Then it seems much more manageable and possible. So here’s to hoping I can at least manage 2 posts a month.

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First of all, I am not a do something every day at the same time in the same way kind of person.  It just doesn't fit with my brain chemistry.  Sometimes I get really "inspired" and feel like writing all day long, but posting 27 posts in one day will not help my blog traffic and readability grow.  So when I am in writing mode as I am right now, I write away, write as much as I want about as many different topics as I like and I schedule them out, one day at a time.  This increases credibility in the search engines for fresh content.  It allows me to take advantage of my inspired mood and affords me to opportunity to go back and look at a post one or more times for improvement before I deliver to the world. 

If you are using wordpress for your blog, as I suggest you do, then you go to the upper right hand corner block titled Publish and on the last link where it says Publish Immediately edit - click on edit and change the date.  When you are done the blue publish button changes to schedule, Click it and there you have fresh new content posting to your blog some time in the future when you are busy writing the next new thing or laying at the beach soaking up some vitamin D. 

How do I find content to write about?  Well my mentor,  Greg Writer, taught me to watch the search trends.  What are people searching for?  What is the interest of the week?  Find something to write about that keyword and you will rise in the rankings.  I also have a Google Search Alert for topics, for this blog I use Twitter News as my search term and automatically every morning there is a list of topics that are current and relevant to my blog, I read them and if I have an opinion on one of those topics, I write about it.  I also look to my social media network and see what questions pop up often and how I may be able to contribute to a solution.   Then of course there is the financial side of things.   I read my google analytics report, find out what search terms got the most hits and write another article with the same keywords or look at my adsense and see what article paid me the most in the past and write another one just like it.  

When I start writing about something I usually find something through my research that peeks my interest and turns into a full blown article on it's own.  Like the Guy Kawaski thing the other day.  It appears he is no longer using Twitter, so I have a notepad off to the side of my wordpress window that says - Why No Twitter for Guy - Where did he go - and when I get the urge to actually do the research I will go back and write that article.  

I wrote the other day about original content.  I am not in any way shape or form suggesting that you steal content.  I do suggest that you do some research as to what others are saying about your given topic.  Form an opinion and write about it.  Cite the authors and link to their sites.  This also builds up your credibility in the search engines along with your readers.  Back up your opinion with actual facts and other websites like this:

Hmmmm having trouble - i have spent 4 minutes searching for an article to cite and have yet to find one but I did find a great website that I had forgotten about  Daily Blog Tips This website is basically a collection of blog posts from other people on the topic of blogging.  There are ton of different styles, thoughts, modes, practices and motivations.  David Turnbulls 37 Ways to Make Blogging Easier is interesting enough, not that I agree with all of them but it's a pretty good list. 

My number one tip, write when you feel like it and write a lot, make sure you have enough content to cover the days you don't feel like it. 

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 The most disturbing part of this search is that 6 of the ten stories listed were the EXACT same story.  MSN's story listed Splash News as the author on April 12th.  Zimbio posted the article and claims it was written by Celebrity News Now on April 11th. The number one site in the search just posted the article on June 8th, but the do cite Splash news as the author. CelebEdge posted the article as if it were their own - No author listed.  I could go on and on. 

These were the exact same articles with the exact same picture.  Not only are they stealing content, devaluing the author but they are spreading ugly pictures of one of my favorite celebs Kirstie Alley.  Can't these content managers change it up a little?  Make the story their own? Do a little research?  This article has taken me approximately 17 minutes so far.  

Where is the originality?  and why oh why can't the post a beautiful pic of Kirstie? 

total writing, research and pic searching time 29 minutes

ARRGGGH  Give me some original content please…..

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 Since it's obvious so many people have them. Celebrities can not spend all their time tweeting.  Did you see Kirstie Alley's Twittervention???  That was a funny episode.  Laughed my butt off.   Corporations need to have a twitter presence but is their agency doing the tweeting or some intern or some marketing person or the actual CEO.  Undoubtedly someone is getting paid to tweet on their behalf.  Small companies with no time to tweet or no understanding of Twitter also hire people to set up and maintain their Social Media presence.  Usually they start out with some teenage family member doing it and then when results begin to pour in they actually pay someone. 

So how do you go about getting a job as a ghost tweeter?  

I got my first ghost tweeting job off of my content management position for several websites.  I built up a name for myself and word got around I could take on more clients and bam… I was ghost tweeting.  I did it through example.  I had a lot of social media clout and I leveraged it to get more positions.  Bad News is this is something that takes CONSTANT production.  You can NOT take a day, a week, a month and certainly not a year off of and expect to get right back into it. You must build your social media collateral and not just Twitter, you need to be on top of all the social media outlets and you need to make sure you are one of the first to pick up on the next big thing, which means you must be ontop of every single one because we never know what's going to be the next big thing.  People hated twitter at first and thought it was stupid and facebook was once only for college kids. 

