Twitter has become one of the most widely used tools for social networking and, increasingly, for business. Users of the Macintosh OS will find that they have a new feature that they may find very useful if they rely upon the service a great deal. Twitter, through this feature, allows you to send an update to all of your followers from anywhere without having to log into the service itself. It works as a simple alt menu function.

The Function

Using this service, you can send a tweet from anywhere within the OS environment. For example, if you happen to be working on the Safari browser and find something interesting that you would like to tweet to your followers, you can simply highlight it, click on it and select the option to tweet. This can vastly cut down on the amount of time it takes to send information to your followers and encourages more use of the system.

This functionality will be expanded so that it can be used on any Apple device. This means that users of these systems will be able to very easily send whatever information they want to their followers and makes it much easier for them to share information on the fly. Of course, if you happen to be a business user, you can easily send anything you want to the people that follow your business when you are offering a special deal on goods or services or when you just want to make sure that your business is in their minds.

Other Features

Twitter also introduced a follow button that allows users to instantly sign up to be a follower of a webpage. If you happen to be a business user, this is a very easy way for you to encourage your visitors to follow you without requiring them to take the extra step of finding and following your profile on Twitter. These buttons are added in the same way that any other social networking icons added to your site and make it very easy to expand the possibilities for communication with the people with whom you do business.

Twitter has also introduced an application for mobile browsers that makes it easier to use the service on the go. Much like other applications, it reformats the service in a way that is much easier to read on the smaller screens of mobile devices and which doesn’t require users to try to click tiny links on a small screen.

With all of these new features, the Twitter service is enabling users to employ it in more flexible ways and to ensure that they get the most out of the service if they’re using it for business. Adding the social networking icons styled button to your website is a great way to pick up new followers and using the mobile application is an excellent way to keep in touch with them when you are on the go and when you want to send them a quick tweet to keep them apprised of new offerings.

Photo by webtreats

Ah yes, social media. You know there was a time when talking to your peers meant hiding behind false sentiments and apologetic gestures. Now you can let your emotions and comments free reign just by using Twitter as your medium of expression! It’s a great way to let those thoughts free but did you know that it can be also used for increasing your popularity? Knowing how to maximize your Twitter time can help you do just that.

Conduct Twitter Parties

Think a soiree without the mess which basically involves a group of your friends/family getting together online to discuss a particular topic you have interest in. No party invitations needed here all you need to do to announce your shindig and use a specific hashtag (#) announcing the time of the party as the host. If you know how to maximize your Twitter time effectively this way, you can manage a whole bunch of followers without a problem.

These kind of virtual parties are an excellent way to get up close and personal with your online pals AND without having to spend a nickel on drinks and snacks! You can also provide free gifts just like the real deal. Who knows? You might just (virtually) bump into a potential client.

Tweet your way into their hearts using Tweetchat

This is actually an external site but it’s one of the best ways to engage in Twitter parties. All you have to do is to go on Tweetchat, enter the aforementioned hashtag and you can post every tweet you want to put up. However, the great thing about this site is that it can be used to do other things as well. It can be used to discover your niche in the online market as well as an excellent way to meet people with the same interests as you. This will enable you to build your credibility and make lifelong friends as you do.

Follow the ‘Leaders’

Now you can’t expect all of them to follow you as soon as you put up an account. Once you get used to tweeting on a regular basis, you can start searching for new supporters and start following those that already have a following on this social media website. If you’re an activist for instance then you can follow organizations that do similar work to get to know what they’re up to. It’s also a good idea to read their recommended links and follow any influential figures they happen to represent. This will aid you in making a name for yourself online and increase your circle of ‘friends’ at the same time.

Have you tried having a virtual party on Twitter?  Do you have a tips to share below…

Photo by respres

There are many benefits to using TweetDeck such as enhancing your communication, information and organization on Twitter which these benefits cannot be overemphasized. One of my favorite benefits of Twitter tools – TweetDeck is time management.

Many Twitter users are taking advantage of one of the top Twitter tools which is (TweetDeck) to save time. Take your time exploring the main navigation buttons. This way, you will learn to navigate and effectively use TweetDeck which in turn can save you tons of time.

