Want To Know Who Clicks On Your Twitter Links?

Keeping myself busy working on the SBM Marketing Club has really cut into my time spent on Twitter lately, which unfortunately, has kept me out of the loop on the latest tools and resources that have been released to help make your Twitter experience easier and more profitable.

However, I did just come across a service called TwitClicks that I can see quickly becoming my favorite Twitter resource.

TwitClicks is a free service that enables you to shorten the URL you include in your tweets, but unlike TinyUrl.com and others, this one enables you to collect data on your links that were clicked.

In addition to telling you how many times your link was clicked on, it also includes other data like, the browser the person was using, where they live, where the clicks came from, and most importantly, which Twitter users actually clicked on your link.



Ok, so you may be asking, "Why do I need to know all of this information?"

Here's how Kyle Graham, the creator of TwitClicks, answered that question in a post on the TwitClicks Blog.

"Realizing that Twitter is a great tool for connecting with your blog readers and followers, I created TwitClicks to help people prioritize these efforts. As social media evolves, "information overload" will increase and online business owners will continue to become more and more fragmented in their efforts to succeed.

Wth the dawn of Web 2.0 and user-contributed data, the amount of information on the web literally exploded...way faster than search engines can keep up, so more and more tools like Google Reader, PopUrls.com, and others are starting to arrive to assist in the "filtering" of all this data.

Now that social media has gone main-stream and EVERYONE is now talking about it, it's clear that 2009 will see an even further spike in the amount of information available online which will create an even further demand for tools that help filter this data.

One more example: We all love twitter, but do you ever get a little overwhelmed about all the people talking about their cats, or their 'visit to the doctor'? As a result, some say, 'who care's', or 'twitter sucks, but what they're feeling is really a symptom of the larger issue: And that is, Twitter is great! but it doesn't do such a great job at letting people FILTER their data.

Ok, so back to the question at hand, 'Do I REALLY need to know 'WHO' clicked on my Twitter links?' The answer, in short is...Yes...Yes you do. TwitClicks helps users, particularly online marketers, to better determine WHO to focus their efforts on in their online strategy, whether it's determining who to network with or knowing how to refine their tweets for maximum effect, and the like."


Sharon McPherson
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Affiliate ABCs - Free Podcasts

If you're just getting started with affiliate marketing, make sure to stop by geekcast.fm and listen to the free Affiliate ABCs podcasts with Vinny OHare, a.k.a. NyFalcon and Deb Carney, from Team Loxly.

If you're unfamiliar with Deb and Vinnie, they're both affiliate marketers in the retail market. That's right, they've created affiliate marketing success - OUTSIDE the "make money online" and "informational product" niche.

And you probably won't find it surprising that my favorites of their 6 free Affiliate ABCs podcasts are Getting Started Using Twitter Part 1 and Getting Started Using Twitter Part 2

Sharon McPherson
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Free Club for Affiliate, Article & Web2.0 Marketers Launches

I'm happy to announce that the SBM FREE Marketing Club is finally launched!

SBM Marketing Club members receive unlimited access to Article, Affiliate and Web 2.0 marketing tools, resources and information that helps them learn how to effectively build, manage and grow their business.

Here's some of what you'll receive immediate access to with your FREE membership:

• A subscription to my weekly newsletter.
  
  


• Tips, Articles & Affirmations related to starting, building and marketing your online business.
  
  


• Audios, Videos & Reports related to Affiliate, Article and Web 2.0 marketing.
  
  


• PDF Copy of Affiliate Classroom Magazine. (Updated Monthly)
  
  


• Free access to powerful online marketing tools.
  
  


• Free Ebooks & Software. (Updated Weekly)
  
  


• Exclusive Product Discounts available to Members ONLY!

So what are you waiting for? Join the SBM FREE Marketing Club now!


Sharon McPherson
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Joel Comm To Host a 12 Hour Live Ustream Tweet-a-Thon

If you were to ask me which web site is the MUST use site to get free traffic, there can only be ONE answer.

It's not MySpace.
It's not YouTube.
It's not Facebook.
And it's not even Google.

These are all valuable sites, but the one site that should be a part of your traffic strategy in 2009 is...

...Twitter!

I'm going to cut straight to the chase...

If you aren't using Twitter, you are missing out on the greatest opportunity for building relationships with your customers and prospects.

You are missing out on the best free branding tool on the web.

And you are missing out on the BEST site to get gobs of FREE traffic!

There's just no excuse for any business, whether small or large, to not be using Twitter.

So how do you get started?

And once you start, how do you leverage Twitter for your business?

