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Twitter for Business

Bonus Tip – Beware: Spammers Harvesting Email Addresses on Twitter

by Shelly Lodes on November 28, 2009

Most of us are aware of Spammers on Twitter. But did you know they could be harvesting your emails?

Type “email me at” or “contact me” or “gmail” into Twitter Search and see what turns up…

I ran the search and I was floored at the amount of people who actually put their email address in their tweets. Some even post their primary address. Once you tweet your email it becomes searchable forever.

Chris Crum’s post on WebProNews explains how easy it is for spammers to harvest email addresses from Twitter tweets by using a simple script. Chris advises that you shouldn’t throw your email address in your tweets unless you want it to be searchable.

Part of me did not want to mention this vulnerability because it gives unscrupulous spammers new ideas. I’m sure this is not new and probably has been going on for some time but I always hesitate to broadcast devious behavior for fear of spawning more copycat activity.

After performing the Twitter search myself and witnessing a lot of tweets containing email addresses I feel this issue is worth mentioning.

Sometimes what seems so obvious to some is not that way for others. If you don’t think like a spammer you might not have given this issue much thought until now.

Protect yourself by sending them to your website instead. They can ask you questions or send you information from your contact form on your website. If you are having a specific conversation and need to send your email address then I suggest you send them a direct message. Direct messages are not searchable.

Be aware that some people do not read their DM’s because they are littered with spam & false connections. If you are trying to get sensitive information to someone reply to your recipient using the required @username and tell them you sent a DM that contains the email address they need.

If you feel you absolutely want to leave an email in a tweet format it as: shelly at shellylodes dot com.

This isn’t a huge problem, but you should be aware….

Dedicated to your success,

Shelly Lodes

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5 Ways Your Business Will Twinkle on Twitter

by Shelly Lodes on November 25, 2009

Twitter this, Twitter that, everyone is talking about Twitter!

Solo entrepreneur’s, small business owners and network marketers are flocking to Twitter in droves trying to expose their products & services.

Twitter is a valuable marketing & networking tool business owners use to connect with customers, prospects and fellow associates. But, if you want to successfully leverage Twitter you MUST learn how to use it effectively.

If you would rather listen to this post….

Your Business will Twinkle on Twitter if you give these 5 factors serious thought….

Create An Attractive Bio When creating your Twitterland Bio you are limited to 160 characters. In those 160 characters you need to display your professionalism and your authentic human side. But that isn’t enough. In addition, you need to be informative and interesting. Take the time to think about this and get creative.

Include Your Picture Building trust and credibility means being transparent. Let people know who you are. Being real and authentic means you will have to show your face, preferably a close up. You can use your business logo but personally I do not recommend it. If your logo is where you get the most brand recognition then go ahead and use it, just be sure to use your real name so people are aware of who you are.

Create a Presence With a Custom Background Design Your Twitter background is your billboard and a piece of your virtual real estate. Go surf around to some Twitter pages and you’ll see that business owners use their backgrounds to display various credentials and services. Don’t waste this valuable marketing space. Use this space to tie it into the existing look of your brand. Be consistent with the look of your website or blog or any other internet presence you may have. If you possess Photoshop skills, you could easily whip up a personalized background otherwise a decent background will cost yo u between $50.00 to $75.00.

Gain The Right Followers If your a dog trainer and you have 4000 followers interested in trading stocks, building houses or wind surfing then Twitter will not do anything for your business. The object here is to get targeted followers. In the case of the dog trainer that would be followers who own dogs, especially disobedient dogs! Connecting with pet store owners and veterinarians could also qualify as a dog trainers target market. Attracting a targeted market is what will drive your bottom line.

Don’t Sell! Share Information Instead If you think you’re going to sign up for a Twitter account and immediately start to rave about your products, services or business opportunity you might as well take up tiddly winks. The idea is to engage in conversation and get to know your followers as if you were at a BBQ or some other casual social gathering. Mix and mingle and share who you are. Offer to help them with there problems, suggest solutions. Share your expertise freely. Pay it forward…..

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Your Twitter Username Indentifies You: Choose Wisely!

by Shelly Lodes on October 27, 2009

The first account you register should ideally be your own name if you can get it.

Less than 15 characters would be best.

It isn’t absolutely critical that you register your own name, but I would advise you to if it is available, particularly if your name is an unusual one. I’m sure the last thing you want is someone else impersonating you on Twitter, or anywhere else for that matter.

On a side note: I discovered an insider secret (on Twitter of course!) on how to claim your brand username across all of the various social networks. This User name Discovery Tool can help you keep your brand continuity across all of the social media sites. It’s a useful tool created to assist you with expanding your brand visibility.

All you need to do is perform your search and then proceed to set up any or all sites. You could pay for it to be done for you if you choose. It is not an automated service either, because that would violate many of the sites policy. They do not retain your password information and they send you a confirmation email when each site is registered. If it were me, I’d supply them a common password and then go back in upon confirmation, click on the link in the email and change my password for each one. That would gurantee your security. Simple!

Okay back to your user name…Many people do not use spaces but they do capitalize the first letter of the first and last name. Naturally, common names like JohnSmith will already be taken. However it is possible to get variations on your own name such as John_Smith, or John_Smith23 or some variation like that. You can only use an underscore in a username. Hyphens are not permitted.

If you wish to register a business name, then you can do that of course. It all depends on your brand. Another way to brand yourself would be to combine part of your real name with your business. Remember, this is how you will be identified on Twitter. Then be sure to use your real name where it asks in the sign up process. This will keep you connected and identifiable with the business name you register. I prefer to keep my brand consistent across all of the social media platforms so keep this in mind when choosing your name.

If your name was Bob Smith and your blog was about business, a great username could be @BobsBizBlog. That user name would be displayed next to his avatar like mine is in the example below. Bob’s real name would be displayed on his twitter page in the upper right hand corner where it says Name: right above the Location, Web & Bio information. My business name and real name just happen to be the same. My user name next to my avatar does not contain a space between my first and last name. Where you see my real name you will notice there IS a space.

lf someone where to view Bob in there follower or following list it would look like: Bob’sBizBlog / Bob Smith. (If you click anyone’s follower or following tabs you will see the user name and their real names, or least what they entered in under the guise of their real name.) It’s always advisable to make it memorable and if possible, easy to spell. For those of you using Twitter to communicate with a local market think how memorable @AmyBestPhotos would be. If Amy sent helpful, relevant tweets and demonstrated why her photography is the best, who would you think of when your family is ready for that Christmas portrait?

Twitter for Business

Bonus Tip – Beware: Spammers Harvesting Email Addresses on Twitter

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