Press Play

Why your business needs an e-Newsletter

e-Newsletters are key to attracting new advertisers. Through your e-Newsletter you can push relevant information and have immediate impact. Learn how to create a successful e-Newsletter while gaining profit.

The Good News

35% of your online revenue is going to come from your e-Newsletter. The letters are very easy to sell. Advertisers already understand how email works overall and will not be confused on what to do. Plus, sending out information about new products gets advertisers excited. Use fliers or postcards to promote your e-Newsletters, then use your e-Newsletter to promote your magazine.

Gathering e-Mails

It is important to remember that your only going to be as successful if you are committed to your company and you want to expand and bring in more revenue. Your company should gather e-Mails and send out surveys to those on the list to help gather new information. Giving incentives to signing up is always the most effective way to do this. 

An interesting way not to lose customers is to hold “contests” once a month where your subscribers can win prizes just for receiving your email. Remember, if someone is constantly subscribing it means they are very interested in what your company has to offer. Make sure to incorporate social media into your contests as well. Social media will help your e-Newsletter content reach more people.

Use a Top Tier Collection System

Cheap is not always better. You want a provider that is going to give you at least a 90% response from your audience. You do not want a provider that is going to be spamming your subscribers because they will unsubscribe.

Double Opt-In

Some people are skeptic whether they should give the option of opting-in twice to subscribe. It is a great idea. When you ask someone for permission two times if they are sure they want to receive your e-Newsletter, they are obviously interested in your content.

The Rule of 3

Everything in life happens in three degrees. We live in a 3D world, there are 3 legs on a stool. Why should e-Mails be any different? Break your e-Mails into 3 lists, send one e-Mail to each subscriber per month. It is very important to make sure that all 3 emails are 100% of the same niche and have the same topic. Brainstorm about what each e-Mail should be about that will not lose subscribers. Have an e-Newsletter that talks about “New Services” and one about “New Products.” The best part about these 2 letters is that the advertiser will provide most of the information and you do not need to be looking for someone to write the content.  

Press Releases

How many press releases do you get in a 30 day period? I typically receive about 35-40 press releases from various magazines each of which have a new product and want you to put them in their press release. These types of people are prime for e-Newsletter, you can add them to the “New Product” e-Mail and charge them a fee. Most advertisers will do this because they want their product out there immediately.  

e-Newsletter Calendar

Create a calendar. Brainstorm the topics. Set a goal of three. Assign who is going to collect all of this information. Remember to know all of your numbers and who your content is reaching because every prospective advertiser will ask you this.   

Ryan Dohrn, CEO of Brain Swell Media LLC

Ryan Dohrn is an Emmy award winning TV producer, has overseen over 3,000 Web site builds, is a nationally acclaimed speaker, has been featured in USA Today, on ABC, CBS and FOX TV stations, on Forbes.com and has personally impacted millions of dollars in online and related media revenues for media companies large and small.

In part one of this series, we discussed “DISCIPLINE,” in part two we discussed “TECHNOLOGY,” and in part three we discussed “CORRECTIVE ACTION” as three critical “key indicators” that your printer’s quality program is alive and well.  In part four, we will discuss the fourth factor, “EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT.”

The fuel that drives every continuous improvement methodology is IDEAS!  Without ideas (and lots of them) the best intended programs will come to a screeching halt.  You need ideas at every level and every area of your operation to be successful.   You need ideas born out of frustration, or customer concerns, or “ah- ha moments,” or brainstorming sessions, etc. It doesn’t matter how you get them… the key is to create a culture where IDEAS flow in abundance.

Here are some things to look for to determine if your prospective printer has the culture and process in place for generating improvement ideas:

Ask to see the process they have in place to capture and track continuous improvement ideas.

Since the “experts” are the people who do the work, look for ideas coming from every area of the operation.  What percentage of their team members submitted ideas in the last quarter?  (Active programs should be well over 50%. I’ve seen programs over 90%)

Look to see how the ideas are being handled.

Is there an efficient process in place to evaluate and follow-up on every idea?  What’s the percentage of ideas being implemented? 

