Think Social Media Doesn’t Matter? Think again!

A New Study by Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate Research found that consumers are twice as likely to make purchases from brands that they follow on facebook(51% more likely to buy) or twitter(67% more likely to buy). (via Econsultancy Blog)

Facebook Twitter Report

Still think social media is over-rated and over-hyped?

Today we found out from analytics service Hitwise(via techcrunch) that Facebook.com received more U.S. traffic than google.com.

For the critics and naysayers – who think social media is just a fad and will soon be forgotten, you can no longer dispute the reality of the numbers. According to the Nielsen Wire, in January alone the average person spent 7 hours on facebook, compared with 2 hours on google. It doesn’t get more sticky than that folks.

To top that off, facebook is naturally viral. If you build an app or a fan page, and it’s fun, educational, or entertaining people will share it, and you can easily get your brand in front of millions more people than you could had you only done search engine marketing, banner ads on popular websites, ads on adwords or other pay per click search engines, etc..

Why do people buy from brands on facebook, or twitter? One word: Trust.

If you go around asking people to trust you and buy your products (i.e. conventional marketing and advertising) the statistic is it takes at least 7-12 views of your ad to move a buyer to action, if they are even movable. If a friend who’s already built a level of trust were to refer the same product it would take much less to persuade the user to try that product or service.

This is why blogging is so popular and why many bloggers make good income. Bloggers don’t get rich from adsense ads, or from selling ads on their site, though some can make good money off those. They make their money from reviewing products and services. Whether someone paid them for the review or they get an affiliate payment based on sales, they make money. Blogs with a lot of good content build trust, and therefore readers are more likely to buy from a trusted blogger than from a product creator they don’t know.

Lets dig deeper into that study, shall we?

Of the 1500 consumers surveyed in the study, 60 % of people on facebook and 79% on twitter were more likely to recommend a brand after they’ve followed a company. This builds trust, because instead of you trying to sell something, your customers’ friends are selling it for you.

Why is twitter coming out a bit ahead? It’s simply that they are different networks with different paradigms. Twitter is about sharing little micro-moments with friends, family, and colleagues. Facebook’s fan pages on the other hand are about showing appreciation, or interacting with the brand.

For instance a fan page can be used as a FAQ, or as a place for customers to show their appreciation, or distaste – which you can address publicly for others who might be experiencing the same dissatisfaction, and by addressing it publicly it shows that you care about your customers which paints you in a better light. An alternative would be for you not to have a page, then when someone does have a bad experience they might create a negative page about your company thus spreading negativity and ire. One way or another your company’s products or services will likely end up being mentioned in social media, by being proactive you can make that a positive experience for people, or let others control the fate of your reputation – ultimately it’s your choice.

One key component of the success or failure of a brand on facebook or twitter is it’s involvement. It’s obviously not possible for every business, especially small businesses to staff social media coordinators, but someone must step up and be the voice of the company. I recommend when you do reach the stage where you can afford one, that you must hire a good PR person who has special emphasis in social media.

Having a facebook page with no updates, or a twitter account with no tweets will not get your brand out there. Also it can’t all be about yourself, and your products, there needs to be a feeling of connection with your followers and fans. People want to know there’s a real person behind the account, and it’s not just retweets or aggregated content being rechurned.

Your social media portfolio needs to focus on more than just making sales. It’s about building your brand. I like to use a 30/30/40 rule. That is to say 30% products/services, 30% customer service, and 40% interesting and engagine content Ultimately it’s the interesting news stories, or content that will get your followers to share you with their friends. In the age of information overload, every little bit or byte online is vieing for attention, and with so much to do or see – you need to stand out and keep viewers attention. If you fail to engage your followers, and keep their interest they will unfollow and it’ll be twice as hard to get them to re-follow. Twitterers and facebookers need to know that they are an important part of your business.

One person asked me via twitter what’s the big deal about social media, doesn’t all media include people and therefore make it social?

