Twitter for Dummies

If you have a business and haven’t hopped on the Twitter train yet, it’s never too late. Twitter is a micro blogging platform that allows you to engage your (unlimited) audience. It is very easy to use and effective if used properly. Most people however use this service incorrectly and don’t ever get to reap the plentiful benefits of the Twitter world. Let me help you.

Let’s start with a glossary of terms:

• Tweep is a person who uses Twitter

• Tweet is a 140 character or less sentence from a Tweeter

• Followers are people who have clicked to follow you, and who therefore will see your tweets

• Friends are people you have followed and you will see their tweets

• @replies are public tweets aimed at you (but everyone can see them) and responding to you

• Direct messages (DM’s) are private messages that only you can see

• Hashtags (#) are sometimes used to identify a topic so people can search easily for it

• Fail Whale is the whale logo Twitter uses when there is a problem on the system

• Retweet (RT) is when you pass on to your followers somebody else’s tweet

Steps to a successful profile:

1) Choose a Twitter name that reflects your brand and is easy to remember. For example, I am the CEO of TriFame.com and my initials are NZ, so my Twitter name is @trifamenz.

2) Upload a clean, customized background picture as well as an avatar. You are likely to get more followers if you put effort into your account.

3) Fill out your bio because it is the only place you have to tell people who you are.

4) Tweet about your passions in life and link them with hash tags (#).  This way your are getting the quality content to the people who care. Use URL shortening services like bit.ly and upload pictures using TwitPic.

5) Follow people who you share similar interests with and follow back those who follow you. Engage your current followers by responding to their tweets and DM’s.

Don’t:

1) Be boring.

2) Tweet very seldomly.

3) Send out auto DM’s (that has to be the most obnoxious form of spam I’ve ever seen and will only hurt your brand).

4) Consistently tweet about what you are selling or linking your own stuff. After a while you will dilute the attention you have gotten (if you still have it).

5) Be unprofessional. Many people have lost their jobs over tweeting negatively about their boss. Remember everyone can read your tweets unless you make it private which wouldn’t be good for your brand anyways.

Some other Twitter Tools I’ve found useful:

Twellow – List yourself in different categories and follow those of similar interest.

FriendorFollow – A tool you can use to follow people who follow you and unfollow people who don’t.

One Forty – A directory of over 2,000 Twitter applications for you to try out yourself.

If you are feeling ‘hip’ and would like to speak Twitter then check out this post by Business Week.

So I have an idea, now what?

You’ve got the next big idea, and are going to start making millions from day one. We’ve all had these foolish dreams. What makes the foolish is that most people don’t plan and execute a game plan to make that happen. Below we’ve laid out some steps to help make your dream a reality.

1) Do research. Does this new and original idea currently exist? If it does, what is your competitive advantage? Is there really a market for this? What problem are you solving and where is the value added? What are the barriers to entry? Is this even feasible? It’s also important to address personal questions such as are you willing to fully put your feet in the metaphorical fire? If once you have gathered enough information, you still feel that this is “it” then it is time to start writing a formal business plan to fully outline your strategy.

2)  Write a Business Plan. There is no “correct” way to write a business plan. Everyone has a different opinion on what to include, how to order it, how to write it, etc. As long as you address all components of the business then you have yourself a sufficient business plan. Please note you will continually refine this business plan over and over throughout the course of time. There are so many sources out there that are reliable and free. The Small Business Association provides a rather comprehensive guide.

3) Ask Questions. Show your business plan to friends and family. Seek out those who are where you want to be and have them mentor you. It is integral to the learning process to get to know about others mistakes so you can avoid them. Never underestimate wisdom! If you are scared of revealing your ideas to others then you can have viewers of your plan sign a non-disclosure/confidentiality agreement. There are plenty of free templates available on the internet.

