If you’re familiar with tools such as TweetDeck, EchoFon, or HootSuite, you’ve most likely encountered the ability, or at least heard about it, to schedule tweets. For those of you unfamiliar with the process, these Twitter profile managing tools allow for a user to compose a tweet and then decide what time it will hit the ‘net. For example, if I wanted to wish my followers a happy New Year but would be at a networking event on New Years Eve, I could schedule a tweet to post at 11:59pm on 12/31. As you can see, this would be very useful to someone who has a strict schedule but still wants to remain engaged with their followers.

You thought that was good? It gets better.

With one of the latest versions of HootSuite, users are now able to schedule up to 50 tweets at one time instead of having to enter and schedule each post manually. Basically, a ton of legwork is removed and people can be more efficient with their posts and time management.

Interested? Read on. Interested and not using HootSuite? Go sign up today and then read on! (Author’s note: It’s well worth it!)

Here are the step by step directions to bulk scheduling your tweets using HootSuite:

1. Open your spreadsheet program (even Google Docs will work for this) and save your document as a CSV file (.csv extension) with a descriptive name.

2. In column A, enter the date and time that you’d like to schedule a tweet. In accordance to HootSuite protocol, it needs to be at least five minutes from the time you’ll be scheduling it. Enter it in dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm format. For example… 31/12/2011 21:59 (Depending on the autoformat rules of your program, it might reformat the date for you. If this happens, simply right format the date back to the desired format using the Format Cells option.)

3. Next, enter your tweet text in column B on that same row. The message can be no longer than 135 characters (no link included in the tweet) or 115 characters (link included). If you are including a link, you don’t need to include it in this cell; we’ll get to that next.

4. If you are attaching a URL to your tweet, place it in column C. You don’t need to send it through bit.ly or ow.ly beforehand; the HootSuite Magic Scheduling Tool Thingy will do that for you.

It’s really that simple! At this point, we’re going to import our one tweet into the bulk scheduler so you can see how it’s done. Obviously, if you’d like to do 49 more, you can but since I don’t want you to read those four steps 49 more times on this blog, I’ll cut to the chase.

5. Log into HootSuite and click into the Compose Message… window. Select the Schedule Message icon at the bottom of the window and then hit Schedule In Bulk.

6. Find your CSV file on your computer or network and then select the Twitter profile you’d like to have the tweets scheduled under. If you’re using Google Docs, just hit “.csv file” from the Download As… menu just find that file on your computer. Warning: Be SURE to select the correct profile if you have more than one. I’ve made this mistake before and, unfortunately, there is no “Unschedule Multiple Tweets” button in HootSuite. Be triple careful!

7. Just hit Submit and you should be rockin’ and rollin’! If HootSuite doesn’t like something, it will spit it back to you and give you a descriptive (shocker!) error message. Fix what needs fixing and do step six again.

Again, it’s that simple! I have found that this saves me about four to five hours in a week. It’s great what you can do with this tool. Kudos to HootSuite for making it available and kudos to you for reading this article to figure out how it’s done!

Questions? Problems? Just let us know!

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Eric Alpin is the Associate Editor of Folk Media and works for a telecommunications company in Baltimore, Md. He is a social media enthusiast, blogger, writer, and student with a passion for leadership and self-development strategies and techniques. Find out more about Eric on Twitter.

*Photo by shadowkill

The folks over at Twitter have recently made some changes to the .com interface, bringing more user functionality to those who choose to use the browser-based version of the service. With the recent improvements, I’m sure the Twitter execs would like the capture some of the tweeting population who use applications, such as HootSuite, Seesmic, and TweetDeck, in order to publish their thoughts, manage their profile, and track certain data.

But are the improvements really going to make a difference? Are dedicated application users going to “make the switch?” Probably not. However, users of the browser-based version of the service can now sleep a little better know that they aren’t missing out on as much as application users. It’s all about control and .com users have more of it now than ever before.

Here are some of your thoughts on using applications over the browser-based version of Twitter…

Question: Which do you prefer, the browser-based version of Twitter or a third party app.? If it’s an app, which one? Why?

@curtmoss – “Apps! Still love Twhirl, but like Seesmic too. Use HootSuite also. Twitter for iPhone for the mobile choice… Can keep them running in a column on 2nd monitor, sound alerts for replies/DMs, automatically refreshes, more like IMs”

@KristerDunn – “I use the Twitter site or via Tweets app on LinkedIn. My phone is basic so no mobile other than texting in tweets/pics/vids… I do use Hoot to preset some things. LI app is what’s on during day (only way i can access). Browser at home bc straightforward”

@Iceman2343 – “tweet deck… it lets me view fb and twitter at the same time”

@For_Keeps – “I’m with [Iceman2343]! TweetDeck… tbh, it’s the only Twitter app I’ve tried but it’s easy to navigate and I never have any issues w/it crashing.”

No matter what the perspective, all points and reasons are valid. If one version of Twitter fits your needs more than the others, go for it. I think that there is a market share for both applications (super users, businesses, mobile devices) and the browser-based version (regular users, firewalled or locked down users).

