Alert Blog Reviews

As much as many of us like to think that we’re highly organized and efficient when it comes to our use of Twitter, there is in fact a lot we can do to make our lives easier. In the last couple of weeks I’ve adopted some fairly radical measures to streamline and improve my use of Twitter, which I’ll share with you here. 1 – Cut the Number of People You Follow The temptation when you first start using Twitter is to embark on a ‘follow rampage’. You add the news sites you read, the bloggers you respect, friends, family, colleagues, business contacts and in turn many of the people that follow or are followed by these accounts. This seems like a great idea at first, but you find you soon reach a tipping point – in my own case, by following close to 2000 people, Twitter had become nothing more than a never-ending deluge of noise, with useful and informative Tweets getting lost amongst the junk. Even by setting up userlists in Seesmic Desktop (the desktop app I use), I was finding it ever harder to keep up. A couple of weeks back I made the decision to cut back on who I followed. It was time to ‘purge’. Before hitting the unfollow option in earnest, I realised it would be a wise idea to set myself some criteria for who I should keep: – Is the person i’m following bringing any real value to me? The million dollar question. It’s very easy to follow someone just because everyone else is, or because you they have a job that gives the assumption that their tweets will be useful. Often this couldn’t be further from the truth. – Is the person i’m following tweeting unique information and links or are they mainly retweeting stuff i’m already getting from other sources? – Does the person i’m following follow me and if they do, do they ever communicate with me or retweet what I put out there? I’m sure there’s plenty of further criteria of your own that you could add, but this is what suited me personally. Next, I realised that as I was currently following so many people, it would take me many hours to go through everyone using Twitter on its own. Thankfully there’s some great tools available to help you. I used Your Twitter Karma , so i’ll describe the process I went through in using this tool specifically. When you log in to Your Twitter Karma (be patient – it can take a few minutes to load your details) you’re presented with a huge list of Twitter users. Under each itemised Twitter account it tells you whether you follow that person, whether they follow you, or whether you both follow each other. Clicking on the avatar brings up that person’s Twitter profile, so you can refresh your memory as to who they are, what they do, and whether their tweets are of value to you. Next comes the evil part! The purge… Select the users that you wish to stop following, by clicking the checkbox next to their avatar. This can be quite a time-consuming process, but it’s well worth it in the long run. When you’ve selected everyone you want to unfollow, click the ‘bulk unfollow’ button at the bottom of the page. All done! Now check your Twitter profile to check that your follow count has dropped to what you expect. Be prepared that your follower count may also drop slightly, as some people use auto-follow / auto-unfollow tools that will drop you if you drop them. 2 – Effectively Manage the Remaining People You Follow In my case, once I’d purged my account I was left with around 200 people I was still following – a drop of over 2000! In return about 200 people stopped following me. Once I’d got over what I’d done, it was time to effectively manage who I was left with. This next step is very easy to undertake. Most desktop Twitter applications (such as Seesmic Desktop and TweetDeck ) allow you to set up usergroups, whereby you can classify the people you follow into distinct groups, such as ‘friends’, ‘collegues’, ‘business’, ‘celebrities’ etc. In future when you get a new tweet for someone you have allocated to a group it will appear in the appropriate group column. This way you can find and read it with far less difficulty. Twitter now also allows you to set up lists as well, so you can group together people in a similar way. 3 – Be Prepared to Fall in Love With Twitter All Over Again I know that what I’ve described sound quite radical, but believe me, if Twitter has become an out of control stream of tweets that you can’t keep up with, it really is your only option. Now i’ve drastically cut the number of people I follow down to the bare bones, I’ve rediscovered my love for this great tool. Additionally, whereas before I wouldn’t have dreamed of using Twitter on my iPhone, now I can login to the likes of Tweetie and thumb my way through tweet after tweet of valuable information (and the odd piece of celebrity gossip!). The value is back! Please note: Undertake the steps I’ve outlined at your own risk. I can not be held responsible for anything that may happen to your Twitter account as a result of following what you read here. Also be warned that it is not advisable to bulk-unfollow Twitter accounts then bulk-follow new accounts, as Twitter may deem you to be mis-using their service and suspend your account without notice. © 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips . Why it Pays To Purge – Making Efficent Use of Twitter

Visit link:
Why it Pays To Purge – Making Efficent Use of Twitter

It seems that Google likes to roll out new tools to help webmasters without really saying why. So, when Google launches a new tool that helps you determine if your web page is too wide or long for most browser sizes, you have to wonder: will the dimensions of your web site become the next variable added to Google’s algorithm? It’s not out of the realm of possibility, when you consider that the speed of your site will soon be a factor in determining your Google ranking. Whether I’m reaching here–or close to home–I don’t know. What I do know is that Google wants YOU to be aware of how many Google users don’t get to see all of your web content at first glance. Browser Size is cute, ugly, and useful. It’s best to just show you: As you can see, Trackur.com fits within the entire web browser of only 20% of all users, but our call to action gets seen by 90-95%–without any scrolling needed. You’d think that the tool would have cleaner lines, but I suspect the “kids crayon” interface is designed to not look too sinister and official–so you don’t suspect it will become part of Google’s algorithm. Go and check your own web site and let me know how you fair. PS. Keep in mind that if you use a floating width/margin, you should re-size your own browser to lose the white space either side of your main content.