4) Execute. This is what separates the winners from the losers. It doesn’t matter how good your idea and plan are if you can’t successfully execute. Incorporate your business. Gather the capital needed. From there it depends on what business you are getting into. If it is a product thats patentable, get the patent. If you are developing the next big internet site, find your developers. If you are selling a service, begin to market yourself. Just do it.

There are dreamers and then there are doer’s – decide which one you will be.

Learn to Catch the Viral Virus

The term viral is a huge buzz word these days on the internet.  People talk about viral videos, or ad campaigns but they don’t really know much about the process by which something goes “viral.”  Long gone is the time when you can just upload a funny video to YouTube and hope that it randomly gets thousands or millions of views.  Viral content nowadays requires active marketing in order to ensure that it has a good chance of becoming one of the most viewed pieces of content on the internet.  This is no easy task, and there is always a bit of luck involved with how the content will be received by the fickle population of the internet, but there are some guidelines that will give your content the best chance of going viral.

1) Content is King – No one is going to watch your video, listen to your song, or look at your picture if there isn’t much substance to it.  There needs to be something of value there, especially if you want people to tell their friends to go check out your content.  This doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be the best thing to ever hit the internet but it shouldn’t be a 30 sec video that not even your own mother would find entertaining.  Shorter videos tend to do better because they allow people with a short attention span to enjoy it and pass it along.  Make the video easy to remix by keeping it somewhat simple.  One of the best ways that something goes viral is when other people start to make remixes of your video with spoofs or added content.  In the end people will always go back to the original once they have watched a remix.  Never make your content feel like an advertisement.  No one likes them and this will seriously hurt your word of mouth factor.  If all else fails make sure you have some sex appeal in your video.  Don’t underestimate the power of a hot model or two to bring in the views.

2) Make an exciting title – This is so important because a boring title will not catch the attention of anyone.  If it comes down to your content being on the same page as another similar piece of content, the one with the more exciting title will always get more views.  Don’t be afraid to take some liberties with your title as long as your content can back it up.  In other words, exaggerate, embellish, and try and lure your potential audience in with ideas of shock and awe.

3) Pick the right thumbnail  - This is especially true for songs and videos.  Make sure you pick a thumbnail image that will draw someone into your video.  If it is a song don’t use the title screen of your song that has a black background.  Pick the best part of your song/video and make that your thumbnail.  Many people browse the internet very quickly and only stop when something catches their eye.  Make sure that your thumbnail is that thing.  Try and experiment with different thumbnails to see which one draws in more views.

4)  Tag your content correctly – Make sure you don’t use common tags that will just find your content buried under the thousands and thousands of other videos using the same tag.  At the same time don’t use something so obscure that your video never shows up in searches or related content for other videos etc.  I recommend that you try and tag your content as accurately as you can so that people who are interested in content related to yours will be more likely to come across it.  Don’t be tempted to mislead people with your tags as it will only result in disappointed visitors, and a lack of word of mouth.

5) Make use of the internet to jumpstart the viral process – This is the part where most of your work will be put in.  You need to take advantage of the numerous resources available to you to advertise and spread your content.  This means sharing your video on Facebook and MySpace with all of your friends.  Submit your content to community ranked content submission sites such as Digg, Reddit, Mixx, and Propeller.  Have your friends vote the submissions up on those websites to give them some traction.  You can make a Squidoo lens to talk about something related to your viral content and then embed your content on the website.  Make a YouTube channel and submit all of your content there so that people who like one of your videos can subscribe to watch the rest.  Make use of contest websites such as TriFame to gain feedback and views.  The latest craze now in the Web 2.0 world is Twitter.  This is a great tool for spreading your content.  Make sure to use the website bit.ly to shorten your link and then Tweet all about it.  Ask people to ReTweet it to help it become viral.  Make sure that you include a call to action such as “Please vote for me” or “Check this out”, along with the appropriate link.

