Mark Mikelat joins us in studio this week to chat about TWITTER! Twitter is a mystery to us.. we'll just come out and say it: We kinda suck at Twitter. We don't understand the whole 140 characters or less, abbreviations, acronyms, etc jam that is Twitter. So we REALLY needed to have Mark in-studio to help us! Mark is an online marketing expert who specializes in helping small businesses with their marketing systems. As small business owners, the biggest mistake we can make is being great at what we do (photography... what what!) but not learning how to properly market ourselves so nobody knows we exist. So here are some tips from Mark on how to get your voice heard on Twitter! Be sure to tune in for more: Key Points:

1. Understand the advantages and disadvantages of Twitter (and other social media networks): Mark used the following analogy to describe Twitter marketing vs. Facebook marketing: Twitter marketing is like a conversation in a hallway. It's super fast but it's dispersed. You might only be chatting for 30 seconds, but other people might overhear you. Facebook is like a conversation in a bar. It's longer, friendly, and more casual, but people can change the subject on you. Once you understand WHY you should be using Twitter, you can better understand HOW to use it.
2. Avoid selling to people on Twitter: Don't go on Twitter and tell people to BUY THIS BUY THIS BUY THIS. Instead, use Twitter to stir interest in yourself and your product/services. Use hashtags (2 to be exact) to connect with people, and have a conversation with someone via Twitter about your work, your product, etc. You want to create engagement instead of just selling to people. Here's another analogy: think abut your favorite celebrity on a late night talk show (I'm going to imagine Justin Timberlake on Jimmy Fallon... just saying). They chat about their life, funny stories about their kids, etc for quite awhile before mentioning the real reason they're there (to market their film, album, etc). They're marketing themselves but they're not being super obvious.
3. Keep an 80/20 ratio: You want 80% of your social media chatter to be engaging, inspiring, and educating your audience. The remaining 20% can be spent promoting yourself. This way you're using Twitter marketing to create interest without only selling yourself and boring/annoying people!
4. Create engaging posts that make people want to know more: You want your Twitter post to be super brief but super interesting, so people really want to click it to hear more. Asking your user a question can be a great way to do this. Think about the last marketing post YOU clicked on. Why did you click on it? What made you interested in that particular article or post over others? Try to infuse your twitter posts with the same technique.
5. Decide your business vs. personal post ratio: This is something we've always wondered. Should we have a business-only Twitter account and then a personal Twitter? Or should we mix them together? We actually struggle with this with ALL types of social media. Mark says it's totally fine to keep them separate, depending on your threshold of sharing your personal life with the world. However, if your fans are okay with your it, it's not a bad idea to share some photos of your personal life on your business social media. It lets people get to know you better and relate to you more. So don't bombard people with your pets, kid, etc...but don't be afraid to share enough for people to feel like they know you on a personal level.

Mark has a bajillion more tips for you (this is one of our longest episodes) so be sure to tune in and download our podcast to hear more! Mark is also sharing his Twitter success kit absolutely free for you guys! This is a fantastic resource; he wants to make all of us Twitter rockstars! There are 20 videos here that show you guys exactly how to be a Twitter marketing expert! These videos cover a ton of different topics, including how to get followers on Twitter, how to monetize on Twitter, etc! Go HERE to download! Mark ALSO wants to give you the email marketing success kit! This is another amazing tool (and possibly another show topic!)... this kit includes 20 videos again, but these are all about email marketing! To get this kit, text the word "Mark" to 22828. How fun is that?! Relavent Links:

• Mark Mikelat
• Mark's Twitter
• PhotoSpark on Twitter
• Audible Free Trial

Download from iTunes Here Download from iTunes Here