5 Steps to a Social Media Avalanche of Customers

This is a great article by By Doug Firebaugh about how to build a massive following using Social Media. Doug starts out with “Build it and they will come”… Not!

Which to me rings so true… Although in the early days of building a website and selling something, it actually was Build it and they will come” for most of us that had a head start on the rest of the webpreneurs online.

These days you can build a blog or video site and you can still be lacking connections.

Connection is the nuclear core of social media. But you must make an effort in order for that to happen.

Whether you have a social media home busíness, traditional brick and mortar business, or an online business, you must get into the social trenches and connect and converse. It is that simple and that plain.

These days It’s all about connecting and creating an engaging conversation with people that draws them towards you.

But why are people in social media not doing that?

Maybe they do not know this powerful 5 step “Avalanche Process” for getting new customers and keeping them in social media.

The first thing you must do is connect with the social media culture. It is what marketing is about in social media. Some people think that they can be anti-social in social media and think they can broadcast their message and people will still come.

That simply is not going to happen. Not in social media. You do not build ‘it’ but instead, build relationships that can become doorways and then eventually become customers.

Here is the “Avalanche Path” you can follow:

1) Connect –>  2) Conversation –>  3) Value –>   4) Doorway –>   5) Customer

Let’s take a quick look at each step:

1) Connect

Connection with people is where success in social media starts. Connect with people on Twitter, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, on Youtube, on Orkut, or every other niche site out in the social sphere that matters. You must connect.

Here’s a little tip:

Connect to those who are looking for you. They will find you if you are visible, and accessible to
connect to.

2) Conversation

This step is where the conversation with people starts. You talk about the prospect and where they want to go. You talk about what they want to talk about. You study their profile, pictures and videos on their social sites because you can learn a lot just by paying attention.

Then make sure that you stay in touch and listen when they are communicating with you. If you do that, they will want to stay connected to you.

3) Value

This step is where you bring in the magnet to pull them towards your message. Show them value they can obtain with your message in their life. Show them how your message can help expand, broaden, enlarge and improve their life. You do it through tips and how to’s in videos and blog posts and podcasts, as well as tweets and twips. Show them how you can make their life easier and show them how to do something they want to learn. You show them how to be or do something. If you can expand the size of their dreams, you can get them as a customer.

The more value people perceive you have for them the more likely they will walk through the “Doorway.”

4) Doorway

This is the doorway to conversion where you convert them to a customer. You must convert prospects into customers if you are going to have any kind of business. That is simple to do.

Give them an offér where “No” is impossible to say. That is the secret. Give first and then make the proposition so compelling they cannot say “No.” We do it all the time. We just ran a social media special on our training products and it blew the roof off our shipping department. It has created a flood of new customers and new orders for us. All we did was give them an offer that was difficult to turn down.

The secret of success we experienced can be found in the word “Give.”

Give away something they must have, and something that will improve their life, and they will get it.

5) Customer

This final step is where they purchase your message, products, or webinar or event. This is the beginning of your relationship though – not the end.

Here you must start building the relationship between you and the customer even more.

Give more than they expected and throw something in for free they were not expecting. Give them a free download or ebook and let them see a Private video collection as a special.

Encourage more. Make sure that you send a note of encouragement and stay in touch with them.

Thank them more. Make sure they know you are thankful for their business and connection. We send out free downloads all the time to say thanks that some people paid $$$ for in the past. Thank them in everything you do and they will come back for more.

Get your customers addicted to your Value, Message and Emotions. They will become more than a customer. They will become a loud speaker for you and tell everybody you know you are the best at what you do.

That is what you want to happen in your home business or traditional business in social media marketing.

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Building Brand Identity With Twitter

Twitter, the net’s networking success story, is intriguing and intimidating because of its message limitations: they can be 140 characters, and no more.

This is to say; each message sent on Twitter can be no larger than the previous sentence. Not an additional letter, space, period or dash can be added. These limitations have proven to be the greatest asset and the greatest challenge for people trying to use Twitter for any number of purposes.

On the advantageous side, the short messages have created an entire culture of Twitter-fluent writers. The brevity of the message stretches creative muscles, making people use every trick to get the most information into the fewest characters. On the other hand it creates a severe headache for the marketing minded, as it doesn’t leave much room to present a case. Thus the vast majority of Tweets are short little social comments or updates, and most marketing revolves around calling attention to particular links.

Of course, there are always ways around limitations, and Twitter is something that every seriously market-minded organization needs to embrace in order to see continued success on the web. In the case of short message services like Twitter, the key lies as much in the peripheral data that builds up around the message as in the content itself.

Be SEO Minded

Twitter profiles are now ranked by search engines, Google in particular. Every SEO technique you’ve learned now has a new, exciting purpose. For example, consider the biography you’re able to construct using Twitter. This is a ripe opportuníty to develop some brand recognition right away. Put the title of the brand you’re marketing in the bio, and consider including the most relevant keywords in your profile. As ever, do so in a way that respects the user’s intelligence, and gives them something worth reading. Simply stringing together a chain of keywords is not the way to go.