Ask how they motivate team members to submit ideas and participate in continuous improvement? 

Is there “gainsharing plan” or some sort of reward system for ideas that are implemented?  If they have a plan in place… they will be pleased you asked and more than happy to talk about it!

Without exception, if an operation is not generating a lot of ideas from the “experts,” real continuous improvement will not take place.  If you find your prospective printer is lacking in the areas of generating, capturing, tracking, and implementing IDEAS from every area of the operation… you have very good reason to question any quality program they claim to have in place.

FOR MORE HELPFUL BLOGS FOLLOW THE LINKS:

WHICH MAGAZINE PRINTERS ARE THE BEST QUALITY PRINTERS? PART 1

WHICH MAGAZINE PRINTERS ARE THE BEST QUALITY PRINTERS? PART 2

WHICH MAGAZINE PRINTERS ARE THE BEST QUALITY PRINTERS? PART 3

I’ve had the opportunity to manage in seven different printing facilities, with four different companies (and I can assure you) occasionally, every printer will “drop-the-ball” on quality and give you a reason to voice a “quality concern.”  When you raise the concern, this actually gives your printer an opportunity to first: show their integrity as a business partner, and secondly: implement their process of CORRECTIVE ACTION.

Here are the key elements of an effective and efficient Corrective Action Process that you should expect from your printer:

1) Point of contact to address any concern

You should only need to call or email your printer one time to address a concern and receive a follow-up.  If you have to do this more than one time (from concern to resolution) their process is not working!  (As a side note, printers that are truly focused on quality and continuous improvement, actually WANT AND NEED you to call with any concern, they view this as a key trigger event and opportunity for improvement.)

2)Quick Response

You should receive a response within 24 hours at the latest.  Best in class printers strive to have a response back to you within 4-8 hours.

3)Detailed Information

The response should include the following:

A) Root cause of the concern: details of what happened.

B) Quantifiable data concerning how many pieces were affected using quality time-pulls from manufacturing, house samples, file review, etc.

C) Resolution of the concern.  This is where your printer’s integrity comes into play; do they step up and admit their mistakes?  Do they offer fair compensation in terms of a credit, reprint, make-good on the next issue, etc.  If you feel like you have to fight for what is “fair,” you may have the wrong printing partner.  On the other side of the coin, I’ve witnessed clients that view a printer mistake as an opportunity to be “punitive” and try to take advantage of the situation.  A true partnership strives to find a win-win resolution!  

Continuous Improvement plan to prevent, or at least minimize this concern in the future.  If your printer needs to address the same concern more than one time, two things could be happening; they either do not have a viable process of continuous improvement, or they lack the discipline that we discussed in the first part of this series. Both are unacceptable.

In summary, every printer makes mistakes, you can count on that.  Printers that are serious about quality and continuous improvement, have an efficient and effective CORRECTION ACTION PROCESS.  They view concerns as opportunities to get better every day in meeting your expectations.  During your initial plant tour, ask your prospective printer to tell you in detail about their CORRECTION ACTION PROCESS. Let them walk you through the entire process of what happens when you have your first concern.

FOR MORE HELPFUL BLOGS FOLLOW THE LINKS:

WHICH MAGAZINE PRINTERS ARE THE BEST QUALITY PRINTERS PART 1

WHICH MAGAZINE PRINTERS ARE THE BEST QUALITY PRINTERS PART 2

PRICING STRATEGIES FOR REVENUE SUCCESS  

Tools To Help Magazine Publishers: Listening and Building Your Social Network

It is important that you set up listening posts such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and Google Alerts.

There are many Google tools to help expand your business. Google External Tool is a free keyword tool thats available so you can see what key words people are searching about your business. This is great to focus on future opportunities. Once you find what the biggest key words are you can use Google Alerts to track them. You can then use Google Indexing and get alerts for when people are using that key word.

Google Alerts

This is a great tool to listen to what relevant content people are talking about, to listen for story ideas and to help build your influencer list. After finding the biggest key words that people are searching for you can use Google Insights for tracking them. This tool helps you see what opportunities are available through line graphs for each key word. Each line graph can be considered as a trend to look at what people are searching most of at that time. 

