Archive for Social Media
How to Schedule Future Tweets on Twitter
Posted by: | CommentsEvery now and then I get a great idea for a series of tweets on a specific topic related to my industry. Of course I don’t want to flood my followers with 10 tweets in a row, so the abiliaty to schedule future tweets comes in handy for anyone using twitter.
I have put together a list of services and programs that allow you to schedule future tweets on twitter. Some are free twitter schedulers and some a premium services allowing you to schedule your tweets and provide other options as well.
1) Twuffer A simple easy to use website for individual accounts. No sign up required.
2) Future Tweets: In beta and expected to always be in bets 
Shows the source of this Twitter update as “from FutureTweets” or not at all. Didn’t see a way to set a ‘custom’ note.
3) AutoTweeter. Desktop software only $20. A lightweight platform that runs on windows start up.
4) Tweet you later: Nice dashboard, easy to use, free auto twitter scheduling, lists your past and pending tweets, no need to enter your twitter account details (more secure).
5) Twaiter: Twitter url shortner, spell check (yeah!), follow management, multiple account option,
6) Schedule Twitter Posts: Free with a cap of one post every five hours.
7) HootSuite: All in one social media manager and twitter auto scheduler. Allows multiple accounts. Amazing amount of plugins and addons. Schedule tweets from yoru desk top or browser, even your i phone.
My top choices:
For those of you with one Twitter account to schedule future tweets on. I suggest Twaiter (with spell check). It’s simple and has the tools you need.
For those of you twitter geeks (like me) needing more – it’s all about HootSuite.
Managing multiple social media accounts
Posted by: | Comments
I received a note from the CEO of Postling (David Lifson) this morning via Linked In, inviting me to check out Postling as a means to manage my multiple Social Media accounts. At a quick glance Postling appears to be similar to Ping FM. The concept of Postling was born in June 2009 and the service is relatively new.
P{ostling is incredibly user friendly. The service is designed for those of us who may not be techy geeks but need a way to save the time of having to log onto five or more social media sites each day. The dashboard is clean and easy to navigate.
Postling allows you to;
- update your social media ’statuses’
- create a Blog Post
- upload an Image
- or share a link.
These are the four main actions of managing a Social Media account and for a small business owner really the only tools you need to jump into Social Media.
At this time Postling only allows you to link up the following Social Media accounts:
Facebook
Twitter
Blogs
Wordpress
Blogger
Tumblr
Typepad
Squarespace
Drupal
Photos
Flickr
I am hoping they will add bitly support and more of the social media networks I use on a regular basis. Especially Linked In (as it is an important network for small business owners), plurk, and indent.ca.
Try managing your social media accounts for free at Postling. Click Here
Before you pay a PR consultant
Posted by: | CommentsAs a blogger (yes, I have a ‘mom blog’) I receive daily ‘PR pitches’ from pr companies whose clients have paid them to promote their service to the Mom Blogger community. I decided to blog this afternoon to express a growing concern I have with PR companies offering their services online to promote a product or service online.
I can not help but wonder how some of these smaller PR firms stay in business. Their email write ups are fine, but they are agreeing to take money from a client whose Internet presence is well – horrid. Step 6 before steps 1-5 are done.
PR is about a clients reputation and sending out news releases to promote a site that looks as though it was created in 1999, does not brand the client in a positive way.
I feel the purpose of hiring New Media PR company is to help a client build their reputation online. A important part of that would be providing the feedback for necessary changes to their online presence before you launch any PR strategies.
Today I received a pitch for a children’s holiday book. The pitch was written and sent by a PR company for authors.
You have to remember that this pitch is being sent to a list of Internet Savvy mom bloggers who understand web 2.0 (they are bloggers!) From the email they are directed to a website that looks like it may have been put together by my 7 year old son in his elementary school computer center (which is NOT an exaggeration.)
I then went to the PR companies site and again saw a site that would have been a candidate for my webinar ‘Is your website a web 1.0 dinosaur’.
So here are some tips for PR people who may not be all that Internet saavy.
Before you start promoting a client online;
1) ensure they have an up to date website. Wordpress is free and a well designed SEO business site can be completed for about $500.
2) Ensure your clients are up to date on social media concepts and using social media. $300 US will get them up and launched across over 200 social media sites.
3) Launch your PR strategies to point back to landing page on your clients site -(or your website) specific to the offer you are promoting. Include an online form for more details, a place to download creative, press releases, media tools (including HIGH res images) and your full contact details as the PR rep.
If you need help finding affordable Social media consultants or Wordpress Design, please ask me and I will provide you with some names.
But for the love of all things on this planet. PLEASE update your websites and STOP all promotion online until it is done.
Using Twitter to Promote Your Business
Posted by: | CommentsMarriott has embraced the use of social media (Twitter and Facebook) to promote their branding online with a Twitter Contest.
I applaud their creativity and social media marketing strategist as Marriott Hawaii’s Contest targeting Americans via Twitter is well thought out and well on it’s way to being a successful Social Media Viral Marketing Campaign.
One piece of advise for Marriott, please lose the ‘crashing wave sound’. It’s a bit nerve racking and combined with the birds chirping out new tweets its a bit over stimulating for your visitors.
Find the complete rules for Marriott’s Twitter Contest here. The contest is only open to US residents so you won’t see me chirping about Twitter to participate. If you reside in the USA, then enter and start twittering away.
If you are interested in seeing an example of a great Twitter contest – Check our Marriott Hawaii’s Twitter contest
