How To Use Twitter For Marketing
July 25, 2008
Twitter is a relatively new web 2.0 site that is starting to gain a lot of popularity. That means that a lot of people have heard of it, but it is also quite common to run into people who haven’t heard of it.. yet. Twitter.com is this social site that encourages users to post often about what they are currently doing.
A lot of people are using it to improve their marketing reach, by being an active twitterer they gain followers who are interested in what they have going on. This means people being exposed to their updates on a regular basis. For example, if you have hundreds of followers in Twitter and you decide to post an affiliate link, that means hundreds of people have instantly been exposed to your offer. In this article, I will discuss ways to maximize Twitter for your marketing as well as a big mistake you need to avoid.
In order to have a fan base per se of followers in Twitter, you must be able to keep their interest in you and what you are doing now. “What are you doing?” is the whole foundation of what Twitter is about in the first place. Make sure to post daily, if not several times throughout the day, updates about what you are doing. The magical thing behind this is that many of your contacts will be able to feel like they know you so much better, will trust you more, and feel much more comfortable about working with you. On the other hand, when you follow others you can learn about them and their possible needs.
The big mistake to watch out for is only posting affiliate links or offers on your Twitter page. This looks like Spam and many people will see you as just abusing Twitter for your personal gain. Think of it this way, if you would not want to invite your friends or family to keep up with you via Twitter, then you are going about it all wrong. As with anything you send out or provide, ninety percent should be content and ten percent (at most) advertising.
So this concept is quite simple… constantly post throughout the day what you are doing.. it is usually very simple and only takes a few seconds to post! Secondly, if you write articles or provide content online, provide a link for those in your Twitter posts. You may post many things within one day, but the last thing you post for the day is usually the most important because it will be there the longest. This means that your last post for the day should contain a link that you want your followers to see before your start Twittering again the next day!
Another part of Twitter is contributing. As with any social site it should be a give and take relationship. Notice that give comes first… the more you give the more people will want to work with you and the more attention you will receive. Make sure to read and follow other users in Twitter. If you read something interesting or helpful, then make sure to reply and say so, or even put a link for it on your Twitter so that you are directing others to more quality content. This can also be as simple as connecting with other users. If they know you are reading their Twitter page, they will be much more likely to check out what you have going on too.
To get started in Twitter you should first invite contacts who aren’t using Twitter and also find contacts who are already using Twitter so that you can start following them and also start getting people to follow you. Twitter has a nice invite and find feature that makes this incredibly easy. To grow your reach even more you can start following people who follow or are followed by the people who follow you.. or that you follow. You might need to read that sentence again.. but basically you can find other users to connect with that are already connected to other users.
Now for a big tip. If you really want to maximize the potential with Twitter, you should make sure to take advantage of any plug-ins or sites that support Twitter. Here are three, but I’m sure there will be many more in the future if not already.
Squidoo allows you to input your Twitter account info into your Squidoo account and then it can automatically post updates to your Twitter account when you create or update Squidoo lenses.
Facebook has an application called Twitter, that automatically updates your Facebook status when you make a Twitter post.
The other tool is a free WordPress plug-in called TweetMyBlog that allows you to create a two-way connection from your blogs to Twitter. TweetMyBlog allows you to use a widget on your Wordpress blogs that will display your current Twitter feed.. that way all visitors to your blog can look at the widget and see a running feed of your latest Twitter posts. If they clíck on that, they will be brought to your Twitter page. In addition, when you make a new post to your blog, TweetMyBlog will automatically make a post to your Twitter page with a link to your latest blog post. Imagine the extra exposure you can receive by using these tools that help people see more of what you are doing.
Lastly, have fun! Twitter is a social site… so interact and enjoy!
By Darren Olander
10 Tips for Being a Greener Web Designer
July 25, 2008
As web designers, it’s impossible to deny that electricity lies behind everything we do. There is no physical alternative—no part of our job—that is entirely free from energy consumption.
