Today is the 4th Birthday of Twitter; Happy Birthday Twitter. Gosh, hasn't Twitter achieved a lot in its first four years? Just a toddler and it is getting mass media coverage on a daily basis. And like any growing child, Twitter has developed and changed. At the beginning it was hardly used - indeed for it's first year of existence it went almost unnoticed. Not until it was a year old was Twitter truly coming into its own, at the ever resourceful and eventful South by South West Convention where it was used for the first time in a huge public way.

At the time, Twitter asked "What are you doing?", focusing on the individual. Later it changed its question to "What's happening?" and nowadays it says "See what people are saying about..". In other words, in four short years it has gone from an invisible "status" system, to a massive, thriving information delivery network. It is nowhere near the original intentions of the owners; the foundations of Twitter lay in a group text messaging concept for a podcasting firm.

The Twitter story is a reminder that trying to keep things the same as we intended isn't always for the best. How popular would Twitter be if it were rigidly sticking to its original intentions? The Twitter birthday reminds us that its success has come about because they followed their audience lead, rather than trying to mould us into their ways. Just as a toddler develops, they learned from their parents (or Tweeters as they are called...!). How much have you learned this week - and changed your website as a result - from your users and customers?  Often, businesses try too hard to stick to their format, systems, processes, or intentions - yet going with the direction set by your audience can often be more profitable. That's worth a thought this week isn't it?

And what else could you be considering in the next seven days?

• Planning: Like Twitter, your online business will have changed over the past four years. Just four years ago some of the working people who now use your site were teenagers at school. Their requirements and demands are often different to the older visitors to your site. So, it's time to sit back and think about the approach your website takes to the differing generations. Do you need to add new features that appeal to a younger workforce? Or do you need a separate website that aims at the younger generation? Even if you don't introduce new concepts to your web presence straight away, it's worthwhile remembering that junior levels of management now include people who have grown up with the web; before long they will be entering middle and senior management positions - important if you are in the B2B arena. And what if your web business is consumer focused? Well, it's probably more important to think of younger generations in that instance, because they are the ones with the higher proportion of disposable income. Planning for the younger generations who use your website should become a constant focus for your online business.
• Content: A new year begins this week when Lady Day is celebrated. In the old calendar that we used before 1752, the 25th March was the traditional start of the New Year (though this was a change from the previous start of the New Year on 6th April - which we still use today for the tax year...!). So, what "beginnings" or "new years" can you celebrate this week in your business? Is there a "fresh start" for something you could write about? This week also sees the British Press Awards and the Business Woman of the Year Award - are there any awards you can give or write about in your sector this week? Of course, the "big event" in London this week is the last budget before the General Election; that's bound to be worth commenting on. If the Chancellor is not dynamic enough for you, then how about linking something to the first ever supersonic flight of a passenger aircraft? Concorde achieved that 40 years ago this week. As for birthdays, broadcaster Michael Parkinson is 75 this week, his near neighbour down the Thames, Sir Steve Regdrave is 48 and Diana Ross is 66.
• Tidying up: Your web pages have two important "hidden tags" called "meta tags" which are valuable to you in terms of your ranking on Google. One is called the "title tag" and the other is called the "description tag". Google uses both of these in determining what it displays in search results. But many websites use the same tags for each page, reducing the impact on Google because it cannot easily discriminate between the pages. So, it's time to take a look at your web page tags and check them out for duplications, which will need correcting. The easiest way to do this is to make sure your website has a Google Sitemap. The Google Webmaster toolset then helps you identify duplicate tags.
• New features: Do you have a favourite web page or service you regularly use? How about turning that into a desktop application? Well, you can. All you need is Prism from Mozilla, the same company that brought you Firefox and Thunderbird. You can then add any web site to the system which runs the site as a separate desktop application. The advantage is that you can then free up memory for your browser and reduce your window clutter. I now run HootSuite as a desktop application using Prism, for instance.
• Reading: To help celebrate Twitter's birthday, how about a Twitter book? This one is written by one of the creators of Twitter, Dom Sagolla and is called "140 Characters" and professes to be a "style guide for the short form". It is a complete "how to" guidebook on writing short and sweet. If you have ever found it difficult to get what you want to say all within the 140 character limit of Twitter, then this book will really help you. It is packed with examples and ideas, as well as suggestions on how your Twitter writing style can make you a leader, rather than a mere follower. Plus, as you might expect from someone helping us write better, this book is clear, concise and highly readable.