Include keywords in your Tweets as well, taking care not to be terribly obvious about it. The first 20-30 characters are the best place, as later words are of decreased importance in a Google ranking search.

Identify Your Audience

Each brand rises and falls on the whim of the audience, known in this case as tweeple.

There are a number of applications available to help you with the process of identifying the tweeple that you want to cultivate into an audience. Twitterholic can help you identify the movers and shakers based on their Twitter traffic and their location. If you know your field or brand well, you can use this to locate groups with similar interests and woo them to your feed. Tweepz is a similar tool, focusing on location, and Twitter itself has a ‘near this location’ feature that can be used to identify tweeple nearby your center of business.

Let’s Give Them Something to Tweet About

Yes, Twitter is an effective way to quickly distribute information. But its real power is in its ability to create conversations about something interesting.

In theory you could simply gather up a large user list of tweeple and start spamming them with links promoting your latest gig. This is a surefire way to get flagged for abuse or ignored entirely, and thus is rather counterproductive to good marketing goals.

Instead, consider using alternative methods to drum up those conversations that travel like wildfire.

For example, there is the technique of Alternate Reality Gaming. This is a phenomenon based on the idea of taking ‘real’ events and building a game out of them. Last Call Poker was an ARG that intended to drum up sales for an upcoming video game, GUN.

LCP spread out information about gatherings, online incentives, and other attractions to get people excited about the western theme of the game. Tokens such as poker chips and other goodies were given out at these events, and GUN went on to have a very successful launch. People were invited into the world of the western, and the chatter eventually included 8 million participants.

This kind of rogue advertising is tailor-made to work with Twitter. Locations and dates can easily fall within the 140 character limitation, as can short explanations. Consider creating an ARG with a short story designed to work within 140 characters, locate an audience with the assorted Twitter tools at your disposal, and plan some exciting events to promote your brand. The chance to get involved always gets people talking, and the more esoteric games can span entire continents.

There are other methods, some more appropriate to each individual brand. Perhaps a modest bicycling business isn’t suited to promote a large ARG experience. They could, however, organize a bicycling flash mob by hopping onto the local bike hobbyist twitter feed and posting a date and time. The trick is less which technique you use, and more that you do your best to make it relevant. As always, strong content and clear presentation will win out over gimmicks and sales speak.

Also, consider one last thought. The introductory statements of each section in this article are Twitter compatible, and so is this one. Good luck and happy Tweeting.

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21 Tips for Using Twitter and Facebook for Business

Following is an abbreviated excerpt from Engage, a new book that helps businesses build, cultivate, and measure success in social media.

Last year, Forbes magazine assembled a visual list for its Top 21 Twitter Tips to showcase business examples on how to use Twitter for marketing, service, sales, and ideation. The original compilation served as inspiration for a new list, one that helps businesses of all shapes, sizes, and focus embrace not only Twitter, but all social networks of relevance.
While many of the examples and quotes remain the same, the list is modified based on my observations and personal experiences.

Number 1. Special Offers

People are making decisions on what to read, view, purchase, visit, and sample based on the information that filters through their attention dash- boards. At best, even the most qualified information sourced from the most trusted contacts will receive only a cursory overview. The trick is to concisely introduce the value up front. If the offer is compelling and affiliated with their interests, the consumer will make the connection to personal value and benefits and click-through to redeem the special or coupon when ready or so inclined.

For example, California Tortilla (@caltort), a chain of 39 casual Mexican restaurants based in Rockville, MD, sends coupon passwords via Twitter, which customers must say at checkout to redeem the offer.

Number 2. Ordering

While the distance between introduction and action is only separated by a link, many businesses are using Twitter to log orders. Coffee Groundz (@coffeegroundz) uses the direct message channel on Twitter to receive and prepare orders. Using Twitter as a promotion and marketing channel, Coffee Groundz reports 20 to 30 percent increased sales and market share.

Number 3. Word of Mouth Marketing

Moonfruit offered 11 Macbook Pros and 10 iPod Touches to celebrate its 10th anniversary. In order to qualify, contestants had to send a tweettweet using the hashtag #moonfruit. One month following the completion of the contest, Moonfruit site traffic was up 300 percent and sales also increased by 20 percent—and all because of a meager investment of $15,000. The company also realized SEO benefits, by landing on the first results page on Google for “free website builder.”

Number 4. Conversation Marketing

Zappos (@zappos) doesn’t necessarily market on Twitter; instead, it “unmarkets” via conversations and engagement. At current count, 436 Zappos employees use Twitter, including CEO Tony Hsieh. For the record, Tony has over 1.6 million followers.

Aaron Magness, director of business development at Zappos, acknowledges that proactively sharing the company culture and values creates a humanizing effect that invites people to be part of the community, and also acts as a sales driver. “It’s easier for them to embrace openness,” he said.

