Do you have a personalised Twitter background? Many tweople find it too cumbersome to bother with it. Which is a shame because the plain vanilla Twitter background may well throw you into the same pot as the bane of the web wide world: spammers. Spammers don’t bother with personalisation; they are into massive account creation and massive messaging whatever their medium. Twitter is not excluded here.

The first thing people see when they visit your Twitter account is your profile page: your photo usually loads first if you have one; spammers don’t bother with this either – now you know why you should. Then the background begins to load. As soon as colours and shapes begin to differ from Twitter’s vanilla scheme, they catch the eye of the visitor, arouse his/her curiosity and therefore entice your visitor to linger longer and check out who you are and what you have to say.

There are lots of sites listed in graphics section of the “Really Useful Twitter Tool Box” offering artsy, designed and fully customised Twitter backgrounds. I’ve recently come across a couple of new sites – http://www.killertweets.com/ and http://www.tootyourtwitter.com/ – and an extremely useful colour scheme designer – http://www.colourlovers.com/color.

You can read more here.

Did you know that recurring tweets are a violation of Twitter rules? The reason for this, given by Twitter, is that recurring tweets can result in duplicate tweets and duplicate tweets would pollute Twitter.

So, in the interest of Twitter ecology, SocialOomph has discontinued the option of publishing recurring tweets to Twitter. You can read SocialOomph’s statement here:
http://www.socialoomphblog.com/recurring-tweets/

Recently, reports multiplied about strange goings on in Twitter accounts. All types of message appeared that didn’t originate with the owners of the accounts, tweople couldn’t get into their accounts, and similar puzzling events. Chances are that these accounts have been hacked and hijacked.

Twitter has published a page about this issue and what you can do should your account have been compromised. Here is the link: http://help.twitter.com/forums/10713/entries/31796

Today, I have two unrelated updates: mobile tweeting and going viral with Twitter.

Twitter started with specific reference to the 160 character limit on texting. It always meant to go mobile.  Two recent additions to the mobile Twitter apps listed in the “Really Useful Twitter Tool Box” catapult Twitter even higher into the mobile stratosphere: Tweetie 2 for the iPhone and Seesmic Mobile for Blackberry and Android.

Tweetie 2 for the iPhone has been rewritten from the ground up with a fast and powerful new core. Seesmic Mobile brings my favourite Twitter desktop to two fast growing classes of tweople: Blackberry users and Android fans with everyone waiting for Android to produce the big iPhone killer. Read more here.

What I like most about the Internet is its vast reservoir of free information. You can find detailed instructions on how to create your own Twitter background using a free Power Point template (the link is on p. 15 of the Twitter Tool Box) and how to make your ebook go viral. No, it’s not about embedding a virus in an ebook but about spreading your links virally. Why would you want to do this and how can it be done? Read more here.

Automating Twitter tasks is a controversial topic. There are those who say you should never do it. At the other extreme there are tools that promise to get you thousands of followers in no time (which, IMHO, is utter nonsense). Twitter itself prefers personal, direct communication but understands that automation is warranted under certain conditions as long as the Twitter rules are not violated.

New automation tools are released all the time. Here is another one, Autotweeter. Like all tools it does have its uses and also its faults. Read more here about Autotweeter and a tool to help you protect yourself against spamming robots (the latter, TrueTwit, is listed in the “Really Useful Twitter Tool Box”).

While Twitter is busy improving its user interface with “new” RT (retweet) functionality and TwitterLists, both features that have been available on third party apps for a long time, third party apps are steaming ahead and breaking new ground.

ÜberTwitter is a mobile Twitter app for Blackberry owners. It’s available as a free download and as an ads-free app for $4.99. Read more here.

TweetGlide is available as a desktopapp for PC/Mac and mobile app for the iphone (although the mobile app is still to be released). It was developed by Mike Filsaime of Butterfly Marketing fame, and this pedigree does not disappoint.  It’s not only pleasant to use but Mike has made it go viral and added the opportunity for users to earn affiliate income while tweeting. Read more here.

Earlier in the year, SocialToo discontinued their automatic direct message service. They have completely disabled this facility and encourage Twitter users to follow their example and desist from automated DMs.

Other services have taken similar steps (I’ll report about this next time) but none have been as draconic as SocialToo. Read more here.

The Future is Twitter. This is more than a slogan just as The News is Twitter and Twitter is in the News. “Breaking News” on TV is frequently beaten to the post by Twitter. Time Magazine devoted a cover story to Twitter. Just follows Google news or any other desktop news collection and you’ll see how frequently Twitter or a Twitter related event makes the headlines.

Twitter is more than just for fun. It’s also for business. Whatever you may want to use it for, it’s plain obvious that you want ot spend your time on Twitter as effectively as possible.

“The Really Useful Twitter Tool Box” will make your Twitter experience easier, faster and more effective for whatever purpose you choose to be on Twitter. Discover what it offers you in the video below.

“Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Twitter – On One Page”:
All the Twitter Tools and Twitter Apps, the Twitter How-To’s and Why’s,
Helping you to make the most of Twitter for yourself and for your business. ]]> http://twittermastermindguru.com/%e2%80%9cthe-really-useful-twitter-tool-box%e2%80%9d/feed 0 http://twittermastermindguru.com/%e2%80%9cmastermind-groups-%e2%80%93-the-fundamental-principles-of-success-and-achievement%e2%80%9d http://twittermastermindguru.com/%e2%80%9cmastermind-groups-%e2%80%93-the-fundamental-principles-of-success-and-achievement%e2%80%9d#comments Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:55:43 +0000 Max http://twittermastermindguru.com/?p=3

Why are some people successful and others struggle without ever finding the reward they deserve? The key answer is Support. Whatever the field of human endeavour, successful people don’t go it alone. They have support teams, and that means not just staff ministering to their needs. It means, above all, a team of peers and mentors who bring their knowledge and expertise to the table. These teams are called MasterMind Groups.

Let’s cut to the chase:

• All successful people have MasterMind support surrounding them.
• All of them use this support massively and deliberately.

In a recent article, I provide a bullet-point summary of the concept of MasterMind Group as developed by Napoleon Hill and subsequently expanded by various other contributors. In the article, you’ll find concise answers to these questions:

• What is MasterMinding?
• What is the Objective of a MasterMind Group?
• What is the Value of a MasterMind Group?
• What are the Benefits of MasterMind Groups?
• Why Don’t More People Use MasterMind Groups?
• Why Do Mastermind Groups Succeed?
• What are the Critical Success Factors for a Mastermind Group?
• Do You Belong in a MasterMind Group?
• How to Run a MasterMind Group

In case you’re wondering why I use “MasterMind” rather than “Mastermind,” here is the answer: I use “MasterMind” to distinguish it from the popular quiz game where people know all sorts of obscure things about often weird and wonderful subjects. “MasterMinding” is a route to success and achievement not to the retention of frequently useless facts.

To be specific, MasterMinding is a strategy and skill for:

• Reaching Your Goals
• Achieving Success
• Finding Solutions/Remedies
• Massive Innovation
• Optimisation of Business or Any Other Enterprise.

Use my summary as a brief introduction and checklist. You’ll find a resource box at the end of the article if you want to pursue this further. You can also download the article as a pdf file.

Click here to read the article. Best of luck on your way to success.