Url shortening is a technique in the web when a web page is made available by a provider under an extremely short url in addition to the address it had originally. There are many reasons to use url shortening. One reason is to avoid lengthy, hard to remember url’s for easy remembering. Copying an extremely long url is time consuming and can cause the url to become ‘garbled.’ A short email is easier to copy on an email, website or social network site. On Twitter especially, which allows only up to 140 characters, a url which is longer than that will just be impossible to paste. Url shortening will be essential and necessary for you to be able to share the webpage it has. For reading aloud purposes, such as during a conference or a seminar, a long url will be exhausting to read, much less to write down, from the listeners’ point of view.

Each long url is associated with its own key which is the portion after http://domain.tld/. There are many different techniques to creating a shortened url. Keys can be numerically generated in base thirty-six assuming twenty six letters and ten numbers. A random number can be generated in order for the key sequence not to be predictable. Users can even suggest their own keys.

The first noted url shortening services was called TinyURL and was launched in 2002. The idea, however, has been around since the year 2001 at least. The existence of Tiny URL influenced about one hundred other similar websites. Many were simply domain alternatives. Some offered additional features such as NotifyURL which sends an email when the link is first visited. SnipURL introduces social bookmarking features such as usernames as well as RSS feeds. DwarfURL generates statistics. Adjix, XR and Linkbee are ad-supported models of URL shorteners that share the revenue with their users. Om.ly provides real time, multi-dimensional analysis of click-through statistics. Bit.ly offers free click-through statistics and charts. J.mp offers free click-through statistics and charts.

More shortening services include Runs on bit.ly platform and is owned by bit.ly. Digg offers a shortened URL which includes not just the target URL, but an i-framed version that includes a set of Digg-related controls called the Digg bar. Doiop allows the shortening to be selected by the user, and Unicode can be used to achieve really short URLs. For example http://doiop.com/w redirects to Wikipedia’s main page. UrlShort is an open source shortening project. qu.pe offers password protection and the opportunity to add a comment (displayed in a separate frame or page). Sl.ly offers limited statistics, password protection, expiration date, bulk submission and also lets you see what URL’s have been created.

In today’s fast paced society, not many people have time to remember an extremely long url or list it down, letter by letter. Url shortening is essential to meet the demands of today’s time constraints. Read each url shortening provider’s website and see which one seems to offer you the service which fits your needs. Many offer more than just url shortening and have other features to benefit your website. The important thing is to be clear with what you need and find the proper provider.

What can you do with 140 characters? Obviously, not much, but using Twitter for the past few months has somehow given you the “talent” to think of the best 140-character phrases– that is, if you want to broadcast your ideas to the world and yet, be understandable.

If Twitter allowed more than 140 characters for its posts, then it wouldn’t be a micro-blogging site. Technically, Twitter’s 140 characters is a blessing and at the same time a curse. Hence, knowing how to make use of your 140 characters is a crucial technique you must learn. Below are six tips that can help you use your 140 characters wisely.

1. Utilize your user profile. Always start off with the basics. Upon registering on Twitter, you are given the option to add details about yourself through your user profile. Tweeting isn’t the only way to invite people to your website or to your services. Utilize the ‘About Me’ portion of your profile and fill in as much information as you can. You just saved yourself 140 characters by doing that.
2. Keep it Short and Simple. Since Twitter only allows 140 characters, keeping your statements short and simple is a must. Whenever you post a statement, go straight to the point, mention only what needs to be mentioned and don’t be redundant. Remember the initials K-I-S-S when formulating posts.
3. Make your posts catchy. With 140 characters, you won’t be able to post an entire blog on Twitter; hence, try to make your posts catchy when linking to a site where your blog post is. This is the most common technique used by bloggers. Instead of posting the main thought of your blog post, use headlines in this case. Other than quotes and daily updates, 140 characters are best used for headlines. Whether you are posting about something intriguing on the news or about a new blog post you made on your site, make your updates on Twitter catchy in order to get clicks.
4. Use common acronyms when writing a post. The internet lingo has a very dynamic vocabulary that will never run short of acronyms and abbreviations. The use of acronyms is very common on the internet and a lot of people know the lengthened form of these commonly used letters such as BRB, LOL, BB, ASAP, BTW, as well as other internet acronyms.
5. Make use of emoticons. Smileys or emoticons are very useful when tweeting. Instead of spelling out a few words, why don’t you use an emoticon instead? Common emoticons such as the smiley face “ : ) ” or “ ^__^ “, or perhaps the sad face “ : ( “, can show your followers more than what words can say. With only three characters, you can express 137-characters worth of statements.
6. For links: There are various Twitter tools on the internet that help in shortening links into 20 characters or less. TinyURL and Bit.ly are the most popular services on Twitter; however, there are other websites out there that also offer the same service for free.

twitter birds

Building relationships is often discussed when it comes to Social Media. Lately, I have been struggling finding a balance with some relationships both private and professional. Sometimes, I’ll admit, its me, and yet sometimes, its the other party. The keyword here is balance and its a skill that I submit needs to be practiced.

