Twitip

Image via Wikipedia

Okay so last year I ran a few posts featuring reader questions I’d received through the contact form. It was great because I’d post the question and then the readers would comment to help answer them.

Here are a few I think worked out well last year:

Answer A Reader Question: Promoting Local Events on Twitter
Answer A Reader Question: Multiple Twitter Users In BusinessAnswer A Reader Question: My Twitter Account Was Phished!
Answer A Reader Question: Top Tips
Answer A Reader Question: Twitter Bullies
Answer A Reader Question: Twitter Etiquette?

Since it seemed to be a pretty popular type of post (from both sides), AND because Twitter and social media relies heavily on helping people, I’d like to bring that back as a regular feature, so send in your questions!

So I probably should’ve posted this yesterday, but here’s a recap of some of our most popular posts from 2009.

Happy New Year, everyone!

• 7 Ways To Create A Professional Twitter Presence
• 8 Characters to Make Your Tweets Sparkle
• Who to Follow, and Not to Follow, on Twitter – That is the Question
• #followfriday Revolution
• What Did You Do The Day Twitter Almost Died?
• The Proper Way to Pitch on Twitter
• Why You Should Start Over On Twitter With A BRAND NEW Account
• What’s Your Biggest Twitter User Peeve?
• How to Grow an Interested Following on Twitter using RSS
• Should You Send an Autoresponse Direct Message to New Followers?
• 3 Ways to Recognize Bots and Spammers on Twitter
• How To Unfollow On Twitter With Class
• 10 Ways To Be Useful on Twitter
• 10 Reasons To Use Your Real Name As Your Twitter @Name
• Get More Followers by Spending Less Time on Twitter
• There’s a Better Way to ReTweet!
• The 90-10 Rule for Successful Twitter Networking
• To Follow or Not to Follow; that is the Question
• A Full-Time Job, a Wife, a Kid and Dial-up Internet: How to Keep up with the ‘Big Boys and Girls’ on Twitter
• Follow Me and Win a Prize – The Merit of Twitter Competitions
• 7 Ways to Be Worth Following on Twitter
• 8 Sure-Fire Ways To Tick Off the Twitterverse

Darren and I would like to wish all who celebrate, a Very Merry Christmas!

We’ll return to our regular posts next week.

Okay, so hopefully everyone’s gotten used to the new design and layout around here by now! Honestly, we’re really loving it. We did “tone down” the graph paper background a bit, after some feedback from readers that said it was a bit too dizzying. Hope everyone agrees that things look great here now!

So this post is to outline the newest way we’re accepting articles from you. A few things have changed, and there have been a few submissions that don’t quite seem to be working properly, so I wanted to put this out there to help out some. (more…)

Alright, folks… crunch time. The end of 2009 is near, and you know that for virtually everyone who actually celebrates one holiday or another in December, it can get crazed.

We’ve heard of surgeons using Twitter while in the operating room, airplane passengers Twittering during a flight emergency, people raising money to fight cancer… all amazing things in their own rights without a doubt.

But what about the hectic holidays? First, answer in the comments how you think Twitter can help with holiday preparations, and then vote in the poll as to if you’ve already experienced the “Miracle of Twitter” this holiday season.

 Loading ...

Okay, so it’s been a few months in the making, but the shiny, new TwiTip is finally here! Thanks to the folks at Cre8d Design we’re more organized, colorful and easier to navigate.

Check out the Add A Tip page, too! Now you can submit your guest posts right through the site, which is (in my opinion) way cool. Even better, regular guest authors will have their own bios for even more exposure.

We’d love to hear what you think, so don’t hesitate to peek around and come back here with feedback. We’re still cleaning up a few things, so please be patient and let us know if you have any problems!

