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Why do people use Twitter? What drives them and HOW do they use it?

As I and many others have talked about, everyone has their own reasons for why they use Twitter. Relationships. Communication. Lead Generation. Reputation. Add Value. There are probably as many reasons as there are people using Twitter.

On Mashable.com, Ann Handley of MarketingProfs.com concludes her post called “Inside the Minds of Twitter Users” with this thought:

“Twitter may be used as just another lead-generation tool. Or it may be about connecting with new friends. But above all, people on Twitter are truly motivated by learning new things and getting information real-time, as it’s developing.”

The survey collects the responses of over 400 “highly involved” Twitter users who spend an average of 2 ¾ hours on Twitter per day.

The survey indicates that more people agree that they don’t care if others do not follow them back, and that they do not “feel bad” if no one responds to their tweets. Gauging the emotional responses of Twitter users through a survey of “highly involved” users skews the responses to that group, but raises interesting questions.

If the emotional boost of getting followers or communication is less of a factor, do the people who use Twitter a lot use it less for relationships and more for information? Or, have these power users already formed their relationships and personal brands as far as Twitter is concerned, so this is less of a focus?

I was reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point again and found it interesting that he describes Mavens as people who “want to help, for no other reason than because they like to help, [and this] turns out to be an awfully effective way of getting someone’s attention.”

If power users on Twitter are motivated by a love of information and a desire to help, then it makes sense that a survey of them would conclude that they are, as Handley writes, “truly motivated by learning new things and getting information real-time.”

While this is one use of Twitter and any social media outlet, as Twitter and all of social media evolve I continue to see exciting and creative uses for affiliate marketing and public relations- uses that are sure to expand and evolve as Twitter does.

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An interview with Watch Super Affiliate Ariel Adams from Ablogtoread.com

I meet Ariel Adams at At:tech San Francisco, he is a man with a passion and that passion is watch’s. He started a small watch blog about swiss watches and luxury watch review which is now a great business with 2000-5000 visitors per day. How would you like to be sent some of the world’s best wrist watches for FREE to review! Ariel Adams is also a big ebay affiliate. If you are a watch merchant, with a watch affiliate program he is your man!

Q Tell me more about Ablogtoread.com?
aBlogtoRead.com started as the result of eager curiosity. After attending a CJU (Commission Junction University) conference in 2007, I wanted to get into the Internet Marketing game after getting so excited about the concept. With only a vague understanding of the concepts of not only Internet and affiliate marketing, but of building a website – I did everything on my own learning as I went a lot. I recall the night when I first registered to domain with Bluehost – being asked to name my new domain. I sat stumped, having no idea at the time it would be wrist watch blog, trying to think of what a suitable name would be. I imagined some amorphous bored netizen Googling “a blog to read,” in search of something to read. It made sense at the time and domain was borne. While I still like the domain it doesn’t harmonize with the overall topic of my blog as much as it could. My advice to others is that if you decide to start a website out of thin air, really sit down and consider what the theme is going to be before taking action.

Right now aBlogtoRead.com is a very popular blog on all things “watches.” Estimates place it as the most popular blog on watches online today. I talk about new watches, industry news, give watch reviews, and feature articles on societal tie-ins such as discussing watches in movies, TV shows, and the culture of watch appreciation.

Q What one watch would you take to a desert island?

Funny you should ask, as this was the topic of one of my first articles: http://ablogtoread.com/watch-experiences/watch-choice-for-survival-top-pick-for-deserted-island-scenario/. In a nutshell I take a very practical approach and discuss watches that will not only help you survive, but will survive themselves.

Q If I have a watch company and want a review how do I get your attention?

Just contact me:

I am approached by numerous watch companies, PR and Marketing firms, and watch retailers every week. I can’t talk about everyone, and of course won’t promote something I simply don’t like (really care of course), but with the 3-4 websites I write for, I can typically give everyone some coverage.

Q What was your first website?

aBlogtoRead.com was my first wholly owned website, but I think that most people start early with various types of social networking profile pages and likewise. These help us with framing messages for other people, and understanding the concept of how to frame content for other people. aBlogtoRead.com has and will continue to undergo redesigns. So to an extent, the site is not exactly what I started out with. That is the beauty of websites – they can evolve easily.

