Whether you are just getting started with an online business or you have been around for a while and looking for a new way to network, have a look at what Twitter. Part chat program and part tiny blog, you will find that the Twitter interface is one that can change the way you interact with your current customers and potential customers worldwide.

It’s Short, Sweet & To the Point
Have you ever heard the phrase, less is more? You’ll find that one of the best things about Twitter is that it keeps all messages very short and sweet. You’ll have to give your customers and clients the gist of what is going on in short tweets (messages similar to instant messages) that allow their interest to be piqued in such a way as to make them investigate further. You won’t bother them with long-winded messages that make them yawn and move on. Instead, you will be able to catch their attention quickly and make them want to know more.

Immediacy
Much like a blog or an RSS feed, you can get access to the people that use Twitter regularly. In some ways, this is like making sure that you can reach them no matter where they are, and you will find that this is very important when you want to make marketing one of your biggest priorities. You are making sure that they have all of the latest updates to what you are doing and what’s going on by simply sending a tweet their way.

Everyone’s Doing It
In many ways, Twitter is a social program more than it is a marketing one, and you’ll find that using Twitter can help you feel a great deal closer to your client base and other’s in your online community. If you are looking to make sure that they see you as a person rather than as simply a company or service, you’ll find that Twitter encourages them to think of you as someone they can get to know. This can be very important when it comes to establishing a customer base and customer loyalty.

You Get to Hear a Lot
Remember that it goes both ways; you can put information out on Twitter and you can also learn a lot too. By following other’s Twitter accounts, especially if it looks like they have a lot to offer, you can keep in the know about various products, services, and other happenings online. This can be a great way to keep an eye on what is going on in order to keep yourself in the know of your industry.

Make Them Laugh
You can also use Twitter to tease people a little bit, in a fun way, of course! When you use Twitter, you have to keep your messages short, and in many ways, a little mysterious. Pique their interest, joke around, and you’ll find that you gain a lot more followers and hopefully website traffic and customers as a result.

Be warned, just as with any other social networking site, Twitter can quickly become addicting if you let it. Don’t go overboard and get so involved in all the tweeting that it takes away from your intended purpose. Used wisely Twitter can be a great and powerful marketing tool to help create online business success.

How are you using Twitter with your current marketing plan?  Let me know by leaving a comment!

Want to connect with me on Twitter ? You can follow me at http://www.twitter.com/TammyMunson

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Blog Talk Radio is a free way to host live audio (talk) shows online. It  is the social radio network that allows users to connect quickly and directly with their audience. Using an ordinary telephone and computer hosts can create free, live, call-in talk shows with unlimited participants that are automatically archived and made available as podcasts. No software download is required. Listeners can subscribe to shows via RSS into iTunes and other feed readers. Our network has produced tens of thousands of episodes since it launched in August of 2006.

Blog Talk Radio is a great alternative to podcasting.  It’s free, you don’t have to worry about the costs you might have to with podcasting your own show and it’s live, unlike most podcasts that are recorded previously and you just listen to them at your leisure. Your blog talk radio can be podcasted following the show recording.

I love Blog Talk Radio, I don’t deny it. Here are a few reasons why:
1.  It’s free

2.  Unlimited listeners

3.  Unlimited callers (there are only 5 callers allowed on the line at a time, but any others that call in will be in line so that when one of the 5 leaves the next in line can be live and talk.)

4.  Blog Talk Radio provides the host with their own call in number for free.

5.  They also provide a seperate call in number for listeners for free.

6.  Hosts receive half of all revenue that their show generates.

7.  You receive your own Host page where all your shows are archived.

8.  You can host unlimited shows (there is a limit of 1 per day and you can only schedule your shows up to 4 weeks ahead)

9.  Your show can be 15, 30, or 60 minutes long and if you go over you can still talk for up to 2 hours

10.  You will receive a button to place on your other sites that links to your host page where listeners can interact with your current live shows and listen to archived shows.

11.  BTR may promote your show for you on their blog or homepage, but every show is listed on their programming guide and users can search for your show.

12.  They support multiple languages.

13.  You callers can talk live via a telephone or their pc if they have a microphone.

14. You can place an media player on your site so listeners can listen to your latest show right from there.

As much I love Blog Talk Radio, there are a few disadvantages of Blog Talk Radio :

1.  You don’t have total control over your shows.

2.  You can promote your show via email, but you have to do it via your host page.

3.  Only 5 people can call into on your show at a time.

All in all, Blog Talk Radio is a great way to get started in the podcasting world if you’re looking for a reliable way to host your own show but don’t feel comfortable with the expertise/money/equipment that podcasting can sometimes require. If you are looking for a show on Blog Talk Radio to listen to, make sure to stop by PodTalkDivas. We (myself and co-host Wendy Cooper) just recently took our podcast to BlogTalk Radio.

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It is time consuming to build a worthwhile presence on any of the above networks so it would be a mistake to jump into all of them at once.  It’s smarter to take one at a time and give it your focused attention for a period of time.

Sounds great… what I have many aspects to my business??

If you have a multifaceted business, you should choose one aspect of your business to highlight and promote on a network.   Profile pages that list every business you’re involved in and every website you own is not likely to be effective as visitors are faced with too many choices.

For example:

You can add pages to your Facebook profile to highlight the part of your business that relates most closely to you on a personal level or that connects to a popular hobby.

1. Create a profile on LinkedIn that would appeal to professional contacts.
2. Create a Squidoo lens for each topic you have created an information product or content website about.
3. Create a Twitter account and update what you’re doing, what you’re writing about, etc

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TubeMogul is a free service that provides a single point for deploying uploads to the top video sharing sites, and powerful analytics on who, what, and how videos are being viewed.