The term “viral” is a huge buzz word these days on the internet.  People talk about viral videos, or ad campaigns but they don’t really know much about the process by which something goes “viral.”  Long gone is the time when you can just upload a funny video to YouTube and hope that it randomly gets thousands or millions of views.  Viral content nowadays requires active marketing in order to ensure that it has a good chance of becoming one of the most viewed pieces of content on the internet.  This is no easy task, and there is always a bit of luck involved with how the content will be received by the fickle population of the internet, but there are some guidelines that will give your content the best chance of going viral.

1) Content is King – No one is going to watch your video, listen to your song, or look at your picture if there isn’t much substance to it.  There needs to be something of value there, especially if you want people to tell their friends to go check out your content.  This doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be the best thing to ever hit the internet but it shouldn’t be a 30 sec video that not even your own mother would find entertaining.  Shorter videos tend to do better because they allow people with a short attention span to enjoy it and pass it along.  Make the video easy to remix by keeping it somewhat simple.  One of the best ways that something goes viral is when other people start to make remixes of your video with spoofs or added content.  In the end people will always go back to the original once they have watched a remix.  Never make your content feel like an advertisement.  No one likes them and this will seriously hurt your word of mouth factor.  If all else fails make sure you have some sex appeal in your video.  Don’t underestimate the power of a hot model or two to bring in the views.

2) Make an exciting title – This is so important because a boring title will not catch the attention of anyone.  If it comes down to your content being on the same page as another similar piece of content, the one with the more exciting title will always get more views.  Don’t be afraid to take some liberties with your title as long as your content can back it up.  In other words, exaggerate, embellish, and try and lure your potential audience in with ideas of shock and awe.

3) Pick the right thumbnail – This is especially true for songs and videos.  Make sure you pick a thumbnail image that will draw someone into your video.  If it is a song don’t use the title screen of your song that has a black background.  Pick the best part of your song/video and make that your thumbnail.  Many people browse the internet very quickly and only stop when something catches their eye.  Make sure that your thumbnail is that thing.  Try and experiment with different thumbnails to see which one draws in more views.

4)  Tag your content correctly – Make sure you don’t use common tags that will just find your content buried under the thousands and thousands of other videos using the same tag.  At the same time don’t use something so obscure that your video never shows up in searches or related content for other videos etc.  I recommend that you try and tag your content as accurately as you can so that people who are interested in content related to yours will be more likely to come across it.  Don’t be tempted to mislead people with your tags as it will only result in disappointed visitors, and a lack of word of mouth.

5) Make use of the internet to jumpstart the viral process – This is the part where most of your work will be put in.  You need to take advantage of the numerous resources available to you to advertise and spread your content.  This means sharing your video on Facebook and MySpace with all of your friends.  Submit your content to community ranked content submission sites such as Digg, Reddit, Mixx, and Propeller.  Have your friends vote the submissions up on those websites to give them some traction.  You can make a Squidoo lens to talk about something related to your viral content and then embed your content on the website.  Make a YouTube channel and submit all of your content there so that people who like one of your videos can subscribe to watch the rest.  Make use of contest websites such as TriFame to gain feedback and views.  The latest craze now in the Web 2.0 world is Twitter.  This is a great tool for spreading your content.  Make sure to use the website bit.ly to shorten your link and then Tweet all about it.  Ask people to ReTweet it to help it become viral.  Make sure that you include a call to action such as “Please vote for me” or “Check this out”, along with the appropriate link.

The Power of the Lens

If you own or operate a website and you are not using http://www.squidoo.com to help your marketing efforts you are behind the eight ball.  Squidoo is a fast growing, popular site that allows users to make “lenses” about any topic that they choose to.  These lenses are basically a 1-page website that is easy to use and create.  These lenses range from people’s personal lists of the Top 100 Guitar Solos, to detailed guides to affiliate marketing and search engine optimization.

