Jack Dorsey LIKES Google + Competition - Good for Twitter

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey doesn't really seem too worried about competition from other social media like Google Plus and Facebook. In fact, Dorsey said Twitter's ability to discover things in real time is what sets it apart from other social media platforms.

"We definitely see social as just one part of what people do on Twitter," Dorsey said. "We think of it as an information utility and a communications network."

Dorsey pointed out the differences between the micro-blogging website and other social networks during the Digital Life Design  Conference in Munich, Germany.

When it comes to Twitter, Dorsey places emphasis on the words "public," "real time" and "simplicity," noting that the social network has always been about hosting public conversations in real time. Simply put, Twitter is also about discovering.

"It comes from a very blogging-centric mindshare," Dorsey said. "You need to compose, and you need to publish, and that goes out to the world, but the biggest value is discovering what's going on in your world in real time--opening up Twitter and figuring out the pulse of the planet."

source:  http://bit.ly/AF4Yin International Business Times

6 Features to Master Klout

Klout is here to stay... and I admit I try and get my score higher... especially after the algorithm dropped me nearly 20 points - 70 to 50. I have got back to 62...

So I search for articles on what to do... I found this one whilst watching the Australian Open Mens Final - it's been going now over 5 hours!! Don't know who will win...

Here is the article: http://bit.ly/txEVYn

The following content will teach you how to use Klout without the mention of Klout Score. Kloutis here to stay. It is not necessary to delete your Klout profile, but you may want to reconsider how your assess your social media engagement techniques based on your Klout Score.

Use Klout's 6 best and practical features to your advantage. Begin by logging in to Klout and join us on the following tour.

1. Recent Buzz. Find out if you are following the current topics in your network's buzzfeed, which is found at the bottom of your dashboard. Klout does a great job organizing like-minded users, so don't ignore this comprehensive feed.

2. Influential Topics. The topics list helps regulate your online reputation management. Make sure your topics relate to your brand. Topical influencers are able to engage their audience on a specific subject.

3. Best Content. Select a topic and click on the "best content" button. This hard-to-find feature is a great way to meet others who have similar interests and post current, reliable content.

4. 90-day Activity. Try documenting the data retrieved by Klout to make monthly analyses of your engagement tactics. Consider setting goals for yourself, such as aiming to increase your retweets or seeking to receive more mentions.

5. Influencers List. Use this list to target your audience. It is simple to add a person or company using their Twitter name.

6. Klout Style. The most creative and innovative Klout feature is the Klout Style (pictured above).Everyone has influence. The Klout Style reminds us that we do not belong in the celebrity category if our mentors are not.

Consistency and focus is a good thing.

To learn more about social content strategy, contact social media strategists and learn how to use the Klout to manage a company or brand online. Remember to take the Klout data for what it is. We may as well practice using Klout to manage online connections since it is not going anywhere.

Do you have a Klout profile? What is your favorite feature on Klout? Share your thoughts

That formula - get more engagement

Wayne Mansfield

When ever you find yourself reading a professional sales page or brochure and you find yourself getting interested and either purchasing or signing up then you must know that you are reading something that has a whole formula behind it and the way it was written isn't just by chance.

Now it's time you learn that formula: - It's called AIDCA

AIDCA stands for:

A – Attention

I – Interest

D - Desire

C – Conviction

A – Action

AIDCA is how to bring out the message in your sales letters/brochures:

This is how it works:

1. Get your readers attention – Create an attractive headline
   
2. Subtitle – Get them interested, this should be done by getting straight to the point, for example: “Learn how you can drive traffic to your website”
   
3. Desire – the reader needs to have a desire to read your sales letter or brochure… the reader wants to know one thing: “what’s in it for me?”
   
4. Conviction – This is where the key points to your marketing message should appear.
   
   Action - This is where you are calling your reader to take action. You need to be very clear and straight forward, for example: “Sign up now and get the $20 discount today…!”

Master this formula to grow your business now.

13 People to follow on Google Plus

Here’s the most accessabile top expert niche authority peeps on Google+

+Mari Smith – Relationship Marketing
+Jack Humphrey – Content Curation
+Michel Fortin Sales Copy for IM
+Barry Schwartz SEO
+Denis Labelle Breaking Google+ News
+Martin Maybruck Mobile Websites
+Travis Campbell Affiliate Marketing
+Trey Ratcliff Photography
+Lynette Young Google+ Community
+Robert Scoble Startups
+Darren Rowse Mega Blog Traffic
+François Beaufort Chrome / Chromebook Guru

+Wayne Mansfield that's me.... 

