Posts Tagged "Tips"

100 Tips, Tools, and Resources for Twitter Research

Posted by Avi Savar on Sep 30, 2009 in Research & Trends | 0 comments

Twitter has exploded into a must-track resource for news, rants, consumer reports, public health, shopping deals and emerging trends. But if you’re looking for something or someone specific, how can you expect to carve out a niche and listen in on just a single thread of conversation? Our list of 100 tips, tools and resources for Twitter research will help you keep it all together.

Directories and People

Expand your network and locate specific tweeters using these directories.

1. Twitterholic: Find out who the most popular Twitter users are at any given moment.
2. Social Brand Index: Use this directory to find competitors and potential clients on Twitter.
3. WeFollow: This directory categorizers users by tagging.
4. Twellow: Twellow is a popular people directory for Twitter users. Search by location, friends, followers, keyword or by category.
5. Who Should I Follow?: Let this tool help you find new friends on Twitter.
6. Tracking Twitter: Discover which Twitter feeds are the most popular in media, entertainment and consumer products.
7. Just Tweet It: Find people to follow by clicking on industry categories like education, domainers, aviation, filmmakers and more.
8. twibs: With twibs, you can look up businesses who tweet.
9. twittervision: Find random tweeters whose conversations pop up on a Google map.
10. Twemes: Twemes is another word for hashtags, and this site follows popular subject matter and keywords.
11. Tweeter Tags: Declare your tweets by tagging yourself on this site. Then, find other like-minded users to follow and research.
12. Twitter Fan Wiki: This research source finds conversations, non-person Twitterers, feature requests, fakers, media and more.
13. TwitterPacks: Find people according to their “pack” or interest group, like coaching, baby boomers, or organizing experts.
14. Twubble: With Twubble, you can find more friends and popular Twitter users.
15. GovTwit: Find Twitter names for government agencies and people here.

Conversations

Search for keywords, buzzed-about topics and more to direct your attention to the conversations that matter.

1. Twitter Search: Twitter’s official search page looks for keywords in current conversations.
2. Tweet Scan: Search Twitter conversations by category or keyword.
3. TwitterScoop: Find friends, search buzz-worthy topics, and more.
4. Tweet Volume: Find out if the subjects you’re searching for are popping up in Twitter conversations or are yesterday’s news.
5. Tweetmeme: Tweetmeme is a social bookmarking site for popular Twitter conversations.
6. Twitterment: This simplified search engine brings up conversations for all kinds of keywords.
7. Twitter Forge: Twitter Forge in TwitTown has 10 different directories and search tools.
8. Tweet Congress: Use Tweet Congress to find tweets from Congressmen and women.
9. LegalBirds: LegalBirds is a Twitter directory for the legal crowd.
10. Geofollow: Add yourself, update your Twitter feed and search for others on this site.
11. Twitterectory: Twitterectory features a search engine, tag cloud and directory of Twitter profiles.

Organization

Keep your notes, replies, surveys and research organized so that all your hard work isn’t lost forever.

1. Twhirl: This social software platform connects to Twitter, displays notifications of new messages, shortens URLs, cross-posts updates to other sites and more.
2. Twitter Karma: Quickly paginate through your friends listing. Sort alphabetically or by another system so that it’s easier to view your friends.
3. Tweet Clouds: View your tweets as a word cloud.
4. Twitter Notes: Take and tag notes from Twitter using this tool.
5. My Tweeple: Better organize all your friends and followers with this tool.
6. Foamee: Keep up with who owes who how many drinks with this tool.
7. Twitterator: This script will help you stay organized while monitoring groups of people.
8. GroupTweet: Privately tweet with your project group members using GroupTweet.
9. Twickie: Archive and organize Twitter response threads here.

Add-ons and Tools

Add these tools to your Twitter experience to make researching and indexing even easier.

1. Twitt Poll: Create polls to find out what your Twitter friends think on a particular subject.
2. Twitter Answers: Send out questions into the Twittersphere to get answers and opinions from your followers.
3. Twitter Snipe: Use this tool to auto follow users based on your niche.
4. TwitPic: Use TwitPic to share, browse and upload photos to Twitter.
5. Trazzler Buzz: Use this tool to research deals and news for travel, museums, music and more.
6. Twit Bear: Keep up with all the replies regarding a particular conversation or subject matter.
7. Google Search with Twitter integration: This script combines the best of Twitter and Google.
8. TBuzz: When surfing the web, discover each site’s tweet history.
9. PicFog: Conduct a Twitter image search here.
10. peekr: Check out Twitter backgrounds before opening up the whole page.
11. Twitter Toolbar for Firefox: Download this toolbar to quickly access Twitter or your favorite Twitter feeds.