Q What is the biggest tip you would give to a newbie blogger?

Like I said earlier, plan it out. The biggest problem I see with bloggers is fading motivation. Blogging is a lot of work. Sure it is easy to write a few articles, but what about a few articles a week (or more), week after week? Blogging should be something that you stick with for the long term, else no one is going to read you. Bloggers feed first and foremost on readers. I’d also remind new bloggers that blogging is not exactly like article writing. The best type of blog post offers “nuggetized” information. You don’t need to scibe a manuscript each time, just some juicy on-point information that will satisfy the limited attention span Internet readers typically have.

Q What do advertisers do that you wish they wouldn’t?

Good questions. I would prefer that advertisers are a bit more savvy on what Internet advertising is all about. Most of them are stuck back in the days of print, or think that just having a banner on your site will do them good. Others think that Internet advertising is all a numbers game (e.x.: Page Rank X + Alex Score Y / outbound links x Number of pageviews = More Sales). Yes, the numbers are important, but when it comes down to it logic is king. Advertisers should work more closely with publishers and realize that it does not matter if they get a million pageviews a day, if their creatives or landing pages stink (or there is some other flaw) they aren’t going to get what they want. Basically I’d recommend that advertisers hire ex blogging professionals to run their online media programs.

Q What do bloggers do that you wish they wouldn’t?

I don’t think there is anything specific to bloggers that annoys me, but rather aspects of human nature. As an attorney and someone who is proud of my original content I really wish people wouldn’t steal content without giving credit. While most bloggers routinely break intellectual property laws on a daily basis, to a large degree it is allowed as long as credit is given. Every once in a while I discover someone who has been flagrantly stealing my content without attributing it to me (just a link is often good enough). While I am fortunate to have the skills to know how to fight this, many less legally aware bloggers are not. It is a big problem. Bloggers all over the world need to respect each other, and play fair. A few bad apples can cause a lot of trouble.

Q Where do you see growth in the blogging field?

I recently read that blogging is one of the fastest growing fields in America. The media is careful about discussing it because most bloggers are self-hired, and only the top bloggers can make a living out of it. We are quickly approaching the point where there is more information being produced than is capable of being consumed on a daily level. Content creators are banking on the fact that legions of people (ideally consumers) are at the other end consuming their content each day. My feeling is that this reality will eventually lead to only the best marketed bloggers surviving, which I hope includes bloggers that write well. Bloggers will eventually overtake journalists in terms of the opinion leaders of America, as traditional media publications are too slow, and have too many rules and procedures – it is just a simple fact, I’m not making a value judgment.

Blogging as a hobby will continue to grow just as it is now, hopefully fueled by an increase in marketing and advertising dollars focused by advertisers to the medium. I think real growth will come in terms of official corporate blogging. Companies are playing with corporate blogs, Twitter, and other tools to help connect with their customers and users. Right now it is still all experimentation, but eventually it will mature. I think that PR departments will all have blogging arms in the near future as the regular online post will eventually replace the press release. It is hard to say who will fill these ranks, but I think enough of them will be experience bloggers who have proven themselves. When it comes down to it, all anyone will care about is how much of the public (or right demographic) gets the message.

Q What new ideas are advertisers coming up with to take advantage of new trends?

Well I mentioned Twitter, which is a big deal though no one really understands how to take advantage of it yet. You can tweet all day long, but really who is reading on the other side that cares? The public just doesn’t have the attention span for all of that. Though I do respect companies that try to make full use of Twitter as a marketing medium. Lots of companies are very poor at public communication and like the idea of setting up a blog. It isn’t that they can’t do it, they just aren’t sure what its use would be. Companies that use corporate blogs to get consumers excited about new products are doing it best in my opinion. The best sales are made through gradual relationship building with consumers. This concept can be better applied to the Internet and blogging. Take for example traditional banner ads. No one really notices them much anymore, but what if their purpose could change. Use banners to tell a story over time. Assume that the same people are going to see banners in the same places over time. Start to tell a story or build a relationship with banners. Instead of hoping for a click through, hope that people just read the message. You can place animations and all sorts of great media into a banner. Use that few seconds of attention you might have from a consumer to point out just one or two benefits of a product. The difference here is that you change the banners each couple of weeks to keep pressing the message and point out different product benefits. This way you slowly grow the consumers interest so that eventually they actually want to learn more about purchase because you’ve shared every good part of the product with them overtime – in a simple and none intruding manner. Some advertisers are slowly doing things like this, but it would highly benefit more advertisers to use banner messaging in a more intelligent manner.

