Creative inspiration by iNkMan. Guest blog entry by Jason Yormark, Vice President of Marketing & Social Media at Strategies 360. You can find him on Twitter, Facebook and at his personal blog jasonyormark.com.

Look around and you’ll find hundreds if not thousands of blog articles on how to drive more traffic to your website/blog.  Everything from back link strategies, to social media to blog commenting are recommended to help drive eyeballs to your site.  And while all those strategies certainly can contribute to that, the most often overlooked strategy is the one that should warrant most of your time; the writing.

Too many blog writers churn out complete garbage.  Often times it’s just over done topics or content that’s only purpose is to drive traffic to their site.  If you really want to build a long term successful blog, concentrate on these few writing tactics, and I assure you, you will find yourself the owner of a healthy blog with a sizeable audience.

1. Titles Titles Titles! – Make sure you spend a decent amount of time writing an effective title for your blog post.  Stay under 71 characters if you can as Google will truncate your title in their search results.  Your title is your selling point for users to click through.  Make sure you utilize tools like the Google Keyword Tool to determine which keyword phrases are searched for the most frequently for your given topic.
2. Solve Problems – Always be thinking about how your blog posts can be crafted in ways that genuinely help people by solving their problems.  If you can advise your readers on how to solve a problem, or introduce them to a valuable tool, they will become your biggest cheerleaders.
3. Be Concise & Specific – Often times blog writers feel compelled to write 2000 word posts all the time to get their point across.  People don’t read on the web like they do books.  Most of the time they like to get in and out quickly.  I find that 300-400 word posts can often be very effective and are often my highest page view articles that I write.  Don’t always feel like you have to write a novel for every blog post, or you’ll find yourself getting burned out and not publishing as often as you need to maintain your audience.
4. Visually Appealing Layout – Short paragraphs and even more so, lists, are great ways to entice readers to actually read through your entire posts.  It’s no secret that these types of posts typically resonate with readers.  Also ensure you take time to find visually appealing images to correspond with your posts that you can use.  When shared across social media networks, often times a strategically chosen image can draw visitors to your post.

Take the time to craft meaningful, useful, well written posts, and you will build an audience through your writing alone.  That coupled with promoting yourself socially and through engagement, and you’ll be most certainly have built yourself a nice sized audience.

Jason Yormark is Vice President of Marketing and Social Media at Strategies 360. He leverages his extensive community building, digital marketing, and social media experience to create and drive the execution of compelling social media initiatives for S360 clients. Jason regularly blogs on social media and technology at his personal blog www.jasonyormark.com, and you can also find him on Twitter and Facebook.

It has been a pretty uneventful eventful week.  Work has been eventful given that Halloween is around the corner, which means every department has an excuse to throw a party of some sort.  We’ve had record days filled with potlucks, cocktail hours, and even a PBR fundraiser (we be keepin’ it classy) to drive donations for the annual Microsoft GIVE Campaign.  Tonight, while I happily came home to an evening of rest, I was habitually seeking some sort of excitement despite my busy week.  Steve and I watched the Giants clench Game 2 of the World Series, and I began grilling him with some conversation starters but he was not enthused (grrr).  His cue to wind down the night by taking Bella out for her walk lead me to my nightly online routine when I came across…

Facebook’s new “See Friendship” feature — and just the excitement I was looking for.  It’s so fascinating that I needed to write a post to help me process.

I’m surprised that I didn’t hear about this feature on Twitter-sphere as it was released earlier today, but maybe I was too caught up between multitasking and downing my guacamole at the potluck.

The “See Friendship” feature creates an aggregated profile comprised of interactions between two people on the social network.  While we have always been able to see mutual friends and tagged photos, there has never been a dedicated page to capture all of the content on one page, not to mention events you have attended together, things you both “like”, and posts you have both commented on.  Talk about bringing a friendship to life.

There are so many implications behind this new feature, because the transparency of information stored from Facebook interactions will ultimately facilitate friendships in both positive and negative ways.  Sometimes the more you know, the less you understand.  Other times, knowledge leads to understanding.  Either way, Mark Zuckerburg wasn’t kidding when he shared that “we are building a web where the default is social”, because you can’t get more social than even more transparency.

Now only if there was a drop down to categorize the relationship (ie. sisters, cousins, boyfriend, colleague), you could get even more granular to connect and automate the newly launched groups feature.  That would be a seamless call to action for users.