Tweetdeck

A Twitter management tool. This tool is important because you can follow key words, hashtags, your brand names, see what people are sharing and any influencers.

Twitter

Use WWW.Twitter.com/search as an advanced search tool. This site allows you to search a hash tag, near a certain area (area code) and the radius of how far they are from your current location.

Where Are Your Customers Hanging Out?

Target the top 10-15 blogs/websites in your niche. After doing this make sure to learn how to create a target hit list. Read their content and get active with they are talking about and make sure to reply to them using Twitter and Facebook. Get on their radar to build relationships with them.

Where are Your Customers?

They are on Linked-In, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, and Twitter. Use them as a spring board to see what they are saying.

Social Media

Always make sure your content is sharable in social media websites. Adding a sharing button to your page is great to help expand your reach.

Social Media 4-1-1

There are 4 influencer bases: Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, and Google Plus. (1) Share the position yourself. And lastly (1) tell prospectives to sign up for your newsletter as a sales pitch. This is a great way to build your influencer.

Twitter

When you are on Twitter make sure to mention everyone and reply to them to know your there. It would be smart to have someone do this full time.

Twitter To-Do’s

- Tip 1: Try not to answer the question what are you doing, answer more than that.

- Tip 2: Make sure to be democratic. Mix in other content not just your own. And mention (@) them so they know you notified them.

- Tip 3: Listen, Listen, Listen to what people are saying about your company.

- Tip 4: Use a management system like Tweet deck, Hoot suite, etc.

- Tip 5: Add social media sharing buttons on your pages.

- Tip 6: Update your Facebook profile to the new timeline, this is a great way to advertise in a whole new way.

Influencers

Have your influencers create content and work with your editors for your site, this helps create long term followers. This also helps build relationships with them and they can then share the content with their audience, thus expanding your audience capture.

In-Summary

- Build your influencer base with the right people to build business goals.

- Make sure to have dedicated resources.

- Remember this is not an option anymore.

Expert bio:

Joe Pulizzi founder of Junta 42,

A content marketing evangelist and passionate about the color orange, Joe Pulizzi is one of the leading thought leaders behind the content marketing and social media movement.

http://joepulizzi.com/

Here Are Some More Helpful Hints:

Social Media Marketing and Twitter 

Twitter and Facebook Tools 

Appeal to the Appropriate Audience

You can’t appeal to every person, but carefully understanding all the demographics and psychographics of your audience can help expand your reach. Creating profiles on your spectators is very effective.

Look Professional

Any type of design is crucial for your company, and there are many factors to consider. A main one being proper color schemes; colors can help to create effective postcards. It can be difficult to create a well designed postcard with so little time on your hands, but the outcome of this is beneficial. Remember, always dress to impress.

Make Sure to Have A Sufficient Amount of Info

Having enough marketing content to communicate your message with the smallest word count is best. Remember language is written in the 9th grade level, it seems to be the most effective with audiences everywhere. Using simple words that do not over whelm your readers is what you need to shoot for.

Where Can People Reach You?

Having all of your contact information on your post card is the best way to tell your audience when, where and how to reach you. Contact information such as phone numbers, emails, Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, key websites can give your audience different marketing channels to reach you and your company.

Constantly Communicate with Your Audience

If it works well, use it again. Mailing your customers only once is not going to reach them completely. Have a set pattern of when you send your postcards. With little investment in this, your company can go a long way, there are many printing methods for postcards done today that are cost efficient and easy to use.

Using the above general guidelines can help you to create the most enticing postcard; remember you are the professional and people look up to you for your services. Effective marketing will result in better results.

You are a Graphic Designer if…

1. You’ve almost rear-ended the car in front of you because you were analyzing a font on a billboard. (This happens to me a lot.)