My response was that with regular old school media, I could be watching a broadcast, and that’s it. It’s single sided, there’s no flip-side. In the world of 2.0 old media is boring, and dieing – take the Newspaper industry for example. Today some news shows integrate social media to the point that they will broadcast interesting tweets live, or answer user questions as they come in.

The bottom line is this: Social media isn’t the media, it’s the social, it’s the interaction. Media isn’t new, video isn’t new, sharing stuff via email isn’t new – but having a way to leave a small comment on a company’s twitter account and having them address you publicly is a big deal. A lot of it’s also about the feeling of importance one gets when someone famous, or a famous brand actually reaches out to you, or someone you know and personally answers their questions.

Hopefully if you’re still on the line about taking your company social, this blog post will move you in the right direction, and if you still don’t think social matters – leave me a comment as to why and I’ll be sure to address it for you.

Like this blog post? Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Facebook!

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Image via CrunchBase

If you are doubtful about the power of Twitter, I understand. I was in the same place a couple of years ago but decided with all of the hype that I better give this “Twitter” thing another look.

I am very glad I did.

I had a little assistance from a friend of mine Deborah Carney who was a very early Twitter adopter. I met up with her over dinner at a conference in Las Vegas. It was then the conversation about Twitter came up.

She explained to me that not only was she enjoying her Twitter experience, but she was also seeing improvements with the overall communication with clients. It was an impressive story -- so much so that I asked to interview her for one of my podcasts. She accepted, and that was a major turning point in my understanding of Twitter.

Since that time I have never looked back, and I have also been on the hunt for easy and legitimate ways to build my following.

The Facts You Should Know about Twitter

Fact #1. You can master Twitter.

The fact is that you can master this Twitter thing and have just as many followers, if not more than what I have. Using these tactics I’m going to share with you, you can build up your list to over 5000 followers – loyal ones. I’m at 5403 now and still rising every day.

Fact #2. It won’t take much time.

Another fact is that the Twitter techniques can be easy to learn for how to increase twitter followers. I’m at the head of the pack when it comes to using strategies that don’t involve much work, and these strategies fit in that category.

Fact #3. You’ll build your credibility as well as your brand with the tactics.

And why not? The techniques don’t break any Twitter rules so you can stay above board and stay transparent to your crowd, no matter if your crowd is the ones who want to buy inflatable boats, sporting goods, chiropractic services or even Hillsdale bar stools.

What a relief it is to know the facts up front.

How to Get Started Today

Here’s what you can do to learn how to get more twitter followers:

Step #1 - Start your own syndicated newspaper today!

• It’s easy. Just look at my own syndicated newspaper called The Guest Blogging Daily which can be found at http://paper.li/JamesMartell/1308523225
• Then go to www.paper.li to get started.
• Select a keyword that you will use based on your Twitter followers right now.

You will have the opportunity to select a keyword phrase that will become the basis for the newspaper. In my case, I selected "guest blogging" because it is something I know my followers are interested in.

You want to pick a keyword phrase that your audience would naturally be interested in.

Once set up, what Paper.li will do for you, is automatically generate your daily newspaper and send it out to all your followers.

It will also copy in an alert, a number of the main contributing authors so they can see that you have included their recent article in your publication.

It’s not only been my experience that many of these main contributors will follow you back, they also retweet the newspaper to their followers who also now have the opportunity to follow you back.

• Fill out the info to get started and at the end, the articles will be filled in for you automatically. The beauty of this is that you don’t have to struggle with issues about finding writers, editors, graphic designers and salesmen for ads. You don’t have to deal with distribution, either. The website fills in your content for you.
• Before you know it, the contributing authors will be glad you are spreading their message to your followers so again, the authors start letting the world know about their appearance in your syndicated newspaper. They can’t help themselves but tell everyone which means retweeting becomes a reality.
• You’ll notice also that this idea is completely automated, and beautiful at that!

I promise you that you will love this tactic.

Step #2 - Now that you’re a newspaper owner, be a valuable guest writer!

Do you know how easy it is to get on other people’s blogs as a guest writer? Very, very easy because it saves the owner one day’s worth of content.

