Do you enjoy using the internet as a source of education and entertainment? If you do, there is a good chance that you know what YouTube is. In fact, you may even be an active member of the YouTube community. With so many YouTube members and site visitors, there are many individuals who wonder what exactly it is about YouTube that makes it so popular. If you are one of those individuals, you will want to read on to figure out why.

Perhaps, the greatest reason why YouTube is so popular is because of all that you can do on the website. For instance, if are looking for entertainment, you can choose from an unlimited number of YouTube videos, many of which you are sure to love. If you want to do more than just watch YouTube videos, you can even make your own. YouTube allows all registered member to post an unlimited number of videos on their website. Whether you want to create a video blog, a comedy skit, or an educational video, you can easily do so.

Another one of the many reasons why YouTube is so popular is because it is free to use. Any internet user can simply visit the YouTube website and start viewing videos. Although it is advised that you register for a free YouTube account, this isn’t required to watch YouTube videos. With that in mind, if you would like to rate videos, leave comments or upload your own videos to YouTube, you will need to register for an account. Registering for a YouTube account is free and it only takes a few minutes.

When it comes to uploading videos onto YouTube, it is relatively easy to do. That is another one of the many reasons why YouTube is so popular. Even those with a minimal amount of computer experience can make and share videos. All you really need is a video recording device, such as a cell phone with video recording capabilities, a camcorder, or webcam. Most computers already have movie editing software programs installed, but you only need to use movie editing software if you would like to edit your video before sharing it within the YouTube community. When it comes time to upload your videos, you just need to follow YouTube’s uploading instructions and then your videos should be available for viewing within minutes.

As for watching videos on YouTube, it was stated above that you have an unlimited number of videos to choose from. This is another one of the many reasons why YouTube is such a popular platform. No matter what you like, whether it is romance, comedy, or educational pieces, you should be able to find whatever you are looking for. Popular YouTube videos include video blogs and comedy skits. Finding videos to watch is easy as well. YouTube allows you to browse through all of their videos or you can perform a search to find something in particular.

If your marketing campaign just isn’t working, or you’re just getting started, take a long look at what you’re trying to do.  Is it exciting?  Is it eye catching?  Is it unique?  If not, you’re campaign is likely too bland to get anywhere.

It used to be that simply advertising your business could get you more than enough customers, but this is normally no longer the case.  Look around you.  There are advertisements EVERYWHERE.

There are commercials, print ads, billboards…your mind is overrun with images every day.  And if you run the same old marketing campaign, you’re just going to blend in with everyone else.  If you want to get business, you need to get noticed, which means you need to stand out from the crowd.  And just being good at what you do is probably not enough to get that done.

The trick to getting noticed is being creative.  It may be how you advertise, what your ads look like, or the deal or gimmick you’re offering.  Whatever it is, something has to stand out if you want to get noticed.  Coming up with a great idea doesn’t always happen in an instant.  It takes thinking, research, and lots of brainstorming.  Whether it’s taking a few days to work on it, or simply setting aside some time at the end of every day, you have to put some oomph behind it if you want to get results.

Believe it or not, while it may take some creativity and crazy thinking, you may find that the crazy thinking has already been done for you.

An example?  Instead of sending out a boring old mailer, there are companies that make unique mailers like messages in a bottle and coconuts.  Sure, other people have access to buy this stuff and use it too, but if you’re doing a mailing campaign, what are the changes you’re competing in the same market with someone who uses the same product?  Slim to none.

Plus, if you get two coconuts in the mail, are you really going to read what’s inside one and ignore the other?

When it comes to marketing, flashy isn’t always better.  Sure, you don’t want to be boring and blend in, but the key to standing out isn’t different fonts, bright colors, or making claims you can’t back up or keep.

The real key is being unique and different.  Often a simple eye-drawing headline is enough to get people to notice your ad, catching their attention without blinding the customer.  People want to do business with someone they can trust, not just someone who can yell the loudest.

While it may take effort and some amount of investment, if you come up with a good marketing campaign, the end results will likely be more than worth the effort.

Micro-blogging is a good thing and using Twitter makes it even better. However, Twitter will never take the place of a blog. The bottom line is that Twitter is not a full fledge blog, nor was it intended to be. It is simply a way for you to get your words out to the masses in a more expedient manner. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons Twitter will never replace a blog.

The number one reason why Twitter can never replace a blog is because you can only post up to 140 characters at any one time. There is just no way to squeeze 1200 words into such a small space. Not to mention, trying to send 8.57 tweets back to back, may not go over well with your followers. There is nothing like a person who tweets excessively. Doing so will cause you to lose followers and your goal with Twitter is to gain a friends not turn people away. You want Twitter to be tool that leads to your platform – your blog – the place where you share your story, product, or business.

Another reason why you can never replace your blog with simple tweets is because you just don’t have the same control to customize. Sure you can create a “pretty” profile that says something about you but not the way you can with your blog. With a blog you can customize the whole kit and caboodle. You can add tools, plug-ins, and even more networking opportunities through your blog. You just can’t do all that with Twitter.

