Internet Marketing with Josh SpauldingMaking Money through Ethical Marketing.

Why I Like Twitter and Why Others Don’t

I’ve written about Twitter a few times. Once shortly after signing up, then once a few months later when I started to actually use it. Now that I’ve been a regular user for several months, I think it’s a great time to tell you why I really like it and why I believe some people really hate it.

But first, I’ll tell you what it is in case you don’t know.

Twitter is a social network, but it’s MUCH simpler than most others and doesn’t take hours, or days to understand. Twitter is often called “micro blogging” and you’ll understand why in a minute. Here’s how it works (very easy.) You sign up, find some people to “follow” and hopefully they’ll follow you back.

You have a little spot when you’re signed in where you can type a “blurb.” This blurb must be 140 characters or less. Those who are following you will see your blurb and that of everyone else they’re following and the same goes for you (you’ll see the recent blurbs of everyone you’re following”

That’s basically it… very simple! You can also send direct messages to users, so only you and them will see the message and you can attach the @ symbol directly before any username and that user will see that in their “replies” example (@Josh_Spaulding)

Below you can see the web interface. Notice the box under “What are you doing?” that’s where your blurb goes. Directly below that are the recent blurbs from people I’m following.

To the right you’ll see how many people I’m following and how many are following me etc.

What’s the Point?

Networking and Outsourcing! Let me give you a few examples:

Example 1. I recently needed some writing done for a new review site I put up. I took about 20 seconds to login to Twitter, post a “tweet” (blurb) letting people know what I was looking for. Within ONE minute, I had 4 people respond telling me they were ready to start writing immediately! I had all of the work completed that day!

Example 2. I recently had 2 different coding issues I needed fixed on two separate blogs of mine. Just as with example 1, I posted a tweet and within minutes had several people offer to help. I had both problems fixed in UNDER 10 MINUTES and the guy who did it didn’t even charge me because I had gotten to know him on twitter and we have developed somewhat of a friendship! Try accomplishing that with ScriptLance, RentaCoder or elsewhere!

Example 3. On MANY occasions, when tweaking the design, adverts etc. of any of my sites, I’ll go to Twitter and ask people how things look from their side. Many times it’s different in other locations, especially with ads (Geotargeting etc.) and other people use different browsers, operating systems etc. Twitter is an excellent way to get a quick opinion on something and people are typically glad to help!

Example 4. I’ve met and established several profitable JV’s via Twitter, which wouldn’t have happened otherwise! Some of the biggest names in Internet Marketing and Technology are on Twitter and it’s an EXCELLENT way to get to know them, and more importantly, for THEM to get to know YOU!

Why Some People Don’t Like It

There are alot of people who really dislike Twitter. Including some smart marketers like Andrew Hansen. Andrew’s a good guy, but I’m going to convince him that he’s wrong, it’s on my list of things to do

The reason some people don’t like Twitter, I believe, is because they don’t understand the true value. Many people are led to believe Twitter is a good traffic generator and while it can and most likely will drive some traffic, that’s not what makes it so valuable!

They create an account, start posting tweet after tweet about their new blog post, or send people to an affiliate link… they don’t establish any relationships, they simply spam it, then eventually they notice it didn’t make them any money, so they quit and tell everyone it sucks!

I’ve been actively using Twitter for several months now and if it were a waste of time you better believe I’d be writing a much different post right now!

If you’re looking for a traffic generator, there are better ways of doing it. If you’re looking for a way to improve and increase JV’s, Outsourcing and Networking in general, Twitter is where you need to be!!

If you’d like to follow me, I’m at http://www.twitter.com/Josh_Spaulding

Popularity: 8% [?]

Keyword Research Simplified!

One of the most important aspects of article marketing and niche marketing is keyword research. If you do it incorrectly, or even worse, you don’t do it at all, it’s like shooting in the dark… you might hit something here or there, but most of the time you’re going to miss in a big way.

With that being said, you’d think there would be plenty of good information out there on the subject, right? Well there’s not! The reason being, many people just don’t understand it and there’s good reason for that.

There are 2 steps one must take to researching [...] Continue Reading…

Popularity: 14% [?]

What is a Good Internal Linking Structure?

I was recently asked a few questions at Coaching with Josh in regards to Internal Linking Structures.

