Twitter is a micro-blogging tool that allows you stay connected to people (think customers, vendors, potential target markets, colleagues, etc.) in real-time. You may be familiar with status updates like those on the social networking site Facebook. Twitter is a tool that allows you to give such updates to a community of users. Twitter becomes more valuable as you get more relevant followers to connect, share, and network. Companies like Dell and Starbucks use Twitter to inform customers of special discounts available at stores. OE Design (the web design business that I’m apart of – www.oe-design.com) use it to let people know about updates to our blog.

Read further for more information about the phenomenon of Twitter and the social media wave that’s showcasing itself to the world at the moment. It’s current, it’s relevant and it’s a clever way to network and market your business, and best of all it’s FREE!

As Chief Sales and Marketing for OE Design – The Web Designers (www.oe-design.com) we are constantly looking for ways of keeping relevent and also equipping our clients to use the power of the Internet to do BIG business.

Here is an article we wrote on the OE Design blog that I thought I would also share with you… Enjoy.

Small Business & The Twitter Phenomenon
From OE Design – The Web Designers (www.oe-design.com)

Twitter is quickly becoming renowned as a social media marketing phenomenon.

President Barak Obama used it as part of his presidential campaign. Sir Richard Branson advertises jobs for Virgin on it. We at OE Design have advertised for future franchisees on it. Media outlets are also using it as a source of public sentiment on issues.

During the 2008 Mumbai attacks, it is reported that eyewitnesses sent an estimated eighty tweets every five seconds as the tragedy unfolded. In January 2009, a passenger on one of the ferries, rushing to help those being evacuated from US Airways Flight 1549 stranded on the Hudson River, tweeted a picture of the event via TwitPic. Then in February 2009, the Country Fire Authority used Twitter to send out regular alerts and updates regarding the 2009 Victorian bushfires. In addition Twitter was also used by the Prime Minister to send out information on the fires, how to donate money and blood and where to seek emergency help.
But what has that all to do with the small business owner?

Here are seven things that I have at this point found is a useful way to start exploring the possibilities when it comes to tweeting.

1. Branding
Here now is another media through which you can promote your brand. You can never do enough to promote your brand and through micro-blogging you can create a casual, easy going presentation of yourself, your company and your message. Make sure you have included your picture.

2. Hiring
In this day and age, we as business owners are looking for the best, most effective and cost-effective ways to hire new staff or expand our business. If it’s good enough for Virgin’s boss, then why not you?

3. Feedback
As a blogger we all like feedback. So this is a great place to ask questions and to receive instantaneous feedback from your audience. Ask lots of questions and listen. At events your audience are provided with a forum to provide instant comment.

4. Networking
A great feature of micro-blogging is that you can interact with your audience. You can immediately comment by clicking on the @Replies function on your twitter page, and that way you have opened up a communication with those you want to talk to. Or you can choose to send a direct message to them which is for their eyes only. And if you want to develop a sense of community then continue Commenting on other’s tweets and retweeting what others have already posted.

5. Build Traffic
Twitter provides yet another platform within which you are going to find yet another audience. If you create great tweets the people who read them are going to click on the link to take them directly to your Blog or your website.

6. Find Friends, Prospects & Opinions
search.twitter.com will allow you to find out what people are saying about what you’re doing. You just might discover some new friends in the process. Be aware of other’s opinions and then you are in a strong position to respond to those. Polls are another powerful medium to check the pulse of your marketplace. Your critics will use this medium – so be prepared to engage them. Ignore them at your doom.

7. Learning
In one place there is a gathering of great minds. Twitter provides an awesome opportunity to tap into this brain’s trust. Again – ask the questions and you will be amazed at how willing the Twitter community is willing to help.
But at the end of the day – embrace this new technology – because social media is a powerful place to engender trust and to develop relationships that in the past would never have been dreamt possible.

Original Source: http://www.oe-design.com/blog/small-business-social-media-optimisation/

Follow Sarah Schelbach on Twitter: http://twitter.com/sarahschelbach

We overload with commitments
We overload with possessions
We overload with work
We overload with information technology

We forget about family
We forget about friends
We worry about the credit card
We forget about quality time

There is approx. 8760 hours in a year. So far we’ve already used up about 87 hours.

When you think about life in this way.. what’s really important?

The people that I really honour and respect in life are people that work hard, or work with a desire to give 110%. They want to be the very best that they can be.