When you rollover on the profile icon, you will get a wide range of options such as Reply, Direct Message, Retweet, Unfollow, Follow and Add-to-Group. Using these navigation features, will assist you in managing your time using this Twitter tools – TweetDeck.

Here are ways to manage time with TweetDeck

When you want to share some ones content TweetDeck saves you from having to search for links or content they make re-tweeting simply. All you have to do is add the letters RT or press the retweet button and the information gets shared. So, there is no need going through a rigorous search process and wasting your time this action only takes a second.

TweetDeck can also help you manage your time efficiently in the Twitter platform by using the Column view. You can achieve multiple views without going to sub windows; right from the same main viewing window, you can accomplish several views via Columns and effectively manage interaction with followers. If you are using TweetDeck, you can create columns for those following you, mentions, direct messages as well as save different searches that may be of interested to you and your business.

Twitter Tools – TweetDeck; another great way to achieve things quickly and easily on TweetDeck is the use of symbol such as “?” to search for questions to provide answers, you providing the answer makes you look like the expert. Indeed, this is another great way to manage time on Twitter; rather than carry out a rigorous search, you can have all the questions at your finger tips by merely typing in the question mark tag – “?”.

Using TweetDeck’s filter option you can achieve things faster; for instance, if you want to read tweets from a particular friend, instead of going through the hassle of searching through every tweet message, simply click on the username dropdown list to select only the person’s username to get just his/her tweets in a single column.

Thinking you’ve got no time for Twitter? TweetDeck is a powerful tool that can help you manage your time more effectively. No doubt, Twitter is a great business tool for finding a great deal of information about your prospects and customers it gives you the opportunity to build relationships.

Twitter can get somewhat unwieldy when you follow so many people. With TweetDeck, you can walk your way through the noise and ensure that no essential information is missed. Learn how to use TweetDeck to achieve a follow-up on conversations as well as manage info on Twitter.

You can follow thousands of people on Twitter effectively with the use of TweetDeck. Twitter is a social networking site that enables users to exchange communications; in essence, you can send communication to your fellow micro-blogger and get messages from numerous people when using the twitter platform. Learning how to use TweetDeck would make the entire effort a whole lot easier.

On Twitter when you communicate you may only send a tweet that has a max of 140 characters. As your following increases, the number of tweets that come to you can become overwhelming; subsequently, it is easy to miss the information you desire to read. Therefore, when you learn how to use TweetDeck, you will see that it helps to manage information effectively. Before you do anything with TweetDeck, here is the process:

•   The first step towards learning how to use TweetDeck is to download the application. TweetDeck application can be used in Windows as well as Mac platforms.

•    Next step after downloading the TweetDeck application is to set up TweetDeck Groups. Automatically, the application integrates columns for replies, all friends and direct messages. It is also possible to add groups in order to manage the people you follow. Of course, there are people whose tweets you can’t wait to read; so you would add this group so it is the very first one.

•    To proceed, open TweetDeck; then click on the icon for group displayed above the TweetDeck screen. This will create a new column.

•    Next, choose a name for the group that you’ve just created; you may decide to simply call it priority or group A. To include the names of those who follow, who you deem to fit into that group, simply click the boxes for those names.

•    To finish setting up the group, click the save button. You may decide to keep it in the position that TweetDeck has given it; or if not, simply use the arrows located beneath the column to move it. Now, you are done with the first part of learning how to use TweetDeck.

•    Note that you can decide to either add or remove members from the group. To achieve this, use the same group menu screen that you employed when setting up the group. To add an individual to a group, simply click on the person’s avatar and click on ‘other actions’.

Here’s another aspect of learning how to use TweetDeck

Tweetdeck allows you to filter your tweets you can find this feature at the base of every column. The filter tool also allows you to filter by time frame or username, as well as exclude terms.

Now that you reasonably know how to use TweetDeck, you can manage information more effectively on Twitter.  How have you utilized the power of TweetDeck?

Exclusive Report – 500 Million User’s Can’t Be Wrong! Unlock the Unlimited Earnings Potential with the Latest Craze…..FACEBOOK! Fact: If you’re not tapping into a worldwide 500 million person “List” … You’re Losing Money!




About Karriann

Karriann Graf is a Social Media Manager/Strategist for small businesses and real estate professionals. Her focus is to help you learn about the best Social Media methods to connect with your clients and customers and increase your revenue.