2. You’d rather study the paisley pattern on your boyfriend/girlfriend’s shirt than listen to what he/she has to say.

3. You consider meals interruptions. (If a meal contains bacon, I consider it a reward.)

4. You’ve learned your lesson and stopped using the word “final” in any file name when saving.

5. You clean your keyboard more often than you wash your car. (I have not washed my car in two years.)

6. You’ve intentionally given up trying to explain your projects to non-designers.

7. When you heard that Adobe was acquiring Macromedia, you actually shivered. (I was afraid adobe would ruin Flash.)

8. You’ve actually paid for a font. (I bought two more this week.)

9. You’ve totally slaughtered a great design concept because the client thinks he/she knows best. (Everyone thinks they are a designer.)

10. You can’t go to a restaurant without secretly critiquing the menu design.

Bonus: You have an amazingly huge font collection, and an amazingly short temper.

The Unspoken Rules of Graphic Design…

1. Your fonts will default to the worst possible font available on the machine you are showing your work on. (This just happened this week.)

2. If you have two versions of a photo, the wrong one will make its way to the printer.

3. The less time you have the more useless your computer will become.

4. If the text consists of two words, one will be misspelled.

5. Speed. Quality. Affordability. Pick any two.

6. If three designs are shown to a client, your least favorite will be chosen or any combination of worst components of each.

7. If two designs are shown, a third will be requested. If provided, then one of the first two will be chosen.

8. If you ask for more copy it will be sent as a .jpg. If you ask for images they will send powerpoint presentations.

9. Clients don’t have their company logo in a usable print ready format so don’t bother asking.

10. Blue line proofs reveal previously invisible errors.

11. The best designs never survive contact with the client.

12. Doctors, astronauts, and plumbers need training to do their jobs, but anyone with a computer is a graphic designer.

13. Your client will often not like your design but not quite know why.

14. Computer crashes always happen exactly 30 seconds before saving.

15. A client who knows exactly what he wants is worse than one that has no idea.

I know a lot of these are old but they still made me laugh. Some jokes never seem to get old. My favorite is “…anyone with a computer is a graphic designer.” Let me know what your favorite one is and/or if you know any more you would like to share.

1. Magazine Audiences are Growing and Young Adults Read Heavily

The number of magazine readers has grown more than 4% over the past five years. In fact, 93% of adults overall and 96% of adults under age 35 read magazines. Magazine audiences are growing at a fast rate, second to the internet across all groups. Reading a magazine is an intimate, involving experience, which is one reason the average reader spends 43 minutes reading each issue. An analysis of MRI data demonstrates that adults under 35 years old read more issues per month than adults who are over 35. Did you know that adults 18 – 34 are more likely to be in the top quintile of magazine readership—the most avid or “heaviest” readers overall. 

Source:  http://www.magazine.org/ASSETS/5EAC524003A54698B5F6EE2A9099157A/2010-11-MPA-Handbook.pdf. (pages 7-8).

2. Magazines Engage and Inspire Their Readers

PPA commissioned a report from the Henley Centre which shows that magazines play several different roles in engaging readers:

-As a trusted friend

-As a bridge to interaction and participation in communities of interest

-As a spur to inspiration

-Guidance and life management

- As a symbol of status

Magazines open your mind a little bit more, because you are thinking and you get the ideas – and if the article is really interesting, you ask yourself questions as you are reading it.

Source:  http://www.bauer.co.uk/sites/default/files/10%20Reasons%20to%20Advertise%20with%20magazines.pdf

3. Magazine Audiences are Expanding Across Platforms

The number of magazine websites and mobile apps is increasing, e-readers are projected to grow rapidly — and consumers want to see magazine content on them. Two separate sources show consumers’ interest in reading across platforms. Among current subscribers, more than half chose to renew with a digital product. Among non-subscribers, nearly 40% chose an offer including print. 87% of those interested in reading magazines on a digital device still want a printed copy. The number of consumer magazine websites has increased nearly 50% since 2006, extending the reach and influence of magazines’ editorial and advertising messages to an even wider audience. Also, a combination of magazines and the web is the best way to target mobile action-takers.

Source:  http://www.magazine.org/ASSETS/5EAC524003A54698B5F6EE2A9099157A/2010-11-MPA-Handbook.pdf. (pages 20, 23, & 44).