So, another week over - but one last thing - if you haven't signed up for my new weekly newsletter then try and do that this week as well at: http://www.grahamjones.co.uk/newsletter.

SAN FRANCISCO (MMD Newswire) March 18, 2009 -- BRANDEMiX has been selected for the 2009 Best of Business Award in the ADVERTISING AND COMMUNICATIONS category by the Small Business Commerce Association (SBCA)

The Small Business Commerce Association (SBCA) is pleased to announce that BRANDEMiX has been selected for the 2009 Best of Business Award in the ADVERTISING AND COMMUNICATIONS category.

The SBCA 2009 Award Program recognizes the top 5% of small businesses throughout the country. Using statistical research and consumer feedback, the SBCA identifies companies that we believe have demonstrated what makes small businesses a vital part of the American economy. The selection committee chooses the award winners from nominees based off statistical research and also information taken from monthly surveys administered by the SBCA, a review of consumer rankings, and other consumer reports. Award winners are a valuable asset to their community and exemplify what makes small businesses great.

About BRANDEMiX
BRANDEMiX is an independent marketing/communications company a rare combination of talent and creativity dedicated to branding in support of human resources initiatives. Bridging the traditional gap between marketing, advertising, internal communications and Human Resources, BRANDEMiX creates consistent, relevant and brand-aligned messages across all print and interactive channels, forming a line of sight from strategy to employees, investors and consumers. Clients include many of the Fortune 500 as well as non-profit organizations in education, healthcare and social services.

Press Contact:
Jody Ordioni
BRANDEMiX
1270 Broadway, Suite 1103
New York, NY 10001
212-947-1001
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
http://www.brandemix.com

About Small Business Commerce Association (SBCA)
Small Business Commerce Association (SBCA) is a San Francisco based organization. The SBCA is a private sector entity that aims to provide tactical guidance with many day to day issues that small business owners face. In addition to our main goal of providing a central repository of small business operational advice; we use consumer feedback to identify companies that exemplify what makes small business a vital part of the American economy.

SOURCE: Small Business Commerce Association

CONTACT:
Small Business Commerce Association
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
URL: http://www.SBCAAwards.org

March 16, 2010 (MMD Newswire) -- On Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 3:00pm Eastern Time Zone, B. Hopkins of Psiphon Consulting, will interview Jack Humphrey of Blog Success on the Internet Business Strategies Show.

This weeks episode is  titled: "The Income Power of a Multiple Blogging Strategy".  The show will be about how to effectively have 10 active blogs or more.  We will cover in detail, the 10-30 marketing system and how that system can create a strong residual income for the user of the system.  In this week's show, B. Hopkins interviews Jack Humphrey, owner of Blog Success, as he describes this little known level to the power of blogging.

Jack Humphrey has been working online professionally for 12 years as a consultant, author, and owner of several successful startups in the fields of blogging, SEO, branding, and social marketing.  His first guide, Power Linking, released in 2002, is the web's most recognized and authoritative guide on link building.

Jack's Authority Black Book has also become the defacto guide to social marketing and link building through social sites like Twitter, Facebook, and many other kinds of Web 2.0 sites.

Today Jack is the editor of The Friday Traffic Report and CEO of BlogSuccess.com where he trains people on his blog marketing tactics.

The Internet Business Strategies radio show is broadcast live ever Wednesday at 3:00pm Eastern over the Internet at Real Coaching Radio and takes questions from the live audience as well.  For those interested in listening live to the show, go to http://realcoachingradio.net/live-studio to listen live.

