Signing up for a new Twitter account is a sort of funny experience. After being asked to import contacts from Gmail and follow a bunch of people from a randomly generated list, you’re presented with nothing but a 140-character text box. Ok… so I’m supposed to say… what exactly?

You’d think writing 140 characters wouldn’t be so hard. On one hand, you’re thinking about Twitter as a micro-blog, so you must need to fit some serious insightfulness into a sentence or two. Or, you’re wondering if you should write updates about your daily life, and thinking “but do people really care if I’m watching TV? Making a sandwich? Doing laundry?” Read the rest of this entry

Twitter is a social media phenomenon that can seem rather underwhelming the first time you log in. You’re presented with a 140-character limit text box and a way to find friends via your email address books. That’s about it. But Twitter is a powerful tool you can use to network and become highly visible in your niche.

I use Twitter every day (@dianafreedman), and here are the twelve Twitter tools I consider the most useful: Read the rest of this entry

If you’re not on Twitter yet, I recommend that you stop reading this article and sign up for a Twitter account. Twitter is a microblogging platform, where you’re limited to updates of 140 characters. You broadcast these short messages to your “followers” (the equivalent of a friend or connection), who can be friends, coworkers, peers in your industry, or even celebrities, politicians, and other public figures. 

If you need to be convinced, here are the top 12 reasons to be on Twitter: Read the rest of this entry

Want to easily track what people are saying about you, your company, a product, or any topic across the web’s social media sphere in real-time? Now it’s possible, and there are several tools out there that make it much more interesting than a basic Google search.

It’s undoubtedly valuable to immerse yourself in the chatter. Not only can you see what people are saying about you, your company, or your blog, but also you can see what topics are hot in people’s minds all over the world. This can clue you in on what to be aware of, and even what to write your own articles about.

Here are my top four picks for stand out keyword trackers: Read the rest of this entry