It’s no secret that the way in which we link our pages from within is extremely important for both the user and the Search Engines, but there is very little in regards to exactly WHAT a good internal linking structure is.

I’ve actually spoken about Internal linking many times before on this blog and elsewhere, but as far as I know I’ve never actually said exactly what constitutes a good internal linking structure.

Which Type of Structure Should I Use?

Firstly, you should know that [...] Continue Reading…

Popularity: 15% [?]

How to Legally Use Images from Flickr on your Sites

Several weeks ago I wrote a blog post and used an image I had found on Flickr.com. The guy who took the pic replied to the blog comment letting me know that it was his work and I didn’t have the right to use it in my blog post. I was ignorant in assuming that I was right and he was wrong, so I told him he needed read and understand the TOS of Flickr before submitting photos lol

Then I, myself, went to flickr and read their TOS only to find out that I was the dumb ass [...] Continue Reading…

Popularity: 18% [?]

Internet Marketing isn’t as Difficult as it Seems!

This is a topic I’ve been wanting to get off of my chest for a while now. I’m pretty sure there will be people who completely disagree with me on this, but I believe it to be true, in general, when it comes to Internet Marketing, and I’m guessing, in any industry.

People make things out to be much more difficult than they really are!

In most cases it’s because these people are told things are more difficult than they really are from people who know better, but want to make some money selling them something!

One of the best examples, in [...] Continue Reading…

Popularity: 21% [?]

AffSphere Review - Why I Won’t be Submitting Articles to AffSphere

A week or so ago a new article directory was launched called “AffSphere. AffSphere was created by Anik Singal, who is also head of “Affiliate Classroom.”

Obviously everyone and their brother is promoting this, hoping to earn some affiliate cash, and of course most of the people who are promoting this either don’t understand what article marketing is all about, or just care more about commissions than they do about preserving (or building) an honest reputation.

After going through the videos, here are my thoughts.

What is AffSphere?

AffSphere is a new “article directory,” which is more or less a creative marketing [...] Continue Reading…

Popularity: 23% [?]

How I’ve Made Thousands of Dollars with Free Reports

Whether you’ve already created a product or you plan to in the future, the question is always there (should I sell it or give it away?)

The obvious answer to the inexperienced marketer is “sell it.” But, an experienced marketer will tell you a free report, or any kind of product for that matter, can earn you MUCH more money in the long run, and possibly even short term as well, than a product you sell.

Obviously there are situations when selling a product will benefit you more than giving it away. For instance, if you already have a large list, [...] Continue Reading…

Popularity: 25% [?]

Best Article Directories, Frequently Updated and Ranked

I just wanted to write a quick post announcing the new Article Directory List that Mark Mason has just put together.

As you may know, I recommend splitting up your article submissions, but submitting half to the top 5 or so article directories and the other half to the top 30 or so. This gives you the best of both worlds, as your limited submissions will typically rank a bit higher and your “mass” submission will bring in more links to your site/pages.

I announced a list of the top 15 article directories in my opinion a while back, but [...] Continue Reading…

Popularity: 25% [?]

Why I no Longer Display my RSS Subscriber Count

A while back Feedburner and AWeber started working together in order to display AWeber email subscriber numbers along with Feedburner RSS subscriber numbers.

This was and is great news for those who run mailing lists with AWeber. They can now offer loads of “Social Proof” by integrating Feedburner with AWeber and displaying their newly acquired feed subscriber #’s through their Feedburner chiclets.

But what about those of us who go through GetResponse for our email marketing? We kind of get the short end of the stick.

I’m not really complaining, well, ok I am to a point I don’t blame [...] Continue Reading…

Popularity: 18% [?]

Why I Delete Derogatory Comments

If you’re a blogger yourself, you’ve probably dealt with hateful comments. I get them once every month or two and some are published while others aren’t.

For instance, I just deleted a comment this morning on my last blog post left by someone who either didn’t read the entire post or didn’t understand what I was trying to get across. He said I have an 8th grade vocabulary and “real men” wear suits. Come on guy, go back to your cubicle lol

I guess he didn’t understand that I was simply trying to say “Don’t be fake.” If wearing a [...] Continue Reading…

Popularity: 18% [?]