You may have a lot of questions...

.. and there are answers.

Do you know Joel Comm?

A New York Times best-selling author and one of the web's most successful marketers, Joel is a Twitter expert.

Last year, he wrote a 30-page report that has been downloaded thousands of times.

That report caught the eye of a major New York publisher who asked Joel to write the definitive guide on Twitter for business.

The result is his brand new book, Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time!

The book has just become available on Amazon and if you are serious about harnessing the power of social media to get free traffic to your site, you really should get a copy now!

Anyway, Joel's going to be doing something significant for the official launch on Thursday, February 19th. It's a completely new approach to a book launch and may be a model for those who want to do likewise.

On that date, Joel will be conducting a live broadcast Tweet-a-Thon!

The Tweet-a-Thon will be a live Ustream broadcast for 12 hours straight, and he's got an all-star cast of power Twitter users lined up. It's going to be big... VERY big.

I'll be there for as many hours as I can, and I'm hoping you'll join us for lots of fun and FREE training from some of the most respected leaders in Social Media, Marketing, Business and Entertainment, including grammy award winner, MC Hammer - Tony Hsieh (pronounced "Shay"), CEO of online shoe seller Zappos.com - Wine Library TV's, Gary Vaynerchuk and more!

By the way, if the people I mentioned above use Twitter to build and promote their brands and/or businesses, don't you think you should be too?

Open your free Twitter account here!


Sharon McPherson
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Social Media Profit Coach Explains What Twitter Hashtags # Are & Why You Should Use Them

One of the most frequent questions I see asked by new Twitter users is...

..."what the heck does the # sign mean, and why are so many people using it in their tweets?"

Plain and simple, the # sign, or hashtag as it is commonly referred to on Twitter, is a convenient way to group tweets about a particular topic into one centralized Twitter stream.

For instance, as I'm writing this, one of the more popular hashtags being used on Twitter is, 6nations. So, if you go to http://search.twitter.com and type #6nations into the search box, you'll find all of the messages that were tweeted about Europe's International Rugby Tournament that included that hashtag in the tweet.

The video below by Social Media Profit Coach, Scott Tousignant, walks you through in more detail what a hashtag is, why you should look for trending hashtags, why you should participate in hashtag events, and why you should create your own hashtag event.

After you've watched the video, please use the "post a comment" link below to let me know if you've found this post helpful. Thanks!

Sharon McPherson
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How a Bankrupt Fitness Trainer is Using Social Media to Dominate Affiliate Marketing

When I first started using Twitter 9 months ago, Scott Tousignant, also known as @FatLossQuickie, was among the first users I started following.

My first impression of Scott was that this was a guy who truly demonstrated what the word "social" really means in relation to "social networking".

Apparently Clickbank thinks so too, because in November of 2008 they featured a 3 part series that Scott wrote about how you can promote Clickbank products using Twitter on their blog.

And when Deborah Micek (@CoachDeb), co-creator of Blogi360, and one of the social media experts I most admire, started raving about him, I knew I had made a smart decision when I chose to follow him.

That's why I was happy to learn that Scott recently launched a new training program called, Social Media Profit Coach, where you will discover how you too can use the same strategies he did to harness the power of Web 2.0/Social Media to take his Fitness Training business online, build it to the point where he no longer has to have a brick and mortar business, can operate it from the comfort of his home, set the hours he wants, and enjoy the freedom that his new lifestyle offers.

The strategies that are taught within the Social Media Profit Coach program can be applied to any business in any niche. And you don't need to be an experienced online marketer to begin taking immediate action applying these strategies.

If nothing else, at least go there and download his FREE guide, Fat Loss Riches to discover how Scott cracked the affiliate marketing code to dominate the search engines for every product he promotes.

Sharon McPherson
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Free Ebook Shows How To Get Free Traffic Using Social Media Sites

