1. Setup a Twitter account just for your RSS notifications
You won’t have to use this account much beyond the initial setup but create an account that will be used just for your RSS Tweets. Use a profile image for this account that’s an RSS icon to make it stand out. For example, my account is @ShannonRSS.

2. Log in to Twitterfeed and setup your RSS feeds

• You’ll need to create a Twitterfeed account and then choose the “Create New Feed” button in the upper-right corner.
• Give your feed a name.
• Enter the feed URL where it says so and give it a test to make sure the address is correct.
• Click on the “Advanced” option at the bottom. Set some options here. I highly recommend putting the feed name in the “Post Prefix” box so that when the RSS info is Tweeted, you’ll know where it’s from. You can also adjust other options here for the content that will be Tweeted to you.
• Click the button to continue to step 2.
• Under available services, choose Twitter. The first time you land on this page, you’ll have to authenticate your brand new RSS Twitter account. After you have it setup, it will be listed as an option here in the drop-down box.
• Click the “Create Service” button and you’re done with this feed.
• Repeat these steps for each feed that you want to subscribe to. This initial setup takes a bit of time but after that, it’s very easy to just occasionally add one.

3. Login to your regular Twitter account and follow your RSS account
So now you’re going to follow yourself and whenever a new Tweet gets posted to your RSS account, you’ll see it in your timeline. If you often miss Tweets in your timeline, you can always go to your RSS account to view the Tweets on that account. You may also want to share your RSS account name if other people want to subscribe to the same RSS feeds.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



How To Use Twitter To Get Your Favorite RSS Feeds

If you don’t know what you are doing, measuring your brand online is like sticking a finger in the air and trying to gauge the direction of the wind. It just isn’t as easy as it looks. However, once you understand the tools required to make it happen, brand monitoring becomes 2nd nature. The trick then, is knowing what to monitor and how to do it.

In the past, people relied on Google alerts to send notifications of brand mentions, which usually came in the form of links. Although this is a great way to measure trackbacks and general sentiment, I don’t feel that it offers a complete picture. Not only that, but the results are delayed, meaning that if you get trashed on a forum or in a blog post, then you won’t be able to react until it’s too late. This is why Twitter is changing the way the game is played.

With Twitter, you can track your brand mentions in real time, using a variety of excellent tools. You can track via keyword or hashtag along with the standard mention/RT tracking on the homepage. If you have Twitter integrated onto your blog, then you can add even more firepower to your arsenal by using Tweetbacks and RT’s as comments, which might flesh out an otherwise empty post footer.

The beauty of Twitter tracking tools is that they tell a much greater story than Google does.

1. Most of the people that read your blog don’t have one of their own, so commenting on Twitter is the only way they can voice their approval/displeasure.
2. It is much quicker to post a comment on Twitter than it is to create a blog post. Also, since RT’s and mentions are part of the game, people want to talk with you…not just at you.
3. The results are real time, which means that you can respond to a fire before it becomes a wildfire.

Twitter is where most of the conversation takes place, and if you aren’t there watching, then you are missing out on valuable information about your business. Rather than holding your finger in the air, you are armed with instruments that can provide you with detailed analysis of what you are doing well, and what you need to improve upon.

The Tools

There are 3 particular tools that I’m fond of, but you don’t have to stick with these. Just take what we do here and find a way to make it work within the scope of your favorite Twitter application.

1. TweetDeck panes: From my experience gazing at laptop screens during the Blogworld Expo, it seems that TweetDeck is by far the most popular Twitter desktop client. It makes sense, because TweetDeck is robust and easy to use. The simple way to set up monitoring in Tweetdeck is to add a few search panes for the keywords and hashtags that represent your brand. For instance, I have a search going for #twitterrockstar and Twitter Rockstar to see what people are saying about my Twitter course.
2. Hootsuite tabs: Hootsuite is slowly growing into a fabulous web client that has all of the features of TweetDeck without having to download an application, which is perfect places where you can’t download (like at work). You can handle multiple accounts here as well, but the best feature of Hootsuite in my opinion is being able to set up a tab for each brand. I set up tabs for Twitter Rockstar, Beyond Blogging, Nathan Hangen, and any other product or name that I want to track. Since everything is saved to my account, it’s always ready and waiting for me when I log in.
3. Tweetizen: Tweetizen was developed by Adarsh Pallian and is a great way to not only track your brand, but to show it off to others. Tweetizen allows you to create a “group,” which you can use to track keywords or hashtags, but the difference here is that you can embed the results in any web page. This is great for product pages or launch pages so that you can build hype for your brand without having to force it on your own. Get the conversation going and watch it take off. You can also filter Tweets via user, which means if you want to plant Tweets (which I don’t recommend doing), you can easily do that.

I use all 3 of these tools on a regular basis for my own brand, and that of my clients. As a business owner or consultant, you simply cannot afford not to ignore what others are saying about you and your brand. Create a daily practice of listening with both ears open and then respond where necessary. Nurture those devoted fans, and earn the trust of the negative ones. Do this for yourself and you’ll be ahead of the game. Do it for another business…and you will look like a rockstar.

[image credit]

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



3 Ways to Monitor Your Brand with Twitter

Tweetbeep is a free web-based service that lets you get notified via e-mail whenever someone mentions a word, name or phrase on Twitter. Find out immediately when someone tweets (posts) your name, company, or website address on Twitter, even if they use a URL-shortening service like TinyURL.

Step 1: Signing Up for Tweetbeep

Getting started with Tweetbeep is as easy as filling out a simple form right on the first page of tweetbeep.com. Enter any username you want for the first field – the last one is for your Twitter username.

The first page of Tweetbeep.com lets you
create your account instantly.

Once you’ve pressed the Submit button, you’ll be taken to a page where you can customize just about anything regarding the notification(s) you want to receive.

Step 2: Creating a New Alert

Your first choice is whether or not you want to be notified when a certain word is used (Keyword) or when someone links to your website (Link to Domain). Keep in mind that you can create an alert for both items if you want (so you could be notified whenever someone uses the word TwiTip as well as TwiTip.com)

Let’s say we want to start with a Keyword alert. Type the word or phrase you want to be notified about and decide whether you want Tweetbeep to notify you hourly or daily if it finds a match.

Step 3: Set Your Options

The checkbox “only if includes URL” is usually for notifications that mention your site name and the URL – such as “Visit TwiTip at www.twitip.com for great Twitter tips”. Unchecking this will notify you only if someone uses the word and not the web address.

The checkbox for “search only text, not @reply name” is ideal if the word or phrase you want to be alerted for happens to be a common word or name. So if you want to be notified whenever someone searches for Twitter tips, but doesn’t have the word “twitter” in their username, you’d want to keep that box checked.

You can also choose what words to have Tweetbeep ignore, only be notified of a certain twitter user posts something with your name or company in it, or even narrow down posts to a certain geographic area. Once you’ve got your options set, it’s time to click Save Alert.

Step 4: Rinse and Repeat!

Once you save the alert, it will show up in your Tweetbeep account and you’ll get an email any time that word or phrase is used (depending on the options you set). You can then create more alerts if you’d like.

The simple user menu on the left side of every page lets you view (and optionally delete) alerts you’ve created, update your profile (change your password or update your email address) and logout.

Now you no longer have to check Twitter compulsively to see who’s talking about you or your company. Let Tweetbeep bring the notifications to you!

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



Tweetbeep for Beginners: Get Custom Twitter Alerts in Your Email