Q What do you do to improve the world?

I think the best thing anyone can do to improve the world is to set a good example. People don’t like being told what to do, but they will follow successful people who do “good” things. I try to provide an honest and useful resource to people interested in an industry that classically has terrible communication. I show consumers and companies that I am not afraid to let my thoughts known. I don’t tell other people to do this as well. but I hope that these ideals translate into people overall being better communicators. Also, as a lawyer, I try to help people when I can. I dedicate an enormous amount of time to responding to e-mails from people who just needs some advice. I give them my time to show them that even though I am busy I still care about helping out. Karmically speaking maybe they in turn will dedicate time to help someone else.

Q What do you do that is green?

I could be better – much better – but then again most people could be. Living in San Francisco I only drive my car one or twice a week, preferring to walk or take public transportation. The fact that “going green” is getting very commercialized irks me. It means that marketing efforts are being placed into making people feel like they are being environmentally friendly, when in fact their overall impact when using commercialized green products is probably minimal.

Q What is one thing about you that not many people know?

Well they sure know I like watches. The funny thing is that I talk so much about that, they have little opportunity to learn other things about me. When it comes to the things I am passionate about and my work I am pretty open, but my personal life is pretty closed-off.

Q What’s your favorite book?

I’d be worried that I didn’t read enough books if I have a favorite – there are just too many high quality books out there to choose a favorite. I prefer to read fiction books, especially those set in different types of works or times, basically Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Reading for me is a good escape and I consume enough “nonfiction” online. Like all things, what you like to read at any time is a phase.

Q What is on your iPod?

I don’t own an iPod, and haven’t used a dedicated MP3 player in a long time. I rarely listen to music while out and about – mostly on the phone. When I do, I prefer my XM portable receiver. It takes the effort out of choosing songs and making playlists, which for me is a pain. I like the idea of a glorified radio, which is basically what XM satellite radio is. Online I often listen to specific songs I like, or Internet radio such as Pandora.com.

Q What are your contact details (email, company, blog, facebook, myspace, forums, etc)?

Name: Ariel Adams
Email: [email protected]http://www.luxist.com/bloggers/ariel-adams/

Site: aBlogtoRead.com
Other sites:
Luxist.com:

AskMen.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aBlogtoRead
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/arieladams

Q How do you prefer to communicate?

I am a talker, so that means I am not shy to get on the phone or to meet in person. Lots of people in this space are e-mail only I find (not even instant messaging), but I a good conversation most of the time. A lot of that has to do with relationship building, which I find is a very important part of this space. There is of course alternatives such as social networking sites and text messaging, but really those are just extensions of e-mail in my opinion.

Q Who would you recommend, and why?

I am going to mention a few resources that I think should be in everyone’s arsenal when trying to make it as being a blogger or internet marketer. Many thanks to WordPress of course, and the world of support and active developers that make it great. Thanks for craigslist.org for your free or low cost way to find quality help fast (this also applied to other iInternet freelancer search sites). Picnik.com is great for quick and basic photo editing, while YouTube and Vimeo make messing with video painless. In the end, it is going to be people who have “been there before” who are going to be your biggest asset. So in one gesture I’d like to thank everyone who have patiently answered my many questions, concerns, and frustrations.

Q Who would you NOT recommend, and why?

I don’t like working with all inclusive agencies or firms. They have high overhead and charge a lot looking for people with deep pockets and low interest in doing anything themselves. That isn’t how I work. I take pride in doing as much as I can, and finding specific people to help me where I don’t have the right skills. Being in the Internet marketing world requires learning a lot constantly. If you aren’t willing to put time into keeping yourself aware of new technologies and events, it isn’t the right area for you.