I'm sure I don't have to tell you that spending your hard-earned money on advertising and promotion for your business can become a big expense over time. And the truth is, you're probably not getting the results you're wanting. Well, I've found a great and free way to generate more highly targeted visitors to any of my sites using high traffic social media sites! It's all explained in this special report, called: Unlimited Social Traffic In this special report, we reveal how to leverage your marketing efforts using the following sites and methods: Here's what you'll discover: What social media is and how it's being used even in the political arena How to use social media sites as a marketing tool The social media marketing strategy you can follow to get the best results How you can use social media sites as a research tool A critically important thing you must do when networking with others Social media optimization techniques 3 overlooked ways to promote your product using Facebook Why you should start using videos to promote your products What Twitter is, why you should start using it, how it works and how you can use it to make a difference 4 tips on using Myspace to your advantage 3 biggest benefits of using LinkedIn to promote your business How easy it is to start a Squidoo lens and how it can increase the visibility of your website What a podcast is and how anyone can use it to increase their business SPECIAL BONUS #1 You'll also get this special video presentation on 'Social Media Marketing Strategy' as a special bonus: This 3:04 minute video gives some important guidelines to follow when using social media as a marketing tool. SPECIAL BONUS #2 How to Use Twitter This 7:58 minute video contains: An introduction to Twitter Signing up for a Twitter account How to start getting followers How to search for people in your industry How to customize your Twitter account ...More To gain FREE access to the "Unlimited Social Traffic" ebook and bonus videos, simply complete the form found in the column on the right side of this page. You will then receive an email message that you MUST respond to. After your subscription is confirmed you will then be directed to your download. Sharon McPherson Follow @SharonMcP On Twitter If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

4 Twitter Tools I Can't Live Without

If you're a serious Twitter user like I am, I don't need to tell you that keeping up with tweets, replies (@) and direct messages can sometimes be overwhelming. Throw in trying to manage your followers and those that you follow and you may wonder if you took on a full-time job when you joined Twitter.

In the 8 months I've been tweeting, I've seen dozens of new tools and resources created to help make your Twitter experience easier and more enjoyable. The 4 listed below are those that I use on an almost daily basis.

1. TwitterMail - Enables you to send Twitter updates from your email client. Will also send you a daily email in digest form of all @ replies sent to you.


2. My Tweeple - Lists your Twitter followers and the people you are following in alphabetical order. You can follow, unfollow, block - or ding bots and spammers all from one site.
   
   


3. Twhirl - A pc desktop application that lets you read and send tweets, replies and DMs (direct messages) from one central location on your desktop. Also gives you the ability to automatically send retweets, favor tweets, follow and unfollow.
   
   


4. Twitrefresh - On those rare occasions I'm twittering from someone else's computer I turn to Twitrefresh, a web-based application that automatically refreshes your Twitter homepage every 60 seconds.

I'm interested in what you think of those I've listed, and if you have a favorite Twitter tool or resource you just can't live without please share it using the comments link found below.


Sharon McPherson
Follow @SharonMcP On Twitter

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My How, What and Why for Being a Marketer

In the 8 months that I've been involved with social networking there's one very clear revelation that I've discovered...

People are nosey!

And because of it, the way we conduct business on the internet has changed forever - for the better!

No longer is it enough to have just an email address, phone number, and maybe a picture of yourself on your website. Not if you expect to survive in this web 2.0 world we live in.

Folks want to know the person behind the picture - really know them.

Because believe it or not, they are interested in YOU, not just your product or services.

They want to know about your kids, your hobbies, your likes and dislikes.

They want to know where you grew up, what schools you've attended, what kind of car you drive.

But more importantly...

They NEED to know not only about your successes, but also your failures.

They NEED to know that they're not the only one who's struggled, made mistakes, been scammed, and chased their tail to reach the elusive "online dream" we're all reaching for.

So acting upon my recent revelation, this is where the rubber met the road for me.

Getting Real

You see, during the almost 11 yrs I've been reaching for my dream I'm one of those who's struggled, made mistakes, been scammed and chased my tail.

I've been unfocused, jumped on the bandwagons of the "latest and greatest", and wasted more time and money than I care to think about.

And embarrassing as it is to admit, I've changed directions in my business so many times that even the best GPS locator on the market wouldn't be able to keep up.

"Find Your Why And Then Fly"

As a matter of fact, a few months ago I had reached the point of almost admitting that I wasn't cut out for the world of online business and calling it quits.

But through what I feel was a divine intervention it finally happened... I got the "kick in the ass" I needed, in the person of Carrie Wilkerson a.k.a. The Barefoot Executive.

My first introduction to Carrie was through a free video course she offers where she details how she built a huge mailing list from one simple landing page.

And even though I'm old enough to be her Mama, I immediately knew that this little gal from Texas could teach me what I REALLY needed to know about building a successful business.

But most importantly to me, Carrie helped me rediscover my "Why" for being in business.

As she talks about in her free audio tape, What FUELS You? Driven by your WHY!, it can't be about the money. Your "why" has to be something more meaningful than just money.

My why is my husband of 31 years.

