This is a quick post today about a new arm of Twitter that has just been released and I wanted to share with you as a potential business building tool.

I have just been flicking through a blog that I like to read called Tech Crunch and found an article which I found very interesting about Twitter.

Twitter have launched a service called Twitter Tales where they ask users how they use Twitter to make it an awesome site.

They have broken it down into 3 categories, Life, Community and Humour and they ask for story or tales from these areas.

I have just been on the site and at the moment there is not a lot on there at the moment. The site only launch on Tuesday 17^th August so it is still very much in its infancy.

I have checked the blog and they seem to be a bit quite about whether the tales will stay online and build into a list so we can search through or if the will preview on a day or week.

Time will tell but from what I have seen so far it is a service we can use to help solve problems through the articles we send into them. Yes you do have to send in your article to Twitter and they may post it.

It begs the question do we need another service like this? Facebook has Facebook Stories and Google has Google Stories all based around the same sort of theme.

However Facebook Stories looks by far a better package by allowing you to upload your story right onto the server and there doesn’t seem to be a limit on the stories you could upload, but please don’t quote me on that one.

I will be doing some tests on both systems over the coming weeks to see if they are new tools that can be used effectively or not. If anyone has any experience of these systems I would love to hear from you and share ideas.

Thank you very much for taking the time to view this post. Please leave a comment and share this post with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Reddit and Google Buzz. As a special Thank You I would like to offer you a “FREE gift” just for stopping by my blog.

If you have been on Facebook for any amount of time you will have undoubtedly joined a few Facebook groups. We all belong to lots but do you take any notice of what the group owners is sending you?

There are a handful of groups that I open up the emails they send me as I know that it will be worth reading. The vast majority is not, just spam to join the next best opportunity.

If you have a group or are thinking of starting one here are 3 things you can email out to your group members to keep them in your group. Your Facebook group should be just like your list that you are building through your auto responder.

So here are my top 3 things you can send out for managing your Facebook group. They may not be yours and I would be interested to know your thoughts.

Group Members Blog or Video Posts

Your group members are the life blood of your group. Without them you have no group so what better way of thanking them by sending out a link to your other group member with their blog or video post. Not all your members will participate in the group and that’s up to them but you will always get people who will post quality content. After a while others will start to join in when they see the exposure a few group members are getting. As long as you are sending out good content the members will love it.

Invites to Training Webinars.

If you have a weekly webinar send out the invites to your group. I do this once a week for the My Lead System Pro webinar. This webinar really is one of the best around, full of the very best content on the internet. This is a great way to get valuable training right into the hands of your group members.

Your Own Blog and Videos

When you make a new post send it out to your group members. This is a great way to get traffic to your post, build your own brand and share your expertise with your group members. Don’t forget to add a call to action. Ask for a comment and for them to share your work. It really works but it’s like the old saying goes if you don’t ask you don’t get.

If you are doing this on a regular basis you can send out a link to a product or affiliate link once in a while. This won’t be looked on a spam as long as you send out more value then links. I would suggest one link a week is more than enough as long as you have sent out valuable content a couple of times a day.

Thank you very much for taking the time to view this post. Please leave a comment and share this post with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Reddit and Google Buzz. As a special Thank You I would like to offer you a “FREE gift” just for stopping by my blog.

Today I got my own personalised copy of a new Ebook by Jordan Schultz, Facebook Marketing Secrets Exposed that I want to share with everyone who reads this post.

This ebook will give you a blue print to generate 20 – 30 leads a day for your business.

So what’s all the fuss about and why am I excited to be part of this marketing training involving Facebook.?

Well to be honest I have learnt a lot about Facebook over the last year. I had 2 of my previous accounts closed down, change the way I use Facebook, setup a blog to complement Facebook and link that into a tribe setup of a fan page.

Some of the stuff I was doing I learnt before reading Facebook Marketing Sercrets Exposed but some of the new things I have learnt will blow you away and take your marketing to a new level.

From the book I have set up a fan page in the form of a tribe where other blogger from all over the world come a post their content on the wall. Now you may be thinking big deal anyone could that. Well they can but can anyone add images and video and HTML to their fan pages?