Number 5. Customer Service

Frank Eliason of Comcast (@comcastcares) and Richard Binhammer of Dell (@richardatdell) are paving the way for service-focused organizations on Twitter.
Eliason, whose title is director of digital care at Comcast, uses Twitter to help 200 to 300 subscribers a day. Frank and his 10-person help desk receive direct questions, but also proactively seek out complaints. His key to success lies in his desire to earn relations, not bark advice or chat people up. “If they want assistance, they’ll let me know,” he said.

Number 6. Focus Groups

Wisdom and creativity are widespread in social media. Tuning in to the frequency of conversations related to the brand or marketplace can serve as a real-time focus group for innovation and adaptation.

Over 3 million mentions of Starbucks populated Twitter in May 2009 and, as the company learned, the price for paying attention is less than that for a caramel macchiato, but the value is priceless.

Morgan Johnston, Manager of Corporate Communications at Jet Blue, was inspired to change policy because of Twitter. He helped eliminate a $50 fee for carry-on bikes after hearing complaints via Twitter.

Johnston listens to the people who are active on the Social Web in order to improve company processes and customer service. “Think of Twitter as the canary in the coal mine. We watch for customers’ discussions about amenities we have, and what they’d like to see made better.”

Number 7. Direct Sales

Brian Simpson (@BSIMI) has helped The Roger Smith in New York monitor dialogue related to hotel stays and travel in order to offer specials in the hopes of attracting new guests. Using Twitter search, he can identify prospects and offer them a 10 percent discount on the lowest-rate rooms. Simpson estimates that Twitter and other forms of social media have netted between $15,000 to $20,000 in additional revenue.

Simpson also professed the necessity of cultivating community in social networks: “It validates us more when other people talk about us than when we talk about ourselves,” he noted.

Number 8. Business Development

Twitter, along with blogs, blog comments, and other social networks, is abundant with conversations that broadcast and echo dissatisfaction with brands and products. One company’s crisis is another’s opportunity.

Monitoring conversations (social reconnaissance) related to competitors provides the ability to “save the day” with better service or monetary incentives.

Number 9. Curation

I’ve written in the past that Twitter is not necessarily most advantageous when used as a conversation platform. Embracing it as a broadcast channel is also beneficial when used strategically.

For example, Google maintains over 2 million followers, but only follows 230. It employs a strategy that I refer to as a “curation” feed. It compiles links to content and company posts elsewhere and aggregates them into one channel. I recommend that companies use this for information collected from customers and influencers, as well in order to truly curate the best, most helpful content from around the Web while building good will in the process.

However, Twitter accounts can also create and portray a persona around an social objects. For example Albion’s Oven, a bakery in London, notifies followers when fresh croissants are ready.

Number 10. Information Networks

Unlike a curated network that keeps followers in sync with trends, services, and solutions, Information Networks can serve up helpful alerts and notices to help followers avert problems, change plans, and also pursue new opportunities.

The Michigan Department of Transportation uses Facebook and Twitter to alert friends and followers of traffic and road closures. Oakland County Parks uses Facebook and Twitter to spread the word about events and news and also conducts polls to improve local programs and services.

In business, customers could also benefit from updates and alerts that they might not have otherwise have encountered on their own.

Number 11. Dedicated and Branded Channels

On Twitter, Ford Motor uses distinct accounts for sharing information about specific models and products. For example, @forddrivegreen focuses on sustainability, whereas @fordmustang, well, you guessed it, shares content related to the Mustang.
Scott Monty, head of social media for Ford, recognizes that social media reveals the people who formerly comprised the audience: “We give customers a choice as to how they want to consume information.”

Whole Foods maintains independent channels, as well, to better serve customers. For example, the healthy foods retailer channels specific information and updates for wine and beer, cheese, and recipes.

Number 12. Mobile and Geo Location Marketing

Local businesses are using social tools to identify customers within the area to attract new business and also extend the online interaction into a full-blown community in the real world. Because I was there when this story was just about to unfold, I will reference my good friend Mike Prasad and the great work he’s done for Kogi, a mobile force of Korean BBQ taco trucks @kogiBBQ.

One night in Hollywood, Mike and I were talking about getting a late night snack. He told me about the company he was working with and how if we sent a tweet out requesting their presence, there was a good chance that they’d stop by the neighborhood to serve us dinner. Thirty minutes later, Kogi was indeed outside our hotel and a group of about 25 to 30 people immediately began proclaiming their appreciation for on Twitter.

Prasad echoes this sentiment and is helping to lead the way: “We try to foster a culture by interaction with the people around us. Now, Kogi isn’t about getting a taco, it’s about having an experience.”

Expect to see this trend continue in mobile social networks dedicated to locale and accessible via mobile phones.