Secondly, you must have marketing experience, knowledge and wit.  

and then of course you must network yourself.  Put the word out (privately) that you are available for such jobs - DO NOT post on your twitter page that you are available for Ghost Tweeting - the whole idea is GHOST - secret, behind the scenes, not immediately apparent.  If you find someone whom you would like manage their social media content, send them an email, put Social Media Manager on your resume and discreetly send to your target.  

Twitter is just one piece of the social media pie, most likely ghost tweeting would be part of your social media manager job duties.  I say get a marketing degree, get some real street experience, grow your own professional social media network and tweet away.  

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Had I listened to some friends I would have made boat loads of money.  Instead I sold 394 Twitter Fairy Books but didn’t have an Authorize.net account and I lost all that revenue and those 394 people got my book for free - this broke my heart and I gave up. 

I was convinced that twitter was just a time vacuum and a worthless investment of energy and hope.  Well it’s a year later and I have found that my website is still getting a few thousand unique visitors a month even though I haven’t posted a thing in over a year. 

So what’s with the new post????

I see that my book is valuable after all and people do care what I have to say.  I have been active on Facebook but not promoting anything.  I have logged into to twitter a few times to check up on my adult children but haven’t promoted anything and I still have thousands of followers. 

So - here it goes again…… The Twitter Fairy has returned - with a new mission  - leverage my knowledge and vast network to increase traffic to my favorite websites - have fun and make my money elsewhere! 

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Update Twitter with other Social Networking Sites

Ping.fm
Update twitter along with other sites like Multiply, Pownce, Plurk, tumblr and others.
Hello.txt
Same as ping.fm but with added services
Moodblast
A client which you can download. It does pretty much the same as ping.fm

Twitter and your Favorite Websites

Be Twittered
iGoogle app that automatically updates every 3 minutes
Buy Later
Receive tweets when an item comes back in stock at Amazon
Drupal on Twitter
This module provides twitter notification for new posts. Each user can use their own twitter account to post updates too, as well as have a custom format string.
Facebook
Automatically update your Facebook status from your tweets
Friendfeed Twitter client
Update Twitter through Friendfeed
Googlereader Twitter Script
Add a Twitter button to your Google Reader
Twibler
Update Twitter with your current ebay listings
Twitget
gadget for Windows Live. Displays your tweets
Twitku
Twitter + Jaiku
Twitt
Import links on your tweets to delicious
iTwitter
iGoogle gadget that have ping.fm, twitter videos, twitter news, twitter tips, twitter tools and more.
Twitter Facebook App
Integrate Twitter with Facebook
Twitter King Widget
Widget for Netvibes
Twitter Planet
Windows Live gadget that features the public timeline on the planet earth
Twitter Viddler
Integrate Twitter with your Viddler account
Twitter Yedda
integrate Twitter with your Yedda account
Twizon
Twitter meets Amazon
Your Minis
Twitter widget for yourminis website

Twitter for Groups

Crowd Status
Find out the status of a certain group of people on Twitter
Group Tweet
Tweet with only a particular group of people
Live Twitting
Host Conferences or conduct interviews on twitter and record it in an organized fashion
Twitter Groups
Tag your followers into different groups

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Woo Hoo!  Here is more from the great Birdsall’s Twitter Directory.  Some of hese applications seem a little silly to me but then again some others are very useful and pertinent! 

What say you?

Twitter to Keep You Organized

My Chores
Track your chores
Planypus
Make plans and export them to Twitter
Remember the Milk
Manage tasks on Twitter as well as set notifications for yourself
Retweet Me
A reminder tool that sends a DM on your scheduled activities.
Server Mojo
Monitor your server with Twitter
Timer
Set an alarm for things you have to do
Twittercal
Integrate your Google Calendar with Twitter

Schedule your Tweets

Tweet Ahead
Schedule your tweets on Mac
Tweet Later
Schedule tweets, auto-follow and auto-welcome people
Twit Response
Imagine Twitter + Autoresponder. Send tweets automatically
Twittertise
Schedule your tweets. Very useful when you are advertising.

Find Answers to Your Questions

At Answer Me
Another question tool
Lazy Tweet
Find answers to your questions by posting “@lazyweb” or “@lazytweet”
Toanswer
Easily get answers to your questions by posting “@toask” and “@toanswer [question ID]”
Twitter Answers
Another question site with a nice layout so you can easily get answers to your questions.

Polls & Research on Twitter

Poll Tweets
Participate in the latest Twitter poll
Straw Poll
Create and answer polls on Twitter
Twittpoll
Join some twitter polls and receive the results in 24 hours
Twitter Polldaddy
Create a poll on polldaddy and tweet it

Make Money with Twitter

Magpie
Advertise with 5 tweets and get paid
Twittad
Place advertisements on your profile

Handle Multiple Twitter Accounts

Easy Tweets
Multiple account handling, scheduled tweets, overcoming errors, shorten URLs, add RSS
The Mattinator
Multiple accounts on Twitter

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More Twitter Resources and 3rd party applications to make your tweeting fun !  Once again these are from Birdsall’s Massive Twitter Sites & Tools.  Why recreate the wheel when someone else has already done it (that’s the lazy side of me talking you know)  Birdsall has done a terrific job and credit must be given where credit is due.  So here’s a big hand to Birdsall!