10 Twitter Apps - How many do you use?

Just found this great list of Twitter apps for productivity in managing my Twitter accounts. I am ONLY using 6 of these 10... how about you?

The article starts:

Are you still looking for the best Twitter services and utilities that are able to enhance your tweeting experience and bring more value to it? Look no more for today we will be sharing with you the top 10 Twitter utilities available on the web:

1. bit.ly: The best URL shortner around used by various Twitter applications directly or to leverage their bookmarklets.
2. Ping.fm: A highly valuable service that allows you to publish your updates to many social networks simultaneously.
3. Visibli: Optimizing engagement means sharing great content– even if it isn’t your own. The Engagement Bar shows your brand above each linked page to keep you top-of-mind. Also has analytics.
4. Tweepi: A great Twitter management tools with stats which allows you to follow, flush, reciprocate and clean up your Twitter account based on users’ activity, engagement, retweets and so on.
5. Twitter Split: An interesting tool you can install to allow you to track links in tweets you post.
6. TrueTwit: A Twitter validation tool that helps automate some key services.
7. Twit Longer: A simple tool which allows you to send longer Tweets.
8. Twitter Keys: Blog post with a variety of little icons and images you can add into your tweets to make them more fun and expressive.
9. Follow Friday Helper:  Let’s you easily build thank you & other messages to people who mention, RT, etc. you.
10. TwimeMachine: An easy way  to see all your past Tweets.

Do you FourSquare

Three months ago I meet a young German game developer in Doha and we got to discuss Social Media and in particular FourSquare. So I have been playing with the application since.

So I've been closely monitoring FourSquare, not only as a new social media platform but also from a local user perspective. While most technology businesses have been focusing on the development of location based SMS services, the reliance and support of mobile operators in this region has often been the major stumbling block.

This seems to be the main reason why  FourSquare  will succeed as the one true location based information platform piggybacking on existing GPS technology and of course, Google maps. Well, that and its simplicity and ease of use. The ability for users to find businesses or places of interest, within your current locality, with one click on your mobile offers vast opportunities for retailers, restaurants, bars and cafe's to attract those within their vicinity. For tourists, the ability to check user reviews and tips provides a tripadvisor-type experience not limited to just hotels, while on the go. For local residents, foursquare offers information on new venues that may previously have been missed.

Like most social media platforms, foursquare is totally dependent on user generated content, which provides its biggest challenge. Therefore, platforms such as this can go either one-way or another in terms of user interest and interactivity. Incentives are traditionally seen as the key to sustaining interactivity, which borrows some of the key aspects of loyalty schemes.

FourSquare cleverly incentivise its users by awarding points, which at the moment only has relevance when viewing a league table between your friends or one for the entire city you reside in. That said, the ability for 3rd parties to link to the foursquare API in the same way as facebook and twitter allow, will surely allow applications such as loyalty programs to establish themselves firmly within the foursquare framework.

So if you want to join me on FourSquare, I am WayneMansfield like I am everywhere in Social Media Marketing.

5 Social Media Tricks You Need to Use

Reliable Networks  Directors Paul Fisher and Karl Bairstow, published this article last week:


Once you get the hang of using social media, in particular to promote your business or personal brand, it is easy to forget that there is always something to learn. We quickly get into the habit of doing things the same way every day and never learn or change. For those of us stuck in a rut of social media, here are some tips to try in 2012. I was using them and I think they really work.

Tweet the Tweeter – I hope you have a habit now to thank people for retweeting (RT) of your content. But really, when you think, why do that? Instead, when someone is kind enough to RT something of yours, go back and find one of their recent tweets and RT this. This is the kind of thank you that they will truly appreciate.

Facebook gratitude – maybe you say thank you to your company’s Facebook fans. But do you go to your customers’ walls and say thank you there? If not, you are missing the opportunity to reach a new audience – your customers’ Facebook friends. Although no clients want you to advertise on their wall, most will not mind at all if you post a simple note thanking them for being good customers.

Social Media Magic

Targeted Tweets – you may have noticed that there are some people on Twitter who have tons of followers and generally generate a lot of buzz. Find out who these people are in your industry and your best Tweet – and only the best of your – the contents of their time to time. You should not be targeted with promotional Tweets about your business. Instead, cultivate a list of “Twitter Elite” in your field, and occasionally send them tweets (using its handle in the Tweet) that you think truly interest them. Finally, when they come to respect you, they will RT your content.

