7 Things to Tweet:

#: The first “word” he analyzed was the hashtag. He found that there is an insignificant difference in the CTR of a link with a hashtag than one without. The hashtags don’t make much of a difference in the CTRs.

“daily is out”: He discovered that Tweets that contained the words “daily is out” (which is the signature of the paper.li automated Tweets) had much higher CTRs than Tweets that did not. Revealing that paper.li works, at least for driving clicks.

“via”: He also found that Tweets using the word “via” as a method of ReTweeting had a higher CTR.

@-mentions: Tweets specifically directed at a person tend to have a higher CTR since we are much more likely to pay attention to a Tweet if it’s sent to us. He assumes this is probably the reason the paper.li Tweets do so well, they tend to contain 3 @-mentions.

“RT”: Like the “via” ReTweeting syntax, Tweets with “RT” in them had a higher CTR than those that did not.

“Please”: His data seems to indicate that when you politely ask people to do something, like a nice social call-to-action, they’re likely to do it.

“Check out”: Specifically asking readers to check out a link seems to result in a higher CTR than not doing that.

3 Things to NOT Tweet:

“@addthis”: Which is a signature for the Tweets that come from the automated AddThis sharing functionality.

“Marketing”: Tweets that mention the word marketing have a lower CTR than Tweets that don’t mention it.

@getglue: The automated Tweets that come from the GetGlue system have a lower CTR than Tweets that don’t come from that system.

When looking for a shortcut, look in the menus for the keyboard equivalents (listed to the right of the menu item in orange below)

Here is a list of commonly used PC shortcuts and the Mac equivalents:

System Shortcuts:

MS Office/ iWork:

Internet Explorer/ Firefox/ Safari:

Furthermore, a simple URL increases the chance that someone will (correctly) type in the link to the Facebook Fan Page listed on your business card, as opposed to a complicated, 20 character URL.

Here are the 3 easy steps to customize your Facebook Fan Page URL:

1. While logged into your Facebook account, go to http://facebook.com/username

   

2. On the Drop Down menu choose the page URL you want to change. *Note: You can also change your main FB profile page URL in this step, as well.
   
3. Choose your desired username, which will be included in your Facebook Fan Page URL, and click “Check Availability”
   

Don’t forget to include your Social Media links on all of your marketing collateral, as well as your business cards. For the steps on How to Customize your LinkedIn URL click HERE.

Please connect with me for more tips on Online and traditional marketing on…

1. Log into your LinkedIn account. Http://linkedin.com
2. Hover over “Profile” in the drop-down menu located at the top of the page.

   

3. Click on “Edit Profile”
4. Click on “Change Public Profile Settings”
5. Click the “Edit” button located next to “Your Public Profile” link
6. Type in your desired URL name and then click “Set Address”

   

For the steps on How to Customize your Facebook Fan Page URL click HERE.

Please connect with me for more tips on Online and traditional marketing on…

Below is my cliff’s notes summary of the research conducted from OkTrends. These findings are from 11.4 million opinions on what makes an attractive photo. Although this research was compiled for a dating site, the same findings would apply to other forms of social and business networking sites.

#1. Better Cameras Make You More Attractive. Your camera phone is making you look ugly.

The type and brand of camera you use has a huge effect on how good you look in your pictures. Below is graph showing the pretty-making ability of popular brands.

Graph provided by OkTrends

Interchangeable lens cameras (like digital SLRs) make you look more attractive than your basic point and shoot cameras.

Graph provided by OkTrends

#2. Flash Adds 7 Years! Soft focus means soft youthful faces.

Photographers aren’t just showing off their expensive equipment, they actually have a reason for using all of those diffusers, reflectors, and indirect lighting. Soft lighting makes us look good! It hides our flaws, while hard lighting brings everything out, especially wrinkles. I’m 27 years old, but I might as well be 32 in my pictures with flash.

#3. Be the Focal Point. Blur Everything Else.

Oktrends found that the best pictures have a very shallow depth of field. The subject is crisp focus while the rest of the picture is blurry. Think soap opera style. Be the star of your photo, everything else is just background blur.

Photo provided by OkTrends

#4. The Golden Hour is the Hotness Hour. Take your picture at the right time of the day.. and not in the bars.

The best time for your picture is the “golden hour” which is the first and last hour of sunlight.

Below is a minute-by-minute distribution of when people are taking their pictures.

But the BEST photos taken are shown here…

Graph provided by OkTrends

Game Plan…
You may not care about getting a date with your profile pic, but putting your best face forward is a proven strategy for not only dating but for business networking.

So go look at the pictures you’ve posted. Are they doing you justice? If not, grab a good camera at sunset, turn off the flash, utilize depth-to-field, and go crazy. Also, make sure you do this before hitting Happy Hour, as no one looks good with squinty eyes and a stained t-shirt.

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This was a summary of the article “Don’t Be Ugly By Accident!” by Christian Rudder. OkTrends is original research and insights from OkCupid, an online dating site.

Lamore Marketing & Public Relations offers affordable marketing services, giving their clients a competitive edge with measurable results. Whether through individual services or development of comprehensive marketing plans, they assist clients in reaching their business goals by increasing visibility through known social media networks, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Lamore Marketing & PR conducts the needed research before composing blogs, tweets, and white papers, and publishes them under client company names, as a way for them to be recognized as experts in their fields, thereby attracting new customers. For more information on Lamore Marketing & Public Relations, visit http://lamoremarketing.com or email jlamore@lamoremarketing.com.