Users subscribe to “follow” topics or people they’re interested in, locating them with the “find people” option at Twitter.com or with one of the Twitter search engines, including http://search.twitter.com and www.tweetscan.com.

Twitter has exciting business potential when used strategically. Dell drives traffic to its outlet Website by “tweeting” information about sale items. Comcast solves customer service problems by scanning messages for complaints. And H&R Block builds credibility by responding to tax questions. Even President-elect Barack Obama’s presidential campaign employed Twitter to “tweet” announcements, rally locations, and election info.

Ashli Norton, co-founder of SimpleLeap Software L.L.C. in Atlanta, also recommends updating your status line frequently. “This keeps your name and messages at the top of the search lists,” she says.

Norton uses Twitter to keep her tech-savvy customers current on new products or updates. “Our customers favor the quick, unobtrusive company-related messages on Twitter over long e-mails sent directly to their inbox,” she says. After an influential product reviewer discovered SimpleLeap through company tweets and reviewed one of its products, sales of that product increased by 2%.

One caveat: Make certain you can give a few minutes every day to monitoring messages and sharing information. Once you’re comfortable with the process, explore add-ins such as Twurl, a URL shortener that lets you track clicks, and Adobe’s Tweetdeck, which helps users keep track of message threads. Also check out TweetBeep and EasyTweet. And don’t forget TwitterBerry for BlackBerry users.

Get more tips at www.twitter.com.  Select “Help,” then “FAQ.” Click here to follow Black Enterprise on Twitter.

The former vice president for Georgia-Pacific Inc., a global pulp and paper company, now runs Success Minded African Americans, a 1,300-plus networking and discussion group on LinkedIn. Since joining the site, McClellan says he has had tremendous success that has translated into speaking engagements and the book A Love Letter to Black People: Audaciously Hopeful Thoughts on Race and Success (Sherian Publishing; $24.99).

With more than 40 million members representing more than 200 countries and territories, LinkedIn has become the site for entrepreneurs and corporate-types alike to make connections that help them find jobs, position themselves as experts, hire employees, or build businesses.

But McClellan says that using LinkedIn successfully means rethinking how you network. “This is not something for tech geeks or that you need only at a certain time in your career. It really should be a critical part of your career plan,” he says. And it’s easy to get started.

Making Connections

After creating a profile that summarizes your professional experience, you make “connections” by inviting people you know to link to your profile. Users can view each other’s connections and request introductions to individuals they would like to meet.

Steve Tylock, author of The LinkedIn Personal Trainer (Tylock and Co.; $17.95) booklet, offers these tips for maximizing your presence:

Focus on your “headline.” As you complete the form, the text you enter as your “current position” becomes your default headline—what people see next to your name on a search. A description of what makes you unique or means more to you might take you further than your job title.

Strategize. Be thoughtful about how you network on the site. Sharing VIP connections exposes you to risk—good and bad. You want to know and trust the people you link to so that bad reputations or experiences don’t reflect on you.

Dig deeper. The site is easy to use but won’t be much of an asset if you do little more than accept invitations to “link in.” Like in-person memberships, the more you invest, the more you receive. With LinkedIn, that means uncovering many of the features and options that aren’t obvious at first glance, including Answers, where you can ask questions or share your knowledge with people in your network or from experts; Groups allows you to connect with professionals who share a common affiliation, interest, experience or goal; and Company Pages allows professionals to do research on firms they would like to do business with or be employed by.

You can also link your WordPress blog to LinkedIn for greater reach. Remember, though, it’s important to master the site’s basics before spending time on advanced features.

It’s Not About You

McClellan says that the most important thing to remember about social networking, and what makes it different from “traditional” networking, is that the emphasis is on helping others. “You have to go into it with the mind-set that you are going to help people, not help yourself,” says McClellan.

He admits that initially, that is not what he did. “The first several months, I spent trying to find people and beef up my profile, and that really wasn’t working for me,” he says of this approach. It was only when McClellan announced he was writing a book that “people came out of the woodwork,” to help with resources, advice, and recommendations.
“When people ask and I am able, I give without hesitation or expectation of a returned favor. This approach has led me to some valuable connections.”

This story originally appeared in the July 2009 issue of Black Enterprise magazine.

The three leaders—Mint.com, Geezeo.com, and Wesabe.com —let users aggregate all or most of their financial information in one location, so there’s no need to shuffle around the Internet to view a credit card statement,  review an IRA, or get updates on personal banking.

