For those looking to gain more clients, Twitter is an awesome way to do so. The best part is that it really isn’t all that hard and doesn’t take a ton of time or money to do so.

Maybe you just want to reach more people, or perhaps you are in a situation where you want to make sure that the people around you understand what it is you do in order to help them decide if they can use your product or services. In any case, have a look at the growing popularity of Twitter.

A combination of a chat or instant messaging service and a blog, Twitter is a great way to gain a broader audience. Simply by being yourself and showing other what it is you do via tweets (messages) or from word of mouth from current customers, you stand the chance of gaining more clients.

The thing about Twitter is that the abbreviated length can do you a great service. You have the chance to convey the information that you need to get across without being too wordy or having potential clients get distracted while looking at your website. Because of this short and to the point way of communicating you have the ability to pique your potential client’s interest so that they will click your link to learn more. Sending them back to your website to learn more about you, the service you provide or the product you sell is what you’re after here.

You also have the ability to send potential clients to specific areas of your website in order to find the information they need. This will save them time and that’s always a plus. They want specific information and if you can give it to them with a few words and a link to the direct page on your site with this information, they will love you for it. For instance, if you’re a service provider, the next time someone asks you what your rates are, you can send them directly to your rates page to find the answers they need immediately.

After you’ve been on Twitter for awhile you will start to see the word of mouth concept flying around everywhere. If one of your current customers is a member of Twitter and you’ve just returned an awesome project to them, especially if they happen to be chatting on Twitter when they get the email, they will more than likely sing your praises to their followers. Twitter has quickly become a place where many business owners go to ask for recommendations of service providers for certain tasks they need completed. You’ll even find some businesses recruiting writers, web designers, blog installers and more when they need something done. Twitter has a viral nature and quickly your name and what you do can be passed on to many people.

If you contribute to conversations and let people know you are out there, you will find that your tweets as well as your website URL will be passed around and shared. Make sure that you take advantage of this positive way to get your name out there. Many people use Twitter, and you’ll find that this familiarity is one thing that can help you distinguish yourself from the herd.

You can find me on twitter at http://twitter.com/tammymunson.

For those looking to gain more clients, Twitter is an awesome way to do so. The best part is that it really isn’t all that hard and doesn’t take a ton of time or money to do so.

Maybe you just want to reach more people, or perhaps you are in a situation where you want to make sure that the people around you understand what it is you do in order to help them decide if they can use your product or services. In any case, have a look at the growing popularity of Twitter.

A combination of a chat or instant messaging service and a blog, Twitter is a great way to gain a broader audience. Simply by being yourself and showing other what it is you do via tweets (messages) or from word of mouth from current customers, you stand the chance of gaining more clients.

The thing about Twitter is that the abbreviated length can do you a great service.  You have the chance to convey the information that you need to get across without being too wordy or having potential clients get distracted while looking at your website. Because of this short and to the point way of communicating you have the ability to pique your potential client’s interest so that they will click your link to learn more. Sending them back to your website to learn more about you, the service you provide or the product you sell is what you’re after here.

You also have the ability to send potential clients to specific areas of your website in order to find the information they need. This will save them time and that’s always a plus. They want specific information and if you can give it to them with a few words and a link to the direct page on your site with this information, they will love you for it. For instance, if you’re a service provider, the next time someone asks you what your rates are, you can send them directly to your rates page to find the answers they need immediately.

After you’ve been on Twitter for awhile you will start to see the word of mouth concept flying around everywhere. If one of your current customers is a member of Twitter and you’ve just returned an awesome project to them, especially if they happen to be chatting on Twitter when they get the email, they will more than likely sing your praises to their followers. Twitter has quickly become a place where many business owners go to ask for recommendations of service providers for certain tasks they need completed. You’ll even find some businesses recruiting writers, web designers, blog installers and more when they need something done. Twitter has a viral nature and quickly your name and what you do can be passed on to many people.

If you contribute to conversations and let people know you are out there, you will find that your tweets as well as your website URL will be passed around and shared. Make sure that you take advantage of this positive way to get your name out there.  Many people use Twitter, and you’ll find that this familiarity is one thing that can help you distinguish yourself from the herd.

Please Add me to you Twitter Friends http://twitter.com/tammymunson.

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

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.

Okay, you’ve been a blogger for a few weeks or maybe even a few months.  You’re writing posts, but now you’re ready to take it all the next level. You understand that it’s all about creating a conversation with your blog community. You would like to see more comments, site traffic, and even some recognition. You want to be like one of the cool kids right?

But how do you go from being a little whole in the wall to be a place where the cool kids hang out? Well here a few things to try to take your blog to the next level.

 Who are you writing for?

 Does your blog have a niche? Does it focus on one particular concept? Ask yourself what your readers are going to “get” from your posts? How is it going to be useful to them? You want to make sure that your posts are useful, full of good information that they will be able to apply easily.

 Creating the conversation

 Give your readers a call to action and ask them questions. Remember it’s all about creating a conversation with your readers. Make sure to respond to comments on your blog, as much as you can.

 Put a picture of YOU on your blog, and make it known who you are. Be transparent in who are and give full disclosure. Your readers are going to want to connect with the person/brand, not just your blog.

Give them other ways to reach you besides the normal, like a Twitter/Facebook account. Here’s even a thought… a phone number.

Making it pretty

Make your blog posts easy to read. Insert white space by breaking up your text. You can also use bold titles inside your blog posts to separate sections.

Have a long section? Use the blockquote feature to make them stand out for the rest.

Insert images from your personal connection or perhaps grab some stock images for Stock Photo or istockphoto.com

Comment, comment, comment

Just as you want comments on yours, so do other bloggers. So, get out and comment on other people’s blogs.

You can also create a post on your blog commenting on something on another’s blog and track back to posts on other blogs, especially some of the popular blogs within your niche! What will that do?  Help your blog get noticed by others.

Post on a regular basis (at least once per week)

Post something useful at least once per week. You want to remember to keep the posts useful to your readers but its ok to write off-topic or even personal posts too.

Lead from the front

Prominently display your RSS feed up at the top of your blog so people will see it easily. It maybe helpful to even include a subscribe graphic.

Also be sure to ask your readers for advice, ideas, suggestion, and feedback. You want to make your blog useful for them so ask them what they want! You might be surprised to find out the results. 

You can also add the email-subscription option available thru Feedburner for those that aren’t quite sure about RSS feeds. You can also use this option in replace of a regular autoresponder type application if you’re so inclined.

Want feedback or suggestions for your blog? Well just ask away my friends. You can always email me at tammy AT newmediava DOT com or on any of the various social networks like Twitter, Facebook, etc. 

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

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!

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?

We have decided to sell BusinessAndLearning and TheWAHExpo. We feel that it would be a huge benefit to all WAH’ers if it was handle by someone that works within your target market! We’ve both changed directions on where we are going with our own business. We decided it was time to give up our labor of love in order to make the Expo a bigger and better opportunity for all exhibitors, sponsors and participants, all dear friends of the Expo.

Please feel free to pass this information along to anyone that you think may be interested.
http://businessandlearning.com/for-sale.html