Oh, and Google as a company is pretty worthless to deal with. They are the force of nature you are forced to embrace, but end up hating in the process. You’ll get no clear answers from them, and will get frustrated in trying to please the search engine behemoth. If you business model requires good search engine results, I recommend finding a good SEO person to built your website or to consult with. I had to figure most of it out myself.

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When I started out as an affiliate marketer there were many people who helped me learn the ropes. Whether that meant explaining what an email marketing campaign was, connecting me to other digital marketing people or talking to me about the finer points of lead generation and sales conversion. And of course there were the long sessions with landing pages and banner ads, trying to figure out what affiliate marketing approach would be best for which product.

For any of you who are just starting out with affiliate marketing, or for those of you who have been at it for a long time and are looking for some inspiration, here are some thoughts about how to create a quality, effecting affiliate marketing program:

1. Plan Your Content
Whether you are launching a new product or starting with a new affiliate marketing network, you have to know everything, that’s a given. Once you want to start marketing your product, it is a good idea to sit down with all of that information, figure out how it relates to your affiliate marketing program and plan how you will put the content out. Start with information that will build awareness around the field, then information that points them to your links or products, then guide them to information that shows them why your products and links are the best choices. Start with the general, then be the expert they want to turn to.

2. Brand Yourself
You hear a lot about branding these days, especially personal branding. What does branding mean for affiliate marketing? It means creating a marketing identity for yourself through social media channels and your online presence. It means aligning yourself with products that fit with that marketing identity. And then it means creating an affiliate marketing campaign that features that identity. Powerful.

3. Interact
In the evolving social media landscape, successful affiliate marketing programs will need to be creative to stay ahead. Consider direct social media interaction as part of your lead generation approach. Not that you should randomly start cold emailing or messaging people you don’t know, but there is something to be said for an affiliate marketer who reaches out, maybe through a forum or in a Twitter conversation, to people who are already talking about something related to his/her product. The personal touch will never rival email marketing for volume, but it can do wonders for your sales conversion rates.

4. Add Value
In their excitement to be successful affiliates, many who are new to the field get lost in the web design and digital marketing side of affiliate marketing. While absolutely crucial, social media communications and connections have made it necessary to be more than just a merchant. Adding value to your affiliate marketing network and to the online experience of your potential leads. What does add value mean? It means keep a blog, make a point of following up with sales, offer free guides, work with other bloggers and affiliate marketers on projects… just to name a few ideas.

5. Do Details
Details matter. Details is a big concept, and really what it means is making sure that you tie up loose ends with sales, stay in good contact with your affiliate network, and remember the things that are important to the people you count on. Often what seems like a detail to you is a big deal to someone else. Neglecting it will strain the partnership, but making sure everything is taken care of, especially the details, will keep things on the right track.

Please share any other thoughts you have that would benefit someone starting out in affiliate marketing or starting in a new field with a new affiliate marketing network.

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Amsterdam Affiliate Conference (AAC) is entering its 3rd year with the coming conference that starts tomorrow, April 30 and goes through May 3. Almost tripling in attendee size from year one to year two (600 to 1700), Amsterdam Affiliate Conference attributes its success to their “simple philosophy:” Put Affiliates First!

Organised by iGaming Business, the Amsterdam Affiliate Conference (previously called CAP Euro: Amsterdam) is focused on creating a full experience for affiliate attendees. In addition to conference speakers, panels and an expo hall, the the conference includes a free poker tournament and an open bar at the expo room. Featured speakers include: Dave Irvine of The Black Jack Institute, David Naylor of Bronco Internet and Bob Rains of Affiliate Media Inc.

The conference is open to all iGaming affiliates and promises to bring Gaming operators, industry experts and affiliates together for what is sure to be an amazing conference. The ACC will conclude during the week of the Queen’s Day celebration, one of the biggest celebrations in Amsterdam, and begins on the heels of the a4uexpo Europe, concluding on April 29.

If you are part of an affiliate network or part of an affiliate program management team that has some crossover into the affiliate gaming world, this could be a great event for networking.

If you are interested in last-minute information or opportunities, contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

As they say: Zie je daar!

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Website design and Twitter both exist completely on the Internet- so how do they overlap?

The Fail Whale is an iconic piece of the Twitter website design. It represented with a simple picture the struggle of the Twitter team to build the capacity of their interface, and somehow people stuck with Twitter through many waves of the Fail Whale.