Continue reading here:
Size Does Matter! Google Says Small & Narrow is Best!

Yahoo’s taking ad targeting to a whole new level with its new Ad Interest Manager . Now advertisers aren’t the only ones who can target you—you can target yourself, too! The new AIM system enables users to select their interests and block ads outside of those interest areas. According to the press release , the tool: Provides a central point where Yahoo! visitors can assert even greater control over their online experience. Gives visitors an unparalleled view into the information used to deliver interest-based advertising. Shows the visitor both Yahoo!’s educated guesses about their interests and a summary of observations, along with other information they have provided. Provides a list of specific interest categories that Yahoo! has placed a user into and lets people turn those categories off. Allows people who don’t want to see interest-based ads to turn them off entirely. As the quote indicates, the system gives you a list of ad categories Yahoo believes you’re interested in, based on your activity on the site, including search history, and properties including Yahoo Answers, Flickr and Yahoo Groups. You can then switch off each individual category. Switch off seven categories, and the system prompts you, asking if you want to switch off all behavioral targeting. Overall, this is a smart move—allowing users to target ads to themselves insures greater value for advertisers. But the system will only work as well as its implementation—both the targeting and the promotion of the system must be good enough for the system to gain widespread use. Yahoo will have to use fairly prominent, probably front-page, promotion to not only show that are they behind this system, but to make their every day users aware of the improvements. What do you think? Will you use the AIM targeting system? As a user or an advertiser, are you excited about this?

Continue reading here:
Yahoo Lets Users Customize Ads

Often we forget the little guy, the SMB, in our discussions of the comings and goings of the Internet marketing industry. Sure there are times like this when a report surfaces talking about their issues and concerns but, for the most part, we like to talk about big brands and how they do the Internet marketing thing well or not so well. Of course, when you consider that 95% of the businesses in the US are considered an SMB of some shape or size it should make one think a little more about the impact this market segment has in the overall scheme of things. Unfortunately, ‘too big to fail’ bailouts don’t await the little guy. Instead the SMB needs to make due with what they have and be as smart about how they spend their marketing dollars as possible. The Center for Media Research has released a study by Vertical Response that shows just where many of these ‘Main Street’ players are going with their online dollars. The big winners: e-mail and social media. With only 3.8% of small business folks NOT planning on using e-mail marketing and with social media carrying the perception of being free (which they so rudely discover it is far from free) this should make some in the banner and search crowd a little wary. I suppose the question is just what does increased use of social media mean? Will there be money put toward it or will it just be that the effort by the SMB social media practitioner (usually also referred to as the business owner) is increased. We’ll see. This quote from helps to frame something that most know already but have had a hard time changing. Janine Popick, VerticalResponse CEO and founder, says “… small businesses continue to allocate portions of their budget to… email and social media, despite the downturn in the economic climate… (but) marketers (still) need to help small businesses to see the value of integrating search engine marketing… into their campaigns.” Honestly, I am a little confused by some of the findings here because in the next breath we see the following: According to the study, the most important tool for small businesses to succeed in 2010 is search engine marketing, while email marketing, public relations and social media cited as crucial for success. 23.8% of all small businesses reported that search engine marketing was the tool most needed for their business to succeed in 2010. So which is it? Do they or don’t they use or want to use search marketing? Or is the better question can they or can’t they? Maybe the way that these findings seem a bit muddy is just a reflection of the struggles that many businesses have with the shift from traditional marketing to the online space. In 2010 it looks like the rubber is really hitting the road as the Internet marketing industry matures while many may end up just being left behind. Your thoughts?

More here:
Small Business Marketing Efforts Point to E-Mail and Social Media in 2010

We are all aware that social networks, social marketing, social media and just plan old being social are the new wave regarding the Internet and its magical powers to make the world a better place for all. As we move further along in the life cycle of this still relatively new phenomenon (OK, all of you folks who have ‘been doing this for years’ can huff and puff at this point) there will be more opportunity to slice and dice the nature of the social network and the networkers that inhabit them. The folks over at Pingdom have taken a stab at looking at the gender breakdown of this group and found that women rule. Kinda. 84% (16 out of 19) of the sites have more female than male users. The social news sites Digg, Reddit and Slashdot have significantly more male users than female. The standout here is Slashdot which takes male geekdom to new heights with 82% male users. If we hadn’t included the three social news sites, all of the sites would have had more females than males. Twitter and Facebook have almost the same male-female ratio; Twitter with 59% female users and Facebook with 57%. Now we need to apply the classic question that all marketers must eventually apply to statistics and sales presentations: So what? But before we go there we can’t waste the very nice chart that the Pingdom folks put together for you to look at. I suspect that these ratios may always hold true to some degree but as there are more an more business applications of social media they may balance out a bit depending on the situation. Easy for me to say, sure. Honestly, social media is just like a very other tool that is used to reach people for a specific reason. Knowing how many is neat but the more important question is why someone is there. Certain networks may attract more of one gender over another for reasons that will then truly tell a marketer what the value of that network may be to them. And of course, just because it is that way now is no assurance that it will remain that way. So Pilgrims, as you awake from your tryptophan induced haze what is your take on the various guys and girls clubs in the social networking space?