Why should you be involved with Squidoo?  The first and most important reason is that it is a very useful way to help your websites search engine optimization.  Make a lens about your website, such as http://www.squidoo.com/trifame , and tell people everything there is to know about your website. As you can see we link to TriFame in our lens, as well as some of the sub-pages of TriFame, like our music, dance, modeling, and contest pages.  In order to make a link click-able on Squidoo make sure you use the standard HTML format of <a href=”Website URL”>The words you want click-able</a>.

Make use of the countless modules that are available to you as your create your lens to make it as fun, interesting and interactive as possible. These range from interactive lists that visitors can vote up and down, to pictures and videos.  Squidoo is one of the best sites on the internet that has “DoFollow” links.  This means that any time a link to your website appears on Squidoo it counts positively towards your website’s organic SEO campaign.  A lot of major sites have started to use “NoFollow” links, which do not count towards SEO, such as Twitter, Digg, De.lic.ous, and a number of other social websites. Squidoo is also a community, with various groups, segments, themes.  This allows you to submit your lens to different groups and filter more traffic to your lens and ideally your website.

Squidoo will not overhaul your SEO campaign overnight, but it is a great place to start to build your links.  For other websites that use “DoFollow” make sure to check out this helpful Squidoo lens:  http://www.squidoo.com/dofollow.

TriFame.com, Your 15 Minutes Have Just Begun

It is incredibly difficult to get discovered as an artist nowadays without having connections or luck. Thousands wait hours in line at American Idolauditions just to perform in front of 3 judges.TriFame eliminates the need for connections or luck when it comes to getting discovered.

TriFame provides an online platform for aspiring artists to audition in front of the world 24/7 for the opportunity of becoming the next big star. The website allows users to upload and view content, in the areas of music, dance, modeling, and a miscellaneous section known as ‘offbeat‘. Using contests with a voting system, the general public is engaged in the talent discovery process. Top artists in their respective fields will receive industry-based incentives, designed to give them opportunities to launch themselves into the public eye. The website incorporates ideas of popular shows such as America’s Next Top Model, So You Think You Can Dance? and American Idol. TriFame creates value for its customers through getting exposure for the artists, entertaining the viewers, connecting artists and their fans, and rewarding top performers. The website capitalizes on the growing demand for online media, as well as the desire to gain notoriety. Consider TriFame, American Idol meets YouTube.

The website launched in April 2008 and has since then grown to a community of 20,000 registered users. Winners have received private sessions with top executives from Bad Boy Records, Koch Entertainment, Warner Brothers Records, and Capitol Records as well as features in Tapout and MMA Worldwide Magazine.

Whether you are looking to get discovered or be entertained, TriFame is the place to be. So what are you waiting for? Your 15 minutes have just begun.

5 Questions to Answer Before Starting a Business

Forget about looking for the right opportunity or having the “next big idea.” First ask yourself the following questions to see if starting a business is right for you.

1) Why do I want to start a business?

If you are starting a business to make money, then you are in it for the wrong reasons. You should be starting a business because you have a passion for it and the money will follow.

2) Can I manage risk?

Starting a business is definitely a risk, just as many things in life are. How well are you at adjusting the odds in your favor? Entrepreneurship is taking calculated risks, not reckless ones. The more you increase your business IQ, the better chance you have at success.

3) Do I have the time?

If you easily get tired working 40 hour weeks, then this probably isn’t the right profession. Starting a business comes with a plethora of burdens that don’t stop when the business closes, especially if you own an internet business. Be prepared to make a lot of sacrifices.

4) Do I like Ramen Noodles?

Chances are you won’t start making bags of money from the start. The entrepreneurial process can be a grind and you will find yourself continually bootstrapping the business and investing more of your personal money, so hold off on that Sirloin…

5) Am I self-moving person?

There is no specific recipe to starting a successful business. You need to be able to innovate and continually add value on your own. There is nobody else that will tell you what to do or when to do it. You need to be very motivated to create your own work.