Branding Up – it’s very tempting to use social media to promote your business. But if you are really using social media, you are building your brand. Instead position yourself as a representative of your company, you must position yourself as an expert in your field. A reputation as an industry leader and thinker will serve you better in the long run.

Weekend Warrior – weekends can be a great time to break through the Twitter chaos and get the attention of people who are interested in your content. Early weekend mornings are an especially good time to Tweet. Lots of business folks are up early, catching up on work before their day off begins

Aussies get their mojo back

Dravid is CLEAN BOWLED!

With Australia now 2 zip up in Test series against India I wonder how many ways from this list we got the Indians out??

Thanks to No Third Man

What are the 11 (yes eleven) ways to be out in Cricket and what are the most frequent dismissals?

In an estimated order of frequency:

Caught
Leg Before Wicket
Bowled
Run Out
Stumped
Hit Wicket
Retired Out
Handled the Ball
Obstructing the Field
Hit the Ball Twice
Timed Out

This video shows a number of the above including Obstructing the Field: Bizarre Cricket Dismissals: 10 Weird Ways to be Out.

No is just a way of saying TELL ME MORE

Great article from Dan Kennedy:

People start out by saying no to things for many, many reasons. It's sort of an automatic, knee-jerk, defense mechanism. They may not fully understand the matter you are dealing with and may be too embarrassed to admit it. They may not know how to intelligently make a decision. They may lack self-confidence and self-esteem. They may be afraid. They may have financial problems that (in their minds) preclude them from going along with you. There are probably hundreds of possible reasons for "the erroneous no." Don't let it stop you.

Eight Steps for Getting Past No

1. Determine you are going to exert control over the situation and the other people involved.
2. Determine you can and will get positive results even in negative situations.
3. Get your ego out of the way.
4. Do not confuse refusal with rejection.
5. Be more interested in achieving positive results than in anything else.
6. Understand that most no's are erroneous.
7. Ignore the "erroneous no." Keep making your case. Keep probing for the real reason for reluctance or refusal.
8. Respond only to real reasons. Don't get caught up in responding to "erroneous no's" - that's like wrestling with a phantom

7 of the Best iPhone Apps for Twitter

Twitter iPhone Applications

Welcome to yet another Twitter list. Today, 1 will share with you the top 7 Twitter iPhone applications that will make tweeting more valuable and fun at the same time.

1. Tweetlogix :  This application makes following your Twitter friends easier than ever. Its unique rich timeline offers inline image previews and tappable links. It also allows you to tweet photos, videos, and music titles and enables you to mute users, search nearby, follow lists, follow trends, and more. It is a simple, fast, easy-to-navigate application.
2. Echofon: A clean iPhone Twitter app with push notifications and unread tweet syncing with your computer.
3. qTweeter:  Users with jailbroken iPhones who are also Twitter and Facebook users should check out qTweeter. It’s a pervasive app that runs in the background, and lets you fire off a quick Twitter and/or Facebook status message without exiting whatever application you’re using.
4. Tweetdeck:  Along with Hootsuite, one of the most popular apps used today for managing followers, tweets, scheduling and more.
5. Seesmic:  Seesmic connects you wherever you are. Seesmic mobile CRM and social media management applications empower connected organizations and individuals around the globe.
6. Boxcar: A good application for adding Twitter, Facebook, RSS and more. It also allows you to read all your messages in one place, whether you’re on the go or at your computer.
7. Twitterific: Twitterrific is a fun application that lets you read and publish posts or “tweets” to the Twitter community website. The application’s user interface is clean, concise and designed to take up a minimum of real estate on your Mac’s desktop.
   
   and a bonus 3 more...
8. SocialDash:  One of the only iPhone apps that provides access to Facebook and Twitter statistics on things like Klout. This app that gives you a dashboard view of the social you all in one place and conveniently in the palm of your hand.
9. Tweeb:  Tweeb is a Twitter analytics and Twitter follower management app. It’s the only app that provides a simple, digestible, and yet comprehensive view of how you are doing on Twitter. It is built both for the engaged Twitter user and for those involved in social media, who need a fast, dashboard-style view of key stats for their clients.
10. TweetList:  A full-featured Twitter client that highlights Twitter lists. This app was recommended for disabled users.

This list first appeared at: http://tweepi.com/blog/2011/10/top-10-twitter-iphone-applications/