If you’re not sure what Twitter is, Where have you been! Ashton Kutcher has been all over the news, as he has just beaten CNN to be the first person to have 1,000,000 followers on Twitter. Oprah has just joined and has over 400,000 followers in a few days! Twitter is classed as the new Facebook, you wont be able to have a normal conversion soon without utilising the words twitter somewhere!

Twitter by definition is a micro-blogging platform. It is classed as social media.

Twitter is a web-based application that allows you to write about what you are doing, thinking, reading, writing. You can write about anything as long as it is under 140 characters. Twitter is not only about sharing information, it is also a tool for learning and keeping up with the news. One of the major advantages of twitter is the fact that you can follow people, or in reverse have people follow you. To follow a person means that every time they do an update, you can automatically read it in your twitter account. Its like your own newspapaer for what is going on.

For example you can follow the most influencial persons in your market place and when they are doing updates all day about news, products, services, information and research it means instead of having to go out to look for this information every day it is getting delivered into your twitter account. Not only that but it’s in real time, you don’t have to wait to hear the news, in most cases you will get it first on twitter!

To follow us on twitter visit my twitter page

twitter

Now you have an idea of what twitter is, lets look at outside of keeping updated with news, products and social media where can this fit in with your current business and how can you make money from it.

Customer Retention – One of the major parts of any marketing plan is your customer retention process. A key aspect of that process should be contact with your customers, twitter allows you to stay connected with ease. Instead of writing a long winded newsletter, blog post or email you can write a short 140 character note. Here are a few quick tips on how to use twitter for customer retention:

* @ Reply to a client after your latest call with them
* Feed your twitter account into your website/blog to give the appearance of an active site
* Share snippets of information and news to create the teacher/student relationship

Customer Acquisition – There are many ways that twitter can be used to gain customers and increase sales, lets just look at building a twitter database. There are two key strategies to building a list with twitter:

* Follow Me Follow You – This is a much debated list building strategy where you go out and follow hundreds if not thousands of people in your industry. For example, I could go out and follow 1000 people (e.g. Internet Marketing gurus) , then in return a percentage of these people will follow you.
* Trends and Trending – One of the more advanced parts of twitter is that it can show you keywords that are trending and you can also create a trending keyword. A trending keyword is one that is being typed into twitter updates a lot, which means people are interested in hearing about. If you include these trending keywords in your twitter update, people can pick up on that and follow you.

Now those are just the basics of twitter, check out our blog during the month of May for more strategies using Twitter.

ACTION STEP: Visit Twitter, create an account, visit my twitter page and hit the ‘Follow’ button under my name.

Love life, not just the weekends. You only have one life, Live It! @ www.NicciAndLee.com

Today we’d thought we’d share a story we heard recently…

…It’s about a young university dropout called Shaun Stenning, who got so fed up with the gap between uni and business that together with one of his friends he decided to start his own uni… called Geekversity!

You see Shaun and his friend are both highly successful internet marketers and they’re passionate about helping others achieve the success and lifestyle that they personally enjoy.

So, right now they’re offering you the chance to come along to their event where they will show you how to:

Rank on the Google home page in under 24hrs

Build a website and market a product for FREE in just 30 minutes

Access internet traffic at a fraction of the cost that others pay

Make money even without having your own website

Maximise online earnings with proven website structures and colours

Access proven email marketing strategies and much more!

Now, if you’re someone who’s not overly technical, don’t let that stop you. You see, Shaun prides himself on catering to everyone from complete internet newbies to people who already have their own online business and want to maximise their results.

We wish you all the best for your internet success!

Nicci And Lee
One Step Closer Entrepreneurs

P.S. When you attend Geekversity you’ll also receive stacks of bonus gifts to get you started that very same evening. Make sure you visit the link below today
and claim your free ticket:

Think musical chairs - don’t be the person who has over-extended himself so much that when the music stops, he’s one of the ones left without a chair.”

Today’s crisis is much like 1987 and the dot-com bust. Financing got way ahead of reality and, as is always the case when such things happen, there was a retraction - and the retraction was painful.

You may be experiencing the effects of this merry-go-round personally. You may have family members who are experiencing it. You will certainly have customers and colleagues who are.

What should internet marketers do at a time like this?

Rule 1: Acknowledge reality

There is usually quite a bit of advance warning between the first signs of smoke and the undeniable reality that the house is on fire.

These things happen.

You should also acknowledge reality in your marketing. If your products are particularly good value, make sure you emphasize that. If you have a long track record of providing stable service in all kinds of markets, let your prospects know. Prospects want value for their money now

Rule 2: Cut waste and build reserves

Every household and every business has its extravagances and waste.

Now is not the time to take on big financial commitments in these very treacherous markets. One common area of waste in internet marketing is the less-than-rigorous management of AdWords campaigns. If you’re spending any amount of money on pay-per-click advertising, perhaps hire the services of a good AdWords consultant for an audit of your program.

It’s not at all unusual to discover that you’ve been wasting anywhere between 10% and 40% of your pay-per-click budget on non-productive ads.

Rule 3: Build closer relationships with your prospects

The standard internet business model is to drive people to a page and then offer them things to click on: AdSense ads, affiliate links or an order button.

Revenues are enhanced by experimenting with different content areas (for AdSense), promoters (for affiliate marketers) or different products (for marketers who sell direct.)

If that’s all you’re doing, you may be missing out on a huge piece of the internet marketing pie - creating targeted mailing lists.

You will make far more money, and have a much more stable business, if you create lots of targeted, high value, zero cost (free) virtual goodies to give away to your visitors in exchange for their name and e-mail address than if you don’t.

Put list building at the center of your strategy. It’s a tried and trusted approach, and in an environment in which customers are scarce, having a list of active buyers is as good as money in the bank.

Rule 4: Above all - value will be king

Fortunes are made in good times. They’re also made in “bad times”.

The fact is that many very successful businesses were started in the depths of the Great Depression.
To test this for yourself, google the phrases ’started in…’ and ‘founded in….’ and plug in the years of that period - 1930 to 1941. You’ll be amazed at how many household names got their start then.
The strange fact is that assuming you have great value to offer and are militant about efficiency and cutting out waste, ‘bad times’ are very good times to start or expand businesses.

Why is this a good time for business builders?
1. Even in the darkest times business goes on. People buy and sell. It never stops. Things never go to zero.
2. Costs are low. Media prices will go down. Rents will go down. There will be great deals on equipment. Talented people will be available for hire at reasonable prices.
3. Many of your competitors will fold - if not in practice, psychologically. They will attribute all their challenges to the ‘bad economy’ and give up, instead of actively seeking solutions and workarounds.
Entrepreneurs who use their minds - and their courage, not just their intellects - will find no shortage of opportunities in the coming months and years.

Warren Buffett “You only learn who has been swimming naked when the tide goes out.”

Love Life, not just the weekends. You only have one life, Live it @ www.NicciAndLee.com