Read the full post on Andrews website at http://www.webanddesigners.com/socialize-your-wordpress-blog-without-using-plug-ins/

This article is not meant to show you ways of offering interesting tweets or of growing your number of followers but merely how to avoid losing the ones we have because many people don’t take this scenario into consideration; it’s useless to get a large number of followers in a day if you lose a larger number at the same time.

1. More tweets or less

Even if you may have much to offer and you want to share that with your followers, there has to be a limit as having your timeline filled only with your tweets will sooner or later make your followers leave. The other way around isn’t good either as a tweet once a week shows a rare usage of the network and who would want to follow someone who offers a link per week.

The best solution is a mild approach, offering tweets whenever you have something really interesting or when you need someone’s help. A frequent mistake is to tweet too often in a short period of time as the follower’s timeline is filled for some minutes only with what you offered and sometimes it’s irritating.

2. Irrelevant twitters

Nothing is more annoying than to receive idiotic tweets telling you, for example, what John had for lunch, how did he wake up or if he got the morning paper or not. When you tweet, you must be sure that it may be useful to someone. To tweet just so the number will grow will not be benefic to you, furthermore some followers may get fed up and leave. To offer useful links and interesting information you need time to search, so you must not forget that to become an important user of Twitter, you must sacrifice time, a lot of time that could had been used for projects. And in the end we come to the same conclusion that time is money. The Twitter account can be efficient long terms mean of publicity if it’s properly maintained.

3. Excessive Promo

Twitter is a mean of advertising but you need an intelligent strategy to make it truly efficient. First of all, by sending links to you portfolio in every tweet will not bring you more views but only a decrease in the number of followers. The thing is not to force your followers but to make them curious. To be more specific - an arrogant and boring tweet like “Hey, this is my portfolio. Am I not the best designer?” can be replaced with a more conservative and interesting “I am waiting for you opinions on my last logo. I appreciate any comments.”

4. Incomplete account

The bio reserved for each user is intended to offer a clear idea about each person and about what they are doing. To complete it just partially or not at all isn’t a sign of bravura nor justified by privacy concerns. As well, the users should upload a photo of themselves so the followers know if they’re dealing with a real person or just a spam. The customization of the background is not compulsory but an original one would be an extra source of attraction and so, of users. To conclude - un incomplete account represents a source of mistrust and the followers lose that feeling of “Global community” that’s so attractive to most of them.

5. Private tweets

Another new concept that Twitter brought on and with it won their users’ hearts is the total lack of privacy. Your tweets can be seen by everyone. Despite this concept, you still have the options of hiding your tweets from the users that are not your network friends. I may be an extremist to some people but this option is stupid as the initial idea was giving up on privacy.

On the other hand, the arrogance of showing tweets only to some will surely have a negative impact on the number of followers…And it’s a justified call.

6. Automated DMs

In Twitterland, DM stands for direct message and represents the direct communication between the follower and the followed. An sign of total lack of respect is sending automated DMs to your followers. Even if you’re sending an automated thank you note, that is still very similar to spam even if it’s a thank, you spam. What’s your opinion on DMs? Are they a sign of appreciation or not?

7. Growing the number of followers with the help of different applications

I saved the best for last. This is the biggest sin a Twitter user can commit. The burning desire of having more and more followers in a short period of time was noticed by certain individuals with a good sense for business who launched some applications that for small fees can bring you followers. Apparently that’s a good piece of business, but more likely a huge mistake. First of all, the hundreds of followers you are buying are nothing than worthless accounts with no people behind them. What’s the use of being followed by thousands of spams? Aside from the chance to brag about your number of followers, it’s useless.

Let’s just say that these accounts have people at the other end who follow you for a few dimes the result is essentially the same. Indeed, at some point you will have hundreds or thousands of followers but in time they will abandon you as your tweets do not have any relevance to them. And so this type of business is bankrupting. When a user follows you for the few cents you are offering, do you thing he’s interested in your tweets…I doubt it.

My conclusion is that Twitter is a fantastic application, but to gather a large number of followers and to become influential you need time, patience and interesting tweets. What’s your opinion on the matter? How should a quality tweet be? Feel free to use the comment form to share your interesting thoughts with us.

