What is Twitter?

12 Basic Tips on Twitter for Newbies

1) Twitter is like a virtual water cooler. It's a cross between a blog and a chat room but you only have 140 characters to "chat" with others.

2) Tweeple (people on twitter) have user names like trucker cb radio handles. My handle is @kendraramirez. Keep your handle easy for the rest of us to remember and to be able to find you. First name and last name is just fine.

3) Twitter is just like the status bar on Linkedin, Facebook or Plaxo “what are you working on now?” It is the best customer service. Twitter enables companies to monitor their brand and jump into the conversation to correct or praise a situation. It is also a great way to drive traffic to your website or blog. Just remember this is a community. Please don't spam the community.

4) Make sure to complete your profile on Twitter so others know who you are and what you do. People will be more likely to follow you back if you have your profile completed. I know I am a little leary of following people back if they have not completed their profile or photo.

5) You can't sign up on Twitter and what for something to happen. You have to find people to follow in hopes that they follow you back. To find people you can use Twellow or WeFollow. (Hint: if you have no one following you, you are talking to yourself)

6) Currently over 1465 Cincinnati Twitter users listed in www.twellow.com. Twellow is the yellow book pages for twitter. You can look people up via location, keyword, industry, etc.

7) Check out www.wefollow.com to find others in your industry or target market to follow on Twitter.

8) Over 8 million users today and on track to hit 100 million by December.

9) Tweetdeck is another great tool for your Twitter account. It allows you to see "all friends," "direct messages," and messages where your handle "@kendraramirez" was used in conversation and much, much more. (Hint: Direct messages are a one to one conversation and all other messages are one to many- "public" conversation)

10) If you see a message you like on Twitter and would like to share with your followers, you will "Retweet" or "RT" that message.

11) When you type a message on Twitter, that is called a "tweet."

12) Best tip is all of these tools are free! Enjoy!

Social Networking is Not Just Business; It's About Life

It makes me sad when I hear people say they have been told to only have 100 connections on LinkedIn. That when they get over 100 connections they need to go in and remove connections to get back to 100 connections.

First and foremost social networking isn’t always about business; it’s about life. Everyone knows more than 100 people. I connect with people who I do life with, community with, church with, past coworkers, college buddies, met at a networking event, past and current clients, etc. So don’t tell me you only want to connect with 100 people. Not sure who is out there telling people this, but that person clearly doesn’t get the value of networking and connecting with humans!

Secondly, LinkedIn works based on your connections. The more connections you have the more you can see within LinkedIn. If you have 11 people on your first level (your friends), 700 on your second level (friends of your friends) and 40,000 on your third level then you only see 40,711 people. All your connections are people, who you can grow with, partner with, fund raise with, oh yeah and refer business. Social networking is about community.

Introverts, it is really okay to connect with others. We won't come to your house and try to sell stuff to you.

So go out there, get connected and stay connected.

Thanks to Linkedin my brother in law received a liver today!

Yes, I know the subject line is a little goofy but it is true. Hope I can tell this story as I am typing through tears of joy. My company teaches others how to leverage social media and social networking. Little did I know that Linkedin would help save my brother in laws' life. I was teaching a class in December. Like I always do we go around the room and introduce ourselves and where we work so we can network with each other. One gentleman states that he is Tom Starr and he runs a non-profit called Miracles For Life. He had heard about me and my company through mutual connections on Linkedin. After class I asked Tom to tell me more about his organization. Thank God I asked him to tell me more or he would have walked out the door. He goes on to tell me that they promote donor awareness and help children through post transplants. I then share with him how I am so glad we met as my brother in law is on a liver transplant list in Louisville, Kentucky. Tom then shares that he has been through not 1 but 2 liver transplants and he is the oldest living transplant recipient in the United States. Well of course, he and I are both crying at this point. Tom goes on to introduce my family to the Chief Surgeon at University of Louisville Hospital, Dr. Buell. The ball starts rolling. Randy, my brother in law, interviews with Dr. Buell. They run all the necessary tests to see if Randy is in a position to receive a liver. Long story short, our family receives a calls at 9:00 p.m. last night telling us that they think they have a liver for Randy. Within the hour Randy is heading to the hospital for a new liver. Randy received his liver at 1:15 a.m. this morning. The surgery only took 5 hours and so far so good. Small world, guess who did the surgery? Yes, Dr. Buell. Tom, Dr. Buell, and donor family we can't thank you enough for being in our lives.

What a great birthday present as Randy's birthday is on Valentine's Day!
Hug your family today!

See how important it is to get connected and stay connected. It isn't always about business. It's life!

WOW! VP at Motrin Responds with Apology

http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com/2008/11/16/motrins-response-to-the-onslaught-of-complaints/
Quick thinking on her part. They have removed the ad from the website.

Yikes! When Social Media Goes Wrong....

Tip #1 never, never start marketing campaign without a pilot group.
Tip #2 never piss off a bunch of women buyers (ever heard of a woman scorned HA!)

Literally Motrin's website is down right now. Not sure if all the social media conversation that is happening regarding such a bad PR campaign or if it is a tech thing causing the site to be down.
Here are the details:
http://mashable.com/2008/11/16/motrin-moms/

When Your Six Year Old SPIN Sells

Ok, my son is destined to be a great salesperson one day. His father and I both come from corporate sales so we both SPIN sell with him to encourage certain behaviors. Example: He is 6 years old and has a summer birthday so we had a tough time deciding if he should go to 1st grade or go through kindergarten again. Academically he was really ready coming from a Montessori class, he had already had Math, Computer and Spanish classes. (Amazing things will come from that generation. He has been using a computer since he was 2 years old.) Long story, short we explained to him that because he is so smart he needs to help the kids in his kindergarten class. Good thing he bought it. Now here comes the funny part. The other day when the weather had gone from 40 degrees back up to 70 degrees (got to love Cincinnati weather) my wonderful son tells me "Mommy I have been so good for you, can I wear shorts to school today?" I died laughing and told him yes you can wear shorts today. Most kids would have simply asked to wear shorts but he made sure to give me a reason as to why I would let him wear shorts. Got to love it!

LinkedIn Events Bring Conference Networking Online (http://ping.fm/Gfnvv)