I am most intrigued by the profile photo it chooses to represent the friendship.  I perused through some of my friends’ friendships, and I am amused by the selection of photos Facebook has chosen.  Of all the tagged photos in between two profiles, it somehow manages to select the photo that is the most photogenic / funny / significant / quirky / I-totally-remember-that-time / insert adjective here of them all.

Facebook’s new “See Friendship” feature = more time spent on facebook = more traffic = brilliant in so many ways.  Kudos to you, Wayne Kao.  Just when we thought interactions hit critical mass, Facebook pwns again.

Happy seeing friendships.

Decided not to take the traditional route of taking pictures from sessions because the snack selection totally blew me away. Look at the candy!

A few months ago, @GemmaBirch reached out to help cover the International Search Summit which took place in Seattle this week.  I’m a sucker for complimentary conference passes (free knowledge, free food!), so I happily obliged.

The International Search Summit was piggy-backed in partnership with the Localization World Conference, which highlights strategies for international businesses.  Sessions are focused on best practices for websites and online advertising with localization needs (aka translating content for a global audience).  My colleague @Tina_Kelleher and I met up and spent our day listening to these speakers dance around the following themes.

Global Visibility

For online marketing beginners, there were plenty of information about localizaling SEO and SEM for greater global visibility.  Creating international versions of website and localized landing pages for SEO were some of the takeaways from these sessions.

Intermediate to expert audiences who have been submerged in the industry for more than 3-5 years likely found strategic and testing methodologies helpful.  For example, how do you even begin to decide where to localize?  You can choose based on simple data like population, number of internet users (with demographic breakdown to match your target audience), and penetration of your selected market.  Testing localized content is another underestimated best practice.  You can use small targeted campaigns to test products and services to learn if localization is needed, just make sure your landing page matches your advertising content in the same language for relevancy.

Social Media (are you surprised? me neither but read on)

Facebook and Twitter were the highlight of each and every presentation.  While there weren’t new and glass shattering techniques, there was a common theme that I think everyone should be aware of.

Social networking websites are challenging search engines as becoming a top lead generation tool for content source and distribution.  Search engines may serve as the initial point of entry to information on the web, but social networking websites also take into consideration common interests and seamlessly integrated targeting (because information being share is considered “referrals” from people they are connected to, which tends pre-qualify the interest of information they are receiving).  Due to this behavior, some companies are finding success by leveraging social networking sites for their acquisition needs.  Looks like advertising experts who initially thought Facebook couldn’t monetize may be handed a can of whoopass in the near future.

Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance

Not to my surprise, there was a lot of buzz about the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance and my colleague Kelly Thomas Nojaim did a great job at answering a plethora of questions from the audience.  For the most part, the audience was split pretty evenly among those who were pretty intrigued by the search alliance (because they run AdWords campaigns only) and those who were interested in the additional reach it would provide (159 million searchers in the U.S. and 15 million in Canada to be exact, thanks to comScore June 2010).

You can find more coverage of the International Search Summit through their hashtag #ISSSEA, which leads me to explain my long and overdue drama with tweetosphere.

My Twitter Woes!

Since joining Twitter in 2007, I haven’t been able to properly use hashtags at events and conferences.  This means that every time I use a hashtag, I will not show up in Twitter search results nor feeds used to deliver tweets based on the hashtag being used.  I’ve tried opening numerous tickets through their @Support team only to receive generic answers and getting redirecting to content on their help page, to no avail.  Given that I was covering this conference, the issue pulled my straw for the final time and I decided to take matter into my own hands.  I was ready to start a viral war with Twitter.

I published the following tweet and followed up with a few DMs.  Once it got in the hands of social guru Chris Pirillo, word spread like wild fire and I have the following people to thank for my newly updated account setting because Twitter didn’t think I was relevant enough for the interwebs.

