My wife and I love Twitter.  We think it’s a fantastic avenue that creates new and creative ways to meet new people, and not to mention grow your business.  Unfortunately; Twitter has gotten a bad rep when it comes to people misusing it.  Are there any real rules to Twitter? No.  But there are some sound principles that will help you find and keep more followers if you play by them.  These are just a few of many of our thoughts on this topic, so take what you will, and pass up what you won’t.  It’s just our opinions, as well as many other seasoned Twitterers.

These guidelines are for newbie Twitterers, as well as other Twitterers who just want to become more effective at using Twitter to market their businesses.

1.    Add your photo. Seems obvious – I know.  But I can tell you across the board that Twitterers prefer to follow and chat with those who have a photo.  And not just any photoÖa photo of YOU!  Want to connect with more people? Have more followers? Take a minute to upload a photo of your smiling face. (Be sure it can actually be seen, too.  If it’s too far away, crop it and upload it again.)  Keep in mind that your picture represents who you are.  This will be the first thing potential new followers will see about you.  What first impression do you want to give them? This is the most important question to ask yourself before deciding on what photo to upload.

2.    Write a bio. Want followers? Then make sure you have an engaging bio. People want to know something about you before they go ahead and follow you.  If you’re not comfortable sharing where you are from with the Twitterer world, then share something about who you are, what your hobbies are, etc.  Have fun with this – it doesn’t need to be formal or even grammatically correct.  Don’t be afraid to be daring or even outrageous.  Be yourself. It’s ok to be different on Twitter. In fact you’ll get more followers if you are different!  Others will follow you because you’re interesting to them, or perhaps you share similar interests.

3.    Add an interesting background. It’s the same concept as curb appeal.  This is one more way to show your personality or style, and attract like-minded followers to you.  What first impression do you want other Twitterers to have of you?  Are you fun and spunky?  Are you a traveler?  An outdoors man?  Sports fanatic?  I can tell you, there are Twitter backgrounds for every personality.  A few places you can find 1000’s of backgrounds for free, or to have a custom background created include: http://twitterimage.com; http://twitart.com; and http://twitterbackgrounds.com. Don’t get hung up on this.  Get a background set up now…you can always shop around and change it later to something even more fitting!

4.    Don’t vomit on people. Twitter is not just about sales. Use Twitter to meet people first. One of the most common complaints about Twitterers, from other Twitterers, is feeling like you have nothing to say to them, other than trying to sell them.  Let’s face it, people are tired of being sold all of the time.  There is a reason Twitter is referred to as a social platform – to socialize!  Imagine walking in to your favorite restaurant or bar, and having another patron come up to you, and then blurt out, “Hi, want to make fast cash now? Do it by buying my program now!”  It just doesn’t make sense.  It’s a turn off and you will get more people unfollowing you if you do this – or, another possible outcome is they will just ignore your posts since you’re that ‘annoying sales guy who is vomiting their stuff” on them all the time.

So first things first, use Twitter to meet people, gather a following.  Refer them to your blog so they can get to know you.  Once they’re on your blog, now it would be appropriate to direct them to your ad or sales page.

5.    Use your welcome message to welcome people – not to advertise to them before they even know who you are.  This is a common mistake amongst those using Twitter for business.  Even those who say, “Hey Joe, thanks for following me. Like to put hundreds more in your pocket? Then click here!” This is another instant turn off.  It comes across as unfriendly and self-centered.  Don’t make this mistake.  Thank them for following you.  If you really want to connect with them, check out their profile page, then you can either ask them a question about it or give them a compliment.  Don’t be fake here – be genuine in your giving of kudos or showing curiosity by inquiring about something on their profile page.  Start a conversation, and then you can refer them to your blog so they can get to know you better.  We like to do business with people we know, like and trust, right?  Help them to do this by starting a relationship first.

