Card.ly, Magntize.com & Flavors.me
January 3, 2010
John sent me this mashable article a while back. I’m a big fan of the overly simplistic concepts like card.ly, magntize.com and flavors.me, but I still think there should be a super basic option, for those small businesses that are struggling to get on the web. It doesn’t need to be sexy. It just needs to collect and present basic businesses info.
Lotus Jump
January 3, 2010
I love this concept. In theory, it breaks down SEO tasks and points small business owners in the right direction. Check out their demo and let me know what you think. http://www.lotusjump.com/demos/short-demo.php I’ve not had a chance to try it out, but I’m curious to hear what small business users are saying.
Post to the Web using Posterous
October 20, 2009
SUBMITTED BY: Jason Kallas
COST: Free
WHERE TO GO: your email client (Outlook, Gmail, Mail, etc)
REQUIREMENTS: None
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: Easy
PREP TIME: 0 Minutes
CREATION TIME: 5 Minutes
PURPOSE: Post anything easily.
SELLING POINT: You don’t need an account nor do you have to visit the site to post content to the Web.
DIRECTIONS:
- Open your email client
- Click on the link or button that opens a New Message
- In the “To” field, enter “post@posterous.com”
- In the “Subject” field, enter the title of your content
- In the “Content Body” enter your content, as you’d like it to appear on the Web.
NOTE: You can attach photos, video, MP3’s and other file formats.
- Click the “Send” button in your email client
- Congrats! You have successfully posted to posterous.com
NOTE: You will receive a confirmation from Posterous with a link to your post within a few minutes of sending your post.
NEXT STEPS: Verify your post, Sign up for an account
ABOUT: Posterous
LEGAL: Excerpts of copy were taken directly from posterous.com ensure accuracy.
Assess your site using Website Grader
October 19, 2009
SUBMITTED BY: Jason Kallas
COST: Free
WHERE TO GO: http://websitegrader.com/
REQUIREMENTS: None
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: Easy
PREP TIME: 0 Minutes
CREATION TIME: 5 Minutes
PURPOSE: Assess ways to improve your site or blog.
SELLING POINT: Website Grader provides a score that incorporates things like website traffic, SEO, social popularity and other technical factors. It also gives site owners some basic advice on how the website can be improved from a marketing perspective.
DIRECTIONS:
- Go to http://websitegrader.com/
- Enter your domain address in the Website URL field
NOTE: You do NOT need to fill out any other fields.
- Click the “Generate Report” button.
- Be patient
- Congrats! A report for your URL is ready for your review.
NEXT STEPS: Review your Website Grader Report
ABOUT: Hubspot
LEGAL: Excerpts of copy were taken directly from Website Grader to ensure accuracy.
Learn about other Twitter Resources
August 24, 2009
SUBMITTED BY: Jason Kallas
COST: Free
WHERE TO GO: http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/resources
REQUIREMENTS: None
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: Easy
PREP TIME: 0 Minutes
READ TIME: 5 Minutes
PURPOSE: Check out a handful of additional resources.
SELLING POINT: These are the top sites, blogs, books and articles that Twitter recommends.
DIRECTIONS:
- Go to http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/resources
- Read the introduction
- Consider reading The Twitter Book, by Tim O’Reilly & Sarah Milstein
- Consider reading Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets, by Paul McFedries
- Check out the The Boston Globe article
- Check out the New York Times article
- Check out the Mashable article
- Check out the usinessWeek article
- Check out the CNN Money article
- Read So Should a Business Be on Twitter?, by Frank Eliason.
- Read Zappos Blog, by Tony Hsieh
- Read 10 Twitter Tips for Nonprofit Organizations, by Heather Mansfield
- Read 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business, by Chris Brogan
ABOUT: About Twitter Twitter on Wikipedia
LEGAL: Excerpts of copy were taken directly from twitter.com to ensure accuracy.
Read the Dell Twitter Case Study
August 23, 2009
SUBMITTED BY: Jason Kallas
COST: Free
WHERE TO GO: http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/case_dell
REQUIREMENTS: None
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: Easy
PREP TIME: 0 Minutes
READ TIME: 5 Minutes
PURPOSE: If you are interested to hear how other businesses us Twitter, this is a great read. This overview will give you ten examples of companies that have seen success using Twitter.
SELLING POINT: These case studies showcase ten business’s experience using Twitter, each with a unique twist.
DIRECTIONS:
- Go to http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/case_dell
- Read the Introduction
- Read the “Holding Conversations” section
- Read the “Raising awareness” section
- Read the “Increasing sales” section
- Read the “Connecting with customers” section
- Congrats! You have successfully read the Dell case study
- If you are interested in reading more feel free to continue reading other case studies such as JetBlue, Teusner Wines, Current, Tasti D-lite, CoffeeGroundz, Etsy, NAKEDPizza, American Apparel and Pepsi.