All in all, consider it case closed and problem solved and Thank You for your help. LMK if I missed you and I’m happy to link. @ChrisPirillo @kegill @DinkySmacks @HughL @jdp23 @abeaugh @scottlum @normansigler @yush @yush_live @gguuss @richphoto @RVN671 @heystephanie @HarryWaisbren @bensonjunior @ds2600 @CraigChamberlin @iAligator @96edwy @mwredfern @vertimyst @madchoudisease @melcarson @elpirillo @joshnadel @Lockhaven @spatrizi @joelg88 @Amrykid @EricBurgess @steveo772 @jessiegirl @gapingvoid @stevecla @akash_nu @SagarMankari @Ivan_Gomez @HavokHarr @bsb @dhamdhere @thomasshaffer @TheNibiro

New Year’s Resolutions aside, there are exciting trends to look forward to in 2010.
…totally late, but better late than never

1. Mobile
   Advanced hardware coupled with the increase of applications, the mobile space is expected to grow exponentially in 2010. Gone are the days of Palm, because smartphones are taking over our daily lives.
2. On Demand
   Netflix and XBOX Live paved the way for on demand entertainment in a progressing way. Nintendo Wii has recently jumped on the bandwagon, and other digital consoles and formats will soon follow. Cable better look out, because 2010 will be the breakthrough year for streaming media.
3. Collaboration Tools
   If you haven’t checked out Office Online, you might want to take it for a spin. It is an easy way to collaborate on documents with your partners when working on a project. Other collaboration tools are making segue into the way we work together, making our work lives efficient and scalable.
4. Video and Rich Media
   Thanks to YouTube, watching a video has become our favorite past time, and it has made its way into advertising.  As technology is normalized, advertisers are getting comfortable in their digital skin and trying out new creative tactics.
5. Real Time Social Media
   Social networking is so last year. We love ‘em, we hate ‘em, and can’t live without ‘em. Why? Because they are one of our primary sources for real time content. This year, the amount of content sharing will only rise, and we will rely on them for the latest news and information sharing.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been trying to save some cash during this economic crisis, downturn, whatever you call it.  In fact, my friend and I were recently talking about how we need to take on window shopping as a new hobby.  Well, here’s a cheap (free) way to cure our shopping blues since being broke is the new black.

Meet Kashless.  If Craigslist and Twitter had a love child, this site would be it.  It is the first online marketplace to solely offer postings of free items in the Seattle area.  You can either post directly with Kashless or via third party listings from sites such as  Craigslist or Freecycle.  Using their microblogging design, you can search by categories, by neighborhood, or by distance.  They make the process seamless from bookmarking options to e-mail notifications, but the unique aspect of Kashless is their ability to narrow down your product and save your search preferences.  That’s target advertising (without really being advertising) at its best!

Why would you want to use Kashless?

1. You are probably part of the latest “I’m broke” club.
2. It’s better than throwing your junk in the dumps.  Embrace the second letter in Jack Johnson’s Three ‘Rs‘.  Reuse.
3. It’s highly entertaining.  Just read a couple of the postings.

You find some crazy stuff for sale on eBay, but you can find even more interesting things on Kashless.  And, it’s free.  Who would have ever thought of posting free concrete chunks?  Or a free hot tub?  The entertainment value of this site is probably worth more than all the products combined.  I have a friend who frequently visits the free section on Craiglist for fun, and she’s going to get a kick out of this blog post.

Kudos to you Martin, founder of Kashless.  Thanks for creating another place where I will be dumping my attempting-to-be-productive nights.

And why are you still reading this blog?  Join everyone in the downturn economy and free yourself.  Go Kashless!

If you have heard about #AmazonFail, #Oprah, #HudsonRiverCrash in the past few months, you probably fall into one of these categories:

• Taking the leap onto the Twitter bandwagon
• On the cusp of joining Twitter but don’t want to manage another social networking site
• Maybe considering it, but still too much effort to tell if I’ll be onboard
• Twitter still sucks

Haters, don’t say I didn’t warn you. But thanks for keep me motivated.

I’ve gotten a lot of responses, comments, and feedback from my January entry “To Twitter, or not to Twitter”. Since then, Twitter has vomited all over the world. Even the latest Miss USA pageant (yes, I watched this and you can judge me) had incorporated Twitter animations like “Look at me, I’m Twittering” edited above people in the audience typing away on their cell phones. I am also seeing postings like:

“Follow me on Twitter!”

“I’m finally on Twitter but I don’t get it.”

Twitter had already reached critical mass, but it has really taken off within the past few months. Since 2007, there are 700% more Twitterites worldwide and 1000% in the US (comScore, March 2009). Given the related events in the past few weeks, such as Ashton’s million followers challenge and the Oprah Effect, I am twiddling my thumbs for the next comScore release of Twitter data.

I had a hunch that this so called “spike” was coming, though I didn’t know when it would happen or what would cause it to spike. One thing I do know is that Twitter is not a steroid version of a Facebook update. No one cares if you are brushing your teeth or if you are feeding your dog.

So why should you care? Let me count the ways.

