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

This post was written by guest author Samantha Casey.

The word “image” circulates around the planet like a breath of air, clinging to each of us, and illustrating to the world who we feel we are. Without consideration towards our image, the opportunities in business we desire will breeze right past us, zooming in on those who have created an image of integrity, class, and respect.

Clients come to me at times and question why they are not generating any new business. They are extremely knowledgeable in their fields, have a great product/service, and are using strong marketing strategies. Many times, I find they are just simply missing key points to presenting a reputable image, and through my consulting work we work to help them fine tune those areas of opportunity.

Here are helpful, key areas to review and consider for your professional image:

Online presence – With the internet providing mainstream communication, it is a place to boost your image and to lay a foundation which identifies you as professional, poised, and full of integrity. Create a profile within your networking sites that will outline your area of expertise. List your skills, talents, and specific focus. Look at your website background. Is it clean? What message does it deliver? What message do you want to deliver? Be careful with photos. Photos instantly create a label.

Sure, it would feel great if people knew the real you, but they are going off of what they see online, especially at first glance. For example, if you want to be viewed as professional, do not post photos which are extremely revealing or incredibly casual.  Even if you are in a profession where you are promoting your appearance, you can post photos which highlight your best features and still represent you as respectable.

Wardrobe – We are judged on our wardrobe, whether we realize it or not. Have you ever walked into a business meeting and noticed a young woman in an extremely low cut blouse and short skirt or, a young man in jeans, sneakers, and a tee shirt? Or, how about when going to the grocery store you see someone walking around in their pajamas? What were your initial thoughts? As much as we all want to be respected for who we are inside, our image is our personal billboard. So, how we dress indicates how others portray us.

Of course, we dress to occasion. When attending an event we may be in semi-formal attire, and when meeting friends for lunch, we may be in casual attire. Yet, in business scenarios, professional attire commands a respect. It says to the world that we are composed and polished. So, take a look at your wardrobe. Does it tell the story that you want? Does it appear misleading in any way? Is it too revealing, too casual, too formal?

Language – How we speak, write, and communicate also labels us. If you are the CEO of your company, and are tweeting something along the lines of, “Dats coo, hit me up later,” what do you feel your audience perceives? Or, if promoting your material and the headline says, “Nu Muzik!” what are you telling readers about you? This is a critical point to consider.

Many times we don’t even think twice about what we say, we just want to get the word out. Just remember, how you communicate is up to you. How others perceive you is also up to you. If you want to be viewed as intelligent, your communication needs to follow suit. If you want to be viewed as an Executive, your communication needs to follow suit. Think carefully about what you are saying, writing, or texting before you deliver.

Overall Conduct – Whether at an event, online, or in a meeting, conduct represents your image. Too often we don’t think about this in detail. It can help our image or harm it. For example, when we’re online in social networking sites, we have every opportunity to empower our image. If we are sharing personal information, we need to be aware of what we’re saying, and decide if it’s appropriate for the world to see. Remember, the Internet is the World Wide Web and everyone is watching.

If we’re at an event and we are networking, yet are drinking in excess and are not thinking clearly, this will impact how others perceive us in such situations. If we are scheduled for a meeting, yet show up 20 minutes late, are dressed casually, and are unprepared, those meeting with us are casting judgment. Thus, overall conduct reflects every aspect of our image.

Another aspect of conduct is how we respect others. As a professional, you have the opportunity to engage with people of many backgrounds, walks of life, and experiences. If you are shunning someone because they are not famous, or because they are not as educated as you are, or because they are male and you only want to do business with women, this will affect your overall image in ways that you may have not considered.

For example, if you are a consultant seeking to assist others, yet are speaking of others negatively, what does this say about your business? If you are a doctor, yet are not fully reviewing your patients’ charts and looking for every possible way to help them, what does this say about your practice? Consider respecting all walks of life, even if they are not pertinent to what you are looking to do. You never know who knows who, and the one person that you’d least expect to be relevant to your business, could be the one person who holds the key to you opening new doors of opportunity.