Blog World & New Media Expo is essentially a must for bloggers. If you haven’t gotten your ticket yet, Darren’s running a “quick n’ dirty” competition for a free weekend pass. We’re drawing the winner on Wednesday, so if you want in, hurry up. (And yes, you need to be prepared to pay for your own transportation to Las Vegas, NV as well as your own hotel accomodations while you’re there. But the pass gets you into the conference and a couple of the parties, so it’s totally worth it! Value: $495)

You can also still purchase tickets, and get a 20% discount by using the promo code PB20 at checkout. Here are some attendee reactions from previous years. I’m personally a huge fan, as I went last year. It’s a lot of fun, and there’s nowhere else you can get this up close and personal with so many industry leaders!

We’re also holding another competition where you can win a place at dinner with Darren, myself, and a few of Darren’s blogging/social media friends on Wednesday night at the beautiful Fiamma Trattoria over at MGM (Dinner graciously provided by Fiamma and @TasteMGMGrand). For this, you need to be already planning to attend Blog World, and must be available for dinner on Wednesday night (10/14/09) at 6pm. Details here.

Hope to see you there!

Okay, so I know this isn’t really a Twitter-related post, but it’s got to do with blogging, and that’s just as close as can be.

Darren and I launched ProBlogger.com last week, and have since found ourselves with over 1300 new members. We’re quite pleased with the number of course, but even better than that is the quality of people who are really spending time in there. For as little as $1.95/month, you can become one of them!

People are helping each other, promoting each other, critiquing and supporting each other. It’s fantastic, and I can’t wait to watch this community grow. I’m proud to be the Community Manager for the new project, and I’d love to see you join up and take part in the magic we’re building!

Here are some detailed posts and links to help you decide if this community’s right for you:

• ProBlogger.COMmunity Home
• ProBlogger.com is Live! JOIN with 1200+ Bloggers to Improve Your Blog
• 6 Reasons to Join the ProBlogger Community
• Follow ProBlogger.COMmunity on Twitter @probloggercom

If you’ve joined already, thank you – Please let everyone know what you think so far in the comments!

I just had to post about this because it’s really a neat concept I think. (And no, posting about it doesn’t get me any extra entries or benefits in any way.)

I got an email from a Mount Royal University student named Peter (PJ Hamilton) telling me about this TwitterLotto project he came up with:

I recently released a marketing experiment called “The Twitter Lotto”. Basically it converts publicity and advertising into prize. If you don’t mind blogging about it, I would really appreciate it as I am just a university student. If not, no worries I’m just trying to get any little exposure I can find!

To be entered to win, you simply have to follow @twterlotto on Twitter. That’s it. You don’t have to write a post, or retweet (RT) anything if you don’t want to.

As visits to the site’s home page accumulate, the jackpot prize goes up. At the time of this writing, it’s at $23 and change. He started at zero.

The prize winner will be drawn on December 25, 2009 and after validating that it’s a real person who actively uses Twitter, they will be awarded the jackpot.

According to the About:

The idea. What was originally suppose to be a simple school marketing project evolved into what you see before you today.I wanted to create something unique, interesting, creative and beneficial to not only myself, but everyone.

I personally think the kid’s pretty smart. He’s using a school project to make something that IS unique, doesn’t involve gambling or charging for entries, and can actually result in a great case study as well as a nice chunk of prize money!

Take a look, follow him. What can it hurt?

What do you think about the idea itself? Is this potentially a great new marketing trick or just wishful thinking? Share in the comments!

We recently received notification about TweetPortal from Andrew McQuinn, who’s part of the new portal’s team.

Seems like a great “one stop” if you’re a news junkie and want to see all your legitimate news in one place.

My only (minor) gripe off the start is the blended AdWords sections in the content boxes. Having it before the “more ____” links looks too much like trickery to me, and I think that sites that are providing value to their users should be using less tactics like this. It’s a trust thing I guess. I realize that blended ads work in blogs and other sites with lengthy content, and I don’t begrudge them the right to earn a buck, but don’t be so clearly trying to garner clicks with AdSense – sell some real ads.

You can follow them @tweetportal, too.

Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments!