What is Twitter and Why Should I Use It?

If you are not already on Twitter, you need to be. You may have heard about Twitter from a friend, on the radio, the news, or even TV. Regardless of where you heard about it, Twitter is steadily gaining users that have something to say. Join Twitter at http://www.twitter.com.

The official definition:

“Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages. People write short updates, often called “tweets” of 140 characters or fewer. These messages are posted to your profile or your blog, sent to your followers, and are searchable on Twitter search.”

Confused? Well, in layman’s terms, Twitter can be thought of like text messaging, but over the Internet. The biggest difference is that Twitter allows you to text your Twitter followers (people who have chosen to receive updates from you), all at once, rather than texting to each individual! Oh, and your message has to be 140 characters or less. This is why Twitter and similar sites are known as ‘micro-blogs’ - which is similar to a blog, except your character limit it rather restricted.

Although you can only post a text on Twitter, there are services available that allow your tweet (your message post on Twitter) to link to other content such as photos , music , video etc…

By default, Twitter shows you the updates for your followers (friends or anyone that wants your updates) only, but you can view all tweets via the public timeline (your profile).

Do NOT make the mistake of using Twitter as a place to be share secrets, as everyone can see everything you tweet, unless you send a direct message. Also note, everyone can see your "@replies"(when you send a public message to someone), so don’t make the mistake of thinking that these are private too! They're not. Rule of thumb - don't write anything that you don't want anyone else to know. If you want to speak to someone privately or send them your contact information , you may want to send them a direct message instead - but as far as communication goes, any electronic information can be accessed by others.

So why should you use Twitter?

After all, the more well-established Facebook has a documented 175 million active users, while estimates place Twitter (which doesn't disclose such figures) at around 5 million users. So why should you use Twitter?

There are numerous reasons why people are using Twitter. Here are 25 reasons to use Twitter:

1. Have Fun – You can stay in touch with friends and even make new ones
2. Share links to sites of interest to you and your followers
3. Network to get new contacts
4. Promote your products/services/content
5. Group Communications - the public nature of updates means you can update whole groups with one message
6. Communicate with your network
7. Project Collaboration – communicate with project members in real time
8. Crowdsourcing – Send out a tweet and get answers to your questions, about anything
9. Influence your network
10. Provide Customer Service - communicate with customers and send service updates e.g., we have x back in stock, your vehicle is ready for pick up.
11. Send updates from your websites/blogs/social networks
12. Newsgathering and reporting - the BBC came under criticism recently for using unverified Tweets as sources for reports during the Mumbai terrorist attacks in India. News often breaks on Twitter due to its’ real-time nature. Twitterers and Journalists on the scene often provide near real-time news.
13. Redistributing existing content
14. Try out new ideas, and get near-instant feedback
15. Live updates from events and conferences
16. Recruiting new staff - Businesses may tweet their latest vacancies
17. Looking for a job - jobs are often advertised by companies and recruiters
18. Political Dissent - the US Army recently identified Twitter as a potential terrorist tool
19. Replacement for Facebook and MySpace status updates
20. Flight information and updates e.g., flight delays
22. Complaining - people like to complain, and Twitter gives them a platform to do this (aka Twhiners!)
23. Discussing (Arguing about) Sports, Activities, Hobbies, Interests
23. Charm (or repel!) people with your online personality
24. Distribute a book, 140 characters at a time
25. Learn another language - by following foreign language speakers, or via a language micro-provider

I encourage you to use Twitter creatively and strategically, especially if you are using it to promote yourself and your business. Communicate with others by joining discussions and expand your interests. Just make sure to follow Twitter Etiquette and always add value to others.

Follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/siobhanbrown.

Part 5 of 5 Biggest Frustrations With Online Business: Leaving Money On The Table

Have you ever marketed your business to a prospect and they turned you down, they left your site, and that was the last you ever heard from them? Well, that's like leaving money on the table for someone else to come by and pick it up.... and who wants to do that? Let me show you how to make money from 18 income streams and even if a prospect says no to your primary business http://www.platinumleadmarketing.com/.

Part 4 of 5 Biggest Frustrations With Online Business: Lack of Duplication

Scenario 1: You join a new business opportunity. Now you need to understand how to promote and market yourself and your new business. You may feel a bit overwhelmed when you look at what your upline has done to establish themselves as a leader in your eyes (which is why you joined them in the first place). You want to be like them too, but how do you do this?

Scenario 2: You just signed up a new consultant and you're excited. Now you have to train them to be successful and duplicate what you did. How do you go about doing this efficiently, so that you are not spending all your time training new consultants when you need to spend most of your time doing revenue generating activities?

If there is not a easy, duplicatable system in place to train you and your downline to generate traffic (the most important technique) and market yourself and business, you're going to struggle unnecessarily and waste time. Check out http://www.platinumleadmarketing.com/.

Part 3 of 5 Biggest Frustrations With Online Marketing: Marketing On A Budget

After you have joined a new business opportunity and spent your last couple of hundreds (maybe even thousands) of dollars, you are faced with the dilemma of marketing when you have little or no money. So what do you do? In this video I reveal the 2 best marketing secrets if you have a shoestring budget. Check out http://www.magneticleader.maqneticsponsoringonline.com/ and http://www.platinumleadmarketing.com/

Part 2 of 5 Biggest Frustrations With Online Business: When Your Upline Goes MIA

Have you ever experienced joining a new business opportunity and you have handed over hundreds, maybe even thousands to your new upline and then they go MIA? How irritating is that? You are now left on your own to figure out how to set up your business, market your opportunity, create autoresponders, set up your website (providing your company gives you a replicated one), etc. So what do you do? This video gives you some answers. Check out http://www.platinumleadmarketing.com/ for a simple, easy, complete system that will help you market your business and brand yourself even if your upline leaves your stranded.