3 Websites Every Entrepreneur Should Visit

SmartBrief – With proprietary technology, SmartBrief’s editors become your personal research assistants by handpicking, distilling and disseminating the best articles relative to your interests. Subscriptions are free and topics are plentiful. I subscribed to their Entrepreneurship topic and receive an update approximately every two days. Almost every article has been of interest to me and has saved me much time scouring through all the different entrepreneurship sources like Entrepreneur, Inc, FastCompany, Forbes, etc.

TED – Going by the slogan of “ideas worth spreading”, TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) provides riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world. There are more than 450 TEDTalks available with more available each week. Each video offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world’s most inspired thinkers.

TechCrunch – A blog devoted to “obsessively covering web startups.” This is the brainchild of Michael Arrington. CrunchBase, also owned by TechCrunch, is a directory of technology companies, people, and financial organizations. This can be an invaluable resource in getting to know key information about other tech companies and the investors behind them. Similar blogs that can provide value with web startup reporting include Mashable, Vator.tv, and Venturebeat.

The Best Entrepreneurial Quotes

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”

Albert Schweitzer

“Those who would sacrifice liberty for security, deserve neither.”

Ben Franklin

“Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration.”

Thomas Edison

“Every man dies, not every man really lives.”

William Ross

“There’s no such thing as too far. You understand? You push everything as far as you can. You push and you push and you push until it starts pushing back. And then you push some goddamn more.”

Al Pacino

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Mahatma Gandhi

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

Winston Churchill

“Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.”

Henry Ford

“Watch, listen, and learn. You can’t know it all yourself. Anyone who thinks they do is destined for mediocrity.”

Donald Trump

“The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew it would never be found out.”

Thomas Babington Macaulay

“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”

Michael Jordan

“Everybody lives by selling something.”

Robert Louis Stevenson

“Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.”

Salvador Dali

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”

Seneca

“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”

Vince Lombardi

“When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

Harvey Mackay

“If I had eight hours to chop down a tree I would spend six hours sharpening my axe”

Abraham Lincoln

“Try not. Do or do not. There is no try”

Yoda

“Never let school get in the way of your education.”

Mark Twain

“The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.”

Peter Drucker

“The brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.”

Dr. Randy Pausch

“Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t”

Anonymous

“Some people dream of great accomplishments, while others stay awake and do them”

Anonymous

“Anything the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

Napoleon Hill

“Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.”

Stephen R. Covey

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Thomas Edison

“Choose a job that you like and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

Confucius

Leveraging 7 Types of Social Media for Branding

It is impossible to ignore the power of social media. Everyday it is integrated more and more into the marketing of businesses – both small and large. Even brick and mortar business can take advantage of this by focusing on a specific region. However don’t bother if you will just “join”, you need to be active in order to see the results. Building relationships and trust takes time. Here are 7 types of social media you should take advantage of everyday.

Social Networking – Besides the obvious personal benefits of using websites like Facebook and Myspace, there are many advantages to using these networks for your business. According to Michael Greene, research analyst at JupiterResearch, social networks such as Facebook and MySpace can be powerful marketing platforms. “MySpace has already become a must-use platform for entertainment marketers looking to connect with young and highly engaged audiences,” he said. “And Facebook offers an array of options for marketers through its ‘Pages’ function and its applications platform.” Facebook and Myspace are soon becoming the most prominent means of sharing information. As of July 2009, both sites were reaching over 180 million unique visitors on a monthly basis and are continuing on an upward trend. Businesses can promote through these sites’ forums, blogs, fan pages, groups, events, bulletin boards, and other features.

Professional Networking – LinkedIn is the most prominent professional networking site. You can increase your credibility by creating a professional profile that serves the purpose of a resume, having lots of connections, and answering many questions in forums related to your business. Other professionals can recommend you and introduce you to new contacts. There are many groups specific to your business that you can join and post interesting discussions in. Chances are if people like what they are hearing from you, they want to learn more about you and your business.