About the author

This article has been written by Daniel Pintilie a freelance writer working for for Go-Globe.com, a Shanghai Web design company that provides web design solution in Beijing, Sharjah and Middle East.

Twitter addiction?

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If you’re a writer and know a lot about Twitter, social media, design, mobile marketing  …… or owning a small business, you can give great advices on branding, marketing, productivity, dealing with clients (and other related topics), or you can write ‘how-to’ posts, please get in contact with Sebastian.

Photo: Flickr / eldh

Google Chrome

Being one of the first to launch a Google+ brand page (and obviously having some first hand knowledge with the platform), Google Chrome’s own brand page is very well done. The 5 main images all link together cleverly, and the page is kept updated frequently with news on Chromebooks and links to the official Google blog for more detailed information.

BMW

BMW have also spliced up one feature image into 5 separate smaller images that serve as a great introduction to their brand page. They’ve also made sure the content they’re sharing (while obviously promotional) is very high quality, and feature YouTube videos and images of their latest supercars.

Time Magazine

Time Magazine faced the challenge of making sure that their new, modern Google+ brand page was in keeping with their classic, prestigious image. By using the 5 image slots to showcase some of their more iconic issues, they’ve been able to claim their space on Google+ and still have the gravitas that they’ve built up over the years.

The Muppets

The Muppets have an entirely image to Time Magazine - they need to be seen as fun, creative and quirky, and their Google+ page doesn’t disappoint. Exclusive content is shared on the page, including images of the characters with celebrities, as well as videos and trailers for the new film. The 5 images used all match up, and suit the look and feel of the page perfectly.

Starbucks

Starbucks have always been good at promoting themselves online, so it’s no surprise to see them putting effort into Google+ too. High quality, instagram-effect images are proudly displayed, and the page looks great - but Starbucks earn extra points for actively talking to others on Google+, from asking people which circle they want to be placed in to offering buy one get one free vouchers.

Red Bull

Red Bull, the energy drink which wants to be associated with high energy sports, has done a great job of keeping their brand image and their Google+ page very closely linked. They’ve always been great at coming up with creative, unique designs for social media sites, and they don’t disappoint here - instead of 5 static images, they’ve been able to use animated gifs, all matching up to show one big image of BMXers in slow motion.

YouTube

YouTube, being a Google company, will also have had a heads-up on how to style a Google+ page, and unsurprisingly they’ve done a great job.  Their 5 image joins together and reflects the creativity that YouTube sees each day, while they also ensure that interesting videos are posted frequently.

Angry Birds

Angry Birds, the ultra-popular iPad and iPhone game, has also taken advantage of the 5 images to create a brilliant standout image, showcasing each of the birds - even the main logo image is used to form part of the scene. They also keep the page up to date and use it to talk to fans - even going as far as to have votes on which characters people prefer, as well as keeping people informed about new updates.

Pepsi

Pepsi’s Google+ page has been designed beautifully, with the 5 image layout all matching up and following the look and feel of the brand, and they even make sure to talk to their fans - although they perhaps don’t post anywhere near as frequently as some of the other brands we’ve featured.

Zappos

Zappos have clearly put some work into their Google+ page, and use it to showcase that they’re “more than shoes” by prominently featuring clothing, handbags, beauty and “at home” in their profile images. Like Pepsi, they may not be posting particularly frequently, but the page still looks lived in and has clearly been thought about and designed with the brand in mind.

Are there any Google+ brand pages you’ve found that you think deserve a mention? Let us know in the comments. You are welcome to add your G+ page if you like?

About the author

Dan writes for Christmas gift ideas experts The Handpicked Collection, who offer gifts for her & him. He’s a big fan of creative product design and spends his spare time outside of work studying graphic design.

Other Google+ Brand Pages?

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If you’re a writer and know a lot about social networks like Google+, social media marketing or design, mobile marketing  …… or owning a small business, you can give great advices on branding, marketing, productivity, dealing with clients (and other related topics), or you can write ‘how-to’ posts, please get in contact with Sebastian.