Number 13. Hosted Conversations That Generate Traffic and Referrers

Social Media Dashboards are the future of hosted and aggregated conversations. As we’re observing, those sites that integrate Twitter chat functionality can not only thread conversations in one place for easy following, but also send out tweets in the Twitter stream for all followers to see, and hopefully feel compelled or curious to join, as well.

During the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic, Turner Broadcasting integrated Twitter into TNT.com with the help of Gigya. Visitors could log into the site with their Twitter ID and respond directly in the hosted timeline. As such, their tweets not only appeared on TNT.com but also in Twitter, attracting more fans into the site.

Number 14. User-Generated Change

As we’ve seen and will continue to see, in social media tiny online social revolutions can manifest and ultimately ignite change.

Historically, the 2009 Iran Election will serve as an inflection point for the rise of user-generated change. While the results of election itself weren’t altered, the Iran government was forced to respond.

Two services mentioned in the Forbes Top Twitter Tips article, Twitition and TinyPetition, are dedicated to organizing people on Twitter to call for change officially.

Number 15. Vendor Relationship Management

A form of relationship management introduced by Cluetrain Manifesto author Doc Searls, Vendor Relationships Management (VRM) flips the workflow of CRM (customer relationship management) from companies to customers.

Whereas people are relegated to faceless customers when e-mailing or calling into the service department, social media takes the power once held exclusively by the brand and injects balance.

UK-based Wiggly Wigglers, a marketer of farming and gardening supplies, was surprised to learn that British Telecom overcharged the company by $10,000. After five months of a stalemate and without any promise or hope of resolution, company owner Heather Gorringe took her story to the Twitterverse. Within 30 minutes, @BTCare responded with help and two days later, the bill was adjusted.

Number 16. Ideation

As we’ve witnessed with My Starbucks Idea (http://mystarbucksidea. force.com) and Dell’s IdeaStorm (www.ideastorm.com), crowdsourcing ideas can not only be an excellent source for innovation, but also an effective means for establishing goodwill.

IBM uses Twitter to test concepts and solicit feedback and ideas through @ibmresearch.

Number 17. Employee Recruitment

Recruiters and hiring managers are turning to Twitter to seek referrals and applicants for open positions. Twitter and social networks can spark a social effect that galvanizes community support and action. Not only can companies save a significant amount of money on listing and referral fees using traditional outlets and resources, they essentially create a presence through the practice of “unmarketing” itself through the process of seeking qualified candidates.

Number 18. Events

Organizing and promoting events are natural applications for Twitter. Tweetups transcend online relationships and become real-world connections.

Using Coffee Groundz as an example again, the Houston-based business regularly organizes tweetups to draw hundreds of customers into the store for each event.

Number 19. Research and Intelligence

The Social Web is a real-time collective and assembly of valuable information that mostly goes unnoticed. A few existing services are dedicated to applying a magnifying lens into the dialogue that leads to insight, direction, creativity, and inventiveness.

For example, celebrity.peoplebrowsr.com provides real-time insight into the most actively discussed celebrities on Twitter at any moment in time, while also revealing the sentiment that is most associated with each. If you notice at the top, you can also view the latest on Airlines industry or stock market sentiment and associated tweets.

StockTwits provides an open, community-powered idea and information service for investments. Users can listen to traders and investors, or contribute to the conversation. The service leverages Twitter as a content production platform and transforms tweets into financial related data structured by stock, user, and reputation.

Number 20. Fund Raising

This is a big opportunity and one that will yield amazing stories on how people are using Twitter and social media to raise money for charitable causes and capital for projects and companies. It’s the art of spurring contributions through information and education, not solicitation.

When it comes to social media for Social Good, we don’t have to look much further than anything Beth Kanter touches or spotlights. She’s one of the most influential people in using social media for raising awareness, support and money for causes. One of the projects that she remains dedicated to is helping orphans in Cambodia and, to date, it has raised over $200,000. She has also used Twitter, Widgets, and other social networks to help many other organizations and causes. In one live demonstration, which still leaves me in awe, she raised over $2,500 to send a young Cambodian woman to college while she was on stage at Gnomedex in Seattle.

Number 21. Words of Wisdom

As reiterated throughout these top tips, listening and responding is helpful and efficacious in luring new customers, empowering advocacy, and instilling loyalty.

Serving as a resource for your community or industry positions, proactively responding to online users who are posing questions, and assisting those who are seeking advice and guidance can garner trust, respect, and camaraderie for you and the causes you espouse.

There are measurable and also incalculable benefits to dedicating resources to lead individuals and organizations to resolution.

For example, @homedepot monitors dialogue related to the company, but also those individuals who are tackling home projects and seeking tips and instructions.

BestBuy’s @Twelpforce has authorized its entire staff of trained employees to seek out discussions related to consumer electronics, home theaters, gaming, music, appliances, and technology, and to answer questions, whether or not they’re directly tied to the BestBuy brand.

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It’s Christmas time and the cyber-criminals are also sending out Christmas e-cards.