Blogging – It is best to integrate a blog into your own website, however if that isn’t an option there are many websites like WordPress and Blogspot that offer free hosting. Be sure to consistently provide fresh and relative posts. Blogging can increase search engine optimization and boost your traffic. Providing an interesting read for your users can leave a positive experience with the main brand you are marketing.

Micro Blogging – Micro blogging sites like Twitter have gained an incredible amount traction. Twitter allows for users to send out real-time updates to its followers and is great for getting opinions. There is no limit to the amount of followers you can have. You first need to have an aesthetically appealing page, preferably custom, and have a picture attached to it. Tweet about the human side of your company instead of constant company updates. Keep your followers interested and engaged in your brand and routinely tweet (at least once a day). Multiple businesses have spawned off from the Twitter idea, allowing users to log in to niche chat rooms and network with like minded people. Twitter can even provide for internal communication within a business. You can do so by protecting updates limiting it to certain personnel. Using search tools you can keep track of what is being said about your company or even the industry as a whole. Here are a couple of resources to help your company get familiar with how other businesses do this:

• 16 Examples of Huge Brands Using Twitter for Business

• 40 of the Best Twitter Brands and the People Behind Them

• Lots of tips on how to use Twitter from celebrity blogger Darren Rowse

Social Bookmarking – There are many social bookmarking sites out there but the most prominent are Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Delicious, and Technorati. People come to these sites in search of interesting reads/websites. If you post something with a catchy or interesting title and the content lives up to the hype, this can gain momentum on these sites which boost your rankings on the site and add more visibility to your posts. Sometimes posts that make the front page of these sites can see a surge of 30,000 unique visitors in a given day. See the Digg Effect.

Discussion Forums – Discussion forums are integrated into many websites. This was one of the first forms of social media and still continues to remain effective. If you take time and respond to people and post interesting topics for discussion, it could bring a significant amount of traffic to your website. This is focused marketing because you are engaging people that already have an interest in what you are essentially selling. Craigslist has a forum that can be filtered by city and topic and has a very large viewership base of over 50 million unique visitors monthly.

Video Marketing – YouTube is the most effective form of video marketing. You can create a channel and post videos that get people interested in your brand. In those videos you can put a link to your site. If you can create some videos that have the ‘virability factor’, there is a great chance it can get shared across the net. Think outside the box and you will be handsomely rewarded.

Don’t get overwhelmed, shaping a brand isn’t an overnight process. Spend a portion of your day focusing on social media and in no time you will see a noticeable difference in traffic.

Top 20 Startup Tips

It’s been two years since I began my business, TriFame, and I have grown so much from it; both professionally and personally. Below are 20 startup tips I have for aspiring entrepreneurs.

1. Find a strength for your weakness.

2. Work with people that are just as passionate about the business. You have to be “all-in” and fully committed to the business.

3. Always think “how can I add more value to the end user?”

4. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

5. Realize that as an entrepreneur, you are innately optimistic. Try and step outside yourself, ask others, and try and be more realistic.

6. Networking is more important than you can even imagine. Never eat alone. Ask lots of questions to people who have been there and done that. Surround yourself with wise people. As Jim Rohn said “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

7. Make mistakes; just don’t do it again. Embracing failure and learning from your mistakes is integral to growth.

8. Money is always problem. Deal with it.

9. Continually innovate and think outside the box.

10. Never lose focus on your mission.

11. Customer service should always be a core value.

12. Write down and document everything. Be concise on all documents. The devil is in the details.

13. Don’t underestimate the power of social media.

14. Write a SWOT analysis of every one of your competitors.

15. Periodically revise your business plan to better organize your thoughts.

16. Communication is key.

17. Every single night write a to-do list for the next day and don’t go to bed until you complete the tasks.

18. There is no clocking in or clocking out. Work is never done, you just have to decide what not to do.

19. Luck happens when hard work meets opportunity.

20. Nothing is a greater high than when people use your product and see value in it.