http://www.dailyseoblog.com/2009/06/5-wordpress-twitter-plugins-to-help-readers-tweet-your-articles/

Much has been written about the Twitter phenom.  Almost to where you go….dude enough already, aaargh.  However….one of the missing components that has not had a ton of type hype is “who” is on Twitter.  It may SHOCK you.

 Let’s take a peek at some recent demographic data from Quantcast. This is from January 2009.

Age of Twitter Users

 52% of Twitter user are 35 or older (including 50+).

WOW! Is this a change from what the talking heads of traditional media would have us believe? So this would indicate that Twitter is a significant opportunity for communication with Gen X, Y, and Baby Boomers.

Over ½ of the folks using Twitter are Female with 47% being Male 

Let’s look at the rest of the data:

This graph shows 74% don’t have kids.
Another shocker for me. I would like to see some clarification on this point.  Are they saying no kids, or no kids presently living at home?  Surely the latter.

If, in fact, 74% have no children currently as dependents this would indicate a presence of a bit more discretionary resources (time and money) on their hands. Prime candidates for participation in social media and becoming part of your Tribe.

Check this out! 51% make $6oK or more per year and 27% are over 100K
Anything at all there look like a match for your target market?

Just so we are clear on the educational portion…63% went to college
and get this…17% of Twitter users went to Graduate School

Hmmm ok, as a recap, Twitter users rank high in income compared to the average, are well educated, almost equally male and female, and spread across the age ranks from 18 to 51 with more than half being over 35.

The real question is not whether you should be using Twitter as an additional marketing tool, but HOW should you use Twitter as a marketing tool.

til next time,

Live-Love-Laugh

I hear the mantra “boomers fear Social media” all the time.  While there may be a certain logic in believing this, as a marketing geek with a target market in that group I really wanted to find the real numbers.  Makes sense huh?

If a large part of my target market fears social media (interpreted as not using it) then I should only use social media in proportion to which my target audience is involved.  The remaining portion of my marketing assets would of course then go to the other areas my market hangs out.

Ok, so check this out. Let’s look briefly at some demographics. First, baby boomers are that unique generation born after the Second World War. Most generally the dates used for this group is 1946-1964.  Currently this group holds the bulk of assets in the time and money area.

Generation X. Generation X can technically be defined as the generation following the Baby Boomers. Xers were born between 1965 and 1980, depending on which source you use. The term Generation X came from a book written in 1991 by Douglas Coupland by the same name. It is a fictional book about three strangers who decide to distance themselves from society to get a better sense of who they are. They are the generation that was raised in the 1970s and 1980s, and saw this country undergo a selfish phase that they do not want to repeat.

Generation Y with the members of this generation referred to as Millennial or the Millennial Generation. Precise dates are disputed but Generation Y consists of those people born somewhere from the early 1980s to early 2000s.  I love this group of people. They are really shaking up business as we know it spurning well known and established brands for the new and exciting. Contrarians as a group.

Alright back my target market. Most people would associate the tech crazed social media with Gen X’ers and younger. According to the latest Consumer Electronics Usage Survey from Accenture, Baby Boomers are the fastest growing users of social networking sites. That group is also reading blogs more frequently as well. Meanwhile, Gen Y interest in these services has plateaued. Hmmm. All is not what it seems.

So, how cool is that?  The whole point here is really to make sure when it comes to investing assets into your marketing plan that you KNOW who your target market is and where they hang.  As a general rule, (I will go out on a limb here)….dont listen to mainstream media, do your own research.

Tomorrow we can take a peak at the demographics of Twitter.  Not to be boorish but c’mon you need to see this.  If you have been waffling on whether you should add twitter to your marketing toolbox AND you have a vested interest in the boomer generation you need to see this next article.

Live-Love-Laugh

Check out this story of this internet marketer and product developed. This is an awesome example of how powerful Twitter can and how it can be leveraged to help you drum up business. This is crazy and almost unbelievable.

A few months ago, Brad Callen released a new tool called PPC Web Spy.
 
This is a really cool tool that allows you to save a ton of time in your keyword research and be able to sneak a peak at what is working for others. There is a free version and you can see it here ppc web spy

Alright, that ADD is biting me in the butt again. Back to the Twitter story. Before they released the tool publicly Brad posted a very
simple demo video showing what the tool does onto his Twitter
profile page. That allowed those who were following him to see what Brad had ben working on the last few months.
 