Cyber-criminals are taking advantage of people by sending out friend requests on social networking sites.

They send out phishing emails which look like a friend request from Facebook or MySpace. If you click on the link in the email, it will take you to a site that looks like a Facebook or MySpace site. Then, it automatically installs software which can take personal information such as bank details.

If you receive a friend request via email, David Marcus, an online security expert at McAfee says, “Go to Facebook itself, log into the application and see if they friend requests are actually in the application. Still do a little bit of homework. Who else do they know in your friends list? Then accept them as a friend.”

It’s Christmas time and the cyber-criminals are also sending out Christmas e-cards. Be careful when you get a Christmas e-card, especially if it’s someone you do not know. Do not click on the link on the e-mail, instead go to the site itself and type the code which comes on the email.

Source:
KOMO news

Social Media Certification – Is there such a thing?

I saw a recent post from Oliver Blanchard ripping the legitimacy of Mari Smith and Mark Eldridge ISMA, Social Media Certification Course. Blanchard doesn’t hold back expressing his profound disgust of someone charging $3,000 for what he claims to be a bogus certification course

I had never heard of a certification course for Social Media and wondered what made Mari and Mark qualified to certify others.

We all have large followings on Twitter and Facebook, as well as an in depth knowledge of how to exploit those platforms for credibility and monetization. The thing that perked my interest was why someone would need to be certified in order to blog, tweet and socialize on facebook, when all of that information is available online for free. Especially at a $3,000 price tag. That’s half my Mortgage payment.

Having been on twiiter and facebook only since March 2009 and having nearly 40,000 followers already on twitter, I thought it would be intersting to see exactly what Mari Smith and Mark Aldridge were offering.

So I decided to look at whet you get…. Here is what I found…

Social Media Consulting/Specialist 101 – Session 1 (January 7, 2010)

Understanding Social Media – Connect, Engage, Enlighten
Tenets of successful social media marketing
Social Media ethics and advocacy
Consulting/Specialist core competencies 1
Define Your Brand & Core Message
Q&A

Social Media Marketing vs. Traditional Marketing– Session 2 (January 11, 2010)

Consulting/Specialist core competencies 2
Building large vs. small, loyal following and the Four Part Formula
Social Media Time management
Traditional marketing ROI vs. Social Media ROI
One platform vs. multi platform strategy
Implementing a social media plan
Q&A

Mastering Twitter – Session 3 (January 14,2010)
Twitter demystified & advance techniques
Art of the Tweet & Retweet
Effective Twitter tools and strategies
Do’s and Don’t of automating
Q&A

Outsourcing – Session 4 (January 18, 2010)
Delegating/outsourcing – how much to keep in-house
Working with Virtual Assistants
Using project management tools
Collaborating with Consultants/Specialists
Q&A

Mastering Facebook – Session 5 (January 21, 2010)
Facebook Beginner and Advance techniques
Elements of an attractive Facebook Fan Page
Facebook applications & tools
Defining the line between personal, professional and private
Facebook Advertising
Q&A

Understanding Blogs & Content Development – Session 6 (January 25, 2010)
Writing to Get Your Name in Print and Expanding Your Exposure
Every Blog Started at Zero – Developing Content
Sourcing good content
Article marketing
Setting up or Overhauling Your Blog
RSS Feeds, Widgets, Plugins
Guest Blogging
Creating a Blog Strategy & Schedule
Secrets of Successful Blogs
Q&A

Mastering LinkedIn – Session 7 (January 28, 2010)
LinkedIn Beginner and Advance techniques
Optimizing your LinkedIn profile
Answers & Polls
Profile organizer
Other LinkedIn tools & resources
Q&A

Mobile Marketing Strategies – Session 8 (February 1, 2010)
Mobile and its marketing dynamics
Behavioral targeting
Viral mobile campaigns
Industry practices, wireless carrier policies and regulatory guidance
Q&A

Mastering YouTube – Session 9 (February 4, 2010)
Power of video on social sites
YouTube Beginner and Advance techniques
Storytelling keeping it brief
Shooting & Editing
Creating your own channel
Other Video site tools
Q&A

Changes in Social Media & Other Platforms – Session 10 (February 8, 2010)
GoogleWave
MySpace, Slideshare, BlogTalkRadio, etc.
Social Communities; Ning, Socialgo, Kickapps
Social Bookmarking
Trends & Staying ahead of the curve
Q&A

Social Media in the Corporate World– Session 11 (February 11, 2010)
Getting companies to embrace social media
Social Media guidelines and policies
Reputation management and repair
Ethical and corporate standards
Including employees in social media strategy
Q&A

Client Social Media Assessment – Session 12 (February 15, 2010)
Conducting a Professional Assessment
Analyzing clients customers and which platforms they’re using
Assessment tools
Q&A

