pretty good handle on the very remedial basics, and I’d like to share that with anyone who, like me, didn’t jump on the Twitter wagon until recently.

Following and Followers: On Twitter, the timeline that shows up in the center of each user’s homepage is comprised of tweets from the people they are following. Anytime you follow someone new you are signing up to have all of their tweets published in your timeline. The people that follow you can see all of your tweets, but not the tweets of the people you are following.

Retweets: If someone sees a tweet they like, they can retweet it. Retweeting a tweet is like forwarding an email. When you retweet, everyone that follows you gets the tweet, but instead of seeing your picture by the tweet, the picture of the original tweeter shows up with the retweet symbol (looks like a recycling symbol) and your name, so they know you are the one that retweeted, but not the original tweeter.

Mentions: You can direct your tweets to a specific person by mentioning their username in your tweet. This will ensure that the person mentioned will see your tweet. Mentions look like this ex: “hey @shoenut52, your shoes are super duper cool”. Mentions are public like all other tweets, and you can see mentions of your username by clicking on the mentions tab on your main timeline.

Protected/Private Accounts: It’s natural in the age of easy information for people to want to take extra precautions to make sure that their identity is protected. Twitter provides users with the option to create a private or protected account. With these accounts, users’ tweets are only visible to approved followers and tweets are not searchable. If your twitter account is only going to be used for personal reasons, making it private isn’t a bad idea. However, if you are using your twitter account for a business, definitely keep it public so your tweets can be searched and found and people can follow you easily. Followers = customers, so don’t make any limits.

Direct Messages: If you want to communicate privately with someone you follow, you can send them a direct message. This will be delivered to their message box and will not be visible to any other users.

Hashtags: Using hashtags on a tweet is like tagging a blog post or article, making it searchable by that term. On the main timeline page under “trends” it’s common to see terms with hashtags. Hashtags look like this: “#bestdayever” or “#fail”. Twitter recommends only using hashtags on tweets relevant to the tag topic, because they will be grouped and searchable by the hashtag.

#FF: The #FF symbol stands for “Follow Friday”. Anytime you see #FF, it means the person that tweeted is suggesting you follow the person in their tweet. This is a great way to find new contacts and new inspiration.

Twitter is an incredible tool for businesspeople that want to stay in touch with their customers and build ongoing relationships with fellow businesspeople. It’s the perfect place to announce blog updates, specials, and new products. Twitter is also free, which makes it a pretty obvious choice for dedicated marketers and people who want to stay current and relevant. Also, now that I’ve been participating for a little while, I’m starting to feel the addictive pull…maybe Twitter will change all our lives after all.

For more info, check out Twitter’s glossary here.

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)