I read an interesting blog post today from Senior writer at Fortune magazine Adam Lashinsky’s Go West Blog. His post, titled “Will Twitter Make It?” gave me a lot of food for thought. Adam is addressing the question many of us are curious about when it comes to Twitter’s business model. Adam is also asking the question why should he and other business people use Twitter.

I myself have had a Twitter account for almost a year now but never used it because I, like Adam couldn’t see why business people would frequent this micro blogging service. I also had to fight the misconception that Twitter was only for those with SMS mobile devices. I fought the urge to Tweet long and hard until my good friend and Social CRM Expert Brent Leary told me how blogs like Mahalo drove major traffic to their website using Twitter.

Driving traffic to my website and blog was something I was definitely interested in doing. I then renewed my Twitter account and have been Tweeting both from my computer using the Twitter application, TweetDeck and with my cell phone using Jott, the voice recognition service. Marketing my business, my blog and myself through Twitter, or “Twarketing” has now been added as a focal point to my current business strategy.

I now have my Tweets show up on my blog using Twitter Tools. I automatically respond to followers and schedule future Tweets with Tweetlater. I even track the links in my Tweets using Tweetburner. Last but not least I do market research on products and services using Summize, which was just purchased recently by Twitter.

I believe that Twarketing will eventually drive those of the more mainstream to become users of Twitter. Early adopters like Maggie Mason who was the 448th person to sign up for Twitter, according to Twitterholic, are already seeing the fruits of their labors. Maggie currently has 6,458 follows and has parlayed those followers into traffic to her MightyGoods blog. Mighty Goods is a shopping blog and one of Time Magazine’s Top 50 Cool Sites of the year.

Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama holds the number two position on Twitterholic with 56,183 followers. The Blog Barack20 credits Twitter as one of the many social media networks that helped Mr. Obama win the Democratic nomination for President.

I believe Twitter will make it. I believe Twitter will develop a profitable business model. I also believe I have an idea of how Twitter can use a current advertising model for one of their revenue streams.

I will look to share that in a future post.

Brent Leary, I think you may have created a Twonster..;-)

All the best

JB

This is a follow up post to the Webinar that Social CRM Expert Brent Leary did with SEO Rainmaker David Bullock. The webinar went so well that it has sprung a new interest in how the Barack Obama Social Media campaign can help Solopreneurs and Small Businesses. If you missed the webinar you can now watch and listen to it by going to Brent’s CRM Blog or by clicking on these two links

http://www.barack20.com/Barack_Pt1.htm
http://www.barack20.com/Barack_Pt2.htm

Remember this webinar is not about politics in any way. It is how those on the Barack Obama technology team used social media to its fullest. Brent and David are going to have more conversations and webinars around this subject so stay tuned to hear about how you can join in on how this business model can help you take your business 2 the next level.

All the best

JB

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I just listened to a great interview on one of my favorite Internet radio shows. Brent Leary the host for the podcast “Business For Technology Sake” interviewed David Meerman Scott author of the book The New Rules in PR and Marketing.

If you have not heard one of Brent Leary’s interviews you are in for a treat. If you are a child of the 80’s like me and loved the music that crossed the air waves back then you will enjoy Brent’s intro song selection. Brent has a different track for almost all of his podcast.

I won’t give it away but you have got to hear David Meerman Scott describe one of his New Rules that he says was worth over a Million dollars to him. I am also looking forward to reading his FREE e-book which assisted him in getting his book deal.

So take a listen to Brent’s Podcast with David Meerman Scott and let me know what you think. You can also feel free to download Mr. Meerman’s E-book from the link below.

All the best

JB

The New Rules of PR (287) - 377.38 KB

I have been a member of Facebook for alomst 3 months now and I am hooked. I have already amassed about 380 friends and countng at the time of this posting. I have all but abandoned the myspace.com page I once had and I suggest that all Solopreneurs and Small Business persons do the same.

My good friend Brent Leary a CRM Analyst turned me onto Facebook but I really never took it seriously until I saw how many professional people were on Facebook. I, like everyone esle on the planet thought myspace.com would be the answer to helping me promote my business online. All I got from myspace.com was a bunch of junk advertising and requests from internet porn spammers to be my friend.

Facebook has changed my way of thinking when it comes to online social networking. I have met some of the most positive and productive people on the planet within Facebook pages. My favorite Facebook application has got to be “Events” where you can post your upcoming event for thousands if not millions of fellow professionals and Solopreneurs to see. I have been invited to some of the best teleseminars, webnars and networking events through this Facebook application.

As quoted in the Facebook Pages The Insider’s Guide to Viral Marketing.

“Businesses now have the ability to expand their revenue base and acquire new customers through free Facebook Pages. Pages enable customers to interact, learn, purchase, and spread the word about your business to their friends”

“Every day, most of Facebook’s 70 million active users log on to Facebook to learn about their friends and share information about their interests and activities. This regular interaction gives businesses the opportunity to connect with existing and new customers as effectively as a face-to-face meeting”

Here are the four Keys to using Facebook

1) Make business personal.

2) Update your Facebook Page frequently.

3) Harness the power of News Feed.

4) Choose the applications that are best for your business.

 I have also posted the complete guide below. My suggestion is that you quickly download it, Read it and then take action on all that is has to offer.

All The Best

JB