Guides

Let these guides help you become a master tweeter.

1. Twitter as Target Market Research Tool: Find out how you can use Twitter to grow your business, attract clients and stand out.
2. 33 Reasons to Use Twitter – a Guide to Finding Value in the Service!: Here you’ll get tips for using Twitter for business and personal gain.
3. The Ultimate Guide for Everything Twitter: Learn how to set up a profile, find things to tweet about, decide when to tweet and more.
4. Mastering Twitter in 10 Minutes or Less (Version 2): Quickly learn how to navigate Twitter with this download.
5. Using Twitter ‘the Smart Way’: Get tips on choosing a user name and staying organized here.
6. How to Search Twitter – the Advanced Guide: This guide outlines the steps needed to effectively use Twitter’s official search function.
7. 6 Twitter Search Services Compared: This guide compares Twitter Search, Twazzup, Tweetzi, and other search tools.
8. Twitter Research: Why and How to Do It: Twitip.com has tips for using Twitter for historical research and more.
9. Using Twitter for Market Research: Grow your business by taking note of these research tips and tools.

Filters and Niche Search

Block out all the miscellaneous Twitter noise and use these tools to focus on the conversations and research you’re interested in.

1. bkkeepr: This tracker keeps up with reading lists and more.
2. FoodFeed: If you only want to research tweets related to what people are eating, head to this feed.
3. Localtweeps: Filter tweets by zip code using this tool.
4. Commuter Feed: View traffic reports for Houston, Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, LA, New York and other top metro areas.
5. Twitter Job Search: Research job openings here.
6. Twitter filter: This Greasemonkey script lets you filter out any kind of annoying tweets.
7. Omnee: Filter your list of people to research or follow by first checking this site. Omnee categorizes users by the ones with the most social capital, most reach, least centralized, and more.
8. Stop the tweet spam! Two ways to filter Twitter into Facebook: Streamline your updates and social media research here.
9. TwitZap: Keep your Twitter page open and active without having to refresh it.
10. Cursebird: Keep track of the latest posts that contain curse words.

Analytics

Analytics is a vital part of any research project. These tools will help you get the stats on your account, other users’ influence, trends, website popularity, and more.

1. TwitterCounter: Get stats for other users here.
2. TweetStats: View Twitter feed stats in bar graph form.
3. TwitterSpy: Keep an eye on the most recent tweets coming from a particular location.
4. TweetBeep: TweetBeep alerts you via email when preferred conversations and keywords are tweeted.
5. MyTweetMap: This tool displays tweets by location on a Google Map.
6. SiteVolume: Find out how often a phrase, word or website is tweeted about.
7. Tweetburner: Track URLs as they appear on Twitter.
8. Twist: Twist lets you compare the stats for keywords, topics and more.
9. Twitalyzer: Use Twitalzyer to discover the influence of different Twitter users.
10. Twitstat Mobile: Look up analytics from your mobile phone using this tool.

Trackers

Track trends, follows, conversations and people using these tools.

1. tweet140: This tool tracks the length of your tweets.
2. Twitt(url)y: Track popular URLs that appear on Twitter to find out what people are talking about.
3. Does Follow: Organically expand your network by following people your friends follow.
4. twAITer: Schedule tweets for a future release and track your overall feed here.
5. Friend or Follow: Quickly double check who’s following you with this tool.
6. Tracking Twitter: Track brands, celebrities, media and TV tweets using this tool.
7. Twistori: Hover over an emotion like love, hate, think, believe, feel or wish and read the upcoming posts that incorporate that feeling.
8. Tweetizen: Use Tweetizen to create groups and track stories and posts that are meaningful to you.
9. Twitterfall: Filter trends or do a custom search to see upcoming posts in a free-fall format.

Tips

For better research through Twitter, follow these tips and suggestions.

