Archives for 2009

How to Use TweetDeck To Help You Twitter

June 4, 2009 By Sherry Tingley

Learning how to use Twitter is easy for some people, but for others, it is a struggle. If you sign up for a twitter account at twitter.com, you can easily see how to use Twitter, but you might wonder how you can possibly manage following more than ten people.

Actor Anderson Cooper was on the Kelly and Regis show this morning discussing twittering. Not only were they discussing twittering, he was twittering during the show. Kelly Ripa admitted she doesn’t Tweet. I think it’s time now that she learns how to twitter. Anderson not only is a twitter fan, but has 221,110 people following him. He actually used his phone to twitter during the show.

Twitter applications have been developed to help you manage your twitter friends. I’ve read and heard about a lot of applications, but the one I like the best is called TweetDeck and you can download it from TweetDeck.com. To the left you will see Anderson Cooper’s profile that you can access from TweetDeck.

What is fun about TweetDeck is that it has a tracking capability that let’s you track certain people or keywords that people are talking about. It gives you 10 columns to use. For each column, you choose what you want to appear in that column.

For example, if you want to create a group of people that you know personally you can see what they are saying and their comments are all listed in one column. If you are tracking what people say about Iphones, you can choose that as a keyword and have a column for all the tweets about Iphones.

The reason that is fun is because you can then begin conversations with people who are talking about things you are interested in. In the photo below, you can see a sample of TweetDeck. I am only showing two columns because of space limitations, but you can have up to ten. There is a slide bar at the bottom of the application that let’s you quickly view all of the columns. You can also change your groups whenever you want.

Tweetdeck is free and very addicting. Be prepared to have a whole new world of friends. My twitter name is bluewaves1. Join me in twittering today.

Let me know what your favorite Twitter application is by making a comment here.

What is Market Leverage all about?

May 23, 2009 By Sherry Tingley

Market Leverage

Why join Market Leverage?

Perhaps you have never heard of the affiliate marketing company called Market Leverage? No one has mentioned it to you before. Now, you are wondering what is is and how it can benefit you. Why is Market Leverage always recommended by the top bloggers?

John Chow and Zac Johnson, two highly respected affiliate marketers are always recommending Market Leverage to their audiences. Why? Because it can make you some incredible money.

Zac Johnson says, “Market Leverage has been one of the fastest growing networks lately as a result of their aggressive ad campaigns and success with making affiliates money. Not only does Market Leverage have a nice amount of offers to choose from, but they are also one of the nicest groups of people around.”

John Chow has a good April Fool’s spoof on getting a job offer from Market Leverage. I know I fell for it hook line and sinker!

Market Leverage is the place where leading online and offline companies place incredible offers for getting customers to listen to their pitches. Hundreds of companies hire Market Leverage to have them send traffic to their advertising offers.

If you run a website or own one and are you are wondering how to take it to the next level, think about monetizing it with offers from Market Leverage.

Signing up for Market Leverage is free. Not only is it free, but the people that you refer to Market Leverage can benefit you.

Market Leverage is giving away a lifetime referral bonus for each Publisher you refer to their network!

Earn (5%) five percent of the commission for each and every Publisher you refer that signs up as a MarketLeverage Publisher.

How do you use Market Leverage to make money?

Market Leverage has hundreds of offers that you can choose from to publish. All of the advertising material is ready to go. You just send people to the offer and if the customer fills out a form or makes a purchase, you make commissions.

For example, if you have a site about finding money for start up businesses, then you might want to direct people to your government grant offer. This particular government grant offer has over 5 beautiful advertising photographs and pre-written email letters just waiting for you to send to your audience. You don’t have to come up with any clever gimmicks or advertising letters to get people interested in these offers. That has all been done for you. One of the advertising photos for a government grant is listed below.

Market Leverage pays you when people sign up for the offers that you send them to.

Warning: Payouts can be generous and addicting.

How to Nail an Interview: 20 Job Interview Tips

May 21, 2009 By Guest Posts

After writing about how to negotiate your salary recently, a couple of readers pointed me to another job-related tool on the web. Steinar Skipsness has created a microsite called How to Nail an Interview. Here’s how he describes it:

What is it that certain people say or do during a job interview that makes them stand out? Why do some people struggle to find work, while others land a job in no time? I wanted to know, and the only way to find out was to experience the interview from the other side of the table. If I could be the one asking the interview questions, not answering, I could see first hand what made candidates stand out. I could then take that knowledge and cater my behavior in any future interview to give myself the best chance of getting hired.

To conduct his research, Skipsness rented office space in downtown Seattle, posted a “help wanted” ad on Craigslist, and then (legally) videotaped interviews with applicants. Skipsness received hundreds of resumes and conducted 28 interviews, from which he culled the following 20 tips:

Your resume has 10 seconds to sell.
Be on time.
Turn off your cell phone.
Know the company and why you want to work there.
Bring extra resumes.
Bring a notepad.
Dress conservatively.
Clean up your online presence.
Don’t make jokes.
Don’t babble.
Don’t badmouth a boss.
Don’t flirt with the interviewer.
Don’t play with your face or hair.
Some things are better left unsaid.
Have good eye contact.
Have goals.
Have accomplishments.
Have passion.
Ask questions.
Send a thank-you note.

For each item, Skipsness provides additional information (why should you send a thank-you note?), and for many of his recommendations, he includes video from the interviews that demonstrate what not to do. Would you hire this guy?

How to get your free triple credit report

May 11, 2009 By Sherry Tingley

Getting your credit report from the major three credit reporting agencies, TransUnion, Equifax and Experian is easy to do and something you should put on your to do list if you haven’t done so already.