Niche Content

It’s the relatable content that is going to drive Twitter to the next level, whether that the content is national breaking news or content that is niche focused. I think Twitter is diverse enough to be utilized by different industries, but it will take some time to create a “niche critical mass”.

Some niche focused Twitter examples that I know exist today are:

• Amber Alerts (@Amber_Alert)
• Job Listings (@journalism_jobs, @jobsmedical, @freelance_jobs)
• PR announcements (@TaxDayTeaParty, @coachella)

Some other niche focused Twitter examples that I think could benefit from micro-blogging (they may already exist):

• Car sales
• Real Estate listings
• Stock quotes

Imagine if I were to follow my stock quote, Seattle Times, Craigslist posting for cars, local marketing events, etc. – I could log into my Twitter each morning to get my latest feed of (desired) information. But, the pseudo RSS capability isn’t the only added value of Twitter.

Virtual Think Tank

If you really want to use Twitter to tell the world that you are having a Big Mac or going for a walk, go right ahead. But in my opinion, that’s what Facebook is for.  Most people (not businesses) use Facebook as a true social network. It is a modern way of keeping in touch with your family and friends. You update your pictures and status to let a closed group of social networks know what you’re up to.

I think Twitter is a bit different. They provide the audience for you to share niche content with. It is a way to let the world know your brain provoking thoughts and to share links to interesting sites or breaking news—and Twitter serves as your dumping station. This is why most people who end up linking Twitter with Facebook updates decide to disconnect the two platforms later on. Content on Twitter is meant to be public, otherwise, what’s the point of using it? You have Facebook if you want to keep things private to people you know. If you’re not comfortable with communicating and brainstorming with the public, then maybe you should just stick with Facebook updates.

Interacting with your Fans

On that “going public” note, you should also consider interacting with your audience. Twitter is not only a platform where you can share information, but also to network with your followers. Check out Twitter’s help section, and discover the different techniques such as hashtags, re-tweets, and direct replies.

I do want to share a pretty cool use of Twitter I had never come across before.  During a lecture on social media by Adam Metz, there was a live Twitter feed on a big screen of all the tweets being posted in the room. The audience would tweet during the presentation and use an event-unique hashtag to show up on the aggregated feed, which ignited real time discussion even before he started taking questions. Talk about prematurely engaging your audience and creating a transparent environment for knowledge sharing. I can totally see this practice being implemented in conferences and the classroom (maybe it already is).

So, there. Thanks to your feedback, I managed to deliver a resource focused Twitter kool-aid post for your consumption. Perhaps the next comScore data will lead to part trois.

[posted on Flip the Media]

The Play by Play on Twitter
Goode Pictures

Not many people know about my participation in one of the most influential experiences of my life, particularly because I already have a really goode job.  But this is different. It is an opportunity of a lifetime to pursue a career in digital media, to which I have been gravitating toward since graduating from the MCDM program.  My friends and family have been following my updates on Facebook, where I have been showcasing my experience through my “selected” group of social networks.

Then, I’ve finally decided to break my silence.

Why?  Because you have to walk to talk you preach.  I am a huge social media advocate, but as an average Jane (just like you), I am always learning how to manage my online identity and exposure through content.  The truth is, social media is about transparency–a glimpse into content that isn’t meant to be controlled.  So, here we go.

Two months ago, I decided to take a challenge by submitting an application to one of the most coveted jobs in recent news: A Really Goode Job at Murphy-Goode Winery in Healdsburg, California.  The winner will be awarded $10,000 a month for six months to begin a conversation about wine making to a young audience.  I don’t know about you, but a gig that requires you to blog and tweet seems like a dream come true. And so the ride began.

I never would have thought I would make it all the way to Top 10.  I almost didn’t submit my application because the flip camera I was using gave out the night before the deadline.  Having spent so much effort, I didn’t want the opportunity to waste away.  I owe my laptop a huge thanks, because it saved me from a regret that would have haunted me forever.  Not too shabby, right?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leo0BY_ps5g]

For the past couple of days, I have been blown away by the talent and interactions with my 9 fellow candidates.  Murphy-Goode couldn’t have done a better job of selecting such amazing people and I am deeply humbled to be a part of this illustrious group.  Check them out below!

