Tag Archives: Twitter

The Basics of Protecting Your Brand Online

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brand logos

Your brand can be a strong factor in whether you succeed online or not. One search at your company name or brand and a potential customer can make a decision whether to push through with buying from you or look at some other company.

Your brand is your identity. Your brand tells your customers why they should buy from you. It is what your brand connotes that makes you successful. Take a look at the world’s most successful brands and you will get an idea of why branding and protecting your brand is very important.

Brands are not just about the company logo, it is the emotional connection between your products and your customers. It is what your products are associated with. For example, Coke has been working hard to associate its beverages with fun and refreshment, while others like Louis Vuitton likes to make you think of luxury when thinking of their brands. McDonald’s, on the other hand, goes for inexpensive yet pleasant experience, while Nintendo goes for family friendly and can be suitable for the home.

The best brands are associated with great value and durability, value for money and reliability, great customer service along with a superior product.

Yet, with the advent of the Internet, your brand’s image can easily be tarnished. It could be a customer warning other people not to buy your products, or some wrong move by your company. Mattel’s Barbie has long been known to be a safe toy for children, and its image was severely tarnished when it was found that its Chinese partner used toxic chemicals, causing it to issue a toy recall involving more than 9.5 million dolls. More than this, parents all over the world avoided buying Barbie dolls until the issue died down and only after Mattel assured the public of more stringent processes to avoid the same incident in the future.

What ways can you take to make sure that you protect your brand online?

  • Use Twitter or Facebook and other social networking sites to connect to your public.
    One of the best examples of a Twitter-savvy company is JetBlue that monitors Twitter for any mention of the company. They then inform anybody via e-mail that they do indeed have a Twitter account and that you could forward any complaints, questions or suggestions to them via Twitter. But that does not stop there. JetBlue quickly responds to any such requests or inquiries, making their customers feel well-attended to.
  • Do not create a Wikipedia listing.
    If you have a sterling record or a good image, a Wikipedia entry might bring you some good hits and conversions. However, remember that a Wikipedia entry is easily modified by other people, and people can add a section where other people can post criticisms about your company.
  • Think twice before threatening a lawsuit.
    If there are some negative comments on the blogosphere about your products, then think twice and wait until you are calm enough before you reply. If you do decide to reply, make sure that you do so with tact. Remember that your replies can either damage your reputation further with the wrong words or pacify the complainant so that you could do some damage control. Using harsh words or threatening to file a lawsuit will only inflame the people further, causing more harm than good.

4 Ways to Enjoy a Risk-free Online Social Networking Experience

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4 Ways to enjoy a risk-free online social networking experience

4 Ways to enjoy a risk-free online social networking experience

Perpetrators of phishing, scamming and identity theft have found a veritable gold mine in social networking sites. All too often, users of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter inadvertently make themselves easy targets for these kinds of activities.

Here are four ways to protect yourself and your information online.

1. Always check your privacy settings.
While Facebook sets your privacy setting to your contacts by default, other social networking sites do not. In fact, some display your profile to the general public. Make sure that you make use of a site’s privacy settings to allow only your friends, family, loved ones and contacts to view your profile.

In line with this, do not add just anybody as your contact. If you are keeping a personal profile, then make sure that you only have people you personally know in your contact list. If you are on social networking sites to play online games, or to market your brand, it might help to create a separate account for this purpose. You can limit the amount of personal information you have on these accounts.

2. Think twice before you post something.
For one, do not post your hometown if this has been set as your secret password question. Make sure that your post does not have personal information in it, or other identifiers like a landmark near where you work.

In no circumstances should you announce where you would be at a particular time. This way, lurkers would not be able to pinpoint where you are at any time.

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Top 5 Websites Every Writer Should Know

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Wordpress

Wordpress

Writing, they say, is an art. But whether you are just starting to learn how to write, or is making a living out of it, there are some sites that you should not do without. Here are the top 5 Web sites that every writer should know.

5. Blogspot.com or WordPress.com
If you are a new writer looking for work, your best advertisement is your own words. This is where Blogspot.com and WordPress.com come in handy. There are other blogging platforms available on the Web, but these two are by far the easiest to use, promote and maintain. Both are one-click publishing solutions: so whether you just want to rant about the latest issues, or adding the next installment to a series you have started, all you need to do is to compose and submit.