Your Image is Your Personal Billboard.

You deserve to be appreciated for the professional you are, so make your billboard shine! The world awaits!

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Samantha Casey is the founder and operator of Relentless Consulting Group, a firm that helps businesses and individuals market to the world. She is a blogger, reader, and networker with a passion for helping others and building strong brands. Follow Samantha on Twitter to find out more about her.

*Photo by cr55

Believe it or not, most people don’t have an online reputation or if they do, it’s not a very good one. Your online reputation is critical to your amount of influence on other people, including clients, co-workers, and partners. If you have a solid reputation, individuals have a tendency to trust you more and open up to you. Without a solid track record, you are opening yourself up to ambiguity from your clients because of trust and security issues.

Trust is key in the online game and your reputation will help you immensely.

In order to help you with forming your online reputation, I’ve outlined five methods below. Let’s see how we can get you to become an online superstar…

1. Set up a blog – Without a doubt, this is the best way to create a online reputation for yourself. Why? Because everyone uses search engines to find information. If you are meeting with a new client, chances are they have searched the Internet for you to find out more information. If you make it freely available, people find you to be open, honest, and connected. Your blog doesn’t have to be much but it should exist so people can locate you and find out more information.

Tip – When registering for your blog, use your name or the name of your company in the URL. This will make you easily searchable and recognizable.

2. Go tweeting – Twitter has become extremely popular in a short period of time and it doesn’t look like it will be vanishing anytime soon. If you want to create an online reputation, begin using Twitter to share worthwhile information. Once you generate a list of followers, you will begin creating your sphere of influence. This will help you when you’re looking for clients and customers.

Tip – Make sure that you tweet about a variety of topics to show people you know how to “let your hair down.” This helps you become more trusting and approachable.

3. Share links – People crave information and if you happen to deliver the information they’re looking for, you have immediately garnered a reputation. Begin to set up accounts at delicious and Tumblr in order to share links and pages you find interesting. Your information sharing techniques will prove that you are reliable and that you are open to new ideas–two qualities that most people seek out in their relationships.

Tip – The same rules for tweeting apply for sharing links; share a variety of information.

4. Comment – One of the easiest ways to build a reputation is through commenting on articles, pages, and blogs. Most sites have some sort of community and if you can get into that community, your reputation and sphere of influence will begin to grow. Be precise with your comments and make sure that you are engaging and asking questions. This will spark side conversations, which lead to private messages, potential partnerships, and even clients.

Tip – Don’t make enemies on blogs because it WILL come back to haunt you. If someone doesn’t agree with your opinion, keep cool and let it go.

5. Recommend others – You can recommend others in two ways, using your blog or using LinkedIn. If you regularly maintain your blog, give a shout out every now and then to the people who you trust or know provide quality service. This will show your community and potential clients that you are able to give credit where it is due. LinkedIn allows users to recommend other people in various ways and your recommendation will appear on both your page and the page of the person you commended. If you network using LinkedIn, this is a great way to show you’re a team player.

Tip – Keep your recommendations short and sweet; the less fluff the better everyone looks.

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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 Concrete Forms

In order to save you some time and effort today, here are some quick hits from around the world of social media…

Facebook has just announced that it will be rolling out a location-based feature called Places, which is similar to Foursquare and Gowalla.

Frank Ryan, former celebrity plastic surgeon, was tweeting from his cell phone when he accidentally ran his car over a cliff in Malibu, CA.

In an increasingly technological society, it’s important to make sure that your name is available when you need it.

An eMarketer project estimates that advertisers will spend over a billion dollars on social media advertising before the end of the year.

If you’re a social media manager, there are a few things that you should probably be eating for breakfast.

Sometimes businesses launch social media campaigns and need to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

The illusion that social media measurement is too “out there” is spreading like wildfire. Check out these three free tools to use.

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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 Jan Willem Geertsma