Image via CrunchBase

Tools that integrate your social media networks

So, now you have a Facebook account, a LinkedIn Account and a Twitter account. And maybe you have a blog now too? So every day you log into these individual accounts to post updates, several times a day; as if life wasn’t busy already.

Have you ever wondered why some people can post more often? Do they have more time to do this than you do? And what’s that little note in their post saying posted from Seesmic or Tweetdeck, or Hootsuite?

These are just a few of the tools that now make it possible for you to cross post to multiple social networking groups, and most even let you monitor them all in one place. Now that’s easy. Here are some examples.*

Seesmic – Seesmic has multiple tools including Desktop, Web, Blackberry and the new Windows version. It’s a great tool for multiple Twitter account users and keeping you on top of multiple Twitter lists. Seesmic Desktop gives you access to you Facebook account as well. Read and post from the app to one or both accounts from your desktop, browser or Blackberry.

Tweetdeck – The desktop version links you to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace accounts. You can define the columns (one for each social media tool or all for different Twitter tools – DMs, Groups, Lists, etc.). Read and post directly from the deck. Tweetdeck is available for the IPhone and IPad.

Hootsuite – The dashboard uses a tab format to access Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn with similar capabilities to Seesmic and Tweetdeck. Hootsuite has an IPhone app too.

Pluggio – (formerly Tweetminer) integrates Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Newer on the scene Pluggio has short help videos build right into the program to get you up and running quickly. Pluggio’s two great features are its ability to set up scheduled updates and/or rolling posts (timed repeated posts).

Ping.fm dashboard – Pluggio and Seesmic both work in conjunction with Ping.fm. This smaller dashboard is accessed via web browser. Set it up to post to one account or multiple social media accounts (well beyond Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn). You can even “micro post” blogs on Blogger and Wordpress. Word has it that Seesmic and Ping.fm will soon be offering scheduled updates.

*NOTE: application tools change frequently and will change after I’ve posted this blog. Always check for updates.

I’ve been talking about Twitter in several previous posts, but since I’ve launched my updated site here, I’d like to start from square one and provide you with some “how to” information.

One thing I’ve been working on is creating videos to give you an easy hands-on approach to things like setting up a Twitter account. So this is what the video here is about.

As always, I would love your feedback on this. Enjoy!

As your list of Twitter followers grows it can definitely be a challenge to figure out who’s following you and who you’re following. But don’t despair because there are a lot…and I mean LOTS of tools out there to help you keep on top of the list and manage your followers and following lists. I’ve done some digging and want to share some tools that I found simple to use with some surprisingly powerful applications.

Refollow is a big hit for me! Just log in with your Twitter account and you’ll see your followers in an easy-to-navigate screen. You can also see all the people you’re following and find out who’s mentioned you. The easy layout and navigation makes it a must have for the die-hard Tweeter, especially busy business people who want to strategically manage their Twitter account and connections.

Friend or follow is another follow friend finder and also very visual.  Go to their website and input yourname.  It throws you into your Twitter account and the photos arrive shortly after you do.  You can sort by username, name, location, following, followers…..the list goes on.  You can even export everyone to a CSV file (version of Microsoft Excel) complete with profile details.

twitTangle “helps you untangle the mess of having too many friends on Twitter.” You can also use this app tag and rate friends. You can even filter your timeline to find tweets that are important to you. A new feature lets you create custom groups of followers and filter your timeline by that group.

According to untweeps this handy Twitter tool lets you:

• –   Unfollow stale tweeple
• –   Whitelist your favs [and]
• –   View your “BLOCKED” list.

I hope you find these tools valuable. Please try them out and share your feedback. I look forward to your comments.

Twitter’s speed, brevity, and compatibility with mobile phones makes it an ideal vehicle for news on a neighborhood level.  Recently, several third-party tools have been developed to make it easier to find local tweeters.  For instance, TwitterLocal is a small, free, desktop app that creates a real-time feed of local tweets in your area.  This is particularly useful when fast-breaking news is taking place in your area.  For instance, if there are fires or floods in your area, Twitter may provide up-to-date evacuation routes faster than local TV and radio stations.  You may find local tweets without installing an application by using the Twitter search function and selecting advanced options to set geographical parameters.