Once you can simply organize your strategies or tips or techniques for how you can help their list – in a way that it really doesn’t take very much time, you have mastered this technique.

It’s as easy as making a little list of blog article ideas during times of the day when you can do nothing else, like when you are waiting.

So get on this one fast. Make your little list and if ideas are a little slow coming, no problem. Just go to the comments section on the blogs and see what’s the buzz. Comment on the buzz. That way you become the buzz.

Step #3 . Thank You and Follow Me, Please!

For this strategy to get more Twitter traffic, simply add an invitation on your thank you pages (opt-in lists) for them to follow you on Twitter. Don’t forget to give a reason – a very simple one – to do so.

I got this idea from Joshua Sloan, a former Director of Internet Marketing for world’s largest hosting companies, 1&1 Hosting. Cool, Josh! Way to go! Simple, yet brilliant idea!

This idea works for everyone!

Do Challenge Yourself Starting with Today!

Now I’d like to challenge you to GO FOR IT. By simply mastering these three techniques this month, do you realize what can happen to your Twitter list? You can go from the hundreds of followers to thousands.

And it doesn’t matter if it’s inflatable boats, wooden bar stools, or dental services that make you tick in the biz world. It all works. And it works for everything.

Don’t trust me for this. Just do it.

About James

James Martell is well known as an affiliate marketing specialist in outsourcing and SEO. He is also a speaker and does weekly podcasts and affiliate marketing trainings. James is host of the Affiliate Buzz podcast on WebmasterRadio.FM (the first ever and longest running podcast about the affiliate industry), and creator of the Affiliate Marketers SUPER BootCamp. He lives in White Rock BC, a seaside suburb of Vancouver on west coast of Canada with his wife, Arlene.

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Twitter is set to Announce it's new Biz Center.

It's not fully up and available to everyone, but it's a step in the right direction to increase Twitter's growth among businesses.

I can see Twitter's business offerings being a huge part of the Twitter business model. If their new promoted tweets advertising model doesn't pan out, this one might still make them profitable.

I could also see it meshing with their geolocation service and possibly help them create a "local" data database. That of course is if they register each business and their location.

I picked this up from Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, via Mashable.

According to the company regarding the new Twitter Business Center "only a handful of accounts have these features presently," but it will expand gradually to more businesses and more accounts.

Those companies lucky enough to receive an invite are getting emails that look like:

“Congrats!

Your account has been invited to participate in testing one of Twitter’s newest business-centric features, the Twitter Toolkit. We’ll be rolling it out to you within the next few days (if you don’t have it already) for your business or organization’s Twitter account. To get started, visit your business’ Twitter account settings…

http://twitter.com/settings/account

…and look for the “Business” tab. From there you’ll be directed to fill out some information which will help us verify your business or organization.”

Two of the biggest features so far that have been mentioned is that businesses will have a 'verified account' option, and non-followers will be able to contact businesses via DM. This will be helpful for businesses that are using Twitter for customer service.

I'm certain these advanced features won't be free, at least in the long term. What would you pay for Twitter Business Center - and what kind of services would you like to see to make it worth your money?

I absolutely love the Social Media Revolution video it explains social media statistics very well. This is the new and improved version of this popular video.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the video:
"We don't have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it." - Erik Qualman

"50% of the mobile Internet Traffic in the UK is for Facebook - Imagine what this means for BAD customer experiences!"

"25% of search results for the World's Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content. - Do you like what they are saying?"

"78% of consumers trust peer recommendations - and only 14% trust advertisements."

"Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI - 90% of people skip ads via DVR / Tivo."

"The ROI of Social Media is Your Business will Still Exist in 5 years"

It's official: Twitter's adveritising platform is launching today. The Twitter business model that has been in the pipeline for what seems like forever is finally materializing.

The new Twitter advertising platform will begin appearing in search results in the afternoon, and ads on third-party apps and Twitter.com are sure to follow.

The new ad platform launching is known as Promoted Tweets. Promoted Tweets isn't a surprise launch, it's been announced and has been known for quite some time. Like any other company Twitter has to find a way to monetize its millions of users, or it will eventually run out of capital, and we wouldn't want that would we?