Remember, however, that you should present your best work on your blog. Think of it as a writing portfolio that you can show to potential customers.

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Top 5 Reasons to Love Plurk

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Plurk homepage

Plurk is one of the more intriguing lifestreaming sites out on the World Wide Web right now. Launched in May of 2008, it takes the basics of Twitter and dresses them up in a snazzy interface, throwing some pretty interesting features into the mix.

Why "plurk"? The name alone sparks curiosity. According to Plurk’s creators, there are four ideas behind this catchy name. One is People + Lurk – yes, people do lurk online. Second, it is an amalgam of Play and Work, touching on the fun side of plurking. Third, it is an acronym for Peace, Love, Unity, Respect, Karma. Lastly, there is the potential for becoming a coined verb, just like "google".
Now, Plurk users call themselves "plurkers", the act of posting is called "plurking", and the post itself is called a "plurk". Very, very catchy indeed.

So what makes Plurk so much different from Twitter and why do plurkers love it? Here are the top 5 reasons:

1. Threaded Conversations
This is probably the number one feature plurkers love. When you post an update, your friends’ replies can be seen under it. Replies don’t get lost, and friends can read and answer to each other’s replies, turning it into a stimulating discussion. There is no clutter because the conversation only expands when you click on the original post.

2. Unique User Interface
Plurk splits the screen into two parts. The upper section contains your timeline, where all your plurks appear, arranged by the time they were posted. What makes the timeline unique is that it scrolls sideways. You scroll right for the past, and left for your most recent plurks. Scrolling is done either through the arrow keys or the mouse’s scroller.
The lower portion is the dashboard, which contains your info, userpic, friends list, and the post entry box.

3. Karma Points
Plurk addicts live for karma points! Karma points rise based on your activity and the responses of other plurkers to your plurks. More karma gets you access to extra features like additional emoticons or changing the image in your page’s Plurk logo. Getting over 80 karma points means you’ve reached Plurk Nirvana and nets you a shiny badge for your page.

4. Customization
Plurk gives you the freedom to personalize your page. You can choose from built-in color templates, install CSS codes from third-party Plurk layout designers, or create your own.

5. Cliques
One significant Plurk feature is privacy control. You can open your plurk to the world, limit it to friends, or have a private conversation with a single individual, all within your timeline. If you want certain plurks to be read only by specific people, you can group your friends into cliques, and then specify which clique can read your plurk when you post it.

Twitter still has the edge when it comes to third-party applications, page rank and plugins, but Plurk is more personal, more fun, and more close-knit. Users who admit that they use both sites say that they post mostly business or news-related shout outs on Twitter, while going to Plurk to have fun, goofy conversations with friends.

Twitter Overloading…

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Earlier, Twitter was running to slow. Every page loads approximately 12 seconds. Then at one point it displayed this error:

Twitter Overloading

Twitter Overloading

I refreshed my page 3 times and still that error was displayed. After 10 minutes, I refreshed my Twitter page again and this time it displayed this error message:

Twitter Server Problem

Twitter Server Problem

But, it is OK now. Maybe Twitter has too many users logging on at the same time. This should be addressed quickly so as not to face similar problems encountered by Friendster.

Friendster was once the largest social media network. At one point, it became the #1 online social media (yep you heard it right). But because of Friendster’s server and network problems (coupled with poor marketing strategy and focus), it slipped and handed its crown. Today, Friendster is in 3rd place; way beyond MySpace and Facebook.

Social Media and How it is Used in Online Marketing

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social media online marketing

It used to be that a company’s online marketing efforts consist of having a Web page, sending out e-mails, and advertising on high-traffic sites. However, in this age of social networking sites – like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace – these efforts are no longer enough!

Social networking sites have allowed businesses big and small to be more interactive in the way they present their companies, brands, products, and services. Online marketing has ceased to be a one-way street where the businesses do all the talking and hope that their potential customers listen and try out their goods and services. Interactivity has become the key feature of online marketing on social networking sites.