One thing I changed was what I posted in groups and on the walls. This is such a simple change that has made a massive difference to my business and it involves a blog.

These are just too small examples of what you will learn from this book. It is jam packed full of fantastic training that will take you head and shoulders above all of your competition out there.

Claim you copy of “ Facebook Marketing $ecrets Exposed Tristram Lodge “ today and start see the benefits immediately.

Thank you very much for taking the time to view this post. Please leave a comment and share this post with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Reddit and Google Buzz. As a special Thank You I would like to offer you a “FREE gift” just for stopping by my blog.

If you have been trying to work out how to add images and HTML to your Faceboook Fan page or Like Page as they are now called here is the answer.

It’s a simple step by step thing to do and you can use your WordPress back office to do this and other things.

Don’t have a WordPress blog yet, then get one before your business is lost forever. Don’t believe me then check out this post “This Is A Reason Why You Must Own A Piece Of Internet Real Estate.”

Check out the video below to see how you can get your Fan page to stand out from the crowd. Enjoy.

Thank you very much for taking the time to view this post. Please leave a comment and share this post with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Reddit and Google Buzz.

Last week I read a great post by Fontella Williams where she is fighting back about the spam that she and everyone receives on Facebook when they get a friend request.

Check out Fontella’s blog post “Warning: YOUR Facebook Requests Are Being Denied!!” and please leave a comment and share her post as it is well worth reading and I guarantee that your Facebook friends will love it.

This got me thinking and yes I am going to get on my soap box here because everyday people are posting the same ads for the same business opportunities in the same groups.

Before I get into the spam and what it really says about you as a network marketer if you can be called that is why on earth would you want to do this type of marketing.

Firstly, you post these ads in groups where there are 100s if not 1000s of other network marketers. Those network marketers, for the most part will have their own business already and they will more than likely be happy with that business.

Now what makes you think that they would give up what they are doing, drop everything and sign up with you?

You don’t offer anything that they already have. They will still have the same problems and the same trials to overcome.

Think about what you are offering, it’s like trying to sell ice to the Eskimos!

Check out these ads below and read what they say in their ads. I have blanked out the names to protect the ignorant.

So what do you think this says about the people who post these types of ads in groups on Facebook. Here is what it really says:

“Hi, I am a new network marketer and I have no interest in you or building a lasting working relationship with you. All I am interested in is how much money you are going to make me. I am completely lazy as I can’t even be bothered to learn how to build relationship with people. I have found this great opportunity that you can make me a lot of money and if this one does not work out don’t worry because I will find another scheme next week to join which I know will let you make me a lot of money. So how about whatever your name is, let’s get started”

Check out the bottom ad, 160,000 people in this person’s smart line! That’s 160,000 lazy people that this person has attracted to him. You post stuff like this and you will attract like minded people.

Attraction marketing works like this even if you have no idea what attraction marketing is because you will attract lazy people to your business and people who are desperate, needy and hopeful.

You don’t need to post this kind of stuff, it will never do anything for you and if you want to build a successful business you really want to be attracting successful people to you to work with.

Now I going to get of my soap box and stop ranting!

Keep posting you blog content, motivational quotes and hints and tips that actually help people and their business.

You know who you are that’s posting this great content, let’s all stick together and educate the uneducated.

Thank you very much for taking the time to view this post. Please leave a comment and share this post with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Reddit and Google Buzz.

Facebook is a great way to meet people in your target market or that you have something in common with like business or hobbies. Now a great way to meet people is by joining groups and fan pages. If you post regularly to these groups you will get a fair few facebook friend requests, the more you belong to and contribute to, the more friend requests you get.

I’m going to give you one little tip that will increase the number of people who accept your friend requests. This will take you no time at all yet 90% of people on Facebook do not do this simple but effective thing when requesting friends.

Add a message, it’s simple, more personal and above all just plain polite. What you must remember is that when you make a friend request you do not know that person at all so you want to make a good impression.

Here is a snap shot of my latest friend request, as you can see only one person add a message, the rest didn’t bother.

This is easy to do, write out some welcome messages in notepad and add them when you are friend requesting. You will see a massive increase in the number of people who accept you as a friend. Also you will start to build that all important relationship building process.