Now that they are unveiling the much-anticipated new ad platform the big multi-billion dollar question is: Will users respond? Afterall social media is about users responding, and this new ad platform looks very intriguing and only time will tell if it will be worth it to advertisers.

It's safe to say that Twitter's new ad platform could even change the fate and direction of social media in general.

Twitter Resonance: Digg Ads Reborn?

Promoted Tweets will begin by charging per thousand impressions, and gradually switch over to a system its calling 'resonance.' The gist of resonance is a sponsored tweet will gain points based on a variety of factors, including: Number of retweets; How many times the ad has been favorited; Impressions the ad has received; and how many clicks out the ad has received.

Resonance score is in many ways similar to Adword's quality score for adwords advertisers. The overall resonance score will affect the longevity of the ad, and the price. The system also has many similarities to Digg's advertising model.

Digg Ads only appear on Digg's homepage stream, and are basically sponsored Digg submissions. Based on the number of Diggs, buries, and clicks an ad receives that ad will stay on the homepage and decrease in price, or it will get kicked off the homepage, and the ad will be charged more. Essentially high performing ads will cost less than poor performing ads.

Of course there are many differences between Digg Ads and Promoted Tweets, the major philosophy is about gaining user opinion and delivering ads that the users want to see over ads that would otherwise just be wasting space.

What do you think? Could this be a new shift in the way online advertising is handled? Stay tuned for updates as we will be following Promoted Tweets like a fine-toothed comb.

Will Twitter Users Respond(IE Click)?

The biggest factor to a successful ad platform is if users respond to the ad. Action is what advertisers are looking for, whether its a visit to their store, a click on their link, a retweet, or a new follower.

The question remains to be seen: Will Twitterers embrace in-stream ads? Will twitter users click the ads and give Twitter the revenue boost it needs to become fully profitable on its own merit?

Predicting click-through rates is a science and industry of its own. Twitter is banking that combining relevancy with its in-house resonance score will make its platform more viable. If Digg Ads are an indicator, Twitter shouldn't find relevancy much of an issue.

Another factors in the success of Promoted Tweets is the presentation. To this issue Twitter is trying to balance the need to integrate ads seemlessly within the stream, with its need to also identify promoted tweets. Promoted Tweets look almost identical to regular tweets -- with the only noticable difference being the "Promoted By X" line at the bottom of every Promoted Tweet.  Most regular users may gloss over this small signal that its an ad, though I'm wondering if the fact that the majority of twitter users are tech-geeks will make them more aware of the 'fine' print in the ads so-to-speak.

If twitter's new ad platform cannot maintain some form of sincerity that underlies the social media industry, it could be a big fail. Promoted Tweets also need to be compelling, conversations, and less promotional. If Twitter ads become spammy, then they are doomed to failure.

I'm excited to see how the Twitter Resonance score fine-tunes its advertising so that the ads without value get deleted from the system quickly. I guess the verdict will ultimately not be out until the resonance part of the platform is launched sometime later this year. What matters most of all is if Twitter's "resonance" can cause twitterers to click. The money is in the clicks.

[Promoted Tweets IMG Credit: AdAge]

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Twitter's much-anticipated new advertising platform launches today (Tuesday), exactly one day early of Twitter's Chirp conference for Twitter Developers.

The ad platform is being named "Promoted Tweets" and will hit the twittersphere around Tuesday afternoon, and will feature promoted tweets within Twitter Search results.

According to The New York Times and AdAge the new twitter advertising platform will allow businesses to rise above the 'noise' of the twitter stream to stand out. It all begins with search, but will enter the main twitter streams, as well as 3rd party apps eventually, with the possibility of an advertising revenue share option for developers.

Some of the initial advertisers to hit the new platform will include Bravo, Starbucks, and Virgin America. Advertisers will bid on keywords and initially pay for ads on a CPM basis, which is likely to change over time. Twitter is also planning on launching a 'resonance score' metric that will keep score with how much reach and impact certain sponsored tweets are having, based on favorites, retweets, views, and more.