Part 1 of 5 Biggest Frustrations With Online Business: Hate Cold Calling

Many online marketers dread having to pick up the phone and make a cold call. Can you really blame them. When you get a call at dinner time and the person on the other end is trying to sell you something, the last thing you want to do it get signed up in a new bunsiness. If you agree, why not have leads call you instead of chasing them. How do you become the one being chased, you ask. Check out http://www.platinumleadmarketing.com/ to find out marketing strategeies and techniques utilized by top income earners in the online business industry, on how to avoid cold calling.

Jack Canfield: Personal Power

You need to take responsibility for your actions in all of your experiences, regardless of the outcome. Learn from your mistakes and move forward despite obstacles. Remember: "A setback is just a set up for your greatest come back."

Jack Canfield: Create Your Attitude

Although things in this economy may seem bleak, you can still choose to look at challenges as opportunities. Perhaps being laid off will allow you time to start that business you always wanted. Or that awful boss is a lesson as to what not to do when you are promoted. I hope you enjoy this video and choose to focus your attention on the positive to truly affect your experiences.

Brian Tracy: Powerful Success Secrets to Get Goals Faster!

Have you ever asked yourself, "WHY can't I acheive my goals faster?" Well, the problem with this question is that you asked the wrong question. When you start of with "Why", your brain will come up with a bunch of reasons: you're too lazy, you're not smart enough, you don't have enough money, etc. But if you were to rephrase this question to read: "HOW can I achieve my goals faster?" your brain will begin to search for answers (you become solution minded) that are aligned with your inner being. You will also begin to attract circumstances, people and events that will propel the speed to which you will attain your desires. Try it. It works. You will be amazed at how fast you achieve your goals and then the possibilities become endless.

Brian Tracy: You Are What You Think

Some may feel just because they have a goal in their mind, that is sufficient. In order to make your goals become a reality, you need to write it down and take action. If you can see it, then your level of belief will be elevated to a deeper level. Once you truly believe you can acheive it, then anything is possible.

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Choosing A Home Business

How can you choose a home business so that you can make hundreds, even thousands of dollars a week? There are so many internet opportunities, that it becomes overwhelming to choose the one that is right for you. So how do you filter out the legitimate opportunities from the scams and choose the right home business for you?

10 Tips to Choosing the Right Home Business (#4 is KEY!)

Choosing the right home business can be a daunting task given the vast amount of information that can be found on the internet. How can you determine if this potential business opportunity is something worth exploring, let alone investing your hard earned money into? Check out 10 tips when considering which business to choose.

1. Take time to explore your options. Instead of jumping at the first "get rich scheme", take a moment to compare business opportunities. There is so much information at your finger tips on the internet. You can also read business books, articles and magazines that feature small/home businesses.
2. Determine the amount of time you have to invest in your business. Starting a business takes time. Don't take on a business that requires 40 hours a week to operate if you already have a full time job and limited time to spend on your new business. If you only can spare 5-15 hours per week, find a business that can accomodate that.
3. Choose a credible company. Ensure that the company is in good standing with the Better Business Bureau and other credible organizations. You may also wish to speak with current and previous members and customers to find out if the company has a good reputation. You don't want to join a company that people speak about negatively.
4. Make sure the company has a clear compensation plan. You need to be able to determine easily how you will make a profit, if you can make a full time income and how reasonable are the income expectations. If you are being promised to make $100,000 in your first month, be weary. You should also be able to make profit from your first sale. Choose a top tier Direct Sales company over MLM. You don’t want to be wasting 10+ years trying to build a huge downline for a small residual income. This is where the concept of GPT comes into play. For info on GPT check out http://www.platinumleadmarketing.com.
5. Choose a product that you can be passionate about marketing. If you are not passionate about the product, that business is not for you. Companies that promote lotions, potions and pills tend to be more difficult to convince others to join and get repeat customers. Regardless of the product, you need to believe in what you are selling in order to be successful.
6. The business should provide a free website. If your funds are limited, this is necessary. Almost every successful business has a website these days and you are no exception. If you are able to customize the webisite, even better. However, in all likelihood you won't be able to make changes or get them ranked high on search engines (if at all), but you can at least send prospects to a professional looking website.
7. The company should have a proven, successful, business system. You need to be able to plug into the business system and get up and running very quickly. After all, time is money. You don't want to spend all of your time reinventing the wheel or worse yet, trying to make a bad home business system work.
8. Free resources and training. You should not have to pay for a mentor to train you in the business. Every good home business opportunity should have a resource center that members can access for training tools, support, and resources.
9. The company has no conflict of interest. If the company has large monthly fees, insists that you purchase leads from them, or promotes partners and alliances that line their pockets with huge commissions instead you.... be wary.
10. It’s a Good Fit! Bottom line here is to learn to trust your instincts. If the company feels right, then great! Select a company that is aligned with your goals and values. Most importantly, the company should operate with integrity.

If you are a looking for a business that has all these characteristics and may be a right fit for you, check out: http://www.makeyourwealthnow.com.