Month: May 2009

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TweetLater the Auto Responder for Twitter

I have long wondered just how some people that I follow remember to send me a welcome message. Are they hanging out by their computer pasting in a message to every follower?

Whatever they are doing, I want to do it too! I think it is cool to have a welcome message. So I searched for applications and found a good free one called TweetLater.  I set up a free account, did an auto responder for my own followers and liked the program so much I have even become an affiliate. Hey if you click my link above and sign up for a premium account, TweetLater will buy me lunch at McDonalds.

But you don’t have to pay to use many of the features including the auto responder feature. I have set up an instant message sent to new followers and have even enabled to follow them all automatically. When a new follower unfollows me, I automatically unfollow them. All without any action on my part.

Wow, is all I can say, what a great tool! TweetLater also allows even the free account to scheduled tweets, automatically will space tweets out throughout the day, and even records the results of all of its actions.

So if you want to move your Twitter account to the next level like the top Twitter uses, get your free account at TweetLater. If you follow me @mccordweb, you’ll be able to see the auto responder in action.

See you on Twitter!

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How to Make Your Own Background for Twitter

Take a look at my new Twitter background, pretty cool? Want one too? Here’s how you make your own.

  1. In Photoshop set your canvas to 1920 by 1000 set your resolution to 72 dpi.
  2. Pull over guides from the ruler for vertical guides and place them at 25 pixels from the left, then 185 then 200.
  3. Pull down guides from the ruler for horizontal guides and place them at 65, 565, and 705 pixels.
  4. Color your background and add interest with color or brushes as desired.
  5. Add text in the spot that you have created with the guides that looks like a side bar.
  6. Make sure your image is under 80 KB.
  7. Load your new background to Twitter. For me, it took clicking browse and save several times for my image to appear.
  8. Style your font and sidebar by moving Twitter’s color sliders around until you like the effect.

Have fun and make sure to follow me @mccordweb, I’ll make sure to follow you back. See you on Twitter.

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Are You Using Affiliate Programs?

If you are not using Affiliate Programs, you should. What I am specifically speaking about is talking about other products and services and then linking to the site. If the client buys the service by clicking your links, you get a commission. I don’t make a huge amount of money doing this, but I do make some. In all cases if I am making a commission from a link click, I will state it to a customer either in writing or when I point them to the link.

For me, the link click is about equal to getting lunch from McDonalds paid by the sponsor, not a big deal, but can add up over time. I only recommend sites that I know are great resources for my clients. If I have not tried out your product, I will not write about it or recommend it.

When I like a product I will actively look on their website to see if they have an affiliate program that I can participate in. I really don’t like when a sponsor hooks up with Commission Junction. My reason is that if you do not generate monthly and quarterly commissions, Commission Junction chops your account which is very annoying. My affiliate business ebbs and flows and I don’t always have months where income is generated.

So if you have a website and you promote products and services, make sure to check to see if you should be getting a free lunch from your sponsor too. It just makes good business sense.

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Who Do You Watch?

So when you want to know what is happening in the world of organic search engine placement who are you watching? Whose words are you hanging on, checking out the techniques, and monitoring their blog and Twitter traffic?

Here’s my list of who I watch to find out what to keep tabs on:

Matt Cutts

Matt is a Google software engineer. He is the voice to the industry for Google. Currently he is in charge of the Google WebSpam Team. He is a high profile blogger and is active on Twitter. You can check out his blog to see if you should be keeping an eye on him. I have to say that some of his blog posts are about his cat and weird stuff, but sometimes he has excellent nuggets and insight into Google that are very important to be aware of to stay at the very top of your game.

Danny Sullivan

Danny is a pillar in my industry. He is the editor of Search Engine Land and previously the creator of Search Engine Watch which was one of the most popular blog/ezines in my industry until he sold it to Jupiter Media and lost control of the content. Danny has excellent insight and is one of my most watched experts. You can visit Search Engine Land to see what you think.

Kevin Marks

Kevin is a new Google Engineer that I am just starting to watch. I haven’t decided if he is important to watch yet, but I am checking out his blog.

Webmaster World News

Although this is not one person, but rather a forum, this is the place to watch new topics surface. You’ll find out what others think about new algorithms that search engines have rolled out, hot topics, trending topics, and personal commentary. All the major search engines have forum monitors to see what the professional community is saying about them and problems. They post answers, take threads to higher ups and allow professionals to have open commentary with them there in the forum. I find it an indispensable assets. When you see a drop in SERPs you can find out if a new search algorithm has hit and what the early impact is on website. You can visit Webmaster World News to see what you think.

I am a free member, but you can pay a subscription there if you want. I post under the name Nancy99 on Webmaster World. You will frequently see my posts there under the AdWords topics.

If you have someone who you watch, I would love to know so that I can follow them too. Just leave their name and link in the comments below.