Businesses can still advertise their products and services by sending out a Tweet or updating their Facebook status for all their followers and friends to see, or update them about the latest promotions and discounts. Meanwhile, customers can post questions and complaints in real time.

A company doing business on social networking sites can further keep itself ahead of the game by easily developing customer relationships and loyalty. You are no longer an
e-mail address promoting a product via spam, or a Web site they stumbled upon, but a profile with a real person behind it. This personal touch, which is an additional way of interacting with your customers, can make them feel connected and supported and in turn leads to more positive feelings and loyalty to your business. Anne Rice, for instance, just does not write great novels, she goes on Facebook to discuss any aspect of her characters as her fans ask her questions about them, or she conducts online writing workshops for her fans. Rice also speaks to them, making them feel that they are friends and that she, too, has her own hopes and dreams.

Social networking sites also provide a way for businesses to talk about their products in a more natural setting. You are not a business that intrudes on people as they read e-mails from friends and family, but you are part of the social network. That means that people will be more receptive to your pitch. If you provide a link to your Web site, people are also more inclined to click on it and visit your site.

More importantly, these links on social networking sites become new inbound links to your site, which makes your site rank higher on search engines. Few people realize that the links they put up on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook do not only point their friends and family to their site, they also point search engine spiders to their sites, making it seem more important and therefore making their site rank higher on Google, Yahoo and other search engines.

What’s the deal with micro-blogging and lifestreaming?

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microblogging and lifestreaming 

Internet-savvy individuals are undoubtedly familiar with the terms ‘micro-blogging’ and ‘lifestreaming’, but there are still a number of people who do not know what they’re all about.

First, let’s define them. Micro-blogging, as the term implies, is blogging in small quantities. If blogging is eating a whole cake at one time, micro-blogging is doing it slice by slice. Posts in a micro-blog are usually limited to a certain number of characters—otherwise it won’t be micro anymore.

Lifestreaming, on the other hand, is broadcasting bits & pieces of your life and activities through digital media like the Internet and mobile phones.

Micro-blogging can be used to broadcast anything from what you ate for breakfast to the latest news in Iraq. The difference between micro-blogging and lifestreaming is that the latter is more of a collection of personal news. A person’s lifestream often contains updates about their thoughts, feelings, and activities, often in real-time. Someone who just finished watching a movie, for example, can stream, “I just saw Watchmen and it was intense!” One can also set certain lifestreams to reach only specific people, like friends and family.

How has micro-blogging changed the virtual world?
In this ultra-modern era where most people are constantly on the go, micro-blogging lets us read and share information in small, easily digestible chunks. Micro-blogs are short and to the point. They offer a convenient way of staying up-to-date, especially for those who do not have the time to stop by for a long read.

Today, micro-blogging is adopted not just by individuals sharing purely personal thoughts, but also by business companies, news and information agencies, and even personalities in entertainment and politics.

Twitter: the Most Popular Micro-blogging Service
The most popular micro-blogging service is, of course, Twitter. Twitter was developed in 2006 and became popular the year after, spreading the micro-blogging fever in the Internet world. It has become so well-liked that big media giants like BBC have begun to use it to post short summaries and links to news. Even Qatar’s Al Jazeera network uses Twitter. Famous celebrities – Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, Martha Stewart, Mariah, Nicole Richie, to name a few – maintain Twitter profiles and keep their many fans worldwide posted on their current activities.

Twitter has a 140-character limit, so posts (called ‘tweets’) will have to be really short and specific. This is because Twitter has a text messaging feature – users can update their profiles by sending tweets using their mobile phones. President Barack Obama has a Twitter profile, which was actively updated during his campaign using the Twitterberry application on a Blackberry. Another way to send tweets is through Twitterfox, a Mozilla Firefox plugin that lets you update without logging in to the Twitter website.

The Others
Other popular micro-blogging and lifestreaming services include Jaiku, which features a comment system, and Plurk, a timeline-based lifestreaming site. Social networking websites have also integrated lifestreaming features into user profiles. One prominent example is Facebook’s status updates. After the site’s latest home page redesign, the input box now asks, “What’s on your mind?”

