Are You Tweeting Better?

Every day I learn new things that can also make another person's life better. I know for some people social media can be a bit awkward and maybe even downright confusing. Hence, books like "Twitter for Dummies" and "Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day" were born. Where there is a need or "pain", there is invention and innovation. I have been playing around a bit with Twitter the past couple weeks and experimenting with some things that I have learned about - maybe you would like to increase your Twitter following. Here's some tips on how:

1. Profile Photo - Ensure you post a clear photo of yourself, preferably a close up. People tend to follow faces more than they do logos. Faces are more personable unless you are media or big brand names like Pepsi or Coca-Cola.
2. Biography - Provide a short description of yourself, what are your unique qualities? Why would people want to follow you? What can they relate to? Read some profile bios for ideas.
3. Follow People with Similar Interests - You can connect with people who are like-minded and also see who is following them. You may also want to connect with some of their followers too.
4. Retweet - When watching the tweets on different pages you may notice RT, RT means that someone has retweeted someone else's message.
5. Keep It Short & Sweet - Tweets have a content maximum of 140 characters. Leave at least 20-30 characters free so that people can reply or retweet your message.
6. Be a Value Tweeter - Tweet about topics relevant to your subject area or expertise. Provide shortened links (bit.ly or tiny.url) to valuable information such as articles, tips, tools, or techniques.
7. Use # hashtags - Hashtags are like a filing system or a categorization of topics. For example, #quote can be used at the end of a quote. After you post the quote, you can go to your tweet and click on #quote to see who else is posting quotes. You may want to retweet or follow tweeters  that resonate with you.
8. #FollowFriday or #FF - On Fridays, fellow tweeters suggest people that others should follow. Great content - great followers.
9. Unfollow Inactive Users - Tweeter Karma is a tool in which you can unfollow inactive users so you can follow people who are active on Twitter. There is an acceptable ratio of followers and following so you are better to have active users on your list.
10. Track Your Progress - Twitter Counter is another useful tools for predicting your Twitter growth but it also allows you to discover what tweeters value from you and others. What are the hot topics of conversation?

Two Extras!

1. Remember once it is out there, it is out there! ONLY tweet what you would say face to face.
2. Learn the rules.

There is so many other tips and tricks to the skill of navigating social media. Create a conversation, sign up for newsletters, and connect with others. Follow me on Twitter @debrakasowski

Track Your Way

Every successful person followed a path. Each path may vary in length and smoothness. Some paths may be hilly, some may have a slight bend in the road, and some may even be straight. The beauty of each path is that even if two people are heading to the same destination, their path will vary in lessons learned and length of time to get there. Yet they both can get to the same destination and succeed.

One of our family goals is to be more active than we currently are. I decided to get each of us a pedometer. We are going to keep track of all the steps we take in one day and set our own personal goals. We will strive to reach our personal bests. The kids were quite excited. "How cool! Look at how many steps I  have!" as they ran in one spot or dash up and down the stairs. Instant althletes!

Tracking your way to success can be exhilarating!  Watching your progress creates momentum and awareness of the efforts required to reach your goals. Set a goal. Have a clear intention of what you want your end result to look like. Break your goal into smaller steps - daily, weekly, and monthly. At the end of each day, review the steps you have taken and track your progress by writing down what you have accomplished. Celebrate your victories! Plan your next day and realign or tweak any changes you need to. How can you improve if you do not reflect on what you do? Each day is a fresh start to great things!

If your goal is to declutter a room, stay in the room until you finish it. Do not beat yourself up if you have completed 90% of the room and you still have 10% left at the end of the day. Marvel at the beauty of what you have accomplished. Just think - it is way better than it was and there is so little left to complete that you will get it done quickly the next day and move on. Aah! Feels great doesn't it. Feel the weight off your shoulders as you can now relax in your decluttered room, closet, or garage. It is welcoming and now you look forward to spending time in that space.

Success comes in all shapes and sizes. What are you trying to accomplish? Track your way and you will see what makes you the success you are! Now I have to go so I can get my steps in!

Go Against the Grain Not with the Flow

Have you ever noticed that when you need a certain resource it tends to show up just when you're ready for it? I had noticed Darren Hardy's book, The Compound Effect in The Success Magazine a few times and I thought it may be a good book to add to my success library. I had listened to a podcast discussing The Compound Effect and it really piqued my interest. I knew I needed to order it. Once I received my book and CDs, I started listening to the audio of The Compound Effect immediately and I began listen to it every chance I got. Hardy’s advice and recommendations on climbing the ladder of success was like tree full of fruit is waiting to be picked. I wanted to take one of these juicy ideas and put it into practice. I decided that I would track my time and what I was doing because we all know there are several time wasters in our lives that we can curb to make our time more productive and more efficient. My time wasters are social media and e-mail. Even though these can be productive tools, they can take up a lot of time without you even realizing. I had tracked my time in the past but never so consciously.

The first day I started writing everything down I became very conscious of what I was doing. It was amazing how much more I accomplished. Not that I don't accomplish things on a normal day but with the increased awareness, I began to acknowledge more of my accomplishments And not only did I perform better, but I started noticing how much more time I had to get the things done I wanted to including more time to spend with family and friends and give back to others.

The biggest lesson was on the second day. I had allotted time to go to the gym however, I decided to check just one more e-mail and before I knew it my gym time had elapsed to twenty five minutes instead of the hour. But because I made a commitment that I needed to go to the gym, 25 minutes was better than nothing. I realized I cheated myself out of the time that I put aside for myself. This may have happened to you. You may have thought to yourself “I’ll just do one more thing...it will be quick” only to realize that the one more thing took a lot more time than you realized. Cheating ourselves out of looking after ourselves can be harmful in the long run but with conscious decision-making and following through on our commitments we can achieve so much more.

Many people go through life going with the flow instead against the grain. Going against the grain does not mean encountering resistance. It means doing things differently than everyone else. How many people do you know who use a tracking system in their lives? Ask some people if they have tried it. Try it for yourself for the next 30 days. This exercise can be used in other areas of your life as well such as tracking how often you praise your children, your spending, your food intake, and your activity in relation to exercise. You will quickly see that you may have not been doing as much as you thought you were or perhaps you will notice a lack of harmony in certain areas in your life. When you become more conscious of the decisions that you make, you will notice improvements in the areas that you focus on. If you have felt that you are off track, the slightest adjustments will get you back on the right track.

How many people go with the flow because it's comfortable? No one ever said that being successful would be comfortable but what I do know is that success comes to those who make slight adjustments in their course, persevere, focus on what they truly want, and enjoy the journey.

What slight adjustments have you done in your life? Do you track your progress? Are you consciously making decisions that will help you achieve your goals and desires? Let us know...