Sometimes, it’s even the simplest interfaces that are the hardest to build - when you have a huge amount of features and only a limited amount of space on the screen, it can be challenging to cut features out, or hide them elsewhere in the app (yet still have them be accessible). We’ve created a collection of 15 applications that have done an astonishing job of uncluttering the interface and leaving a beautiful, simple design that’s a joy to use.

Tweetbot

Tweetbot by app designers Tapbots is an iPhone app that makes tweeting easier, and has clever shortcuts for viewing entire conversations and for favouriting tweets.

Hipmunk

Hipmunk aims to take the agony out of booking a flight online by displaying flight search results in a much simpler, easier to understand way.

Square

Square allows you to take credit card payments on your iPhone or iPad, easily.

New York Times Skimmer

Skimmer by the New York Times is a different interface for browsing through news, predominantly designed for tablets. As it’s name suggests, it makes skimming through news stories easy and fun.

Batch

Batch is a new iPhone app which makes uploading and sharing photos through Facebook & Twitter a breeze.

TeuxDeux

TeuxDeux is a task management app that makes adding and crossing off tasks simple. It’s perfect for people that like their to-do applications minimal and unfussy, but still beautiful.

Greplin

While Google handles searching the web, Greplin aims to help you search through your life. The app connects to your email accounts, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and more, and lets you search everything all in one go. Despite it’s complexity, the interface has been kept beautifully simple and elegant.

Oink

Oink is the newest iPhone app from Digg founder Kevin Rose.  Instead of rating places, Oink allows you to rate the things inside - everything from the best coffee in a café to the best films on at the cinema. The interface is uncluttered and sophisticated, and it’s beautiful design feels natural and intuitive to use.

Calvetica

Calvetica is an iPhone calendar app that aims to provide a minimalist way to organise your life. It’s clearly had a lot of attention, design-wise, but it’s also simple and easy to use, whether you’re drilling down to specific events or just quickly glancing at it - it’s simplicity gives you the information you need, and nothing else.

Flipboard

Flipboard is an iPad app that turns RSS feeds into easy-to-browse articles, like a digital magazine. The interface is both beautiful and intuitive, which makes the whole experience fun.

Stypi

Stypi is an online document editor, similar to Google Docs, which allows multiple people to all work on writing the same document at the same time. It’s a fairly complicated idea, but it’s been executed perfectly here - following the Apple philosophy, Stypi “just works”.

Basecamp

Basecamp is a project management tool which has both a web interface and an HTML 5 mobile optimized site. Both interfaces work perfectly for the medium they’re on - it’s always easy to navigate around and view calendars, timelines and tasks and clearly a lot of thought has been put into usability.

Twitter for iPad

Twitter’s official iPad app looks simple, but hides a wealth of features and shortcuts. Selecting a tweet and sliding down with two fingers, for example, reveals the whole conversation. It’s a brilliant example of a stunningly elegant user interface.

Reeder

Reeder for iPad makes RSS feeds easier to browse through and has clearly focused on making a simple, beautiful and usable app. Scanning through articles and blog posts is very intuitive and the design of the content is easy to read, with plenty of white space.

Things

Things for iPad is a task management app that allows you to tag tasks, add them to particular projects and archive old tasks in a logbook. Despite having quite a few features for power users and fans of “getting things done”, the interface keeps things simple - only showing you what you need and never cluttering up the screen with unnecessary distractions.

Are there any user interfaces that you think deserve a mention? Let us know in the comments.

About the author

Alex writes for printing experts Print Express, who specialise in postcards, business cards and flyer printing.

Other Beautiful User Interfaces?

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If you’re a writer and know a lot about app design, mobile marketing, social networks …… or owning a small business, you can give great advices on branding, marketing, productivity, dealing with clients (and other related topics), or you can write ‘how-to’ posts, please get in contact with Sebastian.

Triggers

if this then that

The this part of a task is the Trigger. Some example Triggers are “if I’m tagged in a photo on Facebook” or “if I tweet on Twitter.”

Actions

if this then that

The that part of a task is the Action. Some example Actions are “then send me a text message” or “then create a status message on Facebook.”