The "Promoted Tweets" platform is very similar to the Digg Ads, which have been very successful for Digg. Both use user interaction with ads to help determine price, longevity, position, and more with regards to ads.

It'll be interesting to see how diehard Twitterers react to the new advertising model. I personally believe its about time, not that I like ads, but Twitter needs to do something to ensure that they have the going power to stick around for the long-haul. [image credit: AdAge, Source: Mashable]

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For business networking, there is no better site than Linked in.

Linked in has built in measures to cut back on spam, track reputation via recommendations, and make it so only true contacts can friend other contacts.

In other words it’s not a follow buffet like twitter.

Being tailored and targetted at businesses and enterprises it’s amazing that it’s taken them so long to launch a Blackberry app. However today they’ve finally launched their native blackberry application.

It’s pretty sweet too, LinkedIn users can integrate their LinkedIn connections with their devices’ address book, and view the profile of any contact directly on the device. LinkedIn invitations and messages will now show up in the BlackBerry’s inbox. BlackBerry LinkedIn users can also view the LinkedIn profile of any sender of email they receive, as well as the profile of attendees at meetings on your calendar.

It’s a guarantee that the LinkedIn app will be extremely popular, and might even become the top application, considering the amount of professionals using BlackBerry devices.

LinkedIn is also working on a lot of other projects and will have a lot more features to come including integration with Twitter, Microsoft Outlook, and it’s opening of an API to developers will breed a huge influx of applications I’m sure.

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Does your Social Skillset end w/ Facebook?

When you really look at facebook, and all it can do – it reminds me in many ways of an online dating site back in the day, before I was married. Facebook has photo albums, chat capabilities, profiles, really it’s a glorified dating site. and I’m sure there’s plenty of cases where facebook has been the cause of hookups in one way or another.

Is our replacement of social media / social network activities replacing face to face interactions? (Answer it in the comments let’s create a dialogue on this subject)

Here are a few ways to bring back face to face interaction in our social media relationships.

What are some ways you keep yourself in check and don’t get too wrapped up being online?

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Is Twitter Dying?

According to Barracuda networks an internet research company via Readwriteweb, Twitter looks to be an app that the majority of users pick up for a second, play with for a minute, get a puzzled look on their face then never touch again.

Yet, other numbers show that the number of Tweets per day is higher than ever.

So how can a resource that’s losing momentum and growth gain in use?

Is Twitter doomed? Or can it be saved? What can Twitter do to bring back the users it’s lost?

First off – I absolutely love twitter. As a tool to reach out to people in my niche. The people I friend they really get and understand Twitter. Then again they’re social media consultants and experts so they had better grasp the basic fundamentals, or find a new line of work.

But what does twitter do about the person who joins, and never tweets their first tweet?

Think that this is only a few people? Guess again – according to a report from Hubspot 55.5 percent of twitter users don’t follow anyone, and 54.9 percent have never tweeted.

Last time I checked anything over 50% is a majority.

Here’s some more startling numbers on the usage of Twitter from Hubspot via ArsTechnica:

• 79.79% of users provided no homepage URL.
• 75.86% of users have not entered a bio.
• 68.68% have not specified their location.
• 55.50% are not following anyone.
• 54.88% Have never tweeted.
• 52.71% have no followers.

What these numbers say is that as little as a quarter of Twitter’s members actually use the service on a regular basis.

In my opinion, when you have the sheer amount of hype and publicity as Twitter has had, and you lose 50-70% of your members before they even get two feet in the door, you’ve got a major problem.

How can Twitter Turn the Tide?

These are just some suggestions, but twitter needs to maybe instigate some sort of point / karma system. They could then have ‘points’ and some ‘quests’ which would really be a tutorial showing some of the things you can do with twitter.

The problem isn’t that people are stupid, and just don’t get it. It’s not that twitter is dumb, and not worth anything. There’s no reason for everybody not to get something out of twitter.

The problem is people’s attention spans are short, and they don’t have the time to figure out what the fuss is all about. They try it out, don’t get it or understand it, and they leave. Probably never come back.