6.    Use automated tools carefully. If you sound like a robot, for instance when you send out your automated welcome message, this too will turn people off.  Be personable.  Share something about yourself.  And be sure that your message doesn’t exceed the 140 character limit.  It’s obvious you’re using an automated response system when your followers receive a message from you that is cut off.  To be sure it’s not too long, copy and paste what you intend to include in your auto-message first in Twitter as a draft.  It will show you if you have too many characters, and you can cut it back if need be before saving it as an auto-message.

7.   Be sure to thank people for re-tweeting your tweets – how kind of them to share your thoughts or information!  When you thank them, they are more likely to want to get to know you, and may likely continue re-tweeting your tweets.

This certainly is not the be-all or end-all on this topic.  Keeping in the spirit of Twitter, we’ll keep this as short at possible.  I’m anxious to hear your opinions and add to this.  So please, leave your ideas!  To be sure you receive updates on this subject, subscribe to the RSS feed in the upper left hand corner of this page.

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Just imagine…

You can be AT LEAST 150% better than most people who submit articles to article directories just by learning a few ’signature
box’ tips I’m about to share with you.

Of course, you have heard of the Signature box (or “bio box”) which shows up at the end of an article. The prime real estate where article directories allow you to be promotional, and add links to your sites. After the article is published, it looks like the last paragraph of your article.

(I’m not talking about your author’s profile; signature box is published at the end of EACH article).

So how do the majority of authors do this? Most authors begin with their name and then talk about themselves in third person.  For example:

“Alan Author is an expert in article marketing. He has a plaque suitable for framing. You can visit his site at www……”

Is this Wrong?

Test it and you will find only about 5% of the people who view your article, actually click your link. Just read what I have to say and put it into practice and you’ll see that the percentage of people who click will be 15-30% on average!

What’s the problem?

When your reader gets to the “Alan Author” section…” what’s the first thing that comes to their mind?

- “The article has ended”.

And this is where a large percentage of people will go away.

It hurts, but it’s true…they don’t care about you!

What if you talked about them?  They did not read this article to read about “you”, so you need to talk about THEM, and what can you do for THEM.  A good trick is to not let them realize the article has ended; make your signature box a natural extension of your article.

It already looks like the last paragraph, just don’t make it sound like it is.

Give a strong call to action…

List the BENEFITS they get from you, if they will go ahead and click the link. And, actually, TELL them to click the link. Sounds too forward, but more people want to be told what to do next.  (This has been tested time and time again.)

That is the secret!

You can spend 250,000.00 put together the most innovative marketing system on line, or you can just use mine. Submit your name and email to Discover how to explode your existing business or start a more lucrative one.

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I remember the first time someone told me that using Twitter and Facebook were a great way to stay in touch with friends, clients and business associates, and to meet new people.  My thought was, “Who has that kind of time?”

Then last year I paid for an online course on how to use Facebook for marketing the business I owned.  After the 4 week course, my practice of what I learned and use of Facebook dwindled.  I lost touch and gave up because it was just too time consuming and I figured wasn’t a top priority with all of my other business demands.

Then recently I was invited to attend a free training on how to automate social media.  Frankly, I didn’t expect to learn much more than before, especially since it was a free class.  I figured I would get duped into buying the one thing that would be required to really make this automation thing work.  So good news for me (and you, too!), what I learned was VERY VALUABLE AND FREE!  No software to purchase, no courses to buy.

So today I’m going to focus on ONE of these tools.  It’s called Social Oomph (http://www.socialoomph.com/).  Social Oomph addresses many issues that we Twitterers have in common:

-          Tweeting throughout the day, even when we’re too busy to add new tweets (create pre-made tweets to send out later)

-          Being able to respond in kind to those following you (create automatic welcome messages…even create multiple different kinds of responses for your followers to automatically rotate)

-          Being sure to follow back those that are following you (auto-follow feature)

-          Being able to unfollow people who unfollow you (another automatic feature)

-          Fitting in everything you want to say, with limited character requirements from Twitter (get more space by using the Shorten URL feature, which is placed conveniently next to where you add your tweets!)