Social Media Strategy & Plan – Session 13 (February 18, 2010)
Conducting a SWOT analysis
Creating a social media strategy
Implementing a social media plan
Q&A

LIVE* TWO-DAY ADVANCED TRAINING
*(Training also provided virtually for any that cannot travel)

Tuesday, Dates TBA

Social Media Objectives & ROI – Session 14 (February 22, 2010)
Setting social media objectives
Create social media budget
Tracking & measuring ROI
Q&A

Becoming a Consultant/Specialist – Session 15 (February 25, 2010)
Being a Social Media Consultant/Specialist
Setting Your Business Goals
Developing a Business Plan for Success
Setting up Shop
How to Find Clients & the intake process
Pricing & Proposals
Q&A

Marketing Your Business – Session 16 (March 1, 2010)
Conducting teleseminars & webinars
Blogtalkradio
Email & Article marketing
eBooks
Speeches, workshops, seminars & platform speaking
Your social media strategy and plan
Q&A

ONLY $2795 for platinum members!

*$2845 for premium members or $2995* for basic members
===============================================================

Over all if you want a piece of paper to hang on your wall and you’re in a hurry and really want to get up to speed OR plan on re-Teaching Mari and Marks techniques to others, then this seems like one hell of a lot of great info. If you have a few days off over the Holidays, you can find most of this info free or for a lot less than $500 online by simply searching for Twitter tips and tricks, or Social Media tips and tricks online. If you have a disposable income and are completely new to Social Networking, I would Highly suggest this course. Mari know’s her stuff and just the offshore outsourcing alone would be worth it over the log run if you are looking to get into the industry.

In summary, Mari’s information is tried and true and she has been at the forefront of social media pretty much since it’s introduction. That said, the Certification part of this whole training is bogus as neither of them are “Certified” themselves, as there is no Certification Accredited course in existance and neither are College Professors and accredited themselves. Anyone can claim to be a certified Social Media Expert because there is no governing body over seeing it.

Since there is no such thing and Universities and accredited bodies haven’t started issuing social media degrees or certifications and most companies don’t even know waht Social Media is yet, I would do my own reserach and let that speak for itself. And if you do need help and training, shop around. There are programs out there that cost much less and you can sudy from home in your spare time, for instance, one of the absolute best educations you can get about Social Networking and making money online is the Home Business Success Kit which spells out EXACTLY how to get maximum results using Social Media, including step-by-step tutorials on how to do this without the headache of having to sit through days on end of lecturing. Plus it includes software that will do most of the work for you, so you don’t have to pay someone in the Philipinnes to do it as Mari does.

Another great Social Media expert I would recommend that is extremely reasonable is James Hickey. For $3,000, he’ll do it all for you.

I hope this gives you a non bias approach to making a sound decision before spending your money on something you can do on your own. I’ve met Mari Smith and she’s a wealth of information. It’s the “Certification Carrot” that’s loses credibility and seems like a Gimmick.

Twitter without the BS – A Post by Ken McCarthy

This is a great post by Ken McCarthy. So good in fact I felt compelled to share it with you in case you are not on his mailing list. Hopefully this will give you a clear perspective on Twitter and why this is being called the first Twitter Christmas.

Why is it so hard to get practical advice on using Internet promotional tools?

Everything in Internet marketing seems to come wrapped in a ton of hype and BS and few appear able or willing to strip things down to their basics. And believe me, it’s no easier for me.

Finding a straight, concise answer about anything in Internet marketing is ridiculously hard whether you’ve been at it for 16 years or 16 minutes.

Twitter is a perfect example of this.

First, the news media made it look ridiculous.

Then, the Internet “gurus” piled on with claims that it’s really the most powerful marketing tool that’s ever been created – but only if you know the “right” way (their way) to use it…which they’ll be glad to teach you for an unreasonable fee.

Everything a serious-minded person needs to know about Twitter
1. Twitter’s popular and it’s been adopted by every major media outlet. A percentage of your customers use it. These facts alone signal that anyone who has anything to promote needs to use it.
2. Twitter is dead easy to use, both for publishers and consumers of information.
3. Twitter’s just another channel with its strengths and weaknesses. It contains no inherent magic. If there is “magic” in it, it comes from using it intelligently.
4. Twitter is not something to build a business on. Yes, it’s easy to “game” the system to generate large numbers of “followers” but, like 99% of the things taught by the Internet marketing fad pimps, this approach is a total waste of time.
5. Twitter is a truly great research tool and a great keeping-in-touch-with-those-who-want-to-hear-from-you-tool.