4. Magazines are an Actively Consumed Medium that can Capture the Mood of Their Readers 

There are two key aspects that contribute to how different media channels work:

-Control: the extent to which an audience can choose to pay attention to the advertising

-Mood: the mindset with which an audience approaches the media

Magazines are actively consumed by their readers, unlike TV, which is usually more passively consumed, and they are approached with an active and goal seeking mindset (a ‘leaning forward’ mindset.)

Readers give commitment to their magazines. This means that readers engage with magazine advertising in a highly receptive and less distracted frame of mind.

More than 90% of all pages are opened by the typical reader, and the average page in a paid-for magazine is looked at 2.5 times by each reader.

Source:  http://www.bauer.co.uk/sites/default/files/10%20Reasons%20to%20Advertise%20with%20magazines.pdf

5. Magazine Advertising Gets Consumers to Act

Two separate sources show that more than half of all readers (56%) act on magazine ads. And, action-taking has increased +10% in the last five years. Advertising recall — a measure of ad effectiveness for magazines — has grown 13 percent over the last five years. Actions-taken based on readers recalling specific ads is also strong, with an increase of 10 percent since 2005, according to Affinity’s VISTA Print Effectiveness Rating Service. Two separate sources show that more than 50% of readers recall magazine ads and nearly 60% of those consumers act on the ads.

Research shows that magazine advertising is most likely to be used as a buying guide than any other media. Magazine advertising is, therefore, most useful in generating purchase consideration.

Sources: 

 http://www.magazine.org/ASSETS/5EAC524003A54698B5F6EE2A9099157A/2010-11-MPA-Handbook.pdf. (pages 30 & 75)

http://www.bauer.co.uk/sites/default/files/10%20Reasons%20to%20Advertise%20with%20magazines.pdf

6. Magazines Improve Advertising ROI

Based on analyses of client-commissioned cross-media accountability studies, two separate sources found that magazines most consistently generate a favorable cost-per-impact throughout the purchase funnel. When analyzing ROI across 38 cross-media accountability studies, Marketing Evolution found:

-TV led in cost efficiency for brand awareness with magazines a close second.

-Magazines generated a superior cost-per-impact for brand familiarity with TV and online performing at almost double magazines’ CPI.

-For purchase intent magazines yielded a far more efficient cost per impact than TV or online.

Across categories studied, magazines outperformed TV and online when looking at the #1 ranking as well as the combined ranking for #1 and 2. Categories include auto, electronics, entertainment, and healthcare DTC. Magazines provide more “bang for the buck.” When looking at how each medium alone affected purchase intent, magazines increased purchase intent five times as much as TV or the internet. Magazines were the only medium to be ranked as most efficient at each stage of the purchase funnel, when media alone or in combination with other media were assessed.

Based on a recent analysis of cross-media accountability studies, Marketing Evolution found magazines most consistently generate a favorable cost per impact throughout the purchase funnel. Multiple studies confirm that allocating more money to magazines in the media mix improves marketing and advertising ROI across a broad range of product categories.

Sources:

http://www.remnantmedianetwork.com/remnant-services/print-advertising/

http://www.mactech.com/advertising/reason_to_advertise.html

http://www.magazine.org/ASSETS/5EAC524003A54698B5F6EE2A9099157A/2010-11-MPA-Handbook.pdf. (pages 36 & 37)

7. Magazines Contribute Most Throughout the Purchase Funnel

Magazines are the most consistent performer in the purchase funnel with particular strength in the key stages of brand favorability and purchase intent. Through all stages of the purchase funnel magazines performed most consistently with significant lift at each of the five stages. Among consumers with opportunity to see all three media, magazines were the only medium to contribute one-third or more to the total point change at every stage of the purchase funnel.

Source: http://www.magazine.org/ASSETS/5EAC524003A54698B5F6EE2A9099157A/2010-11-MPA-Handbook.pdf  (page 35)

8. Magazine Advertising is Considered Valuable Content

Starcom found that when readers were asked to pull ten pages that best demonstrate the essence of their favorite magazines, three out of ten of the pages pulled were ads. Their findings reinforced the Northwestern University Magazine Reader Experience Study’s results, in which advertising-related experiences increased magazine usage.

