Twitter has really taken off recently with more and more people, including business owners, joining the Twitterverse every day.
And every day I send off a series of links to help new twitterers to understand how to RT, reply, hashtags, DMs and various other applications that will help them make the most of the experience.
I decided that rather than sending off 25 links to my favourite resources, I’m going to list them here. Makes sense, right?
So, here are my suggestions for compulsory reading for new Tweeters:
General:
Applications To Help Manage Your Tweets:
Applications For Mobiles:
Blackberry Applications:
Free Background Templates:
Twitter Graphics:
- Siah Designs
- Randa Clay Designs
- Vincent Abray – while the site is written in French the buttons’ text is in English and they are all absolutely gorgeous! (Not to mention the gorgeous language – I LOVE French… a bit like Morticia Addams whenever Gomez started speaking in French, for those who used to watch the Addams Family)
Ahem… getting back on track here…
Other Useful Applications:
These are my favourite applications and sites. I hope you find them helpful. Happy Twittering!
Don’t forget… you can follow me at Twitter.com/DonnaMarieC
I just went to the Business Mums Blog to check the dates of their up-coming Business Mums Conference but was quickly side-tracked reading through some other posts.
This one really caught my attention as it’s something I’ve been dealing with a bit over the last week… “You didn’t get my email? Did you check your junk mail folder? Is it caught in your SPAM filter? Oh, you missed it in amongst the other 794 emails you’ve received today. Well, at least we know it did arrive.”
Yep, the saga of the missing email. Anyway, here’s a post that Melissa wrote recently about what to do when email fails.
Oh, and I did eventually get to the details for the next Business Mums Conference. If you’re interested, it’s on in Melbourne from June 21-22.
When it comes to building strong customer relations it’s often the little things that count.
This week I’ve received two pieces of mail that left me a little disappointed. The first was a magazine I had requested as I was considering advertising in it and I also thought that the members of my local business group might be interested. I sent the magazine publisher an email requesting a copy and stating my interest (this very small, very new publication is available by subscription only but they do offer a free copy to prospective advertisers).
Although I didn’t receive a reply to my email, the magazine arrived about two weeks later… with no cover letter, with compliments slip or anything. Just the lonely magazine.
Now this would have been the perfect opportunity for the publisher to make some effort to build a relationship and encourage my support of their magazine. Firstly, a quick reply to my email along the lines of, “Thanks for requesting a sample copy of xyz magazine. I’ll pop one in the mail for you today.”
This could have been followed up with a brief note or even just a with compliments slip in the envelope.
But… there has been no personal interaction from this publisher at all and I’m not sure if they even want my business. They’re certainly not trying to win my confidence in them.
The second piece of mail was a booking form for a series of workshops. Again, the sender went to the trouble to hand-address an envelope to me and pay for postage, but there was no cover letter – not even a generic letter photocopied for all recipients. And there was nothing to say how they knew me. In fact, how did they even know I might be interested? (Truth be told, I wasn’t. It’s not something even remotely related to my interests).
Apart from the 1,001 Direct Marketing mistakes we can get side-tracked by here, if the sender had spent two minutes introducing themselves it would have made the world of difference. I may have even passed it on to someone who may have been interested… instead of putting it straight into the recycling bin.
So, if you want a successful small business, remember to pay attention to the little things and the personal touches that go a long way in building strong customer relationships.
You’ve no doubt heard about social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Stumble Upon and literally 100s – if not 1000s – of others. Well I was active on quite a few of these but around the middle of last year I found myself so busy that the social networking sites went down towards the bottom of my priority list. Which meant I never got back to them.
But… I’m back. With my new business direction and lots more fresh products coming throughout 2009 I decided to start getting into social networking again. I have to admit, these forms of networking were fantastic when I could commit a few minutes every couple of days to them.
This time, rather than trying to keep up with 10 or more different networks, I’ve decided to start being more active in one at a time. So today, I’ve deleted my old Twitter account and started afresh… just like my business plan and 2009 goals.
When it comes to face-to-face networking I’ve always recommended quality over quantity – aim to join AND PARTICIPATE IN a small number of groups fully, rather than trying to get along to every network and function that’s available. So I’m doing the same with my social networking. I’m going to fully participate in a small number only.
So, if you have a Twitter account already, you can find me at http://twitter.com/DonnaMarieC. And if you don’t have an account yet, visit Twitter.com and to find out more about it.
Warmly,
Donna-Marie
Simplifying small business…
When you post information on the Internet it’s worthwhile reading the fine print before you get too carried away.
If you use sites such as facebook, myspace or gmail I urge you to visit the World Internet Summit Blog now and watch this Sean Roach video.
I’ve seen one of Sean Roach’s presentations before and he is so funny, but he really knows his stuff.
Here’s to your success in business…
Donna-Marie