I appreciate that Social Oomph is just ONE PLACE TO GO for multiple functions, versus using multiple different programs to perform these same tasks.  Twitter Deck and Tweet Later have these functions, too, but it’s just easier for me to use one program – Social Oomph, rather than logging in to Twitter Deck and then Tweet Later.

I love that Social Oomph gives me the ability to leverage my time, to streamline my day, and has minimized the overwhelm I used to have when trying to stay on top of my Twitter activities.  It has freed me up to focus more on other parts of my business and personal life!  (I know, it sounds like I’m ‘selling’ this software…but I actually am not getting paid for this.  I just think it’s a great program.  Here again is the direct link to Social Oomph: http://www.socialoomph.com/).

Next post we will go over a step-by-step process on how to set up your Social Oomph account, and get Twitter automated for you.  Watch your tweets for the next installment, or to be sure you don’t miss anything, bookmark this page by clicking on the orange button in the upper right-hand corner.  Then click on subscribe.

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Hey it’s Matthew Kominiak here, home business expert here to tell you, STOP IT!

What you’re doing right now, looking at yet another MLM opportunity is the classic definition of insanity.

“You keep doing the same thing expecting different results.”

Now, I know you’ve had struggles with MLM in the past and jumping ship to another opportunity is not going to be the answer.  You need to know that your struggles, they are not your fault.

The MLM business model is broken. But the industry doesn’t want to tell you this because this is the easiest way for MLM products to market.  MLM wants you to buy into a low cost MLM opportunity and buy/sell their product.  This is why they use MLM to market. MLM companies are not here to make you successful, they’re not here to teach you how to market the business, all they want to do is sell their product.

I want you to have the same success as I have. But I’m not going to tell you not to join an MLM Opportunity. If you want, continue down the MLM path, pitching friends and family, rah-rah meetings, hotel meetings, and having strangers come into your home to sell them…knock yourself out!

Imagine what it will be like to make a serious income from home.  The only way to do this is to have a serious business model.  The facts are the MLM business foundation is built on sand. You will never have complete control of your business.

You have to have a business model with a solid foundation so you can build onto your success over time, that’s going to provide you life changing income.

Let’s face it, you got involved with MLM because you had a dream, you wanted a different lifestyle for your family and MLM sold you on a bill of goods. You can’t cash the check, when the account is dry. It does not have to be this way.  What you need a business model that will allow you to plug into a proven system.

This system is going to give you education so you can cut your learning curve in half. Do you really think MLM is going to give you innovative marketing strategies so you know the right ways to go out there and market on the internet?  An MLM opportunity will not teach you what you need to know so you can build your business up the right way with a solid foundation.

What you need to do right now is submit your information. You and I, we’re going to knock your fears out of the park, we’re going to teach you how to be successful, and we’re going to remove MLM Opportunities from your vocabulary.  I’m going to finally give you a solution to MLM.  It is time for you to fulfill your dreams and to give yourself and your  family the lifestyle you deserve.

MLM opportunities are not your answers.  I will show you the right way…Go Get Your Success, Why Not? Do It Right Now.

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As the son of a woman recovering from breast cancer, this is near and dear to my heart. Please retweet this to everyone you know.

Imagine how you will feel…Together we will make something special happen.

Thank You

_______________________________________________________________

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We all have one; especially since the movie came out. The question is what’s on yours? My advice…Cross it off as soon as yo can.

Why Not Do It Right Now….

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Of course you have heard that leveraging social media can bring you qualified business prospects.

Imagine how beneficial it would be to your business to learn social media techniques that made one of our community members $4000 last week alone.