Are you treating your friendships and relationships as a service contract that comes with an Early Termination Fee? Believe me, sometimes I wish I could! Alas that would be counterproductive don’t you think? The agreements we make with most service companies that have early termination clauses usually goes sour when the service becomes less of a service and more of a hassle. Are you providing value and service to your friends and clients? Performance may be another issue and ’shiny new gadget’ syndrome may one as well.

So how does this translate into Social Media? There’s always new Social Media tools being launched. How we use these tools is really the question. As we interact with one another, do we give it our all or are we willy nilly in those relationships. Fair Weather Johnsons?

Its a simple phrase really, “How Can I Help?” . Do you use it often and do you really have the intention behind asking the question of others? I hear it sometimes and its used passively by those in customer service jobs. Rarely, it seems, do those that ask that question really mean it. On Veterans Day, I was reflecting upon service to others and that simple question. Have you ever asked that question? Sure you have. Did you mean it? When you asked the question and meant it, how did you feel when you were really able to help the other person. I bet it felt great. I am also certain that in some measure, the person who received your help felt great or relieved of their burden regardless of size or measurement.

We hear a similar mantra throughout Social Media; be of value to someone or create valuable content. As bloggers and social media enthusiasts, we all want to create that valuable post or the next application. I submit offering to help before others ask for it. I say so after I have listened to the audio book The Go Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann.

The Go Giver

The Go-Giver tells the story of an ambitious young man named Joe who yearns for success. Joe is a true go-getter, though sometimes he feels as if the harder and faster he works, the further away his goals seem to be. And so, one day, desperate to land a key sale at the end of a bad quarter, he seeks advice from the enigmatic Pindar, a legendary consultant referred to by his many devotees simply as the Chairman.

Over the next week, Pindar introduces Joe to a series of “go-givers”: a restaurateur, a CEO, a financial adviser, a real-estate broker, and the “Connector”, who brought them all together. Pindar’s friends share with Joe the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success and teach him how to open himself up to the power of giving.

Joe learns that changing his focus from getting to giving – putting others’ interests first and continually adding value to their lives – ultimately leads to unexpected returns.

Imparted with wit and grace, The Go-Giver is a heartwarming and inspiring tale that brings new relevance to the old proverb “Give and you shall receive”.

I highly recommend picking up a copy of this fine book.

The Twitter bird and the blue block for FaceBook—these are but common icons we usually see on blogs and websites, and these icons are basically telling you the same thing. The Twitter bird simply tweets, “If you’ve got Twitter, follow me,” or “if you have FaceBook, join my fan page or add me to your friend’s list” How to attract people into clicking that button, however, is one challenge for you.

Social Media icons are a web designer’s favorite. First, everybody uses a social media site or two; hence, a social media icon will undoubtedly be present on his website; and second, social media icons are one of the many little details on a website that could give it a more original and distinguished look. Social Media icons are also pretty easy to install and customize. You can either create your own, ask someone else to make a unique group for your website or download a free set off of various web designers; and voila! Your website can get the make-over it deserves—starting off with these little guys.

A lot of bloggers have also said that social media icons help in attracting followers and friends—the cuter, the better. Twitter’s twittering blue bird itself has been rendered into different forms, colors and shapes. The blue FaceBook logo has been parodied, re-drawn, and re-rendered into attractive icons that invite visitors into clicking on them. Just think of it as how the internet applies make-up.

If you are still sporting the old, static, and common social media icon on your website or if you have none on your website at all, you are definitely at loss! Give your website the make-over it deserves by starting off with the social media icons. Below are 5 of the best sources for social media icons which you can use for free on your website:

Heart: Free Social Icon Set

Social Media Icon Set

If you love your social media sites and you know it, show it off by downloading these heart shaped icons. These 22-icon set includes .PNG, transparent background icons for Twitter, your RSS feed, FaceBook, Flickr, Furl, and dZone, among others. The icons come in 64×64, 32×32, and 16×16 sizes.