Dave just turned 60 years old on January 2nd and the time has come for him to finally retire from the work-force. Most importantly because of his health, but also because now that all of our children are grown - it is time for US! Since the job he's held for the past 20 years has no retirement benefits - it is up to me to provide enough income for us to live comfortably for the remainder of our years.

Getting Back to My Basics

As a result of rediscovering my "Why" something unexpected happened, I also realized my what and how.

I describe my what and how as what I've had the most success doing in my 10+ yrs online and how I achieved that success.

For me, the what is affiliate marketing - the how is through article marketing.

Upon this realization and as the new year approached I knew it was time for me to basically start all over again.

So I'm now in the process of completely redoing my website to reflect my new business model, the FREE SBM Marketing Club, where members will have unlimited access to Article, Affiliate and Web 2.0 marketing tools, resources and information.

Yes, I also said Web 2.0. Because unless you quickly learn how to adapt your business to web 2.0, you'll be left in the dust.

I invite you to join me as we BOTH start a New Year and a New Direction. Be sure to visit this blog often so you'll be the first to know when my site is ready.

And I'd love to learn what your "WHY" is if you'd like to share it by clicking the comment link found below.

Sharon McPherson
Follow @SharonMcP On Twitter

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Tweeting Minds Want To Know - Is she really a social media diva? Or does she just play one on Twitter?

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born". - Author Unknown

First I guess I should get the legal stuff out of the way with the disclaimer that I'm not really a Social Media Diva, I just play one on Twitter.

My name is Sharon Bray-McPherson, but oddly enough, since becoming a Twitaholic I find myself only answering to @SharonMcP.

Before starting my online business in 1998 my previous business experience involved being the assistant manager of an automotive parts store for 4 years and owner-operator, along with my husband, of a full-service gas station for two years.

I'm an 8 year charter member of the International Council of Online Professionals (iCop), and while I in no way consider myself a "guru", during the course of my 10 years as an online entrepreneur I have acquired experience in various aspects of internet marketing, network marketing and resale rights marketing and my partner Jan Tallent (@jantallent) and I currently have a digital products membership site.

But by now I'm guessing that the only question you want an answer to is, "why should I follow you on Twitter?"

And the answer to that question can be summed up in this quote written by one of my favorite authors, Og Mandino.

Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward.

That my friend is the philosophy that I strive to live by everyday, and the rewards that I receive from doing so are without measure.

My Twitter followers have described me as inspiring, helpful, smart, funny, sweet, loyal and transparent, which in social networking, is a plus.

The words they haven't used to describe me are gorgeous, sexy or ooh, she's so thin - so you know they can be believed.

Short Background: My birthplace was Cincinnati, Ohio on June 01, 1956, which made me number 12 in the food chain of 13 kids born to my parents. I've been married to the same guy for 31 years and have 6 children who have blessed us with 16 beautiful grandchildren.

Schools I've attended: Amelia Elementary '61 thru '67 - Schwab Jr. High '68 & '69 - Deerfield Beach High '70 thru '74.

Places I've Lived: Amelia, Ohio - Cincinnati, Ohio - Pompano Bch, FL - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Altha, FL - Homosassa, FL - Beverly Hills, FL.

Hobbies: Fishing and attending Nascar races at Daytona Speedway whenever possible.

Favorite Sports Teams: Of course being from Cincinnati it would be sacrilegious for me not to be a baseball fan, although my loyalty has shifted from the Reds to the Marlins. HUGE fan of the Miami Dolphins and Hurricanes!

Music Interests: Country music, oldies from the '50s and '60s and recordings from the "Big Band" era.

I Read: Anything written by Og Mandino and C.S. Lewis. I also enjoy autobiographies and non-fictional books related to the civil war. Otherwise, all the books or magazines I read are those related to business and marketing.

Movies: I'm not a movie buff, but my two favorites are Gone With The Wind and North & South. I also like the old comedy classics with Carole Lombard, Irene Dunn, Cary Grant, etc.

TV: I don't watch much television other than CNN, Fox News, C-Span and The Golf Channel (it works wonders as a sleep aid). I will occasionally watch an episode of Law & Order and I must admit that I can't miss an episode of Hell's Kitchen or a Dolphins / Hurricanes football game.

Politics & Religion: I usually don't discuss politics or religion on Twitter, but I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a Christian and a registered republican. And though there may be times when I don't always see eye-to-eye with my Twitter friends on certain issues, I will defend with my life their right to tweet about it.

Respectfully,

Sharon Bray-McPherson

P.S. Since starting my online business I've made many friends who have enriched my life in many ways, and I've built relationships that will last a lifetime. I'd very much like to include you. Click here to follow me on Twitter.

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