TONIGHT at 9:00 p.m. EST, we will share the techniques they used, as we open up a private member training to you.  Seats are limited, first come first serve…

Register here to save your spot:

When: TONIGHT February 8, 2010 9:00PM EST (-5 GMT)
Where: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/190930699

Generating an avalanche of FREE leads using and other Social Media:
How a PRO member made $4,000 last week using these exact free marketing strategies.
Secret Tools To Deliver “Money Making Tweets” and build an army of interested followers on “Auto-Pilot” while you sleep!

At the end of the webinar go to JoinMatthewsTeam.com to join this community & change your life forever.

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You probably already know that  marketing is truly an art form.  It is one that many people don’t have a good grasp on how to do, but it’s not completely unattainable for people if you just have the right strategies, and the right information in front of you.  You see, I don’t care how good your product or service is, if you cannot separate yourself from the pack with good marketing, you will never achieve the greatness you were destined to do.

Now what I’m about to introduce you to is what I like to call the ultimate marketing machine.  It’s a total marketing platform, that’s going to allow you to plug sell anything to anyone in the world with limited or no experience.  It’s going to give you the fundamental knowledge you need to start marketing your business online.  Now, in addition, we’re going to cultivate that knowledge. We’re going to wrap it into innovative marketing strategies, technology and business strategies to help you take your business to the next level.

I want you to imagine six months from now when you are well on your way to mastering internet marketing. You will have the ability to wake up on any given day with an idea, put it on the internet and start making money.  You see, this is going to give you what I would like to call time freedom.  It is going to give you the ability to live your life the way you want to at any given day.  It’s going to allow you to give the family, the best lifestyle or fulfill your own personal wants and dreams.

You see, you’re going to have a business now that works for you with a marketing plan that is going to sift and sort your customers automatically, 24 hours a day doing the selling and telling.  You’re going to have the ability to give your customer’s real time the information they need to make buying decisions.  Now, you need to ask yourself one quick question before we continue.  What are you waiting for?

Go Get Your Success…Why Not Do It Right Now?

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This is a true story about how I started my day….

I’ve been a home business owner for over 11 years now.  And it’s days like today when I am truly greatful for the fact I’m an entrepreneur.  For those who have been to my blog or websites, you may have noticed in my videos I have a pueblo style home.  While it’s not unusual here in Corrales, New Mexico, to have a pueblo style home – but this type of home has a flat roof, that can be a handful.

My brain turned on about 5 am that morning and for once, I decided to fight it.  The clouds from the storm that blew in the night before had kept the morning unusually dark.  I had worked late the night before, so I figured I could take an hour for myself.

I did manage to fight it until I saw daylight begin to peer though the window, and could not stay in bed any longer.  After getting up, I made my way toward the kitchen.  As I passed through the vestibule, I felt something graze my arm.  I looked over my shoulder to see what the pale morning light would reveal, but to my surprise was there was no explanation to what I had felt.  So I looked directly up – just in time to be hit by 3 drops of water!

LEAKING ROOF – Film at Eleven!!!

Knowing the coffee was going to have to wait, I did an about face back to the bedroom.

Remember, I did not want to get out of bed, much less climb a ladder in the morning twilight to fix a leaking roof, but I had to.  Sure, I could get a bucket and let it leak while waiting for a repair service to come, but I would risk major damage by not handling the situation right then.

Now, you may be thinking, “Matthew, fixing a leaky roof has what to do with my home business?”  I want you to think about what I just told you…

I didn’t want to fix my roof, I had to.

How much do you really want to change your life?  Imagine what your new life will look like when you have achieved success with your home business.  Do you want what you see?  Are you willing to work for it?

Just think how much we could accomplish if we channeled that type of focus into your personal and business lives when our backs are not against the wall.

What does this have to do with your home business?

If you WANT TO have a successful business, you HAVE TO do the work.  We all have that little distraction thrown at us called life.  You will do in life what you want to, but things you really want, your going have to work for.

Yes, it is that simple.

Your Success Is Out There… Go Get It.