Channels

How it works?

you input one of the sides of your rectangle and you can calculate the width Wth – short side – or length Lth – long side – getting the right proportion for your design. Use the integer function INT to round the calculation if required.

At the bottom of the calculator are the mode switchers where you can select the proportion you want to calculate:

• 4:3 Video and photography standard. Musical perfect fourth.
• 16:9 HD and widescreen standard.
• 3:2 Photography standard. Musical perfect fifth.

How can be used?

As a graphic designer you like to have some kind of logic or numeric coherence in the structures that you are working on, where the elements in the layout have relation between each other sharing a common proportion. Erik thinks this helps to create coherence, harmony and order in any design foundations. You can download the app at itunes.
Send in your suggestions for great time-saving apps to make life easier.

The internet powerhouse used a recent press conference to introduce the world to Google Wallet, a new offering that aims to bridge the gap between online and offline commerce. Despite not even having an official launch date, the upcoming product is already generating a lot of talk and controversy in the process. In this article, we will examine the potential impact Google Wallet could have on the mobile marketing sector.

How it works

A Revolution in Mobile Shopping

Google Wallet is being designed as a mobile app that lets consumers securely make purchases right from their handsets. It will basically transform the consumer’s mobile device into a universal credit card as it allows purchases to be made with a Citi MasterCard credit card or Google Prepaid Card, both of which can be stored in the handset. According to the internet giant, the app will support other popular payment options in the near future. With Google Wallet, consumers will be able to make purchases in a matter of entering a simple PIN number and a few taps on their mobile display, creating a degree of convenience that did not exist for many users before.

Google Wallet Product Launch

Opportunities for Mobile Marketers

Brands are excited about Google Wallet, and its all because of the shining potential Google’s upcoming payment service has to offer. Marketers can take advantage in two ways, starting with the search company’s Groupon competitor Google Offers. A user can take any of the deals a business pushes through Offers and have them automatically synced to Wallet so they are easily accessible. Marketers can also “tap” into the apps potential by joining Google’s SingleTap partner program, which already includes well known brands such as Bloomingdales, Subway, and Toys R Us. The benefit here is being able to create innovative incentive programs that help brands reward users for their loyalty, which is great for strengthening relationships.

What is your mobile strategy?

We have learned that Google’s cutting edge mobile payment service is driven by a technology known as NFC. Short for Near Field Communication, NFC is a new form of wireless technology that allows devices within a certain range of one another to swap data. The future of Google Wallet will likely depend on the adoption of this technology among mobile makers. Although Sprint, who is allowing Google Wallet to be used on its Nexus S 4G, is currently using NFC chips in some of its phones, the search company itself projects that only 50% of smartphones will have this technology by 2014, meaning half of the user population will not have access to the functionality.

For the above reason and the fact that PayPal has filed a lawsuit against Google over basing its design on stolen mobile payment secrets, it may be wise for mobile marketers to see how this one develops before jumping on the Wallet bandwagon.

About the author

Nan King, a tech geek and environmentalist at heart, is an advocate of business email marketing strategies that encompass the use of an email marketing company which is permission based.

Using mobile wallet or work in mobile marketing?

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If you’re a writer and know a lot about mobile design, mobile apps, mobile marketing …… or owning a small business, you can give great advices on branding, marketing, productivity, dealing with clients (and other related topics), or you can write ‘how-to’ posts, please get in contact with Sebastian.

Facebook Admits to Playing Dirty

While it is currently sitting high atop the social networking ladder, Facebook has also found itself in the middle of controversy due to its questionable approach toward stamping out the competition. In early May, a suspicious email made its way into the inboxes of several prolific journalists and bloggers. The message, which was sent out by Burson-Marsteller, pretty much slammed Google’s name in the mud, alleging that the search giant had committed a major violation of user privacy.

With the internet community buzzing and scrambling to figure out the mastermind behind the mysterious email, it wasn’t too long before Facebook came out and admitted that it hired the public relations firms to do its bidding. According to the social networking company, Google utilized Social Circle, a feature native to its Gmail webmail client, to steal personal user information from Facebook and other sites for inclusion. Though many are surprised that the social network came out and admitted that it was involved in what is now infamously known as the “Google smear campaign“, it seems as if it had no other choice after the evidence reportedly dug up by news outlet The Daily Beast.