The video wasn’t anything special just a quick gig about what the tool did and it showed how excited Brad was about it. There was no mention of the URL of the site where you could get the tool…it really was not ready to be sold. Brad shows that at that time he had roughly 1500 twitter buds. 1500 followers.
 
So here is what happened, some of his 1,500 followers watched the video and some of them re-tweeted the message with the link to the video on there own pages (kind of like forwarding an email), that allowed there followers to go see the video, from there people started googling the name of the tool. (Exactly what I did) Then hitting his website.

This viral action continued for awhile and it continued to grow and grow creating a huge buzz on twitter and forums all over the place. Brad was able to build and opt-in list of over 55,000 people in the span of a few weeks. WOW!

Yes, that’s right, 55,000 people signed up and downloaded a free
copy of PPC Web Spy! These are 55,000 people that Brad now has the opportunity to build long term relationships with for many years to come.

That is crazy. Where else can you find and utilize a free medium to build a potential partner list of 55,000 targeted, interested people in 2 weeks? The other amazing thing about this is…. yep it is one tweet….meaning 140 characters or less.

So there you have it: One man. One Tweet, 55,000 opt-ins.

If you are interested in this stuff follow me on twitter here, I will share many many more tips like this with you as we move along.
 
=> http://www.twitter.com/tim_oneill
 
If you don’t have a Twitter account, click the link above, and then
create one. Then start “tweeting” asap.

Live-Love-Laugh

Twitter is going to be huge, the great news is that you are basically in at the beginning. That is, the over 6 million people now involved, is nothing compared to where it will be moving forward.
 
 So here’s one of the things going on with Twitter right now…
 
Honest to goodness celebrities are now using Twitter and are showing up at a tremendous rate. While there are a huge number of them, one person that I’ve been watching is Lance
Armstrong. As many of you know I have roots in triathlon and personal development both, so this is no surprise that I am an Armstrong fan. Well check this out, Lance joined Twitter just a few
months ago, and he already has over 233,000
followers.
 
This summer is the Tour de France. His Twitter updates will no doubt be mentioned in the press many times during coverage of the
race… and all of a sudden Twitter will hit the
mainstream.
 
Other celebrities are also picking up the pace.
They are beginning to realize that they can control building a following, away from mainstream media and that they can also develop another revenue stream by monetizing that following in a variety of ways. Do you think we may soon have more celebrities from TV, the big screen, stage, field and track on Twitter.? If so fans will follow.
 
You can follow my thought process here I am sure. I may be wrong though. If so, I haven’t lost much. Twitter is already proving valuable so anything moving forward is just a bonus.
 
Here are a few things to note:
 
If you don’t “get” Twitter, don’t worry. Many of us didn’t at first. I started last April then bailed because I didnt research enough to see the value or how you use it. I just started agian in January. So sign up and start following a few people from a niche you have interest in. It’s free so no big deal. Read a bit about it and watch some video tutorials and find out what the buzz is all about.
 
 
Twitter is a viral tool so you definitely want to stake your claim. Like much of the internet and clearly for social media as a whole, the madness is much like the gold rush in the late 1800’s. It may be short and sweet but it certainly is as much and more profitable. So start now.
Just like the internet, marketing, or business in general Twitter has many different facets. There is not one right way to use it. Find the way that works for you and allows you to be you and be transparent to your followers and congruent to your beliefs. 
After you are on Twitter for awhile begin to look at some of the third party software programs that can be used with Twitter. It can be easier, more productive and more fun if you can engage in a couple of these pieces.
 
Of the many programs available there are two I am currently using. Tweetdeck, tweetergetter, and the search function at http://search.twitter.com - you can use that to track what people are saying about you,  your
company, or your competitors. You also can find a specific topic you may have interest in. It’s awesome,
instantaneous feedback. Ah, OK that’s three I am using, sorry.
  
I did a review of Joel Comm’s new book, Twitter Power. Check out his book. You can purchase it here.

Twitterpower.

Another awesome source of information is Marketing Merge blog a blogsite that specializes in attraction marketing. There are a few short vids that will give you the inside scoop here.
 
Finally, if you get signed up follow me too. There is a ton of info that goes into the tweets I put out just like many others. Here’s the link:         follow Tim

Have a blast and be diligent in learning this awesome social media tool.