1. Tweet during peak hours: Many people are tuned in to Twitter during the work week and during work hours, so you’ll have a better chance of reaching your subjects then.
2. Use a Twitter management tool: Use a tool like TweetDeck to easily organize your groups, updates and more, so that your research doesn’t get lost.
3. Use Advanced Search: Try Twitter’s Advanced Search tool to find people, places, dates and more.
4. Follow the competition: Market researchers should follow their competition on Twitter to learn about any deals or tricks they have going on.
5. Tweet about what’s hot: Join buzzed-about conversations and stories and find a way to relate your project to the mix.
6. Update your subjects: Keep your Twitter subjects up to date on your progress so that they know how they’ve helped you.
7. Ask lots of questions: Keep asking questions through Twitter to get a broad range of responses from everyone who follows you.
8. Use a variety of Twitter directories: You’ll encounter some repetition, but by using several different Twitter directories, you’ll also stumble across new people who can help you that you may have discounted at first.
9. Follow experts: Follow the tweets of an expert in your field to get routed to sensible, quality information.
10. Stay organized: It can be hard to keep up with all the tweets, replies and updates from everyone you’re following, so use groups, alerts and other tools to organize it all.
11. Put it all into context: Tweetree displays your Twitter stream as a tree with all replies organized by context.
12. Use different accounts: Don’t confuse your subjects or yourself by managing different research projects from a single account. Manage different accounts with a service like Hootsutie
13. List your credentials: Don’t freak people out by asking for their information without providing your own credentials.
14. Post a photo and your real name: People will be more likely to help you out if you present a valid name and photo.
15. Conduct surveys: Use survey tools to find out how your followers feel about a particular subject.
16. Back up your Twitter: Use a service like Tweetake to make sure your research and notations are safe.

Thanks to Kelly Sonora, SelectCourses.com

100 Tips, Tools, and Resources for Twitter Research | SociableBlog.com : Social Media Blog.

Read More

Learn Guy Kawasaki’s Twitter Tips To Market Your Business

Posted by Avi Savar on Aug 22, 2009 in Research & Trends | 1 comment

Guy Kawasaki gave a rare, totally live presentation of his personal techniques on using social networking for business marketing. The presentation was made to a “standing room only” crowd of over 600 attendees during the June meeting of the San Diego Venture Capital Group.

The world famous author of “The Art of the Start” and “How to Drive Your Competition Crazy” gave a type of presentation that he admitted he rarely did… a totally live demo of his carefully honed “twitter techniques” and other social networking practices. The humorous, thought provoking, and detail laden overview of bleeding edge marketing techniques had the crowd both laughing out loud, and taking notes at a furious pace.

The presentation was professionally recorded and is now available on this page, and for a limited time at the Youreeeka Content Network – http://www.youreeeka.com/content-network – for only $19.99. You can access a preview of the video before purchasing to get a feel for the quality of the production and the timeliness of the presentation. Youreeeka is a pay-per-view online distribution platform available to anyone who has video content they want to sell via the Internet.

The presentation covered all the major players in social networking including: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Jigsaw, Spokeo, and more. Guy covered Tweeting, Re-Tweeting, and advanced techniques such as using social network mash-ups to get marketing messages out to multiple outlets as well as targeted audience groups.

Upon learning that the presentation was going to be taped for worldwide distribution, the gregarious, and generous, Mr. Kawasaki took advantage of the built in affiliate capabilities of the Patent Pending Youreeeka Media Player. He immediately offered to donate half of his revenue to the San Diego Venture Group – whose mission is to provide an informal atmosphere to foster new ideas on how to form, fund, and build new ventures.

Rachel Barley, the executive director of the SDVG, was most appreciative of the generous gesture, stating simply, “Our Not-For-Profit thanks you, Guy!”

This presentation offers a truly unique opportunity for cutting edge computer aficionados. They get the opportunity to learn vital marketing skills from world-renowned Guy Kawasaki. And they get to access that information from a truly unique, cutting edge online content delivery system, the Youreeeka Network.

For more information on the Guy Kawasaki video, or on the Youreeeka content delivery system, visit http://www.youreeeka.com

Read More

8 Key Twitter Networking Tips You Must Know

Posted by Avi Savar on Jun 2, 2009 in Research & Trends | 0 comments

I’ve been using Twitter, a social networking site, for six months now and have met so many terrific, interesting and business savvy people.

It’s easy to not understand what Twitter is when you happen upon someone’s personal page. The micro posts are a potpourri of replies that don’t quite make sense to the visitor, but that’s okay because you’re not connecting with your visitors, you are connecting with your followers.

Twitter tweets allowance is 140 characters. It may seem short, but you can get in quite a mouthful. No one ever said networking had to be a long drawn out novel. Don’t underestimate the power of short and quick replies because with the right words they can add a lot of punch.

What I have observed over the months is everyone uses Twitter for different reasons, but the majority of people who use it for networking don’t always know how to network properly.

These 8 tips will show exactly how you can get the most out of your networking efforts on Twitter.