NEXT STEPS: Learn about other Twitter Resources
ABOUT: About Twitter Twitter on Wikipedia
LEGAL: Excerpts of copy were taken directly from twitter.com to ensure accuracy.
Learn Twitter best practices
August 22, 2009
SUBMITTED BY: Jason Kallas
COST: Free
WHERE TO GO: http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/best_practices
REQUIREMENTS: None
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: Easy
PREP TIME: 0 Minutes
READ TIME: 5 Minutes
PURPOSE: If you want to use Twitter and want to know what approaches lead to success, this is a great read. This overview will give you a solid background on Twitter best practices in just a few minutes.
SELLING POINT: This guide breaks down what you should be doing and how you should be using Twitter to promote your business.
DIRECTIONS:
- Go to http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/best_practices
- Read the Introduction
- Read the “Think about Twitter as a place to build relationships” section
- Read the “Understand the real-time nature of Twitter” section
- Read the “Measure the value of Twitter” section
- Congrats! You have successfully read Twitter’s advice for best practices.
NEXT STEPS: Read Twitter Case Studies, Learn about other Twitter Resources
ABOUT: About Twitter http://twitter.com/about#about Twitter on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter
LEGAL: Excerpts of copy were taken directly from twitter.com to ensure accuracy.
Learn the Twitter lingo
August 21, 2009
SUBMITTED BY: Jason Kallas
COST: Free
WHERE TO GO: http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/learning
REQUIREMENTS: None
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: Easy
PREP TIME: 0 Minutes
READ TIME: 5 Minutes
PURPOSE: If you want to use Twitter but don’t understand the key terms, this is a great read. This overview will give you a solid background in just a few minutes.
SELLING POINT: This guide explains key terms such as following, tweet, @username, direct message, retweet, trending topics, Hashtag, tweetup and shortened URLs.
DIRECTIONS:
- Go to http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/learning
- Read the Introduction
- Read the “Following” definition
- Read the “Tweet” explanation
- Read the “@username” explanation
- Read the “Direct Message” definition
- Read the “Retweet” definition
- Read the “Trending topics” explanation
- Read the “Hashtag” explanation
- Read the “tweetup” explanation
- Read the “Shortened URLs” definition
- Congrats! You have successfully read Twitter’s lingo guide to key terms.
NEXT STEPS: Learn Twitter best practices, Read Twitter Case Studies, Learn about other Twitter Resources
ABOUT: About Twitter Twitter on Wikipedia
LEGAL: Excerpts of copy were taken directly from twitter.com to ensure accuracy.
Learn how to get started on Twitter
August 21, 2009
SUBMITTED BY: Jason Kallas
COST: Free
WHERE TO GO: http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/starting
REQUIREMENTS: None
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: Easy
PREP TIME: 0 Minutes
READ TIME: 5 Minutes
PURPOSE: If you want to use Twitter but don’t know how to get started, this is a good read. This overview will give you a solid background in just a few minutes.
SELLING POINT: This is a special guide to Twitter written by the folks at Twitter.
DIRECTIONS:
- Go to http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/starting
- Read the introduction
- Read the “Before you post your first message” section
- Read the “Dive in!” section
- Read the “Fill out your info” section
- Read the “Find highly relevant people and companies to follow” section
- Read the “Post your first message” section
- Congrats! You have successfully read Twitter’s guide to getting started.
NEXT STEPS: Learn the Twitter lingo, Learn Twitter best practices, Read Twitter Case Studies, Learn about other Twitter Resources
ABOUT: About Twitter Twitter on Wikipedia
LEGAL: Excerpts of copy were taken directly from twitter.com to ensure accuracy.
Learn about Twitter
August 18, 2009
SUBMITTED BY: Jason Kallas
COST: Free
WHERE TO GO: http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/
REQUIREMENTS: None
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: Easy
PREP TIME: 0 Minutes
READ TIME: 5 Minutes
PURPOSE: If you’ve heard people talking about Twitter but don’t understand what it is or how it works, this is a great read. This overview will give you a solid background in just a few minutes.
SELLING POINT: This is a special guide about Twitter, written by the folks at Twitter. That works for me.
DIRECTIONS:
- Go to http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/
- Read the Introduction
- Read the “So what does Twitter do for businesses?” section
- Read the “So how does it work?” section
- Read “A brief history of Twitter” callout
- Read “So how do businesses use Twitter?” section
- Read the “What’s up with the name?” callout
- Read the “A key benefit” callout
- Read the “Why 140 characters?” callout
- Read the “Go deeper” section
- Congrats! You have successfully completed the first step in researching Twitter.
NEXT STEPS: Learn how to get started on Twitter, Learn the Twitter lingo, Learn Twitter best practices, Read Twitter Case Studies, Learn about other Twitter Resources
ABOUT: About Twitter Twitter on Wikipedia
LEGAL: Excerpts of copy were taken directly from twitter.com to ensure accuracy.