It’s not a case of how many friends you have a Facebook, but a case of how you build relationships with those people. Don’t forget you can only have 5000 friends so make the most of those friendship.

I hope that you found this interesting. Please leave a comment, I would love to know your thoughts and don’t forget to share this with your friends.

Tristram Lodge

If you have a Facebook profile the chances are that you belong to a few groups. Groups are a great place to meet people and get yourself to stand out. Some are great at this but other stand out but for all the wrong reasons.

Post on group walls is a great free advertising method that you should be utilizing on a regular basis but what exactly should you be posting on group walls.

Well this is the 3 different things that I like to post on group walls. You will notice that there isn’t a business opportunity, forced matrix, over spill, ground floor, turnkey, lock your position in today, we launch in 3 days and we’ll build your business for you anywhere in sight and for very good reason. It don’t work guys!

1. The first one I love to do is post links back to my blog of my latest post. This is a great one because if you have your own self hosted blog it’s yours, you own it. It can’t be shutdown like your Facebook account and you can post whatever you like. This is where people can find out what value you have to offer, therefore you start to build relationships and trust with your readers. I even post older blog posts if I think that they add value. I still get comment on post that are a couple of months old. Over a period of time you will build up a lot of posts you can add to your different groups. Don’t forget to ask people to share your posts at the end of each article, this will increase your traffic.
2. The second thing I do is post links back to my capture pages. I don’t do this on a regular basis as I have been getting better results from my blog. However it’s good to mix things up a bit and a capture page is a good way to get people onto your list. Also a capture page is just that, something to exchange information for a name, email address and phone number. Your blog is full of content and value. It can show people how to do something there and then. A capture page can’t until the person has filled out the opt-in form. Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with capture pages but I am getting better results with blogs.
3. Lastly every now and then I post motivational, inspirational and personal growth quotes. People love to read quotes and I see quite a few around the status updates everyday but there is nothing wrong with adding them to groups. There are loads of places on the web where you can get free quotes, just Google it.

That’s my 3 and I would love to know what kind of things you guys like to post. You don’t need to keep promoting the same business opportunity that another 60 odd people are promoting. Build up your list of blog post on Notepad as well as quotes and capture page posts.

Just a word of caution and please read this. Take your time when making posts and rotate your post every time. You should spread your posting through the day or you will get your account shutdown.

I hope that you found this interesting. Please leave a comment, I would love to know your thoughts and don’t forget to share this with your friends.

Tristram Lodge

I found this article on Linus Ruzicka’s blog and wanted to add a couple of points about tagging people in a welcome message on Facebook. Do this right and you will stand out from the crowd for all the right reasons, like Linus, but get it wrong and you will still stand out but for reasons you don’t want.

This is a practise that I use and I have seen other people use as well. A simple welcome video where you introduce yourself and say hi is fine as long as you don’t spam.

Now if you read the article it’s obvious that the guy may have had this type of thing done before but with links to websites etc. I have seen people who tag you in a video and when you click the link it’s a promotional video to their business.

Not cool guys, you know who you are!

So I can see why this person who Linus tagged in a welcome video may get a bit annoyed, but hang on a second. Would this person of preferred it if Linus had written out the video into text and posted that as a welcome message on his wall? What’s the difference?

So if you are going to tag someone who is not in a video and use it as a welcome message please follow these do’s and don’ts.

• DO NOT add any links to blogs, website lead capture pages or anything. You are reaching out for the first time, just say hello!
• DO NOT leave the video up for days on end, 24 to 48 hours is fine.
• DO NOT sell, pitch or promote anything in your video.
• DO add a text message which will appear at the side, but no links.
• DO make the video with you in it, not your company website.

These are just some of the basic’s, and to be honest it’s not that difficult to get right, however it would appear that some people just can’t help themselves and will take every opportunity they can to pitch their business to you.

Just like everything with social networking, this is a small part of building  relationships with people.

I have around 1400 friends on Facebook and have used this to greet all of them and have had only one person who did not like what I did. I have  around 30 people who have click the like button and have had around 100 positive comments.

So just because one person may not like what you do, don’t be put off. This technique lets you stand out from the crowd, dare to be different.

Thanks for reading.