Consumers value print and magazine advertising, according to numerous studies. Yankelovich and Dynamic Logic both report that consumers are more likely to have a positive attitude toward advertising in magazines compared to other media. In addition, consumers are more likely to turn to magazines in search for information across a variety of categories compared to the internet, based on research from MediaVest.

Sources: 

http://www.mactech.com/advertising/reason_to_advertise.html

http://www.remnantmedianetwork.com/remnant-services/print-advertising/

9. Magazines Spur Web Traffic and Search

BIGresearch proves that magazines lead other media in influencing consumers to start a search for merchandise online, ranking at or near the top by gender as well as across all age groups. In addition, magazine ads boost web traffic, and magazine readers are more likely than non-readers to buy online. Magazines excel in driving web search across various demographics and perform best overall at influencing consumers to start a search for merchandise online —ahead of online media and word-of-mouth.  What’s more, magazines are the only medium to fall within the top three media across all age groups and both genders.

Source: http://www.magazine.org/ASSETS/5EAC524003A54698B5F6EE2A9099157A/2010-11-MPA-Handbook.pdf  (pages 41 & 43)

10. Magazines Play a Key Role in Lifting Purchase 

Recent US research cited by MPA shows the best campaign results were achieved when using media synergistically and when including magazines in the mix. Magazines were the most consistent performers throughout the purchase funnel, producing positive results in the most campaigns. Factors that may have contributed to magazines’ strong performance include: targeting, engagement, audience quality, and good creative.

Source: http://www.bauer.co.uk/sites/default/files/10%20Reasons%20to%20Advertise%20with%20magazines.pdf

Watch this video on YouTube.

Business Insider shared one of this years most creative and funniest ad campaigns.

[Business Insider] Earlier this week new startup Dollar Shave Club launched.

It’s based on a simple premise: For a dollar a month you can get five dual-blade razor cartridges. It offers other plans at slightly higher prices, but the dollar plan is its main hook. It’s a nice way to save money on the overpriced razor blades offered by Gillette and Schick.

As soon as we heard about it, a few of the men in our office signed up. Our office wasn’t alone.

The company’s CEO, Michael Dubin, says it got 5,000 subscribers on day one. Since launch it’s added 12,000 subscribers.

We got on the phone with Dubin yesterday to talk about how he’s going to make money selling cheap razors.

Before you read the interview, you should watch this promo video. It’s funny, and it’s a big part of the brand’s plans for marketing. The video debuted on Tuesday and it already has 2 million views.

Press Play

Click here to watch the free webinar.

Some questions are more valuable than others… and some are very weak. Take advantage of questions’ power. In this program, you discover simple tactics (isn’t it great to have simple sales tactics?!) that will help you make sales more easily.

In this free webinar from our Business Booster Webinar Series you will discover questions that stop the sales process fast. Questions that are answered with “Yes” or “No” will stall sales.

These types of questions, also known as throw away openers, start with:

- IS
- DO
- CAN
- ARE
- WILL

Some examples of these throw away openers are…

- “Is that OK?”
- “Do you want to go ahead?”
- “Can we start now?”
- “Are you happy with your current supplier?”
- “Will you be ready…?”

All of these questions lead to dead end answers: Yes or No. Now what? Now, you have to ask another question. You may as well start with a question that will get you further in to the process.

Ask questions that get you lots of information. Start with questions that advance the sales process. Ask questions that force your customers to elaborate.
- WHO
- WHAT
- WHEN
- WHERE
- WHY
- HOW

Some examples of these explorative questions are…
- “Who makes your buying decisions?”
- “What are your major challenges?”
- “When do you plan your budget?”
- “Where are you currently advertising?”
- “Why have you chosen to use that media?”
- “How can a media company serve you better?”

Next, learn to ask questions that get agreement on your top benefits. No one wants to be told anything. But, if they tell you, it must be so. If you tell them, it’s dubious. You are trying to sell them something.

Your goal is, to get the buyer to tell you what you wanted to tell them. Sounds tricky. This can be accomplished with subtle differences in your approach and can you get you tremendous results.