1. Start by using your real name on your profile, upload a real photo of you and fill out your bio. Your bio is about you and not your business. Your website link will take care of that.
2. Follow people that interest you and who can help grow your business. Follow quality people. Quantity is not important.
3. People want knowledge, information and resources. It’s always better to give first and then receive. I’m not saying you shouldn’t self-promote, but if the whole time you’re on Twitter and you’re just self-promoting, people aren’t going to care and will most likely un-follow you.
4. Networking is about sharing and connecting with others. A person who only has self-promotion on their mind is looked upon and labeled a spammer. People like freebies and tips. Offer your best tips on working from home, on direct sales, web designing, and marketing and even Twitter tips. There are tips for everything so find something in your niche that you think would be valuable information. Throw in a few freebies as everyone loves something for free.
5. It’s important to engage in conversations with your new found “friends”. Don’t ignore their tweets. Use it to strike up conversations as you will never know where these will lead.
6. If you read an interesting or newsworthy tweet, retweet it. This is a great way to say something if you can’t find anything to say. When you help to promote others, others will help to promote you.
7. Don’t abuse direct messaging (similar to private messaging) or use it as a means to spam your followers. Many will not hesitate to use the block feature.
8. Expect to spend some quality time and be consistent in your networking. Try to visit daily. Enjoy and be yourself on Twitter and be respectful. Your reputation should always be guarded.

Not enough people take networking seriously because they don’t know how to do it properly. There are many people who do know and can show you the ropes or better yet take the time to learn and observe what others are doing.

When you learn networking is not about sell, sell, sell and me, me, me, you will soon find more people are attracted to you and what you have to offer.

Read More

Google Wave Drips With Ambition. A New Platform For A New Web.

Posted by Avi Savar on May 28, 2009 in Innovation & Creativity | 0 comments

With the web advancing in a new direction, Google is seizing the opportunity to create a new way to communicate via the web called Google Wave. Google Wave is thought of as modern-day email that will satisfy web browsers in today’s world, where an abundance of information is available at an individual’s fingertips. This new development is claimed to put traditional instant messaging and email to shame, as it provides for easy navigation and use while communicating. The Wave includes a navigation sidebar and underneath that provides the user’s Google contacts. However, the inbox dominates the screen with pictures of the user’s friends who participate in threads and notifications alerting to any type of new content in those threads. Replying to threads and messages have never been easier, according to Google. The user may respond below a friend’s comment whether they are online available to chat or not. Heck, he or she can take it one step farther and respond to only one part of the message by replying straight under that section. It’s not taking advantage, if Google‘s asking for it! They also make adding friends or coworkers a fun feature, by providing the ability to drag their pictures into the thread. But, won’t the newly added friend be lost as to what is occurring in the thread? Not with “playback”: a feature that allows the friend to see all that they have missed. But, where does instant messaging come in? If two people in one thread are online, they are able to instant message and click “Draft” to prevent the other person from seeing that they are typing, if they prefer. However, if a one-on-one conversation is desired while multiple people are online, private conversations can be held within the context of the rest of The Wave. Another feature that students and other individuals fascinated by the wiki will love, allows group-editing, outlining the name of the person who is editing at the moment to prevent confusion. Pictures, GoogleMaps, invitations, and games can also be included by dragging them into the wave box if a browser with Gears is installed. However, this feature is what prevents the wave from fully operating with modern technology (it is not able to interact with other web browsers used today without add-ons).

Google encourages people to use waves across all sites on the internet, not just one. Developers play a huge part in this, as Google is hoping that they will be able to enhance the wave, creating gadgets, sites, and so on all revolving around the concept of the wave. Hey, this is the new thing! It deserves to be the center of attention. In order for waves to be interactive, Google is attempting to make it an open source. They want people to build and expand on the whole idea of the wave. Their point is creating a new communication platform used by individuals and companies all over the internet.

However, although already combining tons of communication and technology and advancing what is already present, a lot of work is still needs to be done to get this new method of communication on it’s feet and up and running.

Wow, I would say that it is surprising that Google has managed to create such a diverse communication platform brimming with new ideas and combining traditional ideas in order to enhance them, when there is already so much modern technology out there. You would think that they run out of steam and brainpower. However, how can one be surprised? Apple, Google, IBM, you name it, they are out there constantly imposing new ideas on consumers and thrusting them out in the world to be played with. Surprising? No. Impressive and slightly exhausting, yes. I believe that they make the world of communication a better place. Communicating via technology is not as personal as physical contact, but it allows one to expand his or her horizons. It allows people to keep in touch, transcending time and space in order to do it. If anything, it certainly keeps interaction exciting, interesting, and constantly changing and advancing.

This new communication platform will probably be huge, engulfing teens, companies, and new adults as they discover this new method of communication. After learning about new technologies, people are more eager to find something simpler…the next new thing.  Google Wave?

Written by, Alexandra Vojdany, Big Fuel Communications

Click here for the article on TechCrunch.com

Read More