Heck, I was almost one of these people. I joined twitter, and had an account a few months before I really became involved in the service, and I was a blogger, blogging about social media and blogging.

I’ve played online games where the learning curve is pretty steep, there’s a lot going on. These games always start you out with ‘quests’. Little things that you do that teaach you the basic concepts of the game, till you’re ready to branch out on your own. Without these quests it would be almost impossible to get very far in the game. Most people would quit before they got very far.

That’s where Twitter has failed. To retain their new members they need to have a tutorial as part of their signup. They could even have some kind of incentive for people who finish the tutorial, filling out all their profile information, follow at least 10 people, and send at least 10 tweets. They could team up with an online game like Zynga’s farmville for instance and offer free in game rewards for those who complete the twitter quest.

Twitter has to do something. It has to retain new customers, or it may never become a viable resource. Yet, the numbers do show that those who do get Twitter and use it regularly are keeping it afloat – but how long will that happen? What happens when facebook integrates all of twitters features and there’s no real use left for the microblogging service?

What do you think Twitter Could do to keep the customers it Already has, and to get new customers to keep using the service??

BTW & FYI you can follow me on twitter! @PatrickCurl

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This is a Guest post by James at JamesMartell.com

The words free and advertising don’t often go together in real life. Getting more site traffic takes time and effort, finding a way to effortlessly gain more clicks is always good news.

A method for generating more traffic quickly was a right in front of me. Banners brought a lot of attention to my site, but not every format allows this type of advertising. Then I discovered another way to use the same pull of a banner that did work in almost in any format.

Social media sites like Twitter, and Facebook, where typical banner advertising is not allowed does have another way to utilize the same drawing power.

Thumbnails can advertise your site as easily as a banner will. The best news is this tool is less expensive to have created and is welcomed with open arms on most social sites.

Smaller Package, Better Visibility

Since thumbnails are allowed on Facebook, Twitter, and similar sites, they become visible. Blogs, chat forums, and other social media sites enthusiastically welcome users to upload a thumbnail with open arms.

My guess as to the reason that thumbnails do not receive the attention they are due is because most people never realize how efficient they can be in helping to generate that click.

Using the Thumbnail to Generate Attention

The thumbnail is really a smaller, and more “portable” type of banner ad. While leaving a message through many types of social media such as posting on Facebook, or using Twitter your thumbnail works the same as banner ad would in giving anyone who sees it a view of your message.

Thumbnails can be designed and created in many different sizes. Having a selection on hand for the different websites you will visit that allow thumbnails is great idea. Common pixel sizes are 50x50, 80x80, 100x100, 170x170, or 200x200. The pixel size that is recommended for iTunes is 600x600.

My wife Arlene created a popular website called EpilepsyMoms.com. She found out how well thumbnails could work in generating interest in her podcast by using professional and descriptive graphics.

Having thumbnails created by a professional could be done at a low cost, and Arlene had two sets created, one with her website address which is already descriptive in what the site is about and one that promotes her podcast.

4 Simple Ways to Generate Traffic

When working online the easiest ways often work the best for you. That is why the technique for promoting a product or service with a banner is very effective. It’s easy to use and can be re-used often. Thumbnails are just as usable and can bring that same exposure on sites where banners can’t be utilized.

1. Using Facebook and Twitter to Build Your Brand

Using social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn business have found a natural for introducing their products and services to people via numerous exposures online. This is the best type of promotion…free!

A well thought out and carefully designed thumbnail can even offer a tempting link back to your website from many social media sites. A plain picture or name doesn’t necessarily carry the message you want, or create the desire of everyone viewing it to click the link and go to your site. Having a professional graphic can gain attention instantly giving those viewing it a reason to want to know more.

2. Businesses Gain Attention on Facebook and Twitter

Online retailers, affiliate marketers, promoters or really anyone using website promotions will find it’s smart to have a set of banners and thumbnails of various sizes.

In the same way, a carefully crafted banner draws attention so too does a well-designed thumbnail establish and build your brand, which can then increase click through rates to your site.

