What Makes Twitter SO Hot?

People really love Twitter! There’s evidence everywhere you look, from the Twitter badges on the sidebars of blogs to those who put their Twitter address the signature of forum posts, it’s plain to see, people adore Twitter. Heck, I never see my daughter on FaceBook anymore (what???), she said she rarely logs in because she likes Twitter better. So, what is it that makes this social networking site so lovable? Let’s find out.

The question posed by Twitter, “What are you doing?” has become almost as popular as AOL’s “You’ve got mail.” So much so that it has even caught the eye of offline news mediums such as USA Today, CNN, and ABC. And for those who think Twitter is just a place for computer or Internet geeks, rest assured it’s nothing of the sort.

In some ways, Twitter is like other social networking sites in that it’s a way to interact with like-minded individuals. Whether one is a stay at home mom who craves adult conversation, an at home worker who misses the water cooler chit-chat from past jobs, or a business owner who wants to reach more of their target market, this form of social media fills a need. It makes it easier for people to connect with others in a way they might not have previously been able to.

I follow it on my IPhone at work, of course, I can’t watch it all day, but I do take a look ever so often. My daughter plays college volleyball and Tweets about what’s going on with the team and herself throughout the week. I like to see what she has to say. In addition to watching what’s going on in the internet marketing world, I also follow my political representatives to see what they are currently working on in Austin (I’m in Texas) and Washington D.C..

The fact Twitter is easily accessible and even simpler to navigate makes it a favorite as well. Anyone can create a Twitter account of their own with nothing more than a user name and a password. Once that’s done, it’s easy to customize your profile and begin following other tweeps, as those who use Twitter affectionately call one another. To follow what another person is doing, just visit their page and click the follow button. You’ve now been added as a follower and when you log-in to your account you will see their messages on your screen or timeline as it’s called.

If you want to use Twitter when you’re not at home or if you don’t have access to your computer like I do with my IPhone, it’s no problem. Inside your account you can choose whether to have messages sent via cell phone or instant messenger programs. Just browse to your settings and choose the devices tab and in a few steps you’re good to go. This feature makes it possible to tweet on the go. This is perfect for those who travel frequently or while out and about come across something interesting or amusing that they’d like to share with their followers.

Twitter’s arrival has also led to the creation of different platforms and applications to make it even easier to use. Popular applications include, Twitter Fox, Twhirl, TweetDeck, and TweetMyBlog. Twitter Fox and Twhirl give users who prefer the instant messaging look and feel a way to use Twitter in somewhat the same manner. Twitter Fox is an extension for the Firefox browser and Twhirl is a desktop application.

TweetMyBlog is a way to automatically post updates from a user’s blog to Twitter. In order to use it you need a Twitter account and an RSS feed from your blog. It will automatically post a tweet using your account when your blog is updated.

Tweet Deck is another desktop application that allows for more organization of updates. Instead of posting all tweets one right after the other, it allows the user to organize tweets into separate columns within the application. For those who have customers and friends on Twitter this is a great feature as the different categories can separated into separate columns.

If you’re interested in marketing your business on the internet, you will serve yourself well to try Twitter. Most every business industry now has tweeps that Twitter, follow some, tweet some yourself, and before long you will have your own following and so will your business.

Feel free to follow me at @RebaCollins.

Until next time…

Reba

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Traffic Generation for Your Blog

I’ve been working on writing about traffic generation this week while writing my new e-course ‘10 Days To Limitless Traffic’ (you can get the e-course by signing up for my mailing list, see the right-hand side bar). Traffic has got to be the most important component of a profitable website or blog and there is so much to cover that a 10 day e-course just isn’t enough.

However, I thought it would be a good idea to add at least one post with a few tips in this Blogging for Money series because it’s that important. Please understand however, this is just skimming the surface of the subject of traffic generation.

There are a few easy ways to drive traffic to your blog. None by themselves will generate huge traffic but lots of little trickles soon lead to an unstoppable flood.

Each of these are easy and most can be done in a few minutes each day. Getting in the habit of doing at least one of these each day will soon create the traffic you need to be profitable.

Here is a quick list of some of the things that will help your blog traffic increase.