So…are you in the tweet mode yet? You gotta be if you have been reading any online attraction marketing stuff at all. If not, I believe you are missing one of the biggest oportunites ever to explode your propect list, and better yet, develop a closer realtionship with them.

In the past few years the social media market arena has exploded. There are a ton of different ways to get millions of different people saying unique (positive I hope) things about you. Personal Branding at its greatest. But nothing like twitter has been around. This is phenomenal! Let me explain…

Twitter allows you to micro blog. You use short messages of 140 characters or less to stay in touch with your followers on a minute by minute basis. Sounds like alot of intrusion right? That’s what I thought but have just recently re-visited the idea and have been studying how to use it effectively.

Estimates vary, but there are over 6 million users on Twitter–and it is growing exponenitally. So what does this mean to you? PROFITS. How? Now you can instantly message your followers, handing them valuable tips while also giving them a glimpse into your day. You have the opportunity to provide value to them in a totally different way and at the same time you can foster a stronger more intimate realtionship. Building trust over a period of time is a key factor is developing an online presence. Here are a few ways to leverage twitter.

1) Be transparent–Be you. Talk about your life, your family, your work. Allow your readers a glimpse into your life, the good, the bad and the ugly. People want to know you. Let them see you and be able to realize the challenges and joys you have are probalby the same as theirs.

2) Retweet on a regular basis. Retweeting (or RT) is a fast, easy way to pass along something valuable you’ve found from someone else by simply clicking on an icon. This is content sharing and giving back in its purest form.

3) Tweet (write) with frequency and add value. One of the best ways to do this is to download a free desktop program called TweetDeck. This is a powerful way to keep tabs on who’s talking about you–without logging in and out all the time. I will be doing a few vids on tweetdeck coming up.

Those are a few things to help you grow your list of followers. But if you REALLY want to jump in quickly I recommend Joels book as well as a check to Mike Klingers site at Marketing Merge Network. Mike’s site has a bunch of really high quality free content specific to attraction marketing.

Get Joel’s New Book Here

Oh, and if you want to follow me on twitter here you go: twitter.com/tim_oneill

Tim

http://www.lifebyavision.com

http://www.abundancecreationsecrets.com

IMPORTANT…

“You’re About To Discover The Secrets Most People Will Never Know About How To Really
Use & Profit From Twitter…”

How To Make Money With Your “Tweets” Using Twitter The Right Way And How To Avoid Annoying Your Followers!

Surefire Strategy To Make Easy Residual Income With Twitter Without Doing Anything Black Hat…It doesn’t get any easier than this…

Insider Secret Tactics On How To Set Yourself Apart From The Twitter Crowd… Most marketers have absolutely no idea how to convert their followers into real traffic and fail miserably to get any results at all…

How To Avoid The Biggest Mistakes Most Marketers Are Making With Twitter To Keep Your Following Growing Daily!

… and much, much more! Just enter your first name and valid email in the form below to learn more about how to use twitter the right way, right now…
——————————
end McCaffrey

So this is controversial because to some it seems black hat. I am not one to use black hat or even grey hat methods to build a list. It just doesn’t sit right with me. I would rather do it the old fashioned way by adding real value to those who land on your site looking for information. In my case the target market for this site is those who are looking for one of two things.
1-a site with personal development tools, infomation and strategies that will help you to be the best your creator intended.
2-those looking for a systematic approach to building an home-based business with an online presence through organic (read free) methods, ie attraction marketing.

These two thing are inseparable because most of us don’t start out with the tools to develop a positive mental attitude that will allow us to live and capture our goals and dreams. Alright so back to tweetergetter. As I mentioned some wont like this because it looks like an underhanded way to take a shortcut. If you take a peak under the hood I think you will agree with me that this is actually fine. It will be an awesome tool to add to your belt if you continue in the vein we teach here. That is to add value to your readers. The whole, give something away free without the expectation that people will buy anything. Help people get what they want first then as a by-product of that you will find what you are looking for.

So check out tweetergetter and see if it aligns with your value system. For an awesome and in depth article, check out Mike Klinglers article’s about this new twitter building tool and using twitter for building your network marketing business at  Marketing Merge.  As for my reslults, I just started using it and am already getting some results from it. Check back to see how we do, also, let me know how it works for you.