How to think about Twitter
1. Twitter is a web publishing platform. It’s a free way for people to set up their own easy-to-use web sites. It’s a stripped down version of a blog. (Some people accurately call Twitter a micro-blog.)
2. Twitter limits posts (”tweets”) to 140 characters – about the length of a headline or classified ad. You can say and do a lot in 140 characters. Ask any poet or copywriter. Get over it. Being limited to 140 characters is not an issue.
3. One of the key Twitter skills is to learn how to shrink a long address into a short one so you have more room to get your message across. Here’s the tool I use for that: http://twtr.us/twtr.html

How to use Twitter
1. As a publisher, the most important thing to keep in mind about Twitter is to have a clear purpose and consistent public face for each of your Twitter channels (assuming you need more than one.)
For example, if your topic is investing in gold or ski resorts in the Alps, stick to the point. Don’t start ranting about completely unrelated issues, personal or global.

A little “personality” from time to time is fine, but too many off-point posts and too many fragmentary (and incomprehensible) posts of half a conversation are going to confuse and put off busy, serious-minded people (the kind of people who buy and get things done.)
2. A lot of people use Twitter for “personality” marketing. In other words, their posts are chock full of off-topic reports and obscure shout outs to god-only-knows-who.
If you think you’re a fabulously fascinating person and the world can’t get enough of the minutia of your everyday life, have at it, but I don’t recommend it.
3. What I do recommend is making sure that every post (or “tweet”) counts.
Somehow the mistaken idea has spread that Twitter is supposed to be a stream-of-consciousness medium, that whatever is on your mind at any given moment is fair game for a Twitter post. This is not communicating, this is a form of verbal diarrhea.
4. Craft your Twitter posts. Think about them.

Ask yourself: “Is what I’m about to post useful, interesting, on-topic, and in character?”
In other words, run your “tweets” through a filter, the same way you connect your mouth to your brain when you’re speaking.

I’m not saying that each and every post has to be a home run or that you have to agonize over every one, but unless someone is wildly in love with you, be aware random, off-topic, minutia gets old really fast.

How to get readers
The purpose of writing is to have readers.
There are two ways to get readers (called “followers” in Twitter):
1) tell everyone you know about your channel and send them to it (do this consistently) and
2) reach out on Twitter.
If you already have a large circle (you’re a celebrity, you have a big mailing list and/or you have a lot of traffic to your web site), it’s easy to build a big Twitter following fast. Just let people know about it (repeatedly) and don’t publish crap.

If you don’t have any of these things, you’ve got to do it the old fashioned way by reaching out to relevant folks.

Note the word “relevant.” One of the scams currently taught by the Internet marketing “gurus” is to randomly follow thousands of Twitter users. The idea being that some of them will reflexively follow you back and thus you will develop a large “following” and appear to be popular. Not a good idea.
Here’s a better idea: Follow people and info sources that you’re genuinely interested in.

How to reach out on Twitter – and how not to
It’s easy to find Twitter users who might like to be readers of your Twitter channel.
Click on the “find people” link on Twitter and enter keywords that are likely to turn up people and organizations that are in sync with what your Twitter channel is about.
For example, as a hobby (which also makes money), I run a jazz video web site.
After I let my list and site visitors know I have a Twitter channel, I went to the “find people” page and entered logical keywords for my niche: jazz, jazz club, jazz fest, jazz fan etc.
Then whenever I have some spare time, I “follow” another 100 channels in this category. Some will follow me, some won’t. I really don’t care. I only follow channels I’m genuinely interested in or people I’m very certain would find what I’m doing interesting.
One point: I don’t suddenly follow 1,000 or 10,000 channels overnight.
Why?
Two reasons: 1) because that’s not how normal people use Twitter and 2) Twitter doesn’t like it.
You may say – as many Internet marketing “gurus” do – who cares what Twitter likes? Well, there are two reasons:
First, you’re a guest on their service. Why not be a good guest instead of a greedy slob?
Second, you’re a guest on their service which means they can throw you off any time they want for violating their terms of service agreement.
Given how much totally bogus crap has been written about Twitter “how to” – much of which has become “common knowledge” – I recommend reading Twitter’s short, clear and very reasonable Terms of Service agreement.
You can read Twitter’s Terms of Service Agreement here
Summing up
Twitter is, in spite of all the hype and misinformation, definitely worth your time and attention.
It’s a great way to keep up with news on a wide variety of topics, to see what people are thinking and talking about, and to serve your readers.

The key is that writing for Twitter is like writing for any other medium.
Is what you are writing about interesting, useful, and/or entertaining? If it is, you can carve it on a rock and it will work. If it’s not, then neither Twitter nor anything else is going to help you.

Is your Twitter channel focused and consistent so people know what they’re going to get when they sign up for it and then get what they expect when they do?

It’s not rocket science and it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme. It’s just Twitter and my hats off to the creators for stumbling on this thing and making it available to the world. It’s a net contribution.

Position Yourself As An Expert Using Social Media

It’s fairly easy to position yourself as an expert using Social Media. If you can determine HOW you will brand yourself and or your company, you can become an expert almost over night. You must create a profile that matches what it is you are positioning yourself as… You must also do this across the internet using ALL the major Social Networks, like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, DIGG, Youtube, etc.