Do I think that the .com version of Twitter will recapture some of the market that currently uses applications? No. Do I think that the web designers have improved the lives of people who use Twitter.com on a regular basis? Yes.

What are your thoughts on the latest Twitter improvements? Do you prefer to use the website or a third party application? Why? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

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Eric Alpin is the Associate Editor of Folk Media and works for a telecommunications company in Baltimore, Md. He is a social media enthusiast, blogger, writer, and student with a passion for leadership and self-development strategies and techniques. Find out more about Eric on Twitter.

*Photo by lakelandlocal

A few months ago I believed Twitter to be just a means for teenagers and college students to communicate. Twitter seemed nothing more than a giant chat room. There is no way anyone can accurately say that now.

To understand why Twitter is so valuable you need to understand page ranking and tweets.

Page Ranking

Every company wants to have their website at the top of a Google search result. If I search your industry keywords and your business website is the first result I see, I will be much more likely to buy from you than from your competitors.

The results of a search are displayed in a list form. Your page ranking indicates where your business site is located on that list. You desperately want your page rank to be #1 (the top of the list).

Twitter

The reason Twitter is so important is because Twitter can help you get a higher page ranking.

Now, here is how you can use Tweets.

First of all, “Tweets” is a term used to refer to comments posted through Twitter. A tweet is singular and “tweets” is plural.

Search engines, like Google, Yahoo, and Bing for example, have started to pay very close attention to the content of each tweet.

For this reason you should make sure you are tweeting and providing quality info in your tweets. I would suggest tweeting no less than four times each day.

Here are four things you need to do to create a quality tweet:

1. You need to include your name and the other keywords of your industry in the beginning of the tweet. This is what you want the search engines to see in order to make your page ranking go up.

Whenever your tweet is retweeted (forwarded) by your followers (people who are interested in what you have to say), the search engines are particularly interested in what you wrote.

It’s very important to have your keywords retweeted as often as possible.

2. You want your tweet to be very interesting. If it’s not interesting it will never be retweeted by your followers.

Here are some tips on what would make good tweet content:
- Humorous quotes
- Interesting animal facts
- Useful tips
- links to Darwin Awards or other interesting articles/videos/photos

Make sure each tweet starts with your name and keywords and is followed by the interesting information. After you write the content you should include some hashtags.

3. Hashtags are words that are used for searching purposes.

If you want to search the category “shoes” you will type “shoes” in your tweet. However, you must always prefix the word with the pound sign (#). For example: #shoes or #dogs. These would both be good examples of hashtags.

By using hashtags you can make it possible for people who do not follow you to find what you are writing about. For this reason, it is very important to use hashtags.

4. Always leave about 14 to 20 characters unused at the end of your tweet.

Each tweet is allowed a max of 140 characters. When someone retweets your update, their name is included in the tweet you sent. This means if your tweet was 140 characters long and the person who retweeted you has a name of 20 characters, people will only be able to see 120 characters of your tweet.

You want people to see everything you wrote, so leave some room at the end of the tweet.

If you properly use Twitter, you will show the search engines that you are important and people are interested in what you have to offer. [Even though they are actually interested in your interesting content and not your keywords]

There are two more very important points to keep in mind:

1. If you don’t have any followers, it will be very difficult for people to notice what you are saying or take you seriously.

Make a point of finding followers. You do this by following people who will provide you with valuable information. You can also get followers by posting interesting tweets with hashtags.

2. Post frequently. There are many opinions as to how often you should tweet, but a good general rule is to tweet no fewer than four times each day.

If you create quality tweets, you have followers, and you post frequently, I guarantee that your page ranking will go up.

Good luck on your tweets and have fun!

P.S. If you are putting a lot of work in your tweets you know you are doing it right. Don’t give up until you find success.

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Joshua Lyons began working in the field of social media through an internship at the University of West Florida in the summer of 2009. He graduated from UWF with a BA in Public Relations in December 2009 and since that time he has been a social media consultant for a Chicago profit consultant, a Chick-fil-A restaurant and a sign shop in Pensacola, Florida. You can check out Joshua’s blog or website and find out more about him on Twitter or Facebook.

*Photo by svilen001

Fast follow is Twitter’s new free SMS update service. Users without Twitter accounts are now able to follow your company, brand or person with a simple Twitter text message sent to 40404.

This is a huge game changer

Twitter just released this new feature for texting that will literally change the game for your business. It’s called Fast Follow and it’s a way for non Twitter users (like teenagers for example) to get SMS text updates directly to their phone each time you make a Tweet.

Followers don’t need a Twitter account and all they need to do is text ‘follow your-username’ to 40404. They instantly start getting texts from your company Twitter account.

Many people don’t want to sign up for a Twitter accounts. Many young people don’t like Twitter and prefer Facebook instead. BUT – text messaging is popular among all ages and personality types. By giving people the option to subscribe to a Twitter feed via text message – you’ve increased your potential audience by tenfold.

How to follow using SMS text messaging

For example, let’s say you want to get Tweets from Folk Media (@FolkMedia). Just  text ‘follow FolkMedia’ to 40404 in the US. (Twitter has said they are trying to add more countries as they go).