I just recently reviewed this site and all it offers. I think its awesome! Definitely a Thumbs UP!

The best overall feature about it is that Tube Mogul helps me with time management !

It allowed me to upload a client’s video in a variety of places rather than waste time going to each and every site that we wanted to include in their video deployment plan. Their stats and analysis tools are pretty amazing as well.

Go check out TubeMogul and let me know what you think!

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Years ago when social networking primarily consisted of message boards and forums, etiquette there was pretty simple. The rules were black and white and pretty easy to remember. These days with all the various social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Squidoo , the rules are now gray.

This is especially true for business owners that use social networking as part of their marketing plan. Are the rules the same? Are they different? I mean seriously how do you know what you should be posting/tweeting/blogging about in the business area?

Recently I encountered a situation on a social networking application that really threw me for a loop. Someone had posted a comment to another person’s post that was just completely rude, unprofessional and inconsiderate. Not only was it none of their business to condemn Person A’s decisions but Person B continued with their rude, sarcastic comments. It was because of that I began to ponder what the exactly where the rules where for social networking etiquette.

Now there was no Miss Manners book of Social Networking to turn to so I thought I’d start off with a few of my own..

1. Be open and honest yet fair
2. Play nicely - Don’t be a bully!
3. Be respectful
4. Remember - to be transparent and utilize full disclosure
5. Before you post something online , ask yourself would I say this in person

I guess the most important thing to remember is that if you don’t follow the “rules”, it will come back to haunt you one way or another.

What “rules” do you follow when social networking?

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Good friend Shannon Cherry and I have a lot in common: being entrepreneurs, having two daughters and being a bit geeky. We also share the same week for our birthdays - which are only a day apart. We both like a good party - and thought how can we celebrate with all our friends and colleagues when we’re thousands of miles apart?

Then we decided to use the Business & Learning webinar platform to host a birthday bash unlike any other - because we’re giving you the gifts!

That’s right. On January 23 at 9 PM (EST), join Shannon & I for a virtual cupcake, fun times, and some great door prizes. We’re hosting a f^ree-for-all publicity chat, where you can ask Shannon and me anything about offline or online marketing. From websites and blogs to direct mail and mastering the media, Shannon and I will share all our insider secrets - for f^ree.

And if you’re a virtual assistant, you really need to be on this chat, as Shannon & I are giving away a special press release for you to use to market your business.

So put on your party hat, come with your burning marketing and publicity questions, and join us for Shannon’s and Tammy’s Birthday Blowout! Simply log in at http://www.businessandlearning.com/expo on January 23 at 9 PM (EST).

To log into the conference room, enter your first and last name with the password:learning . It’s an audio conference room so make sure you have your mic and/or speakers plugged and turned on. It’s Mac and PC Friendly, so everyone can attend.

Hope to see you there!
Tammy

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This is a cool nifty app for all you iPhone users out there…

Hahlo is an iPhone-styled interface for the great Twitter service, and it is built upon their simple API.

All you need to use Hahlo is a Twitter account. Your login details are not stored by hahlo.com, they are saved in a cookie to allow access to things such as your direct messages, and enable you to update your status directly from hahlo.

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PodCampNYC2 (www.podcampnyc.org) is coming Feb 29-March 1st. Please sign up to attend (it’s free) or to speak (anyone can speak on new media subjects). This year John C Havens and the rest of the team (yes I’m on it too) are working toward supporting teachers.

PodcampNYC 1.0 was my first podcamp experience and I loved every minute of it. It is definitely something that you want to attend if you are able to.

So….Who Spoke at PodCamp NYC 1.0?

• Joseph Jaffe, author and new media maven. (See the video).
• Andrew Baron, Creator of Rocketboom. (See the video).
• C.C. Chapman, VP, New Marketing at Crayon. (See the video).
• Shelly Palmer, Author, “Television Disrupted.” (See the video).
• Reena Jana, Innovation and Design Writer at Businessweek.
• Simon Applebaum, contributing editor for Cable World.
• Jay Brodsky, Director of Digital Media at NPR.

Will you be joining me this year?If so, let me know and we’ll meetup!

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I was asked today by my friend Deb , “so what’s the big deal  with Twitter”?  At first, I shot her a look like “are you serious” ? I mean isn’t the entire free world using  Twitter. I forget that many people are not using the internet and attached to it like I am.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is in essence a mini-blog and its a conversation between many people that wouldn’t normally have a conversation. It basically answers the question “what are you doing?” One person once described it as “permission based stalking” which I guess in a way it is. I’m a big fan of Twitter and have been using it faithfully since I found out about it in March of this year. Twitter can very easily create addictive behavior and need an intervention. You can use it very SMS, IM, and web as well as cool apps that have been developed for it like TwitBin and Twiterrific.

So how do I use it?

I use it in a variety of ways that all add to my productivity or some days the lack thereof.
1. Questions - Sometimes I pose questions to other new media/social media experts for information I am seeking for myself or for a client

2. Blogs/Podcasts - many times I’ll post a link of a cool blog I’ve come across, a new blog posts (my own and others) and/or new podcast episode.

3. Mini-Conversations with Friends and Followers - Sometimes its just as simple as that

Like I said Twitter can be used for good or for evil .. it’s up to you to decide.  : )

Want to follow me on Twitter? You can reach me at www.twitter.com/TammyMunson 

Do you like reading this blog? Then considering subscribing for free!

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