Posts Tagged ‘Branding’

Her is the final part in the Twitter For Internet Marketers series. The time has just flown by!  I hope you have been practicing all of your new Twitter skills.

By now you should have a basic plan and schedule for your Twitter marketing campaign. Have you tacked your checklist from our last lesson somewhere close to your computer yet?

In this last installment, we are going to talk about some of the common mistakes that Twitter users make, so you can avoid making them.

Over the last few days we’ve talked about what an exciting, cool, and extremely profitable social network site Twitter is. The fact is millions of people are using it to connect with each other all over the world, but as an Internet marketer there are some common mistakes that you will want to avoid making even before you start sending tweets.

Mistake number one:

The picture as your avatar in your profile is not yours.

I’m sure you’ve seen it. Some users don’t post their real picture. They use cartoon pictures, company logos, or their pet’s pictures. Although the pictures are quite cute and may grab some attention, most Twitter users will appreciate seeing a real picture of you, especially if you are trying to connect on a business level.

When you post your own picture it lets others know that you are real and that you’re confident enough with what you do to let others see you. You want people to recognize you as a leader in your market and having a face to go with a name always helps. Branding yourself in all of your marketing effortsis always a good idea.

Depending on your niche you will want to choose a photo that represents business, For instance if you are have a children’s online book store you will want to choose a picture that shows your fun side. On the other have if you are selling product to professionals you will want a photo that looks conservative and business-like. A nice smile never hurts either.

Mistake number two:

Automatically sending the wrong type direct message through an AutoDM.

In lesson two we talk about using the tool Future Tweets that automatically sends messages to people who follow you. What we didn’t talk about was sending the wrong type of message with this tool and how it can lose you followers.

Direct messages can be seen as impersonal and pushy when they aren’t written properly. If you decide to use a tool that automatically send messages to your new followers keep it simple and friendly. A message saying ‘thanks for following me’ is fine, but sending automated messages promoting your business or product is not a good idea and most instances people will click the unfollow button right away.

Mistake number three:

Trying to build a huge following before you have done some tweeting.

People will not be interested in following you when they click on your Twitter page to see what you’ve got, and notice you don’t have much. You need to have tweeted more than, “Trying to figure this Twitter out” and “I think I’ve got it figured out now.”

If you don’t know what to say, try “retweeting” (RT) some other peoples’ tweets that that are related to your niche. Read what other people are tweeting about and reply to them, this will help start up a conversation.  Talk about market related news, what you’re doing on your business right now. That will give you several tweets to get the ball rolling.

Mistake number four:

Tweeting promotion after promotion.

Yes,  you are using Twitter to promote your business, but posting one offer after another will only cause people to ‘unfollow’ you. When people look at your timeline and notice that you aren’t posting anything of value to them they will quickly move on.

There are millions of Twitters to follow, why should they follow you when you’re only tweeting about promotions? Remember this basic rule of sales “people want to know what’s in it for me”? Twitter is a social network and you have to keep that in mind before you post a tweet.

When you are using Twitter for your Internet Marketing business, you must learn how to communicate and build good relationships with your followers before you start sending them with promotions.

Even if you already have a good list of leads, it is still not a good idea to barrage them with promotions. As we have talked about before, promotional tweets should be sent only in limited numbers.

These are just a few of the more common mistakes committed by new and old tweeters alike. Take note of them and don’t make the same mistakes.

Before we close, I want to share a couple of more things with you that we didn’t have a chance to go over in the last
few posts.

The first thing is using the Twitter search feature. It is a very effective tool that allows you to check on yourself and your business. You will be surprised to find out how much chatter takes place on Twitter.

By using the search tool you can quickly find out what others are saying about you and your business and learn from them. If you find out any criticisms, think about them carefully. You can also make some adjustments to your business if there is a need to so that you ensure profitability.

The next thing is your Twitter background. The background on Twitter page tells a lot about your personality. If you plan to use Twitter for Internet marketing you will want to make the background look more professional. You can do this by using the basic customization tools that Twitter supplies to make some simplechanges to the color scheme of your page.

For even more impact you may want to consider a custom designed background. There are many editing programs that you can use to create your own graphics if you want to and if you do a quick search you will also find a variety of pre-made Twitter background available. If you really want to go all out you can hire a designer to create one for you.

Capitalizing on Twitter’s popularity can be very rewarding and profitable for your IM business, but only if you know what you’re doing. While I tried to cover the basics during this short series there is always more to learn and you will want to continue education as you go along and as Twitter changes and grows, I’m sure more great thing will come. Hey, if a cat can get over 1.5 million followers, couldn’t you do it, too?

Just remember the basic rules, keep your checklist handy and you will be sure to see results from your efforts.

Good luck with your twitter marketing campaign, and follow me!

The old school of marketing teaches you to put up your best front when trying to sell something. While this is true, your best dress is not always what sells. You need to over-deliver on the product your selling. Give your customer more than what they expected and they’ll be more likely to buy from you again in the future. But how you brand yourself in your marketing materials can make a difference, too.

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t get into internet marketing to have to wear a suit and tie… Put on my Sunday best. I like the idea of not having to shave when I get up… Dressing like a slob while I’m working… Working at whatever time of the day or night that I feel like… etc. If I wanted to dress up for work, then I would have a JOB!

Someone who is portraying themselves as an internet guru by wearing a suit and tie just doesn’t have a clue as to why most people get into this business. If they have no idea as to why I am an internet marketer, then how the hell are they going to teach me anything about the business… They don’t have the first clue! They’re just trying to sell you (and me) more junk that they copied from someone else and have never even tried on their own!

Branding yourself is very important in this business. People like to know who they are dealing with. Why else do you think my picture is on the front page of this site… besides me being one handsome SOB… and most of my other marketing materials??? Because I want people to know who I am!

You need to find a picture of yourself and incorporate it into your advertising as much as possible. Use the name you wish to be known by as often as possible, too. Pictures of your pet or an avatar won’t do much to instill confidence in your buyers. They want to know they are dealing with a real person!

I was known as Hammer the Almighty on the net, so I branded my marketing efforts around that name. But I haven’t stopped there. I’ve been incorporating my real name as often as possible to brand it with my marketing company. I want people who see “Hammer the Almighty” to think “Gary Calvert” and vice versa.

This has worked out well for me. The people who knew me from social sites now link Hammer with Gary and other marketers link Gary with Hammer.

The best advice that I think I can give here is to just be yourself. Be real! More people will relate to a real person than one who is so full of BS that he can’t see through it. Look at the most successful marketers out there… Frank Kern, Mike Filsaime, Joel Comm, Yanik Silver,… etc; Do they dress in suits and ties in their marketing pics? NO! Why? Because they are projecting their own image… Not the image they think will make them look more successful.

Truth be told, many people are intimidated by successful people. The average Joe (or Jane) is able to relate to other average people much easier than someone who is trying to impress them with their dress for success attitude.

So, get your name and image out there. Let your light shine! Be real and you will find that many more real people will follow you and listen to what you have to say and buy what you have to sell… But remember to over-deliver, too.