SiahDesign’s Animated Twitter GIFs

Social Media Icon Set

Siah Design’s main designer and webmaster, Josiah Jost, has come up with a unique and dynamic set of Twitter icons for your website. There are 21 icons all in all, 3 pairs of which are animated.

The Cutest Freebies: Twitter Bird Icons and Illustration

Social Media Icon Set

If the original Twitter bird started smiling, he would look like Darkmotion’s Twitter bird. This set offers three Twitter icons, all with transparent backgrounds, and in the following sizes: 345×345, 48×48, framed and unframed.

Origami Social Media and Desktop Icons

Social Media Icon Set

Give your website an oriental twist with these origami-inspired social media and desktop icons. There are 15 icons in this set all in all; some of which are for social media sites such as StumbleUpon, your RSS feed, Twitter, and Flickr, while the rest are desktop renders for Mozilla, Skype, Opera and others.

Chrome: Free Social Media Icons

Social Media Icon Set

Sleek and simple, Chris Wallace’s set icons resemble buttons that look good on formal and informal websites. There are 20 social media icons all in all, and they come in 70×70 and 39×40 sizes.

These are five places where you can get FREE and PROFESSIONALLY MADE icons. Download your set now while you have the chance!

I was reading a blog post today over at Grant Griffith’s BlogforProfit.com. The post lends suggestions on creating a successful publishing cycle and takes you through the thought, planning, action and promotion stages to keep you on track.

Earlier this week, I was pondering (Pinky, are you Pondering what I’m Pondering?), on how to take over the world….er….what I’d like to write about in some upcoming blogs and was overwhelmed with potential topics that were presenting themselves. So much that it stunted my efforts to actually write anything at all. It seemed that my overload of information and topics threw me into a writers block. How is that possible? Somewhere in there I had all of the topics in the world to write about and yet, nothing! No action, information overload, no posts!

I came across this gem of a post by Roger C. Parker that takes you through what he describes as the Publishing Success Cycle and what he did to ensure continuity of producing a stream of content. The following is a borrowed excerpt from that article:

• Step 1: Promotion. Since I knew what each Tuesday’s topic was going to be, I would start to explore upcoming topics during the previous week so I could promote the call in my weekly newsletter and in my Friday Upcoming Events blog post. I begin by identifying the relevance of the topic to Published & Profitable friends and members. Focusing on the relevance of each week’s topic not only provides me with the marketing copy I need to promote each week’s call, it also helps me focus on the content I’m going to deliver during each week’s call.
• Step 2: Content maps. Next, I created a mind map for each call. Mind maps provide a visual to follow during each call. The mind map for each call followed the same basic organization, beginning by describing the relevance, or importance, of each topic. This was followed by my describing a 3-step process callers can use to address the topic. I follow the 3-steps with a list of recommendations and tips, followed by resources to learn more. I end each call with questions intended to stimulate caller comments and questions.
• Step 3: Handouts. Handouts play a major role in each call. The week before each call, as I am preparing the content maps, I create a note-taking sheet plus locate any existing resources, like examples, newsletters, or worksheets, that will help callers better understand each week’s topic. If I don’t already have what I need, I find it relatively easy to create a worksheet or simple report from scratch, since I have the motivation of the upcoming call. The handouts are uploaded the morning of the call, and I announce the URL where the PDF can be downloaded.
• Step 4: Presentation and recording. There are several important benefits to recording each call. Like many others, perhaps like you, I find it very easier to talk than to write. Creating a mind map and handouts for each topic provides the structure I need to comfortably address each topic. In addition, by recording each call, I can better listen and respond to callers without needing to take notes. This helps me better understand the caller’s knowledge of the topic and discover the questions they want answered.
• Step 5: Leveraging. By recording the call, I am simultaneously creating new content for Published & Profitable. I immediately post each call in the member area. In addition, I can have each call transcribed, so I can use it as the basis of articles, newsletters, and special reports.

These 5 steps are great advice that I would like to incorporate into my schedule to help ensure consistency with writing and creating valuable content. Thanks to Grant Griffith’s Blogforprofit.com for the inspiring article. if you get the opportunity, I highly recommend his blog.

I attended a conference two weeks ago and watched this video that had I had seen before. I had the opportunity to absorb some of the ’stats’ that you are about to see and was blown away at some of the numbers and facts that were shared in this video. Below the video are some stats typed out for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy the clip.