Now for someone who may not know me, I’m a little bit competitive. (Maybe just a little.) My brother Ben, my husband Jai and myself went running yesterday. We had to run about 1KM to the oval where we were heading. Now, for someone who’s (as I said before) just a little bit competitive, it was extremely frustrating and disheartening to see my fellow runners at least 100 metres ahead of me. I’ve never liked the long distance running and as I heaved and puffed and heaved and pushed in the end I ended up saying:

“You go on, I’ll catch up!“

In life you come into certain situations where you just feel like you’re the tortoise in the race of life. It feels as if everyone else is racing ahead of you. They have the house, the cars, the new clothes, the list just seems to be endless. It’s in these moments where you feel like hiding in your little warm tortoise shell and maybe even feel a little sorry for yourself.

… As we neared the end of our long distance run with alot of heavy breathing and “just give me a minute” moment we moved on to the sprints…

Sprints is something that I have always loved to do. I remember when I was in primary school and the yearly sports carnival day. I was apart of ‘Tyral’ which was the blue house. As a little girl, I used to love this day because mum would always give us money to buy lollies at the canteen. I would always enjoy the redskins or the pink and green fizzers. I would always dress up my favourite bear Harare in blue streamers.

Now the day consisted of high jump, long jump, relays and more. It was the 100 metre sprint that I used to love the best. The teacher would line us up at the starting line, my tummy would be full of butterflies and my heart would be pounding in my chest. As we lined up for the race all I was focused on, was the finish line. As the gun went off, and the crowd screamed Tyrell! . . . Tyrell! I was on my way! Pound, Pound, Pound, Pound. Now, there are certain moments in life where you never forget, and I’ll never forget the sports carnival this one particular year, YES! I came first!

Now back to the sprints with Ben and Jai. We lined up our markers and I shouted: “ready, steady, GO!” I was so determined to win this time, that I sprinted with all my might! . . . I won!

Sometimes life can feel like the long distance run and the others are far ahead but I’ve come to realise that I should never let a tortoise shell get in the way of my greatest potential. You never know where the next race in life may take you… it could just be the winning sprint that will take you to your win!

Aim for YOUR finish line and run it for the GOLD!
]]> http://sarahschelbach.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/never-let-a-tortoise-shell-get-in-the-way/feed/ 0 schelbach http://sarahschelbach.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/just-get-out-of-bed/ http://sarahschelbach.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/just-get-out-of-bed/#comments Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:56:32 +0000 Sarah Schelbach http://sarahschelbach.wordpress.com/?p=12 ]]> There are moments in one’s life where a warm bed, sheets and doona looks so comforting. It’s not that you’re tired and that you need a few extra forty winks, it’s the thoughts of, “I just don’t want to try anymore” that can overwhelm one’s heart. It’s in these moments when you need to find something that will empower you to just keep trying.

Daily Motivational Memo from my dad, Peter Sinclair:

The more you act, the more you will be.’ – Wishing will never get you where you want to go, nor get you what you want to get. Action is the propeller, the driving force and the acquirer of dreams. It is in the doing that you become. And if you have not acted that way before, then learn as you go. Surround yourself with mentors, while you are taking action, and you will be more than ably equipped to deal with every circumstance that you face, and every decision that you have to make. (www.motivationalmemo.com)

Never let a down day, week, month or even a year stop you from obtaining your potential. Everyone has a diamond within – we just have to dig deep and find it. It’s the down days that we should be holding on, surrounding yourself with people who encourage not pull you down.

… Just get out of bed!

Today I had a client ask my advice about a local printer. She wondering who I recommended and this was my answer:

Approach 3 separate companies and ask each of them for a quote. Ask them all the same questions and details so that the quote is the same. A great way to determine which company is to see how they present their quote – if it look professional and the price is reasonable to the other 2, choose them.

It’s not always about price, it’s about quality.

‘In a world that says, ‘You can’t', shout from the rooftops, ‘I can and I will.’
Find your roof and stand firmly upon it. Pitch a tent there and shout with the loudest shout you can muster with those lungs of yours. And when the winds try to blow you off the roof, and the rains endeavour to dampen your spirits, and when the fire brigade come with their ladders to urge you to get down off your roof, you stay put. Don’t be moved. ‘They’, yes that group called ‘they’, said that you’d never do it, never amount to anything and would never set the world on fire. But you just look straight back in their eyes and say, ‘Watch me burn!’
Business has been a little tough lately. Sales are coming in but not a much as we really need. It has been putting a lot of pressure on my family and I have especially been feeling partly responsible for not achieving the goals that we need. I’ve come to the conclusion though. I can worry and complain and get angry at God.. but at the end of the day, He is so in control and that there is always a way.

As we continue to push through the hard times, I truly believe that green grass and the blue sky is just around the next bend. How many people in this lifetime have quit just before the rainbow. That is something that I don’t want to happen.

‘Watch me burn!’

For more Motivational Memos by my Dad, Peter Sinclair go to www.motivationalmemo.com