Things Could Get Even Uglier

The collision course Facebook and Google find themselves on has been in the making for some time now. Theses two powerful entities are competitors in numerous areas, including social, search, and online advertising among others. While the so called smear campaign obviously marks the most intense episode of the war up to this point, some have been predicting an all out showdown from the moment Facebook outpaced MySpace as the number social network. With Google looking to enhance its social profile, Facebook doing business with Microsoft, and both companies gearing up to invade the daily deal market, it is probably fair to conclude that this war could get even uglier in the very near future.

Welcome to Cut Throat Island

In the business world, competition is all about survival, and if you need another lesson on just how cut throat it can become, you got it with the recent developments in the war between Facebook and Google. For marketers, it is a perfect example of how some competitors are willing to pull out all the stops, even if it means playing dirty. Take it as a lesson on the importance of staying on your toes and being able to respond promptly to adversity. Google is strong enough to shake off Facebook’s blow and return the favor. How about your business?

About the Author:

Fletcher is a best practices activist and advocate for leading Web and permission-based email marketing services.

Have something to say?

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If you’re a writer and know a lot about design, coding, …… or owning a small business, you can give great advices on branding, marketing, productivity, dealing with clients (and other related topics), or you can write ‘how-to’ posts, please get in contact with Sebastian.

Organic Label Vector Graphic

The vector file comes in .eps file format. You will need a vector editing program to open this file (such as Adobe Illustrator). You can choose between Free, Commercial or Extended licenses.

The Go Green! Icon Set (108 Icons)

In this Go Green! Web Icon Set, you will find 108 different icons you can use for your website, blog or your application. The set comes with eCommerce icons, social media, computer accessories, multimedia and a hell of a lot more! These icons are available in 64 x 64 px and in transparent .png formats for which you can easily change the hues to match your needs.

The Go Green! Web Icon Set is free to use for both your personal and commercial projects but may not be sold or redistributed.

Eco Friendly Vector Graphic

The vector file comes in .eps file format. You will need a vector editing program to open this file (such as Adobe Illustrator). You can choose between Free, Commercial or Extended licenses.

Eco tags Vector Graphic

The vector file comes in .eps file format. You will need a vector editing program to open this file (such as Adobe Illustrator). You can choose between Free, Commercial or Extended licenses.

IconTexto Green - Icon Set

Free icon pack for your Website or Application. 8 icons in formats PNG (256×256, 128×128, 48×48, 32×32, 16×16), ICO (256×256, 128×128, 48×48, 32×32, 16×16) and ICNS (256×256, 128×128, 48×48, 32×32, 16×16). These icons are released under CC License Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0.

Go Green Poster Vector Graphic

The vector file comes in .eps file format. You will need a vector editing program to open this file (such as Adobe Illustrator). You can choose between Free, Commercial or Extended licenses.

Eco Friendly Document Paper Icon

Part of the icon set “Paper Files” by Emre Ozcelik. License:  Free also for commercial use

Green Eco Icon - Icon Set

Included in this set are the recycling icon, energy-efficient icons, CFL icons, light bulbs, vehicles and plants. Become friendly to our environment, while creating cleaner designs. These icons are perfect for any print material as well as web content. Vector designs allow you to easily modify the colors and expand graphics without loosing any quality. Quickly modify effects of these green icons to suit your needs. If you don’t like the glossy reflections or light drop shadow, easily remove them without loosing any quality. Change the colors of these icons to other shades of greens and create your own set of eco-friendly icons.

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Additional main features

From moderation tools to social integration to a comment voting system, Livefyre gives you everything you need to turn a casual online following into a passionate and engaged community.

Readers can access their entire social network from your content. Friend tagging, and social sign-in and syncing options make your content the central hub of the conversation.

It is also possible to generate user profiles with points with a user’s recent comments, blog posts, rating, social links, and more, all in one place. Blogs get profile pages too!

Feel free to check out their complete and detailed feature list.