Stats from Video (sources listed below by corresponding #)

1. By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers….96% of them have joined a social network
2. Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
3. 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
4. Years to Reach 50 millions Users:  Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet (4 Years), iPod (3 Years)…Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months…iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.
5. If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 4th largest between the United States and Indonesia (note that Facebook is now creeping up – recently announced 300 million users)
6. Yet, some sources say China’s QZone is larger with over 300 million using their services (Facebook’s ban in China plays into this)
7. comScore indicates that Russia has the most engage social media audience with visitors spending 6.6 hours and viewing 1,307 pages per visitor per month – Vkontakte.ru is the #1 social network
8. 2009 US Department of Education study revealed that on average, online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction
9. 1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum
10. % of companies using LinkedIn as a primary tool to find employees….80%
11. The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females
12. Ashton Kutcher and Ellen Degeneres (combined) have more Twitter followers than the  population of Ireland, Norway, or Panama.  Note I have adjusted the language here after someone pointed out the way it is phrased in the video was difficult to determine if it was combined.
13. 80% of Twitter usage is outside of Twitter…people update anywhere, anytime…imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
14. Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé…In 2009 Boston College stopped distributing e-mail addresses to incoming freshmen
15. What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook…
16. The #2 largest search engine in the world is YouTube
17. Wikipedia has over 13 million articles…some studies show it’s more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica…78% of these articles are non-English
18. There are over 200,000,000 Blogs
19. 54% = Number of bloggers who post content or tweet daily
20. Because of the speed in which social media enables communication, word of mouth now becomes world of mouth
21. If you were paid a $1 for every time an article was posted on Wikipedia you would earn $156.23 per hour
22. Facebook USERS translated the site from English to Spanish via a Wiki in less than 4 weeks and cost Facebook $0
23. 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
24. 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands
25. People care more about how their social graph ranks products and services  than how Google ranks them
26. 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations
27. Only 14% trust advertisements
28. Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI
29. 90% of people that can TiVo ads do
30. Hulu has grown from 63 million total streams in April 2008 to 373 million in April 2009
31. 25% of Americans in the past month said they watched a short video…on their phone
32. According to Jeff Bezos 35% of book sales on Amazon are for the Kindle when available
33. 24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation because we no longer search for the news, the news finds us.
34. In the near future we will no longer search for  products and services they will find us via social media
35. More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook…daily.
36. Successful companies in social media act more like Dale Carnegie and less like David Ogilvy Listening first, selling second
37. Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators, and content providers than traditional advertiser

Find out which micro-blogging websites are giving Twitter a run for their money.

A percentage of the people you meet online and offline might not have Twitter accounts, but just because they’re not on Twitter doesn’t mean they haven’t heard of these eight micro-blogging websites that look and “feel” like Twitter. It’s like this: your friend might not have a Twitter account, but he could be an active Plurker.

It’s a no-brainer that a lot of people are hooked on Twitter, but these eight websites are getting the spotlight due to their amazing features. It won’t be long before people hear about these websites too. Remember when Myspace was the in-thing until people found out about Facebook? Hey, it could happen again.

Facebook — Who hasn’t heard of Facebook? About 300 million people around the globe have Facebook accounts and 120 million people from that group are active users; hence, it’s easy to be seen and heard on this site. The social networking site boasts a Twitter-like micro-blogging tool that allows more than 140 characters, commonly referred to as Status Updates. Like Twitter, you can post a phrase or quote, a photo, a link, or a video, which your friends will be able to see, and just like the famed micro-blogging site, you can update your page through your mobile phone.

Unlike Twitter; however, micro-blogging or posting daily messages isn’t the only way to get friends. You can build Facebook pages, make a group about a certain cause, or if you are into more technical activities, you can build an application. The chances of going viral are easier compared to Twitter.

Tumblr — Tumblr looks pretty much like Twitter due to the speech bubble interface, but it gives you freedom to post not just links, videos, and photos, you can attach audio files as well, making Tumblr an optional location to post your podcasts. On Tumblr, you can “Like” a certain post made by your friend—this function makes it easier for you to track what kind of information is favored by your followers. Another helpful function is the “Re-blog” option which makes it easier for users to repost their blog for the day onto another tumble-log.

Plurk – If you’re into an organized form of micro-blogging, Plurk is one of the most famous social media websites that makes use of a timeline interface. Plurk can be connected with other social networking sites such as Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter, Friendster and Multiply, and will automatically update these websites whenever you post something new on your Plurk. Plurk, like Twitter, allows 140 characters for each post. If you would like to post a video or a photo, simply type in the link of the photo and Plurk will automatically change them into thumbnails. The use of Karma points is a unique feature found on Plurk—whenever you update your profile, add and invite friends, and simply, interact with other Plurkers, you gain more Karma points. These Karma points can be used for using emoticons within Plurk—another feature not found on Twitter.