TODD | ERIC | JENNA | RACHEL | ADAM | NICK | HARDY | ROCKY | KAMARY

Follow me on Twitter for the latest updates or check out my photos on Flickr

Winona & co. navigating through life after college in 1994′s Reality Bites, just as marketers are facing reality beyond the glamour of social media

I’m a huge fan of leveraging web resources, especially the new ones like social media that have popped up in within the past decade.  But, I’m going to play devil’s advocate.  I don’t think we know enough about social to solely rely on them for lead generation and monetization.  I believe that social media provides a platform to develop conversations that create relationships, which eventually may help generate leads.

The common stigma behind many digital marketing resources is that social media is directly correlated with conversions, and that it will directly generate leads.  It won’t – at least, not on its own.  While we are still discovering the use of all the different mediums that are available, I believe that a huge portion of digital marketing, particularly web 2.0, social media, and user generated content, is not meant to be directly tied to ROI.  It should be used as a complementary marketing tool along with advertising campaigns that are highly measurable such as paid search and online advertising.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn all have huge venture capital, but not because they provide a direct avenue for monetization.  Think about it – how many times have you clicked on an ad when browsing on Facebook?  And if you did, did the business get a conversion out of you (aka did you end up signing up for buying something)?  On the other hand, have you “become a fan” of a product/person or given a gift on FB?  More likely.

The perception is that the popularity and magnitude of these sites is a gold mine, and this is why many businesses are scratching their heads—wondering about this big phenomenon and how to use it to drive sales. The reality (for now) is that these resources need to be utilized as a way for companies to create dialogue, communities, and conversations with the public—kind of how brand marketing has been used as complementary tool with marketing plans.  The difference now is that web resources have created a two way street—creating push and pull marketing opportunities.  Rather than pushing your brand to the world, you can listen and understand your audience as well as reaching out to them.

You can measure the pattern of the traffic from social media (and other) sites using web analytics and other measuring tactics to better understand what your marketing/advertising plan needs to be.  And eventually, it will help drive leads through other marketing/advertising channels.

I believe this is the reason why sites like Facebook have such huge venture capital, because they have the critical mass that businesses want and need to reach their audience (known and unknown).  More companies should see the marketing research potential with web 2.0/social media resources first, rather than throwing big dollars to jump on a bandwagon that may or may not monetize in the long run.

Used effectively, these new web resources could make or break the success of a company.  Start a conversation or two, and see where the relationship takes you.

Practicing my D90 skills at Pike Place Market, Seattle

Bored?  Hard to imagine that there are still people who are hungry for content in this day and age, but I know better than to underestimate the power and potential of Internet users.

Well, here’s some more food (content) for your thoughts (and entertainment).  You never know when you need extra entertainment for your daily commute.  I’ve been following a podcast and blog for the past few weeks, and it’s been a hit and miss process to find one the suits my lifestyle.  I need content that is current, stimulating, and candid.  Did I mention brief?  Yes, I need snack sized content that I can consume on the go.

So off to the summary and review of my latest pots of gold…

The Rachel Maddow Show Podcast

I admit, I fly with my left wing wide open, but I can blame it on my being left handed.  Or, really there’s nothing to blame for my latest obsession:  The Rachel Maddow Show Podcast.

Juggling school and work, I don’t have the time to keep up with my favorite TV shows.  Sometimes I feel that Comcast is getting monthly donations out of me because I barely catch up on recordings on my DVR.  As more popular shows are being offered as a video podcast, one I will come to accept that paying for content is ludacris and that I should just watch my shows on my laptop.

Summary + Review

Think late night show host meets hardball.  She covers politics and breaking news like any other news reporter, but what sets her apart is the ability to converge current events with intellectual wit that transforms into refreshing content.  I’ve been enjoying her podcast because she is spunky and not afraid to point out the elephant in the room when it comes to political issues, while creating an informal vibe by including social innuendos.   The only caveat I would point out is a 45 minute podcast is a bit long for me.  I know that it is a video podcast version of her TV show, therefore the content is still the same, but perhaps her producers should consider shorter versions for podcast subscribers.

MetzMash: A Blog by Adam Metz

What a surprise.  A social media blogger finds yet another social blog she can feed to.  It took me a while to find a blog I could follow on a consistent basis, because there is a whole another critical mass world of bloggers, with most of them being time sucking and entertaining (ie. www.fmylife.com).  After many attempts, I finally found a blog with substance.

Some things just happen by chance, because I didn’t find this blog by browsing on the Internet.  I went to a guest lecture event led by social media strategist, Adam Metz, where I became even more fascinated with the concept of social media.  After more research on his background and case studies, I onboarded onto the world of Metz.