But where did it come from?
I found some answers at ReadWriteWeb.com:

The backstory is that Yiying Lu created the image and posted it on iStockPhoto and Twitter utilized the image to stand for their “over capacity” time. While the Fail Whale itself gained popularity as Twitter grew, even gaining its own following on failwhale.com, nobody knew who Yiying was.

Meanwhile… Tom Limongello had made himself a Fail Whale t-shirt and debuted it at a Mashable party.With the great response from the t-shirt, Tom began networking to find the artist. Soon, Sean O’Steen made it his mission to create a Fail Whale brand. Tom contacted Yiyang and, after talking about the demand for her Fail Whale, decided to start an online store at Zazzle.com for Fail Whale merchandise.
Tom and the crew raised money to buy shirts for the Twitter team, sent them, and asked Evan Williams of Twitter to tweet about the shirts and link to the store. He did, and the rest, as they say, is history.

In this age of copyright issues, it is interesting to note that an innovative move on the part of both the website design and personal branding, Twitter has reeled in the Fail Whale as part of its website design and overall brand and the artist has capitalized on its use. Williams’ tweet gave social media credibility and publicized Yiyang as an artist along with the Fail Whale, showing that artists can be successful with community action.

Yiyang’s personal site is at: http://www.yiyinglu.com.

The use of the fail whale is a fantastic example of easy, fun website design by Twitter, and the subsequent store that was created is a great example of an artist utilizing popularity from an open source forum to launch a business venture. This kind of website design and entrepreneurial action is sure to grow and diversify along with the web.

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I am delighted to bring you an interview with Jonathan Erwin from Online Media Group, the UK’s largest finance affiliate network. I have been lucky enough to work with him as my account manager at Online Media Group and gain the benefits of his support and experience. Jonathan provides great affiliate management, is always approachable and someone I would recommend you get to know.

Q. How did you get into affiliate marketing?

A. I used to work as the marketing manager for a small English language school in Norwich. There was almost no budget for online marketing, but while looking into ways to increase our online visibility I discovered we had a free £50 voucher for Google Adwords. After burning through the voucher in about two hours it was evident that cracking paid search would take a little effort! Researching ‘success with Adwords’ and similar keywords eventually led me to the Shoe Money blog and thus the concept of affiliate marketing. Six months later I was looking for a career change and found Online Media Group, the largest finance and insurance affiliate network in the UK. OMG was growing at a rate of knots (and continues to do so) so I joined the publisher team and have been here ever since.

Q. What was your biggest challenge getting into affiliate marketing?

A. There was a six-month learning curve! I am good at building relationships but when OMG gave me accounts to manage I had to learn how the various affiliate models could be utilised to grow them properly.

Q. What are the main things merchants do that you wish they wouldn’t?

A. Taking key publishers direct – now business is business and this can’t be avoided in some instances, but it’s quite frustrating to see something you’ve spent months growing slip through your fingers.Giving short notice on creative changes is also difficult to manage, as affiliates can be removed from a programme for displaying out of date content. We make every effort to phone round to ensure top performers are compliant, and this can be time consuming.

Q. What are the main things affiliates do that you wish they wouldn’t?

A. Bidding out of hours on prohibited terms. As a Network we know that there are loop holes in some merchant’s own PPC activity,and that affiliates can help cover this off, but to make this work in the interest of all parties, a controlled, measured and agreed approach needs to be taken. Also, technology for identifying this kind of activity is improving all the time and it’s becoming more and more transparent as to who the offenders are. The impact this activity has on the bigger affiliate picture is really detrimental.

Q. Where do you see growth in the affiliate field?

A. Email marketing grew in leaps and bounds during 2008 and I think there is a lot of growth still to come. It’s surprising to learn how under-utilised this vertical is by merchants and certainly on an acquisition basis we have seen some massive returns for some of our key clients.