1.    Commenting on a related blog with a thoughtful comment and a link back to your blog
2.    Posting a video with your link to YouTube
3.    Bookmarking your content and others’ content at Stumble Upon, Digg, etc.
4.    Commenting on others’ pages at MyBlogLog, BlogCatalog, etc.
5.    Posting on Twitter about your latest post
6.    Using Facebook and including your RSS feed on your profile there
7.    Adding your RSS feed to a Squidoo lens, Hub page, Wet Paint, etc.
8.    Writing articles that link back to your blog and submitting them to various article directories

By no means is this everything. For more ideas, subscribe to my mailing list and get my new e-course ’10 Days To Limitless Traffic’.

Commenting on others’ blogs – Commenting on other people’s blogs has two benefits. If the blog is set up with ‘do follow’ (this blog is) you get a back link to your blog. Even if not, you can and will get traffic from people reading the comments if…you actually take part in the conversation and add value to the post. This also builds up your name recognition in whatever niche you are operating in and helps build your credibility. After all, your goal is to be recognized as an expert authority in your niche.

Posting video – Adding a video about your topic to YouTube or any of the many other video sites can also add back links and new visitors. Make sure you start your description with the full url of your blog – http://yourdomain.com

Adding a podcast – Audio is easy to use and you can create an mp3 file with the free tool offered by Audacity from SourceForge ( http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ ). If you hold teleseminars most services record them for you and you can use that in mp3 format as a podcast. Add these to your blog using appropriate plugins (Podpress is a good one) and then submit that feed to all of the various podcast services.

Bookmarking – Using social bookmarking services such as StumbleUpon, Digg, etc. will increase the amount of traffic you receive. Remember though that these are communities and you should not be bookmarking just your own sites but other sites that have value as well. Bookmarking posts that you have commented on is a great way to indirectly bring more traffic to your site and will increase the number of bookmarks of other sites you have on your account.

I have found it best if 20% or less of all your bookmarks are your own. Feel free to bookmark some of my posts ~ .  You’ll find a bookmarking plug-in to help you at the end of every post (it’s a good idea to have a bookmarking plug-in installed on your blog to make it easy for your readers to bookmark your posts).

Blog communities – I use two blog communities Blog Catalog and MyBlogLog. Of the two I find MyBlogLog to be the better choice if you only have time for one. You can join communities there, add in other social sites you are using like Digg, Stumble Upon, Twitter, and Facebook and your updates to any of those will show on your profile. You can install the widget on your site to allow others to see who has been visiting your site. I get a lot of traffic from other blogs I’ve visited because my face shows on the other blogs widget.

Twitter – Twitter is a micro-blogging platform and can really help you get visitors if you are posting regularly, have a decent amount of followers and add a tweet when you add a new post. Like commenting, you must take part in the conversation and add value not just tweet your posts.

Facebook – Another great social site as it is becoming a ‘must participate’ site for businesses.  You need to make sure to add your RSS feed to your profile so your visitors will see your latest blog updates. Recently I also joined another social networking site similar to Facebook called Eons, it’s a social networking site for those who are 50+.

If you join either of these sites, be sure to add me as a friend, my profile can be found under RebaCollins, just do a search. Also, at Eons, I have just taken over the Marketing/Internet Marketing Group, please stop by, join and add to the discussion. Honestly, I really need your help there, the place is like a ghost town, please help me out and join in!

Squidoo, Hub Pages, etc. – Squidoo and Hub Pages along with others are like blogs on steroids. Because there are lots of people constantly adding content to their pages at these sites, the search engines like them and rank them well.

Adding targeted anchor text leading to posts on your blog and having your RSS feed displayed on these sites can be a great traffic generator. I have a lens at Squidoo about blogging and another about setting up a virtual assistant business, both have links to the articles here and generate traffic for me.

Article submission – Writing quality articles and submitting them to the various article directories is another way to generate back links for your blog which in turn helps you to rank higher in the search engines. Ezine and website owners can use your content but have to link back to your site through the resource box and this creates the additional back links and visitors you are seeking.

Like I said earlier, these tips are just the beginning. Traffic generation has so many avenues you can take. Subscribing to my e-course will give you a little more detail, which is great because it’s all about taking baby steps and learning as you go. I suggest playing with some of the techniques in this post, while going through the e-course.

If you feel you want to take it to the next level, check out StomperNet’s new product Formula 5. I haven’t seen the product because it hasn’t launched yet but I have their Stomping the Search Engines 2 program and it was far and wide the best information I’ve EVER seen on search engine optimization and learning how to drive traffic to your site. I’m sure their Formula 5 program is just as good.

My next post will be about advertising your blog. So, until then…

Ciao!

Reba

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