Summary + Review

Keep it simple, kids.  There’s no reason to make things complicated in a world that is full of complexity.  Adam’s blog focuses on latest social media events, topics, and products in a meaningful and compelling way.  His thoughts are discerning, and they challenge you to think about social media through many different lenses.  I would say my favorite feature about his blog is the bullet actions for organizing reasons and suggestions for the topic at hand.  Sometimes, it’s reviving to read a list of thoughts rather than reading an unnecessary long post.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

As the Jackson 5 once sang: Tweet, Tweet, Tweet-Tweet

This week, I started using Twitter after almost a year long hiatus with a few attempts in between.  And now, I’m absolutely hooked.

During my first class in the MCDM program, my professor encouraged us to play around with Twitter.  As a long time social networking site user and a web 2.0 advocate, I’d self proclaimed myself as an early adopter to new tools and gadgets.

Boy, was I wrong.

It was difficult for me to understand why I would feel the need to update my exact whereabouts practically every minute of the day, especially when I already had a tool that worked just perfectly fine.  I had been tailoring my Facebook updates to express my two cents to a closed group of social networks.  Besides, status updates become more fun when you have an audience reading your daily rants and thoughts and commenting back with stamps of approval or comic relief.

Then, I discovered that Twitter is quite different than a just fancy version of Facebook status updates.

After two years since my Twitter introduction, I am finally jumping on the Twitter phenomenon.  I don’t know how long it will last, but for now, I’m seeing the bigger picture that is social media.  Social media is an online tool to help build relationships.  Whether you are representing a business or yourself, you are walking on a two way street.

Many people rely on social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn to connect with other people.  They utilize features on these sites such as status updates and news feeds to build personal and professional relationships.  But these sites are limited to people connections.  They provide a two way street for people like us who choose to be connected.

Alternatively, Twitter also provides a two way street, but it includes a connection between businesses and people.  You choose to be connected, but it is not necessarily a connection validated by both parties.  Anyone or any business with a Twitter account can instantly follow a user.

Witnessing the powerful effect of social media tools, businesses are often scratching their heads to come up with the latest and greatest way to “communicate” with their customers.  They have experimented with blogs and uploads, but they can be timely and take up a lot of resources.  Twitter is starting to break ground as a social media tool that connects businesses to consumers in a different way.  It is different than blogs, articles, and Facebook fan pages, because Twitter is the real time transparency that consumers demand in their sub conscience.  Marketers need to embrace the truth in that social media is not directly tied to ROI.  It’s about building brand equity through critical mass.  It is a long term strategy and not a shortcut to immediate monetary return.  In my opinion, social media is best used as a complementary marketing tool, just as many brand oriented marketing campaigns support direct response advertising.  Just my two cents.

Personally, Twitter is like using a 2.0 version of RSS feeds, because you’re not only receiving updates (“tweets”) but you are also contributing at the same time.  It’s a conversation.  It’s a two way street.

I started to follow news sites such as MSNBC, CNN, and New York Times on Twitter.  That lead to following companies that I take interest with.  Which eventually lead to following social groups like our MCDM program and the upcoming Super Bowl.  Then, slowly (but surely) I broke out of my Twitter cocoon.  I realized that, for me, Twitter is an optimal social network to update the world about my daily rants on digital media.  It’s the first social networking site that I am not afraid of partaking in public (with no privacy features), because it is an environment where I want the world to hear what I have to say.  Facebook wasn’t a great atmosphere for this for me.  Twice, I tried linking my Twitter to FB status updates, and it hasn’t been a hit.  But who knows, this could change as the way we interact with our online audience continues to evolve.

This so-called revelation of mine isn’t to say Twitter is the new grand solution for everything.  Nor am I definite that Twitter has a promising future.  But when a website is not monetizing and receives non-solicited bids up to $250M, you have to tilt your head and wonder what the hype is all about.

I still consider myself an early adopter for the most part, but I think it takes a couple of tries to make any new tool stick.  Every effort can be a hit or miss when it comes to social media tools, such as networking sites, user generated content, and applications.

So haters, beware.  I learned my lesson the hard way.  Fad or no fad, you just may be missing out on the next big thing, because with social media, everything is inevitable.  Give Twitter the benefit of doubt.

Another great article on embracing Twitter
Check out your Twitterholic Ranking!
TweetDeck: A very useful Twitter application
Follow me on Twitter