Today’s Action Steps

First, you need to let every business owner you know about this post. This is something that can really impact their business. Please leave a comment below and then share this with your networks.

Second, try it yourself. Start putting messaging out on all your marketing channels that say:

Get instant alerts and updates from us via text
Text ‘follow your-username’ to 40404

Now go take action.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, speaker and social media marketing coach who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

*Photo by San Diego Shooter

If you want an easy way to discover people using Twitter in your city, try Twellowhood. I’ve already talked about how Twellow can be used to search Twitter user profiles. In this video I’ll show you how the “Twellowhood” can be used to find people in your area.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, speaker and social media marketing coach who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

Unlike Twitter Search, which searches content, Twellow searches user profiles. As a small business you can get a better sense of who to follow by seeing a profile than you can by reading their content (tweets).

For example, a real estate agent may be talking about soccer on a Saturday afternoon. During a typical Twitter search he won’t come up in your “real estate” search terms. But if he has “real estate agent” on his Twitter bio, then he will show up in the Twellow search results.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, speaker and social media marketing coach who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

Twitter has given birth to some pretty strange sounding names. Twibes, Twellow and now Twiangulate. This application allows you to see commonalities between three Twitter users. In this video I show you how it works.

For example, you can discover the common followers of your three biggest competitors on Twitter and then build relationships with them. I can see various uses for this tool. What suggestions or uses do you have? Leave feedback in the comments below.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, speaker and social media marketing coach who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, and speaker who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

You’re invited to join us for a free special training teleseminar to learn step-by-step how to grow your business using Twitter.

[The live teleseminar is over - register below to download the slides and audio]

Here’s just some of the keys you’ll learn by attending this event:

• Why Twitter is sweeping the internet by storm what it can be used for.
• Even if  you NEVER send one Twitter post (called a Tweet) or set up an account – you can still massively benefit from using Twitter. We’ll show you how.

• 3 big mistakes you are probably going to make and how to correct course BEFORE you blow your chances with potential prospects.
• One simple strategy that will increase the quality of the prospects that find you through Twitter. (This strategy is so simple you will probably smack yourself on the head for not using it already).
• We will give you specific action steps to take right after the call.

• Plus: answers to all your specific questions. (Feel free to ask some questions below).

My name is Joel Mark Witt and I’m the publisher of Folk Media. Folk Media is on pace to help over 500 small businesses create, use and profit from a  social media marketing in 2010.

On this call, you’ll be learning the same step-by-step Twitter strategies we share with our private clients and that we’ve used to grow our own businesses.

When you join us on the call have a notebook ready and prepare to take detailed step-by-step instructions of exactly how to use Twitter to grow your business.

You see, while so called “social media gurus” tell you to “get out there – listen – and join the conversations” – they don’t share a overall strategy with you to make that a reality. You get this vague idea about using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogs – but nothing concrete on HOW to do it.

It’s nice rhetoric – but you need a solid step-by-step plan. The strategies and techniques we teach our clients, used strategically, can create surges of sales leads, attract new clients and ultimately create a steady stream of potential customers for your business.

What we’re going to focus on is a step-by-step Twitter strategy that you can implement right after the call.

We’ll talk about the power of Twitter, how to use Twitter for maximum impact without draining all your time, and literally HAND you a action steps for fast “guerrilla-style” Twitter marketing. You’ll be able to start doing this right away!

It is critical that you register for this teleseminar now since we have limited space.

After you register, leave your most important questions about Twitter marketing in the comments section below. We’ll answer as many as we can live on the call.

*Photo by m.k.

Make no mistake that Twitter continues to grow as a platform for online communication. Here are seven reasons why it’s so successful.

1) Text based

Twitter can be scanned easily and quickly. No video and audio posting except through third party providers. Both video and audio require real time viewing and listening. Text can be decoded at the pace of the reader.

2) Short

140 characters are manageable. Limits are good for creativity and brevity. If you want to be a better writer – put limits on yourself. Limits are perfect for “to the point communication”

3) Public

There is something about knowing your twitter post can be viewed by anyone on the planet that encourages most folks to write differently.

4) Social and informal

Twitter has really changed how we see and use our social graph. We are more at ease with complete strangers. I will friend anyone on Twitter that I think is interesting. However, I probably wouldn’t make that same person my Facebook friend. Twitter allows for informality.

5) Current

Twitter IS the current conversation. It isn’t “old news.”

6) Instant

When you click update – your followers see your post immediately.

7) Democratization of fame

Take away all the above and when it really comes down to it – Twitter has democratized fame.

It could be argued that the history of the United States is the history of democratizing everything.

We have democratized publishing (desktop computers & blogs). We have democratized wealth (home loans, E-Trade and house ownership). We have democratized education (online degrees). We have democratized transportation (the automobile & cheap jet travel). We have democratized lifestyle (just visit Ikea or glance around the supermarket in the produce aisle).

And with Twitter we have democratized fame. Internet celebrity is now within everyone’s grasp.

Agree? Why do you think Twitter is popular?

And If you are new to Twitter, read some of our articles and resources to help you use the service.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership and How To Use Social Media To Find A Better Job. He is a producer, author, and speaker who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

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