While there’s much debate and controversy and differing statistics concerned with the issue of climate change, there’s one point upon which everyone agrees: reducing the energy that you consume is both good for the environment and good for your wallet.
Sure, we’re all aware of the usual commonsense stuff—take public transport or ride your bike instead of driving, wear a jumper instead of turning on the heater … but there are also specific measures that we web professionals can make.
Here are ten tips that you, as a web designer, can employ to reduce your carbon footprint.
1. Buy green energy.
Many electricity providers now offer the option to purchase 100% green energy. Switching to green energy is the most effective way to reduce your emissions, and it’s cheaper than installing solar panels yourself. Running on green energy means you can be safe in the knowledge that your business is no longer contributing to global warming. If you’re not the business owner, research some green energy options and present them to your boss.
2. Use green hosting.
Ask your current web host if it offers green hosting as an option; if not, consider switching to a host that does. While the phrase “carbon neutral” is standard (and potentially misleading, often confused as it is with “carbon offset”) in a company’s marketing copy these days, more and more Australian hosting companies are recognizing the demand for truly green web hosting services that run on servers powered by renewable energy sources.
3. Ditch your desktop machine for a laptop.
Laptop computers are built, by necessity, to use less energy than desktop machines. These days, a laptop computer (be it a Mac or a Windows machine) is fast enough and contains enough memory and hard-drive space to serve as your primary machine. Plus, you can work with it in the park when the sun shines, use it at meetings and conferences, and take it home at the end of the day.
4. Switch your old CRT monitor for an LCD.
If you were looking for an excuse to ditch that old CRT that takes up half your desk and replace it with a lovely new, thin LCD monitor, then now you have one—LCDs, in general, use less energy than a CRT monitor of the same size. Of course, the bigger the monitor, the more energy it uses, so if you decide to upgrade to a 30” wide screen, you may not see much of a reduction in your carbon emissions.
5. Turn off your computer and monitor overnight.
The constant after-hours hum of computer fans whirring in an office is all too common. Sure, there may be a good reason why your server needs to keep running throughout the night while we’re all in our beds, but does your desktop machine, if you decide to keep it, really need to run 24/7 as well?
6. Unplug battery chargers overnight.
Chargers for laptop computers, AA and AAA rechargeable batteries, and other appliances generate heat when left plugged in, even when they’re not being used. It may be convenient to leave them plugged in, ready to charge for you at a moment’s notice without your having to scrabble about in the darkness under your desk, but only plugging them when you need to use them will save a few carbon emissions as well as help reduce your power bill.
7. Use energy-efficient power boards and light globes.
A traditional tungsten-filament light globe isn’t terribly efficient—an enormous amount of the energy that powers a light globe is lost as heat. Energy-saving fluorescent globes draw less power, which means the drop in your energy bill will be noticeable. Power boards also generate significant heat, so spend a little extra on an energy-efficient board, and it will pay for itself in the long run.
8. Make use of natural light whenever possible.
At KDI Media we’re lucky enough to have lots of windows that let natural light into the office. During the summer, there are many days where it’s just not necessary to turn on most of the lights in the office. Not only is natural light free, but it also contains Vitamin D—open the window and absorb away!
9. Support other green businesses when making a purchase.
If you’re faced with the choice of purchasing goods or services from two or more vendors, and any of them will likely do a good job, consider favoring the provider who is more committed to reducing its own carbon footprint. As “being green” becomes a criterion that more businesses demand, more businesses will look internally at how they can change.
10. Stay informed.
If you care about the impact that you and your business has on the environment, but aren’t across all the facts, get educated. Check out the many blogs about reducing your carbon footprint (SustainabilityBlog.Org and the Planet Ark site are good places to start); research whether a carbon-offset scheme is genuine or questionable.
Do you have any tips for ways that web designers can reduce their carbon footprint? Post comments to this article, and let us know about them!