Graphic Twitter Resources

Buttons
Follow me on twitter buttons
Siah Design
free Twitter buttons you could use as well as animated ones.
Tweet Backs
Some twitter backgrounds you could use
Twignature
Create your own twitter
Twitter Backs
Free Twitter Backgrounds. Includes @problogger’s background
Twitter Patterns
50 design patterns you can easily use for your twitter background

Integrate Twitter with Files, Images and Videos

Autopostr
Update your Twitter when you post a Flickr picture
Pikter
Post pictures on Twitter
Snaptweet
Share your Flickr photos on Twitter
Tweet Cube
Upload files to Twitter
Twiddeo
Think Twitter updates + video
Twitpic
Let you share photos on Twitter
Twitplus
Make tweets with pictures, videos and files
Twitter Poster
A huge conglomeration of Twitter user images
Twittershare
Share pictures, music, video and other files on Twitter
Twixr
Allows you to share pictures on Twitter via your mobile phone
Twixxer
Share photos and videos on Twitter
Visual Twitter
Answers “what are you doing?” with pictures.

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Twitter and Email

mail2twitter
mail2twitter is a free service that allows you to post tweets through e-mail
OuTwit
Update Twitter with your Microsoft Outlook
TwitterGadget
submit status updates to Twitter via your iGoogle homepage or Gmail Account
Twittermail
Update twitter via email
Twitter Reply
Receive your replies on your email
Vtwitter
Vtwitter allows Zimbra users to send messages (or sometimes called tweets) to their Twitter account directly from their Zimbra email.

Twitter and Music

Blip.fm
Listen to music and tweet it to Twitter
LastFMLoveTweet
App to tweet your loved lastfm tracks
Twittytunes
Tweet what you’re listening, watching or reading regardless what player you are using.
Wiiizzz

Lists the audio tracks on Twitter

Twitter Fail Whale Alternatives

Hahlo
Another website where you can tweet
Tweetake
Backup your twitter account
Twit a Bit
The place to be when Twitter is down. Anyone can continue tweeting in this site.
Twitter Safe
Another place where you can backup your account.

Twitter Spam Watchers

Twitter Blacklist
Find out who’s blacklisted on Twitter
Twerp Scan
Find out who’s following too many people at a small span of time.
Twitspam
Report those spammers here

Most of these posts come from a directory I found  Birdsall’s Massive Twitter Sites & Tools.   Birdsall has done a terrific job and credit must be given where credit is due.  So here’s a big hand to Birdsall! 

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BLT
Another tool to update Twitter on a command line
Chirrup
A Japanese software which showcases your followers and accounts in other social networks
Deskbar Twitter
Update Twitter on Ubuntu
GTwitter
GTwitter is a Linux client for reading and posting to twitter.com web service.
Mad Twitter
Twitterific for Windows
Natsulion
Simple Twitter client for Mac
Pwytter
A standalone Twitter client
Snitter
another twitter client built on AIR
Spaz
open source desktop client for Mac, Windows and Linux
Teletwitter
Twitter client for Windows
Twadget
Twitter tool for Windows Vista
Tweet-r
An Air Application that differentiates itself from other downloadable twitter applications through its flawless drag-and-drop file uploading system
Tweetdeck
Adobe AIR application that lets you view your replies and public tweets as well as group tweets at the same time
Tweeter
client that is Java-based and supports proxies. Inspired by Twitteroo
Twhirl
popular software that can handle multiple accounts, URL shortening, crossposting to Pownce and Jaiku, Post images on Twitpic, and search tweets using twitter search and tweetscan.
Twidget
Downloadable application with all the features of twitter except that it auto refreshes
Twinja
another twitter client built on AIR
Twit.el
update Twitter on Emacs
Twitgit
Twitter widget for Mac users
Twitter CLI
Tweet via a command line
Twittereeze
SIMBL extension to add functionality to Twitterrific
Twitterific
A downloadable application which has multiple account support, auto refreshing mechanism, audio notification of new tweets and integration with AppleScript. Compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 or later
Twitterlicious
Twitter for Windows that supports proxies, have a read-unread system and auto-refresh mechanism.
Twitteroo
Let you send tweets on your PC with URL shortening and sound notifications for tweets
Twitterpod
TwitterPod can store logs to database and search Twitter logs quickly like Mail.app
Twitterpost
TwitterPost allows you to easily post to and read from your Twitter feed - plus a whole lot more
Twitux
Another simple Twitter client
Vim Twitter Client
A simple client by Vim
ZenTwitter
Update Twitter without opening a window

And once again this list was created by Birdsall’s Massive Twitter Sites & Tools.   Birdsall has done a terrific job and credit must be given where credit is due.  So here’s a big hand to Birdsall!

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