Twitter Tips and Tools from Your Online Go To Gal

TweeMaid

2009-09-22T06:12:00.000-07:00

TweeMaid is a paid service that cleans out people that you are following but that are not following you back. Or you can ask them to have them unfollow everyone. It does not matter if you have one follower or a million, it is a set price of $15.95.

You can add exceptions for people that you want to continue to follow despite the fact they are not following you.

It is a nice housekeeping tool to order from time if you don't have the time to go through your list yourself.

Twitter humor

2009-09-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

I have not had time to post this week, but I found a great post from Tera of Tera's Tips, she has found some great photos that illustrate people's Twitter addictions, go check them out!

Twitter Wit

2009-09-10T06:50:00.000-07:00

Twitter Wit: Brilliance in 140 Characters or Less is a new book out edited by Nick Douglas that is a must read if you need a laugh! Nick put together tweets from all over the Twitterverse and there is something for everyone! Grab yourself a copy and have a chuckle today!

Twittontime

2009-09-08T08:36:00.000-07:00

Twittontime is another tool (like Twaitter and Tweetlater) that allows you to schedule your tweets ahead of time - like when you go on vacation or you can't be near a computer and still want to share info. It's free and easy to use.

Simply sign in by allowing access. Then select a time zone. I nice calendar will appear, click on a date and you will get a box that allows you to type in your tweet/twitt, re-confirm the date and add the time. Don't be confused by the labels for the date and time fields:

They are in Turkish, but works all the same!

Twtjobs

2009-09-03T05:26:00.000-07:00

Twtjobs, developed by twtapps is an application that allows you to crate an post a resume on Twitter. You fill in some basic information about yourself as well as a 140 character summary (of course!). This allows you to connect with people looking for candidates. [Companies can also post job openings as well.]

According to the Founder Felipe Coimbra "the idea revolves around you sharing your post with your network, and they retweet it."

I did not complete a post (I am quite happy with my current job!), so you can see a sample of it here on ReadWriteWEb.

They are on Twitter @twtjobs

flick.to.twitt

2009-09-02T05:28:00.000-07:00

flick.to.twitt is a service the lets you post a photo to your Flickr account and automatically announce it on your Twitter account.

What is different about this service in comparison with other photo sharing tools is that your photos stay on Flickr.

Easy to use, safe and secure.

Twitter Success Blueprint

2009-08-27T05:02:00.000-07:00

I had mentioned this on Your Online Go To Gal, but thought it might be worth while to post here as well.

A lot of people ask me about good books to read to help them get started with Twitter. There is a lot of content out there on the web, but you have to hunt and peck to get good material. As you know, I do have my Twitter Tips & Tricks blog where I post tools and tips a couple of times a week, but to get started, I usually do one-on-one or group coaching.

However, there are some people who like to read books. As a bookworm myself, I totally get that. With social media, I always caution people to look at the publishing date to make sure they are getting the most current information as things change quickly (such as interfaces and tools). One way to avoid this is to use ebooks which come out all the time and are usually far more up-to-date than any published book.

Sarah Prout, the publisher of the e-book that I am currently featured in, has just released an e-book on Twitter that I think does a decent job of explaining the fundamentals. While there are a few things that I don't completely support in the book, the majority of it is very educational for persons who are more DIY types.

If you want to build your brand and attract more followers then the Twitter Success Blueprint contains all of the information you need to enrich your business with social media. Award-winning entrepreneur, author and online socialite, Sarah Prout shares her buzz building, eye-catching strategies that will make Twitter time better for business.

The ebook contains:

- How you can attract thousands of targeted followers FAST!
- Setting up your Twitter page for success
- How to automate your social media time
- Connection strategies
- A new twist on #followfriday
- How to attract attention with your tweets
- Dealing with spammers, stalkers and porn-bots
- And more

Twitalyzer

2009-08-25T05:43:00.000-07:00

Twitalyzer is a tool that allows you to evaluate the activity of any Twitter use. You can get a report on: influence, signal, generosity, velocity, and clout. There are definitions for these terms on the site. You just enter a Twitter id and after it calculates you can view trends, historical information etc.

It is an interesting tool. I like the definitions for each of the 5 aspects. I have to say they are grading on a very aggressive scale, my rankings aren't that impressive - but that gives me room to work on!

How did you do?

Twitter Ribbons

2009-08-20T05:42:00.000-07:00

Twitter Ribbons brought to you by Twitter Know How is a cool little widget that allows you to create a ribbon for your website or blog.

To create one, simply:
- Go to their website
- Type in your Twitter name
- Select the color scheme and version you want
- If you tweet about Twitter Ribbons you get access to 60 more templates
- Click submit
- They will create code that you need to add into the HTML of your site
- You are done and you have a cool way to attract new followers!

Check out the one I added to Twitter Go To Gal!

Tweet Blocker

2009-08-18T05:35:00.000-07:00

Spammed by oily salesman or porn? Tweet Blocker can help stop spammers by reporting them. This tool is a listing that keeps track of spammers on Twitter.

Similar to TwitChuck, TweetBlocker this tool, you can:

- Report spammers

- Check a username in their database to see a ranking

Is Twitter Down?

