Twitter, unlike MySpace and Facebook, poses an advantage [...]]]>

Having a Twitter account allows you to inform your clients and would-be clients the progress in your company. You don’t want to be constantly pitching, but you do want to share with clients (current and prospective) what’s happening within the company including its people and products.

Twitter, unlike MySpace and Facebook, poses an advantage for new and advanced marketers. As an efficient social media marketing tool, Twitter allows you to build a giant list of followers. It allows your clients and subscribers to see whats up right now. It gives them access to your immediate profile and permits you to share your ideas with other twits – and the best part, it’s FREE.

While many people have other purposes for the use of the free service, the marketer can use Twitter to jump start a list of followers that can grow into thousands.

These followers are the next best thing to customers. You need to keep providing them something new to look forward to, they will receive your message, and eventually will purchase something from your company.

You need to measure activity. According to quantcast.com, Twitter reaches about 6.1 million U.S. people every month. There are so many tools out there to analyze you Twitter reach. One that I like is TweetReach. “It gives you detailed reach analysis for any search term on how tweets about that term have spread on Twitter — all in one simple report.”

There are other methods of social media marketing available for your use.

1. Blogs
2. Community forums
3. Social networking sites such as Facebook, FriendFeed, and LinkedIn.
4. Video-sharing sites such as Youtube, Metacafe, and Google videos.
5. Content sharing sites such as Dropbox, Flickr, Squidoo, Hubpages, Wetpaint, Qassia, and Google Knol.

There are many more. It all depends on your objective, and you definitely do not want to limit yourself to one thing. It only works if you work it! In addition, with the Internet as vast as it is, you should use every opportunity to make your voice heard. Not to mention, it’s a great way to learn and connect with people online.

Leave comments on what you are doing and what’s working for you. Questions are also welcomed.

Not only [...]]]>

I remember my father telling me stories about his good ‘ole days and wishing he could connect again with his lost friends. Which reminds me how people grow-up, get married, move away, have kids, carrying our friendships away like a leaf in the wind until one day you find yourself alone thinking.

Not only do we lose past friends, we find it hard to stay connected with new acquaintances. Sure you can exchange phone numbers but how often do you call someone you’ve just met? This past month, I vacationed in Vegas where I met a new friend and now we are connected in Facebook, and I believe we communicate more than had we just exchanged digits.

Since joining fbook, I’ve connected to old and new friends. Though, I may not physically see them, I’m now apart of their day-in, day-out antics which is more than before. Sure some of it’s ridiculous and too much information but it makes me smile nonetheless. For example, I now know that one of my friends “is enjoying a VERY lazy Sunday – read, nap, read, nap…,” or another writes, “wants to go out for a big fattening brunch, but is reading a fad diet book instead,”  or another, “is having pivotal parental moments left & right today…”

I now see pictures of friends’ vacations, family, and daily life that I might not have before. Some friends post events, “is going skydiving!,” or “off to yoga,” or “headed to Hofbräuhaus Saturday,” and if I want to get involved, I simply send a message. We even hold good conversations which lead to debates regarding politics, religion and ethics. You can set-up a reunion, large or small. I’ve seen friends get connected after 10, 15, even 40 years.

Social media has made it easier to stay in-touch. I no longer wonder about my dear old friend, and I can build on new friendships. Sure, I’m sitting at my computer physically alone but mentally, I’m surrounded by friends which is more than the old man sitting in his chair wishing to communicate.