Q. What do you do to improve the world?

A. Invest in green ETFs to facilitate the growth of more eco-friendly businesses.

Q. What do you do that is green?

A. I’ve been an avid bike rider for years, plus recycling is a pet hobby.

Q. What is one thing about you that not many people know?

A. Although I’m from the US originally I played rugby for three years in one of the oldest programmes on the west coast.

Q. What is on your iPod?

A. What’s an iPod?

Q. What’s your favorite book?

A. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, anything by Clive Cussler

Q. What are your contact details (email, company, blog, facebook, myspace, forums etc)?

A. [email protected], Online Media Group; Skype – jonathanatOMG; AIM – jonathanatOMG

Q. Who would you recommend and why?

A. Vanquis – there are several networks that advertise the Vanquis Visa Card but few of them have it direct. OMG does, and those affiliates who I’ve converted to running it through us have been pleased with the results.

Nadeem Azam (Azam Marketing )– few people have been around in online marketing as long as Nadeem. He is one of the nicest people I know and the most knowledgeable. He really will bend over backwards to help you out. Whether it’s advice on running a campaign, building websites, email marketing or search engine marketing, Nadeem can help – or refer you to someone who can.

Terry Armstrong – quite simply she’s class. A few months back Terry started an affiliate network that has gone from strength to strength in the gambling vertical. She’s always willing to listen to a new idea or just have a quick chinwag.

Anthony James – Ant is the driving force behind new business generation at OMG. He’s engineered some of the biggest wins for the business and is my personal hero for it.

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I know people with dormant Twitter accounts and plenty more who say they check it sometimes but don’t really know what to do with it. I have some basic reasons I tell people about why they should keep using Twitter, no matter what field they are in.

Nicholas Carlson recently wrote a post for the BusinessInsider.com titled: 60% Of Twitter Users Quit After A Month. Carlson cites Oprah (@oprah) as an example of someone who has become “bored” with Twitter and reports that Nielsen Online estimates that 60% of Twitter users quit after a month. The post goes on to say that the 60% number may be misleading as Nielson only measures Twitter usage based off Twitter.com and not from mobile use or apps like TweetDeck.

Starting and stopping on Twitter is not the way to go. Once you’ve registered for your Twitter account, the boring part is over. Once you do that it is time to explore and utilize.

Here is why not to stop using Twitter:

1. Connection BUILDING
Connection building on Twitter takes time. If you meet someone and only know them for a month, they become the past. If you start your Twitter account, add Followers and then stop using it, you aren’t building anything- that’s just trying it out. Building real connections on Twitter requires meeting people, but it also requires following up and cultivating the connection. If you stop using Twitter after a month you lose valuable connections.

2. Web Presence
Twitter is listed along with Facebook, Linked In and MySpace whenever people talk about social media. That makes it part of your web presence. No matter what field you are in, from online-related work like affiliate marketing or web design and build to songwriting or cooking, Twitter is a valuable part of your web presence. Not having it at this point means being late to the party- starting and then stopping means part of your web presence is a dormant account. Not a good web presence.

3. Branding
Twitter can be a key component of building your company or personal brand. With your own website or blog you can add your own work or link to the work of others, but Twitter enables you to highlight the work of others when they write, launch or say something you like or want to identify with. The time and energy invested is minimal, but tweeting a few things everyday that you find that relate to what you do helps build your brand reputation as connected and part of a community. Powerful.

4. Marketing
No matter what you do, Twitter is a valuable marketing resource. It gets your message out to thousands in a low-cost, time efficient way. Whether you are marketing a product, event or creative output, Twitter is instant access to an audience that is there to find value. Twitter empowers you to market value.

5. Fun
In the end, Twitter is fun. You can’t stay on it and twitter all day instead of working, but it’s fun to catch people there, get your thoughts down to that 140 character mark and see what’s going on. Also, there are so many new people starting out (that 40% is still pretty high) with Twitter that it is sure to continue growing and changing—and that’s something you don’t want to miss.

Let me know what you think @murraynewlands.

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Tweet Tweet! Good things come in pairs it seems. The Bay Area will play host to not one but two conferences about Twitter this May. I already told you about 140: The Twitter Conference in Mountain View on May 27 & 28.

TWTRCON is scheduled for May 31, 2009 at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco. Subtitled Twitter for Business, TWTRCON will be all about the business uses of Twitter. Whether you want to engage customers, influence opinions or activate markets, this conference will have speakers and case studies looking specifically at how to utilize Twitter in the business world.