Your thumbnail can bring more people to your site wherever you blog, chat in a forum, or leave a comment on someone else’s site. No matter where you go online, this can work as a continuous draw for your site.

3. Get Tons of Traffic to Your Site

Thumbnails have the drawing power to bring thousands to your site. And because thumbnails have more applications in many more places, these smaller versions of banners are more versatile and adaptable.

Polished, professional, and personable thumbnail graphics grab attention. Thinking of thumbnails you might have clicked on or followed back yourself chances are good these carried an image that first caught your attention, and then made you want to know more. You can even give your photo some retouching from a professional.

4. Posts or Tweets With More Power

As you post a tweet on Twitter, or make a comment on someone else’s wall in Facebook a thumbnail speaks for you. The greater number of times you use these sites with your thumbnail representing you the more clicks you will see.

I have found this to be true on sites where I am a frequent poster. Most major blogs where you write, post, or even simply respond to a message, as a commenter will allow the use of thumbnails. With the thumbnail, you are not a “John Smith” type of poster, and people will want to know more about you. Following your interesting thumbnail link thousands will pick up the trail to your site’s door.

4 Creating a Dynamic Thumbnail Graphic

1. Use a Good Photo

You don’t need to hire a professional photographer to get the best feature all photos need most…your smile. A smile is a welcome, and people instinctively respond to you. The background should limited and professional, and be sure there is enough light. A digital photo will work just as well as one taken by a professional camera. A photo retoucher can often help work out problems with a photo you want to use.

2. Find a Graphic Pro

Hiring a professional graphics designer will go a long way to getting the best thumbnail possible. Professionals will have software that can give your graphics a smoother, perfect look. A pro can even retouch your photo to look its best on a thumbnail. Arlene had several thumbnails inexpensively created for her by a professional and she was happy with the results.

3. Keep Text Simple

The wording on graphics should be short and get your point across. The name of the site and a word or two such as Arlene did with by using the name of her site and “Podcast” conveys a clear message. Too much text will detract from the message.

4. Find a Style

Once you find a look that works for you don’t keep changing it. Changing too often will confuse those viewing it and they might not remember you as easily. Keep details between your thumbnail, website, and brand as similar as possible.

Give It Drawing Power

Should you think I’m making a big deal over something that is very simple consider this – the saying that people judge a book by it’s cover is true, and your thumbnail is going to be the cover for every Twitter tweet, Facebook and blog comment, or chat forum thread. Over time, this can number into the thousands of images all working for your site or other promotion.

As Arlene worked on her site and wanted thumbnails created, she decided to use a source she used previously with success. Since she had much of the work for her site done using a service provider site, she quickly found a professional do a touch up on her photo and use a few simple words to convey her message.

As the mother of a child with epilepsy, she wanted to reach as many other mothers as possible who might be facing the same challenges making this site important to her. This was a job she had to keep on a budget, and the results were exactly what she wanted.

She also had a professional graphic designer create banner ads, header graphics, and an image for the audio player she features on her home page. Using these types of sites, a professional is not expensive, because there are many professional writers, technical pros, and others all competing for jobs. Easily negotiating with someone to handle any budgeted job from clerical to a web design is not difficult.

Never Miss Your Chance --Gravatar

Not too long ago I found myself at a site and wanted to post my thumbnail after making a comment. Looking through the settings however, I wasn’t able to find how to add the thumbnail.

After some searching, I was able to find out that many places where you find blogs, chat forums, and commenting boards use a system called Gravatar service to place thumbnails.

Going to Gravatar.com I realized that all I had to do was upload the thumbnail on this site, and then give it an assigned email address. From that point on all I had to do was go to any place I wanted to comment or post and use my email address in the usual field and my thumbnail appears without my having to do anything else.

Not A Secret From You

A professionally created thumbnail graphic can provide you with a constant stream of traffic to your website at no cost. With a little effort getting your thumbnails designed, you will be ready to go.

Over to You

Are you satisfied with the thumbnail you have now?

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