For many business owners, Twitter is a valuable tool for networking, marketing and keeping on top of industry news. But the popular social network can easily become a disorganized mass of unwanted information and spammy followers.

If you want to get the most out of Twitter, consider scheduling a thorough "cleaning" of your account. All you need is about half an hour and a few online tools to turn down the noise and turn up the value.

Here are three steps for streamlining and cleaning up your company's Twitter account:

1. Unfollow low-quality accounts.

If you've actively been using Twitter for a while, you might be following a significant number of accounts that don't add anything to the conversation. These include spammers, abandoned accounts and people who don't follow back. The good news is there are several online tools that can help you identify and remove these accounts from your lists.

If your ultimate goal is interaction, stop following people who haven't followed you back. FriendorFollow is a popular service that makes it easy to see and disconnect from any non-followers. The tool can also help you locate accounts you haven't followed back. FriendorFollow is free if you don't mind unfollowing accounts one by one. If you want to unfollow in bulk, you'll need to upgrade for $9.99 a month.

To remove unactive members from your follow list, UnTweeps is a simple, free program that helps you unfollow any accounts that haven't posted in the last 30 days.

For deeper insight into the people you follow, try using TwitCleaner. This service groups unwelcome accounts based on "potentially dodgy" behavior such as accounts that post nothing but links, accounts that post only from an RSS feed and people who rarely follow back or interact with others.

2. Follow new people.

Breathe new life into your account by finding new people to follow on a regular basis. This can help you network within your business or locate new customers. Look for people who post regularly and have a large number of followers. These "influencers" are likely to introduce you to their circle of friends if you retweet and reply.

To identify influencers, start with the "Who to Follow" box in your home page sidebar. From there, check Klout, a popular online service that ranks people based on their overall social media influence. Also try WeFollow, the Twitter directory that ranks accounts by category.

3. Give your profile a fresh look.

Since Twitter updated its profile page design, you can change the background, the header and your profile picture, as well as your bio. Enhance your branding by creating your own exclusive background. Choose a color that compliments your logo then go easy on the additional graphics.

The place to get creative is in the header. You can post a montage of photos that tell your company's story or feature holiday or seasonal products throughout the year. Your header should say something about your personality.

Also, take a look at the recent photos in the sidebar. Your account should look lively and up-to-date, so regularly delete old photos or add new ones to push them off the front page.












































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Just about everyone is a blogger these days whether they realize it or not.
If you write something on Facebook and receive comments and feedback then you are a blogger.
Tweet a short sentence of 140 characters on Twitter and you are a micro blogger.

Upload a video to YouTube where you can obtain subscribers and elicit comments, then you are a video blogger.

Arianna Huffington said that “self expression has become the  new entertainment” and people are increasingly likely to participate online than just vegetate in front of the television.

It is creating an explosion of creativity and  expression that is opening up digital doors for invisible experts worldwide.

Formal qualifications such as a degree or a diploma are still vital in a knowledge economy and display good educational discipline. The fact though is that no longer do you have to wait 20 years to be declared a visible formal expert by an institution or mass media outlet who has picked or anointed you. Pick yourself and publish.

The democratization of publishing and marketing through self publishing (blogging) and self marketing (social media) are breaking down barriers to display invisible experts who previously would have been hidden from view.

Professional Blogging Platform

If you want to take a serious stake online to display your passion and knowledge then a self hosted blog with your own domain name is the clever way  to proceed. This is a professional blogging platform. If you want to play then Tumblr or a Facebook “page” can provide a simple home base for amateurs.

If you have an inkling or even a tiny thought that your online brand may become your day job and profession, or you may want to change your lifestyle in the future then building a good foundation with a WordPress blog is essential.

Any good home requires a solid base to build on that “you” own.

The 10 Benefits of Blogging

I have discovered that blogging has many side benefits that are not apparent from an outsider looking in. This is what I have found to be the bonus benefits to blogging that you may find empowering and maybe enlightening.

#1. You will  become a better writer

Just the discipline of sitting down and writing will improve your writing skills. Thinking and planning doesn’t  cut it…action and doing does!

#2. Your video skills will improve

If you spend some time interviewing people with videos or even  recording yourself to provide online education and “how to”‘ tips via video, then your video skills will improve whether that is the lighting, the structure of the set or even the sound quality.

#3. You will learn

To write you have to read. There is a very distinct direct bonus from this activity. You will learn …a lot!
Stephen King the novelist summed it up well ”If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”

#4. Visibility – People will hear about you

People discover information online today, so if you want to be a discovered and become a visible expert then blogging and social media will provide you with the visibility. Conducting a Google search is how we find people and information today not the library or the town square unless you are a stalker.
Geoffrey Rush the Oscar winning actor said “In my career two things have been vital.. Credibility and Visibility”

#5. Expert status

Perceived or real, the art of publishing online via blogging will transform you from an amateur to a  professional. Keep doing this with enough passion, purpose and focus and you will become “that” expert on your chosen topic if you persist.

#6. Become a champion researcher

You will also find the best ways to obtain information as you hunt down information and resources for your blog. You will identify global bloggers, resources and experts that will provide the insights and information you need to provide ongoing value to your readers.

#7. Power networker

As you start to become noticed people will want to connect with you and catch up for a coffee or invite you to their events and gigs. What a great way to meet your tribe who love your topic as much as you do.

#8. Your memory will improve

Exercising the brain through writing and learning will provide much needed exercise for the neurons. Keeping the body fit requires physical exercise. The mind needs stimulation and activity as well to be mind fit. You will be amazed by what you will remember from participating in mental gymnastics provided by blogging activities.
This will also have a the side benefit of looking more intelligent at cocktail parties and that has to be a good thing!

#9. Your creativity will increase

Nothing like a focused passion to improve your creativity.You will find that your brain will think more creatively as you move from conscious skills to unconscious and automatic activity, that frees up the thinking for out of the box thinking.

#10. Synergizes and Synthesizes Focus

The act of writing and expressing yourself online will provide you with internal and external feedback that sharpens the intuition and focuses your mind. The benefits of a social interactive web is that it taps into the global mind that will provide you with the feedback loop that will sharpen and amplify your purpose and passion if you are willing to listen.

Blogging as Self Fulfillment

Blogging for me has been a path to not only to self expression but self fulfillment that has become a journey of self discovery. I have found what works for me and what doesn’t. I write about topics that resonate with my soul and purpose while keeping focused and relevant.

These elements combined have provided an experience that has both changed me and others around me, both in the physical and cyber world. It is an exciting time to live where you can connect to your global tribe with rich multimedia that transcends time and place.

We all now have the power in our hands to make a difference and maybe leave a legacy. If you embrace this global and interactive social mind by participating actively you will be surprised and amazed as to where it will take you.

What About You

Has blogging changed you. What are the benefits you have discovered on your blogging journey?
Look forward to hearing your experiences and stories.



































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