Posts Tagged ‘Twitter’

Twitter Does Not Work

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

At a networking event yesterday, one of the attendees told me “Twitter does not work.”

It was an emphatic statement and he appeared frustrated by this scenario. Curious about his experience, I asked him to tell me more. He explained he had set up a Twitter account about 6 months ago and had not used the account since then. In his situation, he tweeted a couple of times then completely stopped using the account.

I do not have all the details but assumed the results he saw did not match his expectations.

In your experience, how long does it take, assuming active use of a networking tool, to see results? What would you advise someone you met who told you social networking tools do not work?

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Add Follow Me On Twitter Button

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

How can you add a “Follow Me on Twitter” button to your website or blog? I have the answer for you.

First, why put a “Follow Me on Twitter” button to your site? What does it do for you? The answer is a these buttons give your site visitors a one click link to your Twitter profile. Once they visit your Twitter profile, they can read your recent updates and choose to follow you future tweets.

Looking for a cool way to encourage others to follow you on Twitter? Check out the options and create your button at Twitter Buttons. Best of all – they are FREE!

How does it work?

  1. Go to www.twitterbuttons.com
  2. Type in your Twitter user ID
  3. Select the button type you prefer
  4. Select and copy the HTML code
  5. Paste the code into a blog posting or your website
  6. When they click on the badge, they go directly to your Twitter profile page.

    Here are a few of the choices available:


By: Twitter Buttons


By: Twitter Buttons

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How to Follow a Twitter List

Friday, June 11th, 2010

Twitter lists are a way for Twitter users to group other Twitter accounts together. How might you use this feature? A shopping center could create a list to promote each other. A Chamber of Commerce might use a list to follow and cross promote other local businesses.

I created a Twitter list of McHenry county, Illinois businesses to follow and promote what is happening in our area. Since this list began, I learned about many new companies and services I was not aware of.

Another benefit of Twitter lists is you can view the recent tweets of the account holders without actually following each of these accounts.

Here is a recent blog posting about the McHenry County Business Twitter list.

You can see all recent tweets from these McHenry County businesses on a single page.

How are you using the Twitter list feature?

Here is a short video on how to follow a Twitter list.

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Ford Fiesta Movement Blog Campaign

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

Instead of using old marketing techniques, Ford is introducing the new Fiesta to the U.S. with the Fiesta Movement Campaign. During this promotion they are giving the cars to 100 bloggers throughout the country. During the next six months, Ford hopes the bloggers will promote the car to their followers through social networking.

My brother, in the market for a car heard about the campaign. There were a couple cars in the Chicago area but he could not find a way to contact the drivers. He called me for assistance.

I went online and found one of the bloggers Derek PrettyBoy Dow @Oprettyboy1 on Twitter. A few tweets between us and we had an appointment scheduled for my brother to view and sit in the car. Less than twenty four hours elapsed between my brother’s first call to me and his email to all thanking everyone for their help.

Thanks for your help Derek. Search for hashtag #fiestamovement to learn more.

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Pigs in a Box #wereward

Saturday, June 5th, 2010

Izea is using social networking to create buzz around their new location based service launch. If your business is looking for ways to engage a new market, take a look at what these guys are doing. Can you integrate some of these ideas in your marketing plan?

Check out this pig hat from IZEA. My kids loved the hat and begged to take it off my hands. I tweeted this picture on Twitter and stirred up a conversation.

Follow @wereward on Twitter or their hashtag #wereward.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Chicago Blackhawks Tweet

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

According to a Daily Herald report this week, Chicago’s Blackhawks pro hockey team are tweeting to their fan base. Over 30,000 followers to the @NHLblackhawks use the site to keep up with the latest news. The Blackhawks team is owned by the Wirtz family which turned to Twitter and Facebook as a way of connecting with their younger fans. Their current Facebook fans number over 200,000 and continue to grow.

Rocky Wirtz heads up the organization, infusing new techniques his father William shied away from. The Blackhawks social networking presence connects them with new fans and increases interest in the club.

The Hawks could learn a few things from other Chicago Sports teams. Ozzie Guillen, White Sox manager uses Twitter to communicate. Recent posts include updates on his trip to Six Flags and a remembrance of a good friend who passed away. He tweets to followers in both English and Spanish.

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Social Networking Classes

Monday, May 17th, 2010

Student feedback for the recent social networking classes in McHenry has been fabulous. We have a whole new set of LinkedIn users, Facebook friends, Twitter Tweeters and bloggers out there.


This four class series ran three times in McHenry at the Shah Illinois Small Business Development (ISBD) Center.

After the class, students were invited to join our LinkedIn group to share learnings and best practices with each other. If you attended one of my social networking classes and would like to join this group, send me an email and let me know the class you attended.

If you missed on the session in McHenry, you still have time to register for classes in Elgin. Check our events page for the upcoming events.

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Tweeting in McHenry County

Monday, May 17th, 2010

Do you have a business in one of these McHenry County cities or villages?

  • Algonquin
  • Barrington Hills
  • Cary
  • Crystal Lake
  • Fox Lake
  • Fox River Grove
  • Greenwood
  • Harvard
  • Hebron
  • Huntley
  • Island Lake
  • Johnsburg
  • Lake in the Hills
  • Lakemoor
  • Lakewood
  • Marengo
  • McHenry
  • Oakwood Hills
  • Port Barrington
  • Prairie Grove
  • Richmond
  • Ringwood
  • Spring Grove
  • Trout Valley
  • Wonder Lake
  • Woodstock
  • Unincorporated McHenry county

Enter a comment below with your business name and Twitter handle so I can add your business to our list of McHenry County businesses. Let us know what products or services your business provides.

The McHenry County Business Twitter list takes you to the latest updates from McHenry’s finest companies. For easy access, click “follow” to get to the list from your Twitter page.

Check out the business we are doing in McHenry.

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Rock the World with your Online Presence

Monday, May 17th, 2010

Mike O’Neil knows how to Rock the World with your Online Presence: Your Ticket to a Multi-Platinum LinkedIn Profile 2nd Edition with music and LinkedIn. I picked up new techniques on updating my profile while reading a promotional copy of the book. Mike and his co-author Lori Ruff weave the solid advice on building a strong LinkedIn profile with Classic Rock songs.

The book walks the reader through each element of a LinkedIn profile starting at the top. Chapter by chapter, you will learn how to maximize the law of attraction to let others find you online. Using screen shots, examples and tips, these authors start with strategy then get to the details. Mike and Lori focus on the hard tactics which make all the difference online.

Their tips on creating an attention getting LinkedIn profile headline include keyword search strategies, number of characters allowed (120) and using market test strategies.

The power of keywords is a feature often overlooked by LinkedIn users. Mike and Lori show you how to enter keywords in the best segments of your profile so they become searchable by others.

This book is about LinkedIn though there is references to integrate LinkedIn with other tools. The importance of status updates is discussed and links to Twitter updates as well. They discuss the recently added LinkedIn status functionality which allows an instant update to your linked Twitter account.

Their suggestions for giving and receiving professional recommendations are right on. With 3-5 sentences, you can get to the point and make your case. They show you how to make it easy for others to recommend your work.

Linkedin regularly changes the user interface or adds new features. To keep the book current, there is a website where updates and additional content are posted.

Check out this book if you are ready to dive in to create a LinkedIn profile that “Rocks the World.”

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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