Jaiku — If you’re into microblogging but don’t want the world to see what you’ve been up to lately, Jaiku gives you the option to either set your profile to private or to let other people see your stream. On Jaiku, you can also set an icon accompanying your post—if you can’t say it, show it. Jaiku’s features are somewhat similar to Twitter, so it might seem it isn’t much of a threat to the other website; however, Jaiku has been attracting millions of people who just can’t stand the little blue bird.

Glue — Glued to a certain TV show, movie, or song, music album, band or basically just anything worth getting glued to? Glue is a place where you can tell people whether you “Like” or “Dislike” a certain movie, song, album, or anything that has been getting a lot of press coverage. Glue helps in keeping you track of what’s hip and what’s hot on the internet.

GupShup — Love “tweeting” through your mobile phone? A new SMS-based social networking service is giving you the chance to shout out whatever you have in your head straight to all your friends’ mobile phones for FREE—but, you will have to be in India to utilize this function. Gupshup is a famous micro-blogging, social networking site in India that lets users share their thoughts using their cell-phones without any cost. Users may also opt to send their quotes to the website, but the SMS method is highly preferred by users.

Hictu — Anything to declare?—that’s the tagline of this invitation-only website. Although the Hictuans might not outnumber the Twitter legion due to this restricted feature, Hictu is actually getting a lot of members thanks to user-sent invites and its tempting features. Hictu is a microblogging service that not only lets you post quotes and statements, you can also stream audio, videos, and photos on your very own micro-blog.

Ping.fm — If you spend majority of your time blogging, surfing the internet, and trying out apps on your favorite social networking sites, you are officially a social network addict—and as a social network addict, Ping.fm is one of the best social networking tools for you. Ping.fm lets you link to the most famous social networks on the internet and whenever you are in the mood for a little updating, simply update your Ping account and the magical elves behind Ping.fm updates your social networks automatically. How convenient is that?

Next time you hear the phrase, “No, I don’t Tweet,” why don’t you try asking if they have accounts in these 8 powerful micro-blogging websites that might, emphasis on the MIGHT, overshadow Twitter because of their versatility and wide range of features that Twitter does not have.

By Invitation Only: Free! The Brain Alchemy Masterclass (Worth $2500)

Wow! I got an invitation to join this program this morning from Michael Martine of Remarkablogger. He wrote a blog post at 2 am to get this invitation our to his list of subscribers because he feels that this is such a great offer. He also wants to have more of his list sign up that Chris Garret from ChrisG.com. Nothing like a little friendly competition from some of the A-List bloggers!

Anyway, the thing that got my attention on this is that it wasn’t an affiliate link that Michael sent. It’s just an invitation to a product that he himself is signed up for, and really believes in. Sooo…I’m thinking, if it is good enough for him, it surely has to be good enough for me too! And I’d also like to pass an invitation along to anyone else that feels that a $2500 course for free is a good thing. I know that I am learning every day, as evidenced by my enrollment in Michael’s blogging courses and coaching.

Please take a trip over to PyschoTactics and take a look at their offer. I am not promoting this for any fees; I am just doing what they asked, and paying it forward. It’s kinda like a chain letter that is actually worth your time and effort! So go sign up, and pass it on!

Brand Monitoring is just a good idea. For those of you in business, brand monitoring is essential to keep you in the know about what is being discussed in the world. This is also very important in the ever growing Social Media world. In the vigilant style of Google Alerts, a useful online tool to monitor Social Media was introduced to me by a friend of mine Courtney Engle.

SocialMention.com is described on their website as ‘Like Google Alerts but for social media’. Why would you need such a tool you ask? This can be a very powerful tool to determine who and where your brand is being discussed. Monitoring where the mentions are coming from can be useful in many ways. Foremost, you can determine whether or not the discussions are positive or negative in nature. This can provide an opportunity from Brand Managers to do what they do best. The opportunity to join the discussion, engage with those that are talking about the brand/company, PR, quality improvement initiatives, and further Word of Mouth efforts are just a few that come to mind.

Take the example of @ComcastSteve and Comcast’s efforts for customer assistance. Comcast’s team utilized popular Microblogging platform Twitter.com to monitor their Comcast’s Brand mentions via Twitter. Anytime someone mentioned Comcast via a Tweet, someone from the Comcast Team were able to see that mention and respond accordingly. That, in and of itself is powerful in terms of communication and community outreach. It takes Customer Service to another level.

So how could you use this tool in your business or brand monitoring?