Twitter “Fast Follow” Opportunity for Businesses

Yesterday Twitter introduced a new feature called “Fast Follow” which may prove to be a tool businesses can use for advertisement purposes. The concept of Fast Follow is simple – for those of you in the US, you can now receive tweets on your cell phone without even having your own Twitter account. To receive tweet updates to your cell, text Twitter’s shortcode [40404] with “follow [username]”. For example, you would text 'follow erikabarbosa' to receive my tweets directly to your cell regardless if you have a Twitter account or not.

Although some may enjoy this feature to follow individuals, the feature is very attractive for businesses as it gives them a chance to reach individuals who may be interested in the business’s offers but not necessary be an active tweeter. Businesses could offer special discounts or deals to test this feature and measure how much this may appeal to their specific audience/customer base. With a bit of creativity, even businesses outside of the obvious retail or restaurant industry, could take advantage of this feature.

In essence, Fast Follow allows you to reach the passive users who may very well opt-in to your text based information or offers, but may not want to engage in a conversation on Twitter.

What are your thoughts? Can you think of a way to implement Fast Follow for your customer base?

image credit: ydhsu

Google’s Struggle With Social Networking

Once all a buzz, this week Google announced that Google Wave was no more. They no longer plan to develop it as a standalone product. It seemed as if Google Wave never really took off, as many people struggled to find meaningful ways to use it. I wonder if it is because many people use existing communication tools such as Twitter and Facebook, and Google Wave was just too much to integrate into people's lives. Also, it was exclusive at one point, and many people did not have access to it, which may have hurt the success of Wave as well. Google is continuing to work on launching a social product, although so far, they haven’t been very successful yet. Another Google product, Google Buzz, hasn’t gotten much traction either, even though it is integrated into Gmail - which many people use daily as their email client.

I personally use Google Buzz since I use Google Reader and like to share blog posts with my followers there, but only those who follow me on Google Buzz see it, which isn’t many. Because many of my friends use Facebook and Twitter, I see more response there when it comes to sharing news or interesting blog posts. Unless Google can find a way to integrate through Twitter and Facebook, it’s likely that they won’t see much success – unless they create something bigger and better than these two very popular social networking tools.

10 Powerful Social Media Tools to prepare for a job interview or sales call

Before you go to to your next job interview or sales call get prepared!



You can know an amazing amount about a company and the person you are meeting by spending about 15 minutes online searching. Here are some powerful tools to find out a lot of info about the company, and the person you are about to meet.

Oh, first a handy tip. Take screen shots (use the 'print screen' button on your keyboard to grab the images) as you do your research, copy these images into a PowerPoint presentation and keep it in a file you will take to the meeting. If the opportunity arises, share some of the knowledge you have about the company and show the person how diligent you were. You should keep personal and company information separate, many people would be surprised and possibly uncomfortable about how much you can dig up about them personally.

1. Get to know their website. A good place to find recent information is the News or Press Release tab and read recent newsletters stored on the website
2. Do a Google search for the company and the individual you are meeting
3. Google the company name plus 'reviews' and 'comments', print out any negative information you find, and if it is appropriate share this info. with the person you're meeting. They might not have Googled themselves and they might need an Online Reputation Management program.
4. Find the person you are meeting on LinkedIn. Do any of your friends know him or her? This is a great opportunity for your friend to put a good word in for you. Plus, knowing a bit about their history might keep you from putting your foot in your mouth like I once did. I met an executive at a packaged goods company and I went on and on about how much I knew about banking before I found out she worked in the banking industry for ten years - oops!
5. Check them out on Facebook. Does the company have a Facebook Fan Page?
6. Is the company and/or the individual active on Twitter? Are they current? Is there any news you can learn? What are they passionate about? Colleges? Sports? Volunteer Activities? What common interests do you share. Do a search.twitter.com for their name as well, what are other people tweeting about them and the company? Post a Tweet and ask if anyone at the company is listening to test if they're monitoring Social Media.
7. Check their Compete.com traffic, Google Page Rank, Alexa Score, SEMRush.com for number of SEO results, How many links do they have to to their site? SpyFu.com will tell you about their Pay Per Click advertising activity.
8. Check these scores for their competitors.
9. Are they blogging?
10. And perhaps my best tip, from my friend Harvey Mackay, download the Warm Call Center Toolbar, it is amazing what this tool will reveal about the company and the individual!

Good luck and please comment below:

- What tools do you use to prepare for an interview or a sales meeting?
- Did you try any of these ideas? What did you find out?

Good Luck crushing it in your next meeting!


Photo credit drewleavy flickr.com

How To Use Twitter.. Start Marketing!

Last night I was up until about 1:30am in the morning, reading all the comments and emails I receive each week across my many web sites and blogs.. What's great about the marketing community is that we're not shy about asking questions!

I couldn't believe the divide between those using Twitter and those not using today's biggest social media web site. So I took a few minutes out of my schedule to provide you with a step-by-step video on signing up for Twitter and show you my favorite tool for managing my account. If you don't have an account, sign up at Twitter today. If you'd like to see a sample of my account or want to begin following, check out my Twitter page @mfleischner. If you'd like more videos on how to use Twitter for marketing purposes, let me know!