The Internet Business Strategies show discusses important topics relevant to creating a powerful web presence.  Experts are interviewed from many areas related to web design, web marketing, SEO, web monetization, social networking, traffic generation  and a host of other Internet related topics are covered each week.

Find out more about the Internet Business Strategies show to see past guests and specials on setting up your business strategy on the Internet.

NewEgg a leading provider of document scanners (Fujitsu, Canon, Kodak, Hewlett Packard, Visioneer and Plustek) in March 2010 will be positioning the Speedy Organizer Document Management System alongside top selling document scanners. This will give any business the choice when selecting a scanner to go one step further into a comprehensive digital document management system. The best and most efficient way to start managing scanned documents is at the same time as scanning begins. Simply digitizing documents is only part of the solution. To properly mange digital documents it requires the same or similar disciplines that are needed to manage and store paper documents. Speedy Organizer provides the disciplines that any business can follow to efficiently store and securely manage documents digitally.

Newegg Inc. is the second-largest online-only retailer in the United States. It owns and operates Newegg.com (www.newegg.com) which was founded in 2001 and regularly earns industry-leading customer service ratings. The award-winning website has more than 12 million registered users and offers customers a comprehensive selection of the latest high-tech products, detailed product descriptions and images, as well as how-to information and customer reviews. Using the site's online tech community, customers have the opportunity to interact with other computer, gaming and consumer electronics enthusiasts. Newegg Inc. is headquartered in City of Industry, California.

Speedy Solutions is a company that is dedicated to the ongoing research, development and distribution of Digital Document Management products that enable all companies to improve their efficiency, accuracy, reliability and security of one of their most valuable assets information and documentation. Speedy Solutions was established in 2003. Since that time Speedy Solutions has been developing and distributing thousands of products designed as part of our Practical paperless office approach for businesses large and small.

Now with many thousands of clients we continue to be committed to the supply of new and innovative industry leading solutions in the area of a "practical paperless office" and document management systems. Our distribution channels include retailers and e/tailers, MFP dealers, Copier and Scanner Dealers as well as direct distribution thru our own sales organization. In addition, we have built a professional services group and a partner network that can create solutions for any type of business or organization regardless of its size or business model. Speedy Solutions is a leading provider of software solutions designed with both Simplicity and Power. The simplicity of design ensures unparalleled ease of use and stability of function, along with the power to handle any size and volume of documents and information.

Speedy Solutions Press Contact: Carol Wilson This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.speedyscan.biz

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Reviewing the new tax laws and understanding the different types of retirement plans available can bring great value. Here are a couple helpful tips when speaking with your CPA or tax advisor about pension plans.

SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE TAXES

Individuals can save up to 15.3% in additional Social Security and Medicare taxes by electing to use a pension or profit sharing plan as opposed to a 401(k). A 401(k) requires Social Security and Medicare taxes to be withdrawn from deferred amounts, whereas pension and profit sharing contributions are made free of Social Security and Medicare taxes.

ALTERNATIVES

There are four types of defined benefit pension plans: traditional, cash balance, 412(e)(3) or fully insured, and the DB/K. Choosing which plan is best suited for you will require a comprehensive review of all appropriate designs. Working with a bonded, third party administrator, capable of illustrating all designs and offering an explanation of the pros and cons for each, will be valuable when meeting with your CPA or tax advisor.

To learn more about the new tax saving advantages a pension plan can offer while saving for retirement, go to: www.nppdirect.com and view "Pension Tour". This pension education tour is approved by the National Association of State Board Accountancy NASBA. Nicholas A. Paleveda, MBA, JD, LL.M., a tax attorney licensed in Florida with over 25 years of experience working with high-income individuals and businesses will be making the presentations in 27 states across the country in the spring of 2010.

Authors: Mark Scott CPA, Dave Scott CPA

Mark & Dave Scott are principals with the Scott & Baldwin accounting firm and located in Roseville, Ca. www.scott-baldwin.com

Contact Information: James Podleski, President, National Pension Partners. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Cell: 310-704-0826 Fax: 360-756-9033

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