2009-08-13T05:43:00.000-07:00

Were you jonesing for a Twitter fix last week when Twitter was struck with the denial-of-service attack? If you are a total twitter addict this simple website will let you know if Twitter is really down and not that your corporate IT has blocked it out!

It allows you to find out if twitter is down for everyone else or just for you. The page displays a simple answer “Yes” or “No

Geo Chirp

2009-08-11T05:54:00.000-07:00

Geo Chirp is a new Twitter application that lets you search tweets based on geographic results. It is an essential tool when trying to find contacts in your area. You can search on any key word you like to hone into to people in your niche, people who share your passions or target customers.

Looking to sell a particular type of product into a certain sales region? Geo Chirp will help you find people having conversations about it.

Traveling to new city and looking for like-minded tweeters, search in the area you choose, by topic that you choose and plan a meet-up/tweet-up or whatever.

Twittonary

2009-08-06T05:33:00.000-07:00

Trying to figure what some people are communicating on Twitter? DM? RT? Look it up in Twittonary! That's right, an online dictionary of Twitter terms!

You can search for a specific word or just browse letter - believe that makes for fun reading!

Follow Twittonary on Twitter also.

TwitDone

2009-08-04T05:39:00.000-07:00

Twitdone is great productivity tool that creates personal to-do lists which you can enter from their web-based tool on their website or by sending them a DM on twitter (dtwitdone) on Twitter or any Twitter publishing tool (like Tweetdeck).

As you plow through your list (on their site), you can archive them, e-mail them or post them to Twitter.

The interface is clean and simple and easy to use.

More Twitter backgrounds

2009-07-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more sites that allow you to make or customize your Twitter background for free:

My Tweet Space

Free Twitter Designer

Twitter Backgrounds

These tools are easy to use, so don't use a default background!

Twit Truth

2009-07-28T05:46:00.000-07:00

Twit Truth is a statistics tool that show a table of stats including the average amount of messages to a user, chance of a reply, replies sent per day, direct replies, etc. The homepage lists the top 500 users on Twitter with these stats. You can submit your own user name (or the user name of anyone else) and see how you (or the other person) rank up.

Twitscoop

2009-07-23T04:13:00.000-07:00

Twitscoop is a Twitter tool that tracks trends, there is a real time consolidation of topics that takes place in the form of a tag cloud on the right-hand side, which is constantly updating (unless you pause it).

You can also tweet from the tool, as well as search. Twitscoop's claim to fame is that you don't have to reload your page, updates are automatic.

Twitchuck

2009-07-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

Got a new follower that you don't know? Before you follow them back, check them out to see if they are a spammer. Simply go to Twit Chuck, plug in the user's name and you will get a recommendation back telling you whether you should follow that person or not. It takes two seconds and it can save you a lot of work down the line.

Technorati claim post

2009-07-21T06:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry, this was the easiest way to claim my blog on Technorati!

872uycqes9

TwitDiff

2009-07-21T04:28:00.000-07:00

TwitDiff is a tool that notifies you when one of several events occur. These are when you stop or start following someone (less useful) to when people start or stop following you. Since Twitter already sends you a notification when someone starts following you, I recommend trying it out for the instances when people stop following you.

A more reliable solution to Qwitter, which has had it's share of issues, TwitDiff sends you a notification that indicates all unfollows and is produced at an interval you set (12 hrs to 30 days)

Free Twitter icons

2009-07-16T05:06:00.000-07:00

It's a good practice to put a Twitter icons and badges on your blog or website. That doesn't mean it has to be boring! Make it cute and fun (if that makes sense). Here are some of the ones I like:

Hongkiat

Web Designer Depot

Sharebrain

Creative Nerds

Since the purpose of this blog is to give you info in digestible pieces, I am not going to list anymore. Just go to Google and search on Twitter icons, and you will find a ton more.

Sticky Twits

2009-07-15T05:40:00.000-07:00

Going to an event and want to drive people to your Twitter page? Why not give them a cute sticker with your Twitter id? You can with Sticky Twits. Customize your sticker the way you want and get them sent out. Sticky Twits is an Australian company but they do deliver internationally.

Tweetizen

2009-07-14T05:02:00.000-07:00

Tweetizen is a site that lets you create groups of people or groups by topic that you are interesting in paying close attention. You can customize the name and look and feel of your group to make it fun as well. They have a very easy how-to section.

To start you need to grant access to your Twitter account by filling in your user name and password and then you are all set to segment the people your are following, or the topics you are interested in to your heart's desire!

Twaitter

2009-07-09T05:57:00.000-07:00

Twaitter is a pretty robust tool that allows you to schedule your tweets for later, among many other things. The interface is very simple to use. You can schedule tweets out whenever you like and can create recurring ones as well.

It can serve as your Twitter client as well - meaning you can send a tweet from here as well in additional to seeing who you are following (you can unfollow if you like) and who is following you. To use, just login using your Twitter user name and password and away you go!

Tweet My Bumper

2009-07-08T05:35:00.000-07:00

An interesting way to gain followers - especially if you live in an area with bad traffic! For $5.00 Tweet My Bumper will create a bumper sticker with your Twitter user name and send it to you to put on your car!