Let Your Website Do The Work!

Twitter and Ustream Combine Forces

Combining your efforts is always a wise move.  To truly gain the most from your UStream shows you should combine the forces of Ustream with Twitter.  Unlike using the Ustream chatroom that only reaches those who choose to enter, Twitter on the other hand has extreme reach, which helps to multiply your viewers in a matter of minutes.

Ustream just recently changed the look of their website and created a wonderful integration between it and Twitter. You can login to Twitter right on the Ustream website and send messages directly to the host of the show. How cool is this!!

By broadcasting your live Ustream link to Twitter you are able to pick up new viewers in minutes.  Have your Ustream viewers tweet about your live show and broadcast the link as well gaining more and more unique visitors that you'd never reach on your own. 

An added benefit is that by having your Twitter friends bring in their friends to watch you live you are likely to gain new friends and Twitter followers as well. 

Why not see how many new friends and viewers you can gain, much like I did last week with my live show and how @unmarketing did with his unplanned live coffee shop ustream show.  With no notice Scott had 140 viewers to his show! Scott is the master of viral video and he demonstrated how Ustream and Twitter can work nicely hand in hand. Websites 2 Grow TV, my Ustream show, is live Thursday at 8pm CST at www.Websites2Grow.tv. See ya Thursday! 

Photo credit: rspres

Follow Skittles Lead, Or Have More of a Strategy?

This Monday Skittles tried its hand at the power of social media by re-launching their website by using Twitter as a landing page.  The site itself was created by the many different Tweets that were sent out regarding Skittles.  This was a risky experiment for Skittles because obviously the people on Twitter could tweet anything that they chose about Skittles.  It didn't have to be true, good or positive, it could be anything. 

Skittles also landed their site on other social media pages created for its marketing plot, including Facebook, YouTube Flickr, and Wikipedia.  Obviously the marketing option may "seem" like a good one, but it is definitely a risky one since the fact is "anything" could happen.  They were leaving their results to the masses and negativity could ensue, not to mention the spamming which could obviously take place as a result. 

So, while using social media has its positive attributes, it also obviously needs to be used wisely in order to make the most of it.  Would you leave your marketing to the masses?  Or would you rather be strategic with your social media use to make sure it is worthwhile?  The answer is up to you?

Photo Credit *MIcky

Twitter: A Great Tool for Small Business Owners

If you haven't heard what it means to "tweet" or been in the world of "Twitterville", then you should definitely catch up on this hot new trend that can truly be a huge benefit to your small business.  If you are among the crowd who has not yet started "twittering" then you may be wondering exactly what it is. 

According to Wikipedia, Twitter is

"a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length."

It may not seem like a big deal, but in reality the more people you "follow" as a part of your Twitter world, and the more people who follow you, the larger your reach expands.  In reality you can begin to reach more and more people through Twitter, as one person follows you, another finds you through that person and on and on.  It is truly a way to "multiply" your contacts quickly and almost effortlessly. 

Besides allowing you to make contacts quickly, it is also a great way to broadcast information easily as well, and with the "retweet" ability that is made use by so many you can have the help of others to spread the word about your new product, website, service or your "special of the month" almost instantaneously and have people begin to take advantage of it. 

Yet another benefit of Twitter is the ability that it gives you to obtain information within minutes.  With the large number of people on Twitter, you can put just about any question you have out there to "Twitterville" and within seconds, or at least a few minutes, you are able to obtain an answer from the "knowledgable" people on Twitter.  Troubleshooting a problem on your blog, find the info that you need, looking for a service that will help you do this or that with your business, ask the Twitter world and get their opinions then and there.

These are only a few of the things that you can use Twitter for which are of benefit to you, and your small business.  As you use it more and more you will easily be able to see that there are many more benefits that are to be discovered. 

You can see what I'm up to and follow me on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jhaubein.

Jennifer Haubein publishes "SiteNotes" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want a website that actually works. If you're ready to let your website do the work, check out my FREE video series at http://www.AutomateYourBizVideos.com.

Are You Making the Most of Twitter and Facebook?

Before I joined Facebook & Twitter I was wondering if these tools would really help my business or if they would be a time waster.  But to my surprise I've seen amazing results from using Twitter & Facebook.  Here are a few my results, because if it's working for me & my business I want to share it with you:

1) Connected with two great joint venture partners for a new project I'm working on

2) Received n invitation to a high level mastermind group

3) Added at least 50 new people to my email list thanks to a teleseminar promotion I announced through these websites

4) Received around 5 referrals just in about 2 weeks thanks to Twitter.

5) A dramatic increase in traffic to my website & exposure

After seeing these results I know you're excited to join Facebook or Twitter if you're not already a part of these groups.  But you're probably a little overwhelmed with the technology and wondering how do I make this work for my business.

This is why I wanted to share a great resource with you. 

My friend Nancy Marmolejo of Viva Visibility has just come out with a resource to help out the folks who want to be highly visible, but don't want to spend their days glued to a Blackberry.

On December 16 and 17 Nancy will unveil her newest virtual class "Quick and Easy Social Networking Tips For Entrepreneurs: A Proven 3 Part System to Boost Your Visibility, Expand Your Network AND Save You Hours of Time On Facebook and Twitter".

Like the title promises, you'll find highly effective, time saving tips laid out in a step-by-step system. Following these strategies can double your visibility and cut your time in half.

Space is limited, so do reserve your spot today. Even if you can't make the live class, you'll be able to access all of Nancy's customized video tutorials, Quick Start Guide, audios, transcripts, bonus items and more.

Learn more by clicking on this link:

http://budurl.com/Nancy

Twitter: Not A Waste Of Time For Small Business Owners

Social networking has changed the way we do business and the biggest change has been for small business owners.

Small businesses usually have one person who makes a great representative for the company in the social networking arena. And this makes small businesses a perfect fit for a social networking tool called Twitter.

Twitter is a micro-blogging tool in which you have 140 characters to answer the question "What Are You Doing?"

At first I was reluctant to join in on Twitter and wanted to make sure I would see business results from it. Since connecting through Twitter I have seen these results: more Website and Blog traffic; product ideas from my target market; and an increase in expert status. Another bonus, Twitter makes working from home not so isolating and I feel as if I'm in an office talking around the water cooler.

So how can you obtain these results for your business?

1. Create a Compelling Twitter Profile - Add a professional photo to your Twitter profile, because no one will follow you without a photo. Include a link to your main website and create an interesting bio that entices people to find out more.

2. Create Interesting and Useful Tweets (a Twitter message) - Don't just write about your personal life, but also include blog posts, links to articles and anything else your target market would be interested in.

3. Follow Others - Start off by following others in Twitter and return the follow when they follow you.

4. Automate It - Use your cell phone with Twitter and update your status while you're on the run. Within Twitter click on the settings tab and then the devices tab. Within this section you will be able to add your and setup your cell phone to work with Twitter. Also, I have my blog set up to automatically post new posts to Twitter. This is a great time saver and generates a lot more traffic to my blog.

5. Is Your Target Market on Twitter? Before jumping in on Twitter I would consider if your target market is there yet. If you target small business owners then, yes, Twitter will work great for you. Also the younger generation is very involved in Twitter. So think about your target market and where they are.

Action Step: Create a Twitter profile at Twitter.com and you can start off by following me @jhaubein. I look forward to connecting with you.

Jennifer Haubein publishes “SiteNotes” a FREE bi-weekly ezine for small business owners who want a website that actually works. If you’re ready to get insider tips website developers don’t want you to know, and start making more money online, get your FREE tips now at http://www.BestBizWebsiteSolutions.com/newsletter.html.