Follow them @TWTRCON on Twitter or use the #twtrcon hashtag.

Promoted as the first conference entirely focused on Twitter as a business platform, the conference says it will be a place for business-people to:
-Create your Twitter business strategy
-Explore applications that create revenue
-Use Twitter to listen to customers and respond
-Network and share ideas with leading business, marketing, media and PR executives, key Twitter developers and social media experts

In addition to speakers like Jeremiah Owyang of Forrester Research and Brian Solis of FutureWorks, TWTRCON09 will start off with a morning keynote from Guy Kawasaki of Alltop.com. An afternoon session called, “Your Brand is a Person” will even feature an interview with MC Hammer.

Produced by Modern Media partners, who work with the Wall Street Journal, The Economist and the Information Week Business Technology Network.

Cost is $595 until May 22 and $795 after that.

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With Ad:tech having just happened in San Francisco last week and Internet World coming up in London later this week, I was thinking about how many conferences I have been to and how someone starting out at their first conference could best utilize their time.
Next time you are going to an industry conference, here are some approaches to try out:

Expo Hall: At ad:tech there was an expo hall full of thousands of people who knew plenty about web design, email marketing, affiliate program management and Ecommerce. In my everyday life I feel lucky to talk with someone else who has some idea of what I do, and here I was with a room full of people. What to do first?

I see a lot of first time conference people look for booths of companies that do what they do. That can help to scope out your competition, but chances are you won’t be working with your competition. A great way to use your time in an Expo Hall is to go to the booths of companies you have never heard of who do things you don’t do. If you do Ecommerce, visit the web design companies. If you are a branding person, visit the digital marketing or affiliate management program booths. Ask questions about what they do and use it as a chance to make a connection, exchange business cards and brainstorm ways that you can work together in the future.

Speakers: At ad:tech there were some powerful speakers from some of the top websites and web companies. The crowds were big for the keynotes and there were plenty of people at the panel discussions. Everything from Ecommerce to email marketing, digital marketing to affiliate program management. It never fails- you listen to a great speaker or watch a great panel discussion and right afterward about 50 people try to go and grab a second with the person they liked. Think about it- this person just talked for a long time and possibly just spent a lot of time answering questions about digital marketing, ecommerce, email marketing or affiliate program management or whatever they are into. Now is not the best time for you to try out that new theory or ask that question you want a deep answer to. Now IS the best time for you approach and say, “I loved what you had to say. Here is my card, how can I contact you tomorrow?” Save the real business for the follow-up.

After the Conference: I can’t emphasize this enough. There are always meeting spots and gatherings after any conference. At this point it doesn’t much matter if you are in web design, digital marketing, Ecommerce or managing an email marketing campaign for an affiliate program. This is the great part about the conferences- meeting new people and connecting with them on a level beyond business. When you go home from a conference all the information, talks and business cards tend to stick together as part of “The Conference,” no matter how insightful the moment was about web design, digital marketing, Ecommerce or that stellar affiliate marketing program. The people you met and shared a laugh with you remember. And they will remember you.

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Internet World is this week in Earl’s Court, London and will host over 300 Internet related vendors. Many of them will do website design, whether for Ecommerce or Email marketing.

Look for Delia Bull, founder of Bull Marketing and PR at www.bulluk.com. If you have questions or want to hire a firm that can combine your website design with continuing marketing and PR, Delia is the kind of professional that gets results. Bull Marketing’s London web site design combines corporate branding with functionality to create quality, effective websites.

Some other website design companies that will be on the expo floor include:

Lost Ferret e-commerce web design: They focus on ongoing testing and cost-effective sales and conversion rates.

Click Consult: They focus on web design and development for Internet marketing.

Design UK: They are a digital agency that does website design and build in addition to online marketing and E-commerce.

Webcredible: With some work on web design and build, they focus on consulting around the user experience for Ecommerce and other types of website design.

These are just a few examples of the hundreds of vendors that will be at Internet World, running from April 28 – 30, 2009. If you are interested in learning more about website design and build, Ecommerce or email marketing, check back for more at www.murraynewlands.com and spend some time browsing at Internet World this week.

When you are ready to get serious and get someone to do your web design job right, contact Delia Bull at www.bulluk.com.