Matthew Kominiak

P.S. – I’m sure that as my neighbors drove by this morning, some thought “Poor Matthew”.  Others may have let out a chuckle “Better Him Then Me”.  I just watched as they all started their daily grind.  Soaked by the rain, I could not help but smile.  In five minutes I would be done.  I would be down the ladder, inside having a cup of coffee with my wife…living life on my terms!

Why…Because I want to.

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Sounds kind of funny doesn’t it.  But it is true.  I have a chin that is prone to me nicking it when I shave.  I don’t know why, but I will say I have not done a lot of chin research to figure this issue out.  I just deal with the goal of not cutting myself shaving every morning.  I would say I’m more focused during those five seconds of shaving my chin than the rest of the 23 hours 59 minutes and 55 seconds of my day.  Alright I’m stretching this a little,  but  I  really have to  focus in on what I’m doing or my chin looks like it was hit with a bunch of spit wads.

 So what does this have to do with business?  Well everything. This is Goal Setting 101.  Realistic goals are essential to the overall plan.  If your daily goals are unrealistic, how do you honestly expect to reach the end goal?  I’m not saying you should not make goals, but if your goal is to  make $25,000.00 in the next thirty days with your home business and you are only going to work your business 30 minutes a day, you have a major goal disconnect there.  The only business plan this type of goal is good for is trying to win the lottery and the end result is just about as successful.  Be true to yourself, but also be realistic.  You can build a very successful online home business by working a few hours a day, but you need to have self discipline. 

One of the best things I ever trained myself to do is write down my daily goals the night before.  I have a dry eraser board I write my goals on, you have seen it in one of my videos.  When I am done with a goal, I get up and draw a line through it.  We all know how good it feels to complete a goal.

It is important for you to know 2 things: 

1. I don’t list shaving (Just Kidding) but seriously, I don’t.
2. None of these goals are the end all be all of my business.

My day to day goals are the fundamental tasks that MUST be done in order to meet the mid & long-term goals.   I like to call my daily goals my “Money Making Goals”.  All these daily goals give you the ability to build your business and keep taking it to the next level. 

What goals should you be setting?  Well most people start “Part Time” with their home business and a good rule of thumb is to plan goals based on the time you are going to allocate to your business.  So first, decide how long you’re going to work on your business each day (FYI-30 Minutes to an hour isn’t going to cut it) by planning your time at the week level.  Take your time and take six hours off, this is going to be for the weekend.  Take the remaining hours and divide by 5 for your daily business time, and if you only have 1 hour per day then your need to add at least thirty minutes (an extra hour would be better).  Now take your 6 weekend hours and split them up as your schedule allows. 

OK, we have our daily time allowance set up, now we need to focus on what you’re going to be doing.  You want to try for a good daily balance of tasks so you will not be focused on just one goal.  In the beginning, though, you need to spend more time on marketing.  For each day, schedule some time for each goal you need out of the allotted time.  Write down the goal and the times you are going to spend on them.  If you’re not sure on how long it is going to take, its best to give more time and adjust as needed.  Think of it as soup, just season to taste.  The highest priorities are on top and to give you some variety, don’t just keep copying the same goals every day.  The point of this is to keep you moving to your end goal, success and financial freedom.

Remember, when you’re beginning any venture in business or in life, it will always be the daily goals that will accomplish the end goal.  Focus on these and your success will come.  I spend every morning fighting the good fight, but I don’t always win.  This was the case this morning and the inspiration for this post, so I will leave you will this last thought:

Plan Your Goals Like You Shave – Carefully! :0)

Have fun and remember success is not an event but a process.

Matthew Kominiak

*Matthew Kominiak is a Self Made Millionaire and Home Business Expert.  He left his traditional business model to leverage the power of the internet.  In a short time with no experience, Matthew was able to build a thriving online marketing business that works for him.  His mission is to teach others the very same techniques he uses every day to build up a healthy and wealthy lifestyle.  To learn about the systems Matthew uses and how he can mentor you to achieve the life you want, submit your name and email on the top right and begin your journey today!

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