You’ll also need to develop a Social Bookmarking strategy. By this I mean create lots of relevant content using the sites I have mentioned earlier. Get your knowledge out there and begin participating in groups and adding valuable content for others.

You should also develop a strategy using video. Did you know Youtube gets over 13 Billion Views? That’s Billion with a ‘B’. Twitter has over 8 Million users and is growing by 40% per month and Facebook has over 200 million members.

Social networking ISN’T for teenagers either. 65% of Social Network users are adults between the ages of 35 and 55 years old and is the fastest growing group of users to date.

With Corporate America like Coca Cola, Bank of America and IBM using Social Networking, it’s become the Wild West again using the Internet. Everyone from the Big Guys to local small business owners are reaping the rewards of tapping into Social Networking and gaining new prospects and clients in doing so.

No longer are the MySpaces and Facebooks over-run with lonely geeks sharing information on the latest trends or merchandise. It’s the large scale retailers that are wooing consumers and leveraging these networks with coupon offers and customer rewards when clicking through to their advertised bargain.

It’s easy to position yourself as an expert online. Simply start by growing a network of friends through facebook, twitter and linkedin. Make a list of your top 10 favorite Guru’s in your industry and concentrate on building a relationship first. Create your own groups and build a community of like minded individuals and remember… Give away lots of value. By this I mean ebooks, audios, reports and tips. Your followers will love you for it and you will emerge as the expert in your field.

Help others first and your following will grow.

Mick

10 Ways To Increase Your Twitter Followers

Ten Ways To Increase Your Twitter Followers:

Explain to your followers what retweeting is and encourage them to retweet your links. Retweeting pushes your @username into foreign social graphs, resulting in clicks back to your profile. Track your retweets using retweetist.

Fill out your bio. Your latest tweets and @replies don’t mean much to someone that doesn’t know you. Your bio is the only place you have to tell people who you are. Also, your bio is displayed on Twitter’s Suggested Users page. Leaving it blank or non-descriptive doesn’t encourage people to add you.

As @garyvee says, “link it up.” Put links to your Twitter profile everywhere. Link it on your Digg, LinkedIn, Facebook, blog, email signature, and everywhere else you live online. Also, check out the great feedburner-like badges from TwitterCounter for your blog.

Tweet about your passions in life and #hash tag them. Quality content coupled with an easy way to find it never fails. If others enjoy your content, they’ll add you. Learn more about #hash tagging here.
Bring your twitter account into the physical world. Every time I give a talk, speak on a panel, shoot a podcast, present slides, or hand out business cards, I figure out a way to broadcast or display my twitter account.

Take pictures. Pictures are heavily retweeted/spread around. This one from US Airways Flight 1549 has been viewed 350,000+ times. For mobile pics use iPhone apps such as Tweetie or Twitterific, both which support on the go uploading.

Start a contest. @jasoncalacanis offered a free macbook air if he reached the #1 most followed spot. That never happened, but Jason added thousands of followers…brilliant.

Follow the top twitter users and watch what they tweet. Pay attention to the type of content they sent out and how they address their audiences.

Reply to/get involved in #hash tag memes. search.twitter.com lists the hot ‘trending topics. Look for the #hash topics and jump in on the conversation (see #4 for links to #hash instructions).

Track your results. TwitterCounter will show you how many new users you’re adding per day and Qwitter will email you when someone unfollows you after a tweet.

twitter users risk suspension…

Twitter has created a small stir with the announcement that it’s cracking down on people who use automated software to make themselves look more popular on the microblogging service.

Apparently, there was a group of users who would sign up to follow (i.e., read updates from) huge swaths of people, then use software to un-follow folks who don’t follow them back. Twitter hasn’t published any hard-and-fast rules about this, but says those who “use software to constantly churn followers in a repeated pattern of following and unfollowing will … risk suspension.” The idea, presumably, is to cut down on the number of people who are trying to “game” the system, and are following people to just to up their own follower counts.

It’s a smart move for Twitter to discourage behavior that could be considered “spammy” in some way, lest the service be completely taken over by self-promotional losers.

The other point that struck me is the way this news underlines the desire by Twitter and its users to see follower counts as a legitimate measure of worth. The fact that Twitter provides a public, non-reciprocal measure of popularity (unlike friends on Facebook) is probably a factor in the press’ continual fascination with the service. I’ve been guilty of watching my follower count obsessively too, but let’s not kid ourselves — having lots of followers on Twitters doesn’t mean that you are popular on Twitter or an expert, it may simply be others spamming you as you have done to them.

Just added my 92 year old Grand Dad to Twitter

Ok… I’m having too much fun Tweeting with my Grandfather of 92 years back and forth. He is stoked and having a blast searching for any remaining shipmates from the USS Milwaukee and tweeting with fellow Porsche owners. I’m so glad he is well versed with the internet over the past few years and looks forward to people to chat with. Rock on Papa Paul. You keep us all young at heart. Follow him on Twitter and say hi.