If you have been reading up to this part, you would have probably realized you have been doing all these micro-blogging and lifestreaming all along. You may not have known that they were called that. Trust me, you’re not alone.

Getting the most out of Twitter

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twitter logo

Previously, I told you about the benefits of Twitter as a source of information and as a means of propagating it. Twitter would work best if you have good quality contacts. Friends, associates, business contacts are the best set of followers.

This kind of audience is ready and interested. To start with, always put in your real name in your Twitter profile, just as you would in Facebook and MySpace. And always fill out your profiles, so people can easily find you and know who you are. After you set up your Twitter profile, then it’s time to pay it forward: follow people you know, or whose content interests you. Always introduce yourself to them, tell them what you do and what interests you. Think of it as networking on Twitter. If they check your profile and find out more about you, they might follow you back.

Like RSS feeds, you can promote your blog or Web site via Twitter. All you have to do is to type in the updates. Unlike RSS feeds, however, Twitter allows for more interaction, giving you the opportunity to field more feedback to your site changes or blog posts in real time.

If you are always on the go, you can give your followers important updates throughout the day using your mobile. Note that updates should be substantial and has meat in it. A lot of your followers would probably turn you off if you twit “still stuck in traffic…” every five minutes or so.

If you’re a powerblogger, you can let a third party service handle the updates for you. Sign up for twitterfeed, an update service that reads your blog’s RSS and feeds them to Twitter automatically, thereby saving you the time and effort of having to do the updates yourself. This is especially helpful if you maintain a lot of blogs, and you want to automate each one.

Remember that your Twitter account should speak about you or your business. While you may have a lot to say about the world, or about yourself, be sure to moderate your postings. Posting too much would cause your followers to abandon you, or not read your twits, posting nothing is just as bad. Further, be careful of what you post on Twitter. Twitter posts are basically archived by Google (another benefit of having Twitter is that you get inbound links so your site could rank higher in Google) so even if you have deleted your particularly embarrassing twit, it can still be found on Google search.

Lastly, learn to play it by ear. And of course, HAVE FUN!

Please read another interesting article about Twitter here: Don’t Ignore Twitter!

Don’t Ignore Twitter!

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twitter bird logo Twitting…

If you guys have been ignoring Twitter, you probably haven’t realized its power. You have probably tried it at one point, and decided that you really didn’t care if a friend is having lunch with Bill Gates, or taking a piss. Really, who’d want to be THAT updated?

But as with all things high-tech, people have always used technology for mundane things. Even great technologies have their asinine yet practical application. While most people use Facebook to play Fashion Wars or solicit sympathy for a dead toenail, a lot of businesses have found suppliers and customers on the site. Some people use it to connect with long-lost friends and keep up with them.

Twitter, I found out, has great potentials. I was recently out with a couple of friends and went to see a movie with them. Tina, a movie buff, mentioned something about a movie shot in India that won a lot of BAFTAs and nominated for a number of Oscars. For the life of her, Tina couldn’t remember the movie’s title.

I haven’t heard of the movie, while the other two were as clueless as I was. It bothered Tina to no end, so she kept on tapping and doing all those insanely Tina-things to let us know she’s bothered. Mon finally surrendered and whipped out his laptop. I thought he was going to Google for movie, India, BAFTA and Oscar, but he went to Twitter instead. In the box, he twitted: “What’s that new movie that was shot in India and is nominated for the Oscars?”

In a matter of seconds, and right before our eyes, Mon’s followers came up with the answer: Slumdog Millionaire. With it came the names of the producers, the director, the cast, the movie’s official Web site, synopsis, even the Oscar categories it was nominated in. As in SECONDS.

Until then, I didn’t really think much about Twitter. I thought it was just another Internet fad that featured a cross between social networking and RSS. I did not realize its potential power both as a source of information and as a means of propagating it.

The possibilities are endless. Looking for a recipe? Twit it. Want a recommendation for a hot date? Twit it. Wanting to know how much to budget for that new restaurant that just opened last week? Twit it. Want to launch your business or advertise your service? Twit… You get the idea.

Read another interesting Twitter article here: Getting the most out of Twitter