Then take into consideration the website name issue. You can’t attach a domain to twitter. For example, on twitter I will always be www.twitter.com/beckinoles and that is it. Your username or extension is how people will recognize you on Twitter, but it’s not the same as a domain name for an entire website. In essence, Twitter owns your profile, not you. But your domain name – now that is all yours.

Don’t try to replace your own blog or website with twittering. Instead, learn to use Twitter as an effective tool or application that makes people want to learn more about you. Your blog is where you get down to the nitty-gritty and allow people to become more knowledgeable about your life, your product, service or whatever it is you are promoting.

Becki Noles is the virtual business manager and online marketing dynamo of the Virtual Accuracy Companies. She and her associates work with the top business and marketing coaches in the United States and the world over providing SEO, Pay Per Click, website development and technical virtual assistant services. Get the free 9 part series “How to Market Your Business” by visiting The Selon Group (a division of the Virtual Accuracy Companies).

Twitter doesn’t sound like much. It suggests that you tell the world what you’re doing in 140 characters or less. So what? How are people using this social marketing tool to make more money online?

What You Need To Know: Follow and Be Followed!

The key to twitter is to follow and be followed. If you’re on the site talking about what you’re doing to nobody and not finding what anyone else is doing, it’s sort of useless and rather boring. Once you get a few followers and start following a person, that’s when the buzz starts. You can update your status on the web, via instant messaging client or via a third party tool like Twhirl that lets you use twitter from your own desktop. You can follow and be followed on your cell phone as well and be plugged in to the Twitterverse on the go.

You have a profile page that lets you manage the tool and lets people look you up to see what you’re all about in a few lines and with a URL. It’s the “What are you doing” section that counts.
Your Twitter friends or peeps (a.k.a your Tweeps) all carry on conversations with or without you and when you pop in and chime into various conversations, it gets rather lively. People ask questions, answer questions and share URLS of what they’re doing, what they find interesting and what they want opinions on.

There’s also the public timeline that tells you what other people are doing and you can search on that for more followers or conversations to eavesdrop on. It’s like a virtual water cooler that you can stop into during the day and check in with your tweeps.

Use Twitter when you:

-Post an update to your blog

-Want answers to a technical question

-Want to vent

-Want to tell people what you’re having for lunch (seriously, that can sparks some very interesting questions)

and more.

You can also send direct private messages as well as respond to people both directly but also publicly. The more interesting of a Tweet you post, the more likely people will follow you and re-tweet. A re-tweet is when you post a URL and someone likes it so they share it by tweeting or re-tweeting it to their followers. Do you see how it can become a benefit to you in an area like affiliate marketing, product launches and technical challenges you need help with?

You can also post Twitter feeds on your website so that people can follow you, read your conversations, see who you’re following and visit their posts or URLS so it becomes a very viral way to share and communicate and even to collaborate.

The downside to Twitter

Not only is the tool currently growing at such a fast rate that it goes down regularly but there is another downside and that’s productivity. Sadly there’s almost always a downside to social networking and bookmarking tools and as with many others, Twitter can be a time waster if you’re not careful so it’s important to use it and have fun but also to set limits for yourself.

About the Author
Matthew Bredel
To learn more about how social marketing tools can help you and your online money making efforts, visit TheWebReviewer; a resource for making money online, affiliate marketing and more.

Twitter is in the lead of the popularity board when it comes to social media sites.

Now twitter serves the basic purpose of every social site and virtual community out there, and that purpose is to connect the users, or to provide the hub or gathering place for its members to communicate.

Twitter specifically gives your friends a way to keep up with what you’re doing immediately. Your friends and fellow members of twitter subscribe to receive updates about what’s going on in your daily minute by minute life.

There are countless ways you can use this tool other than to just let buds know when you’re off to the salon, or hopping on a plane. I figured the best way to show all the capabilities of Twitter would be to just list them for you. So without further explanation here are some amazing possibilities of Twitter:

1. Of course, you can use it to keep up with what your friends and competition are up to

2. You can use it to update your friends on every little thing

3. To announce a special event – like a child’s party or a business seminar

4. To announce special offers – like a discount on one of your products or services

5. To do a pre-release campaign for a product or service your about to launch

6. To request feedback on a new site, product or survey

7. To direct traffic to an opt-in page

8. To build a relationship by giving a free offer like a contest or give away or free product

9. To build a network of business partners

10. To recruit for a charitable cause

11. Or to collect donations for a cause

12. To build your friend-base by directing to a myspace or facebook page

13. You can update you status in many ways including your IM program or cell phone

14. To make connections for a joint venture project

15. Add it to your blog or other social site profile page to have automatically updated content

16. Use the twitter wiki to keep up with applications and other advancements made by the twitter community

17. And many more

Those are just some of the ways my friends and I have discovered to use twitter in business and in life. This is a fantastic resource and I recommend you take a look, and test a couple options on this list. Here’s to your success!

About the Author
Melissa Mangrum
I am a seventh year internet marketer with my wonderful husband Jason, and our 3 little, irresistible noise makers. I have a life-long background in acting, music, and writing. I have written a salesletter that generated a quarter of a million dollars in less than two weeks. Also I put a product in the genius book of world records as the highest price auction ever ran on ebay. For more information on the many uses of Social Sites you can check out the new book at: My Social Marketer