Use leading questions…

- “How important is it for you to reach the decision makers in your industry?”
- “How much would your business grow if you reached the key decision makers in your industry?”

Now they are ready to hear your solutions.

For more great webinars from Jenae Rubin, visit www.StressFreeSelling.com/Shweiki.html

MEET OUR EXPERT:

1. The Ultimate Goal as a Publisher

The ultimate goal as a publisher is to be the trusted source in your niche. It is important to be wherever your customers are, like Twitter. Using Twitter adds more of your content to the internet, and (from a sharing stand point) the more connections you can have. By using Twitter as part of your content, you widen your reach and can create a bigger online footprint.

2. You Need to Become the Magnet using Twitter

There are many social networking sites out there, each of which are constantly competing for sharing the most content. According to a new study, surveying over 1000 business marketers, 55% of media sites use Twitter to distribute content. Customers are having conversations via Twitter, and they are using Twitter as a powerful listening tool.

3. What is Twitter?

Like any other social media website, Twitter is a powerful tool. Messages on Twitter are referred to as “Tweets,” which are 140 characters or less. Tweets are like text messages that are sent to everyone who follows you. Anybody can follow you on Twitter, and you can follow anyone as well. You do not necessarily  need to follow each other to see each others content. Twitter also allows you to make “Lists” where you can group people together with the same niche. A handy note to be aware of is that Twitter automatically shortens any links you may add to your tweet, giving it more room to add in more content.

4. Why You Should Use Twitter for Your Business

The main reason you need to use Twitter for your business is because your readers are already on there. You can use the search bar to see who is talking about you/your company in real time, getting feedback from your followers/fans instanatenously. You can also search topics that interest you and see what everyone around the world is saying about it. Twitter is famous for “Re-Tweeting,” this is when someone forwards your tweet to all of their friends, which they can then retweet to their friends and so on. This maximizes your message, making it a further reach to areas that you would not be able to reach otherwise. There are many excuses why companies feel they do not need to be on Twitter,  but if they want to reach a wider audience more effectively they need to hop on the bandwagon as soon as possible.

5. Successful Twitter Tactics

Most companies are already using Twitter to listen to their customers and are paying attention to what they are saying. You can say that focus groups are becoming less relevant thanks to the instant feedback Twitter gives off. You need to use social media integration in everything that you do because people reach their content in many different ways.

6. How To Create a Twitter Profile 

Firstly, make sure to add an appropriate picture of yourself, head shots preferably. Create your Twitter identity for yourself and not just for your publisher. A useful tool would be to have everyone you work with have a similar display name. Most importantly, don’t forget to add a link to your website and an appropriate bio of who you are and what you do. Here are seven ways to optimize your Twitter search. 

7. What is Tweetdeck? 

After making a profile, make sure to download Tweetdeck, a simple app the organizes all of your Twitter content in one. Tweetdeck has three columns: the left column displays all the tweets in your newsfeed, the middle column is where you can search a key word and see what people are saying on that topic, and the right column shows everyone who is talking about you.

8. What Are #Hashtags? 

Hashtags is the way Twitter organizes different categories and topics (the middle column in Tweetdeck is where you would see these.) It is important to use relevant, valuable hashtags that way you can increase your Twitter follower count and make it easier for people under the same niche to find you.

9. Twitter Do Nots

Do not constantly Tweet about yourself, make sure to talk about interesting topics and actually have conversations with your followers to make yourself seem more real. Don’t mistake a tweet with a direct message because then only the person you send it to ( or vice versa) will be the only one to see it. Always incorporate your reply to someone with the proper wording, restate what that tweet is about rather than simply replying with a  cliche status. Lastly, do not set up auto-direct messages, because it looks like spam and is not one to one reachability.

Meet today’s expert, Joe Pulizzi founder of Junta 42, Content Marketing Evangelist Speaker, Author, Coach and Entrepreneur.

HERE ARE SOME MORE HELPFUL HINTS FOR YOUR BUSINESS:

HOW TO USE TWITTER 

TWITTER AND FACEBOOK TOOLS  

MOBILE SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR YOUR BUSINESS