Getting Started With Twitter In Less Than 30 Seconds...

Given the tremendous success that Twitter is enjoying these days and because I think it's a really neat tool for all of us to use, I wanted to give you some additional background on Twitter and explain why using it can be beneficial for you and your business.

What is Twitter and what can it be used for?

Twitter is a social media tool that allows its users to interact with one another by answering the question "what are you doing right now?" in less than a 140 characters which equates to about 20 words or so.

In a relatively short period of time Twitter has created a mass following. From Celebrities to business owners through out the world, Twitter allows the immediate interaction with an engaged audience be it large or small.

Some of Twitter's most highly followed entities are Ashton Kutcher and President Barrack Obama. The later has even announced the selection of his candidate for Vice President of the United States simultaneously via text messaging, email and Twitter.

Twitter is used nowadays by businesses from many walks of life. Many of them are twitting because it allows them the ability to inform and interact further with their current and prospective clients.

Who can join Twitter?

Anyone can join twitter and begin twitting in minutes, it is completely free. It's also very easy to do and doesn't take long to sign up for an account.

Why should I be following the MarketingBlog on Twitter?

Our tweets provide ongoing updates on how to improve your online marketing in a cost effective manner. When we find an interesting case study, technology or helpful anecdote that businesses and professionals can benefit from, we share it with our readers.

We tweet on a daily basis on topics that are vital for your marketing and its advancement. By connecting to @mfleischner you will be kept in the know on issues of online marketing, SEO, search marketing and a number of social media topics.

How do I get started using Twitter?
1. Go to http://Twitter.com.
2. Click the get started button.
3. Enter your name, a password and an email address.
4. Use the settings button to add a bio of yourself or add a photo.

How do I follow the Marketing Blog on Twitter?

Once you are logged in go to http://twitter.com/mfleischner and choose the follow button. It really is that simple!

Twitter.. What's This All About

OK... I caved. Honestly I've been hearing about social marketing through Twitter and Facebook for about 9 months now and finally gave in. Yes, it's true, I'm tweeting! Of course, I still know very little about Twittering and what the point is, but I guess you have to be in the game.

I've been on facebook for a while and love to share photos and comment on what my friends are doing. To me facebook is more of a personal dialog and Twittering is really more for connecting with others who are passionate about marketing.

My plan is to share article, information, and resources that are marketing related on Twitter. I know that I'm certainly interested in what others are saying - especially in the area of Internet marketing. I may even start a project and provide regular updates via Twitter. That could give my followers something meaningful to follow.

I'm definitely interested in any tips my readers my have on using Twitter. It can be from a marketing perspective or simply how to best use Twitter... In the meantime, I invite you to follow me on Twitter. I can me found at @mfleischner

Twitter and Facebook - Now What?

Okay, despite my greatest effort to avoid the issue, too many people are focused on Twitter and Facebook. How can you use these tools to build a business? I'm here to tell you to calm down, take a deep breath, and realize that social networking can certainly help you with your online marketing but isn't all it's cracked up to be.

What do I mean? We'll if you are trying to earn a million bucks using social networking sites, then I'm here to tell you that you are going to be disappointed. Personally I think Facebook is a great tool for spreading the work and creating awareness. In fact, I recently spoke to an individual who heads up social marketing for a packaged goods company.

His company uses Facebook to create groups around product themes and launch events. For example, developing a video contest where people use his product and submit videos. By having a fan page, you can reach a large network of individuals and create something of interest. The tie back to product sales may be a little loose, but using Facebook to "spread the word" is really the essence of the social networking tool.

This is very similar to what Nike did years ago by giving athletes and jocks a free pair of Air Jordans. They were influencers and Nike understood that once an influencer puts something on, others want it. Think about Facebook this way and you should come up with some pretty innovative marketing ideas.

As far as Twitter is concerned, I'm at a loss. This is like Cirq De Soleil - taking the best part of the circus and making it the show. Twitter is the same - taking the best part of Facebook (updates) and building a site around it. If you're popular enough to have hundreds of followers, indirectly mention a website or product you're using and you'll drive traffic.

That's about the full extent of social media right now. If you have additional uses or successes, share them in the comments...

Facebook and Twitter... Reaching Your Audience

Today just about everyone is writing about Facebook and Twitter. I have to tell you... I'm a skeptic. It's not that I don't think that both are great for communicating, but just like Myspace, are they really all they're cracked up to be from a marketing perspective?

I recently spoke to a customer who said, "I love facebook... I spend about $5,000/month and pay only $0.50 per click." When I asked him how many sales he had generated, his answer was, "I don't know." Even though it was a single conversation, I have a feeling that many marketers who think that Facebook and Twitter are such good ways to promote themselves have little or no data to confirm their success. Or, as the example above shows, think success equals traffic.

To be successful with your online marketing, you need to find new sources of traffic - this is true. However, you must focus on the return of your investment. Are you advertising on Facebook? Using Twitter to build a list of followers? If you are, than ask yourself, is the return I'm getting greater than my investment in time and/or money?

My personal perspective, as I learn more about Facebook and Twitter is that it's great for sharing information about you, your products, and or services. However, if you want to sell directly, you'll be greatly disappointed.

Follow me on Twitter by clicking here