More:
Social Networks – More ‘She Said’ Than ‘He Said’

If you are new in Internet Marketing and thinking of earning some good money online, then Affiliate Marketing is what you’re looking for. It is a blossoming virtual industry that offers promising potential revenues. This has become a vital extension of E-commerce. Investing little money from you may be required along the way, but eventually you will earn it back. Affiliate marketing for the past few years has become the tool for company or individuals to advertise their products. There is no start-up capital to start earning in Affiliate Marketing that is why this is suitable for those people who want to try their luck at Internet Marketing. This method became the top provider of advertising for merchants and for affiliate marketers, a source of income. There are various forms of Affiliate Marketing. You can choose what type of affiliate marketing suits you. You can choose from the most basic Pay per Click to the most advance, Residual Income Marketing. The most popular and easiest form of Affiliate Marketing is Pay per Click. Whenever someone clicked an ad placed by the affiliate he will get credited by the merchant who pays affiliates for placing their ads anywhere in the internet. The affiliate still gets paid, even if the visitor did not buy anything from the website. Google AdWords is a perfect example for this. The pay may be small but with a little effort, you can earn easily. Pay per Sales is widely used by merchants to promote their products. The affiliate gets a commission for every referral that he made, that purchased or sign up a paid subscription from the merchant. This is popular for merchants because this helps them save from advertising cost because the affiliates do the job for them. The commission in this type of marketing is great. Sometimes it ranges from 15% to 20% and evens up to 75% of the actual selling price of the product. One advantage of Pay per Sale for affiliates is that they do not have to create their own website. To help affiliates convert sales, they can run a PPC campaign. You will have to pay for every click on your ads. But sometimes it’s worthy because it’s really effective. Another type is Pay per Lead, this is mostly used by finance and insurance company and those companies that rely on their lead for their success. Mostly known as paid sign ups, the affiliate gets paid by a merchant for every referred visitor; he draws to the merchant’s website. There is a fixed commission for this type of affiliate marketing. An effortless earning process that both benefit the merchant and the affiliate without any raised issues. Each action from you has a reward so earning will easily multiply. All you have to do is choose the best affiliate program that will suit you. There is no need to be afraid in risking your money and effort in affiliate marketing. Joining such beneficial market interconnection is an already proven and tested healthy profitable move.

Original post:
Affiliate Marketing

Facebook just keeps chuggin’ along doesn’t it? While everyone talks about the latest in this or that, the next greatest innovation in the next greatest thing since sliced bread and all the other fixings that go with Internet marketing and social media hype Facebook just gets results. Sure there are the occasional misfires on how they handle making changes in policies but in the end there is little or no effect on a few pretty important factors: the number of people actively using the tool AND the increasing number of people coming on board. One of the results of this continued growth and maturation is the fact that Facebook is now the third most popular place to view video on the web as reported by cnet based on the latest Nielsen VideoCensus numbers. Considering how much video is ingested by Internet users, that is saying something that is actually pretty astounding. Here’s a pretty chart for you While not a threat to YouTube (it’s actually a bump to YouTube since much of the video is from there to begin with) Facebook is basically cleaning the clock of major media outlets on pure volume of vides viewed. Now what is not considered in these numbers are the types of video viewed. Many folks on Facebook are not there for hard news so if the content of these videos was sliced and diced I am sure these numbers would look different. For Internet marketers that targeting will mean more about where dollars are spent than just shear volume. Nonetheless, Facebook is becoming more and more of a force while avoiding the drama of other Internet players like Google, Yahoo et al. The numbers speak for themselves. According to Nielsen, the “total time spent viewing video on Facebook” grew by 1,840 percent year over year. The number of unique viewers grew 548 percent over the same period. Total streams increased by 987 percent year over year. “Facebook’s rapid growth in online video during the last year illustrates the site’s evolution from simply a communications focused tool to a media portal,” Nielsen Vice President of Media Analytics Jon Gibs said. “Social networking sites are evolving from a venue for catching up with friends to a platform for personal expression, allowing consumers to share their experiences in the full variety of content formats available online.” Enjoy your weekend watching video. We know Facebook will love it.

Go here to read the rest:
Facebook Is a Video Powerhouse As Well