Tracking your credit is always a good idea. You never know when there have been errors made that will negatively affect you or if there has been activity on your credit cards that shouldn’t be there. Ordering credit reports can help you be aware of your credit power or in some cases your lack of power.

TransUnion Credit Bureau

TransUnion will send your credit report to you for free:

Phone number: (800) 888-4213.

You can actually get a credit score mailed to you by calling 1-866-726-7388.

You can file a credit dispute online if you see any errors.

Equifax Credit Bureau

The easiest way to get your credit report from Equifax is to call them at: 1-877-SCORE-11.

Their address is:

Equifax Information Services LLC
P.O. Box 105314
Atlanta, GA 30348
(866) 224-9235

Experian Credit Bureau

You can order a credit score for $6 by calling 1-888-322-5583.

You can get unlimited access to your credit report at CreditExpert.com

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Experian has corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and has operational headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif., and Nottingham, UK. The Group employs approximately 15,500 people in 38 countries worldwide, supporting clients in more than 65 countries around the world. Revenue for the year ended March 31, 2008, was $4 billion.

I thought that was interesting. The other interesting thing about Experian is that it owns hitwise.com. Hitwise “provides insights on how 10 million US Internet users interact with more than 1 million websites, across 165+ industries.”

Free Credit Report From All Three Credit Bureaus

Getting a free credit report from all three credit bureaus can be done at AnnualCreditReport.com.

This is recommended by all three credit bureaus and is a free service if it is your one annual credit report.

Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

Here are some of your rights:

You must be told if information in your file has been used against you

You have a right to know what is in your file

You have the right to ask for a credit score

You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information

Consmer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information

Consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information

Access to your file is limited

You must give your consent for reports to be provided to employers

You may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on the information in your credit report by calling 1-888-567-8688

You may seek damages from violators

Identify theft victims and active duty military personnel have additional rights

If you have found some good places to get free credit reports, please let us know in the comment sections.

Choose from thousands of designs when you order your personal checks (up to 50% off bank prices).

Increase your Twitter followers

March 12, 2009 By Sherry Tingley

Twitter.com has become increasingly popular amongst the social media fans as well as big corporations. In a record 45 days some Twitter users have experienced an incredible growth spurt. The number of Twitter followers sometimes is an indicator of the amount of authority one has. Arguably this may or may not reflect the actual sphere of influence these people have, but it is amazing to look at the statistics of just how fast these people have grown their Twitter Communities.

The statistics in the chart below were taken from the website, www.twitterholic.com. They have measured 1000 Twitter users and recorded information about them. The Twitter URL for each person or company has been included for ease of use and to encourage people to check out just what is driving this rapid growth. By clicking on the URL, you can easily follow these companies or people on Twitter. If you want to increase your Twitter followers, follow these people.

TOP 20 TWITTERS’ GROWTH IN 45 DAYS
#	Twitter Name	Increase in Followers – 45 Days
1	CNN Breaking News (cnnbrk)	338,021
2	Britney Spears (britneyspears)	315,208
3	Barack Obama (BarackObama)	248,409
4	Stephen Fry (stephenfry)	216,669
5	Whole Foods Market (WholeFoods)	206,399
6	NPR Politics (nprpolitics)	206,399
7	DowningStreet (DowningStreet)	178,659
8	Zappos.com CEO -Tony (zappos)	159,912
9	JetBlue Airways (JetBlue)	128,349
10	The Onion (TheOnion)	86,592
11	Live Earth (LiveEarth)	82,466
12	Threadless (threadless)	60,852
13	Mr Tweet (MrTweet)	54,134
14	Rich (BigRichB)	42,072
15	Starbucks Coffee (Starbucks)	39,726
16	Mr. Social (MrSocial)	39,227
17	Perry Belcher (perrybelcher)	33,372
18	astrospace (Astronautics)	29,997
19	Guy Kawasaki (guykawasaki)	27,365
20	Robert Scoble (Scobleizer)	17,405

Just for fun, I analyzed Guy Kawasaki’s statistics. I guess I’m somewhat of a statistics freak. He increased his Twitter followers by 608 people a day for 45 days. If you visit his site listed on his Twitter page, you can see that he has a datafeed or aggregator of some kind that is posting for him, but he also posts himself. His Twitter influence is rapidly growing.

Brian Campbell recommends that in order to grow your Twitter followers, you find people who also reciprocate and follow other people back. With that in mind, the list below shows the top twenty Tweeps (people who use Twitter) that follow other people. Increase your Twitter followers by following these people.

TOP 20 TWITTER FOLLOWERS
	Name	Following
1	Barack Obama (BarackObama)	368,659
2	DowningStreet (DowningStreet)	198,866
3	Whole Foods Market (WholeFoods)	190,750
4	Zappos.com CEO -Tony (zappos)	177,605
5	NPR Politics (nprpolitics)	123,066
6	JetBlue Airways (JetBlue)	118,993
7	The Onion (TheOnion)	94,308
8	Guy Kawasaki (guykawasaki)	86,915
9	Live Earth (LiveEarth)	78,362
10	Mr Tweet (MrTweet)	77,079
11	Robert Scoble (Scobleizer)	74,584
12	Starbucks Coffee (Starbucks)	73,784
13	Threadless (threadless)	64,108
14	Rich (BigRichB)	62,504
15	astrospace (Astronautics)	62,211
16	Perry Belcher (perrybelcher)	57,664
17	Arleen Anderson (AlohaArleen)	56,192
18	yobird (yobird)	54,624
19	Stephen Fry (stephenfry)	54,322
20	Casey Wright (caseywright)	53,433

Join the growing number of people who are using Twitter.com. In fact, follow me on Twitter and we’ll have a great time. You can always comment below and leave your Twitter address to increase your followers!