Tristram Lodge

Over the past year or so social media has really exploded and grown as a way for business people to connect with one another. Facebook is raked at number 2 on Alexa and has been there for sometime now. It has over 400 million users and is rising. This is a massive audience of people to connect with.

One of the biggest problems with all of these people is how do you get noticed. The good news is that 97% of the people who use Facebook to market their network marketing business are doing just that. They are all marketing their own little business to the world, you seen the ads in all the groups, on the home wall etc.

“Ground floor turnkey my products better than your product you don’t need to sell or talk to anyone and the company CEO is a very nice man”

These people are getting noticed for all the wrong reasons so the good news is you are now in a win-win situation. With Facebook marketing you absolutely do not pitch, promote or spam you business opportunity to anyone. It is a social networking site so use it for social networking.

So what does Facebook Marketing entail and why is it called marketing if you should market you business. The answer is simple, market yourself. You have a platform here where you can show the world exactly who you are and what your expertise is and most importantly how your knowledge can help others solve a problem.

By marketing yourself and not your business you will stand out from the crowd as a leader. Everyone wants to join a leader since they are perceived to already have success and knowledge therefore they will be able to help and guide better than someone who is new.

However since using Facebook for a while now I still see the so called leaders pitching their business opportunities to everyone on the site. If they are not doing that they are pitching there training system on your wall and soon as you make a connection with them. This is not marketing, this is spam, which belongs on a plate!

The best way to market on Facebook is to build trust, if people trust you then they are more likely to want to do business with you. Offer value, help and support in the form of a blog, link you Twitter account to your Facebook account. Post links to interesting articles, videos or forum topics.

If you have your own blog, post a link to your latest blog post in the groups you belong to, it’s a great way of getting free traffic to you blog and will take you less than 30 minutes a day to do for each update.  I also add a few links to my lead capture pages or training pages as well as blog links. (This is a great way to keep the Facebook spies of your back and getting your account closed down).

Facebook marketing can be very profitable as long as you add great content, interact with your friends, and position yourself as a leader by never promoting your primary business.

Tristram Lodge

Social networking is fast becoming the internet marketer’s best friend. Original designed for high school and collage students to keep in touch it has evolved into a community of professional business owners interacting with one another.  You can get targeted traffic from your niche to your profile and promote yourself as a leader within that niche.

Now this is where a lot of people who use Facebook social networking fall down.  Your profile should be an online billboard that promotes you and your particular expertise. Let me explain, if you own a network marketing business and you have used article marketing to build that business show people how they can also build a network marketing business using articles. Don’t promote you business its a sure fire way to get yourself unfriended.

A lot of people may disagree with me on this one but if you are doing what 97% of people are doing on Facebook then you are just like everyone else and you will never stand out from the crowd. Facebook social networking is not about promoting your business, but about building relationships with people.

People do business with people not with companies, products or comp plans.

This is another promotional tip, under the “Info” tab put as much information about yourself as you like. What music you like, books you like to read, films you enjoy. Include your interests and hobbies, this is a great icebreaker. You get the picture, but once again don’t promote your business, just your expertise.

Another great area you can build relationships on Facebook is by joining groups and participating with those groups in the discussion area or putting links to articles you have written or to your blog. If the group will allow you to post video then this is internet prime real estate. If you can put up free training videos than you will have people falling over themselves wanting to network with you. This puts you as a leader and you will stand out from the crowd for all the right reasons.

The last little tip that I will give you today on Facebook social networking is do the social networking bit with your Facebook friends. On the home page you will see all of your friends status updates and you can click the “Like “  word under the update or even better respond to their update.

If they are having a bad day, give them some words of encouragement, if they are not feeling well tell them you hope they feel better soon. This will help build your relationship with that person, but also all of their friends will see your comments and you could attract more people into your group of friends that way.

 It will also show that you are not just out to make a quick buck from everyone whom you come into contact with on the internet. Facebook social networking is a great way to keep your target audience up to date with your latest training and offers.

For an indepth look at how to use social networking to grow your business click here and start using this fantasic media the right wat. Most of your competition will not be using any of this cool stuff so while your sitting on a beach drinking cocktails they will still be struggling to $10 a month.

Thanks for reading

Tristram Lodge