They provide services ranging from e-mail and text alerts that help users avoid late fees to identifying ways you can save money by changing credit cards or banks. All three have social networking components—Geezeo and Wesabe even have groups for entrepreneurs. Geezeo.com’s Self-Funded Entrepreneurs group, for example, lets members tap into the collective wisdom of the site’s small business community.  For those on the go, the sites can also be accessed from a mobile phone.  While their goals and services are similar, the streamlined Mint.com is by far the most popular of the three, with more than 1 million users. What’s the attraction at Mint? For entrepreneur Nichelle Stephens, it’s how well the site handles multiple accounts.

“Mint can pull in everything from your student loan to your 401(k),” says the Brooklyn resident, who provides bookkeeping services to microbusinesses. Stephens has Mint.com send alerts when her checking account balance drops below a specified level and uses it to help track how much she spends in different categories. “I didn’t think I shopped that much until I started tracking expenses,” she says.

Social networking expert and Mint.com user Navarrow Wright, president and CEO of the urban hip-hop site GlobalGrind.com, says the user-generated content on Geezeo and Wesabe can be especially valuable to people who need help.

No matter which site you use, you can’t lose.

“They provide a constant reminder to keep our finances up-front,” says Wright. “During the current economic crisis, we all need to take a closer look at where our money is going.”

Which is best for you?

Mint.com

Users: 1 million +

Social Networking: Forums are hard to find; it’s clear emphasis is not social support

Alerts: Yes

Mobile Access: Yes

Offers financial services/products: Yes

Savings goals: No

Geezeo.com

Users: 91,000 +

Social Networking: Groups organized by category. Includes a section called “confessions.”

Alerts: No

Mobile Access: Yes

Offers financial services/products: Yes

Savings goals: Yes

Wesabe.com

Users: 122,000 +

Social Networking: Groups organized alphabetically by title and topic; most active

Alerts: Yes

Mobile Access: Yes

Offers financial services/products: No

Savings goals: Yes

“For some of us, the best way to learn is to find like-minded people who are having problems like ours and to figure out solutions that way,” Wright says.Here’s how to get started.

Spend time on each site. Make note of the differences and your impressions. For example, Stephens likes the how-to information in the “Money 101″ section on Geezeo, so she recommends it to her clients.

Lose the fear. These sites use more security precautions than the Secret Service. Ans because you don’t provide personal identifying information, it’s unlikely a hacker could drain your account.

Know your needs. If you like to learn from peers, Wesabe’s groups are the most active, but if your goal is to find the most cost-effective financial services options, try Mint instead.

This article originally appeared in the August 2009 issue of Black Enterprise magazine.

“We were contacted by Boeing to supply a high-resolution, broadcast-quality microcamera and a portable solid state DVR [digital video recorder] for NASA’s X-37 re-entry craft’s nose camera system,” recalls Jones. The vessel is designed to test technologies for NASA’s Orbital Space Plane Program.

Niche Concepts designs, manufactures, and markets micro-video cameras smaller than a lipstick tube that attach to everything from helmets, caps, eyeglasses, and clothing to race cars and space vessels. Jones is expanding Niche Concepts’ stake in the lucrative law enforcement and military markets. But one of his top priorities is expanding and protecting the company’s brand and its intellectual property as it prepares to challenge competitors that use specific wearable components to produce videos, DVDs, or interactive marketing in ways that infringe on the company’s patents.

Jones’ technology allows military customers to make quicker, better informed decisions on issues related to training or national security. The U.S. Coast Guard in San Diego has already seen results while testing the company’s helmet cam and DVR in a range of applications, from boarding a ship to conducting a rescue.
Because video can be sent electronically to officials in a matter of seconds, “We have the potential to cut the decision-making speed from eight to 12 hours to minutes,” says Lt. Michael Frawley, assistant aviation engineering officer in San Diego.

In law enforcement, the cameras and recorders increase criminal conviction rates and reduce internal affairs investigations. “There isn’t a police department in the country that can’t use this system,” says Jones, 57. “I don’t care if the department has two people or 2,000. The price structure is reasonable for all of them compared to the expense of added investigation time.” Costs range from $1,200 to $1,800 per unit.

By the end of 2007, Jones expects sales in the military and law enforcement niche alone to exceed the company’s 2006 revenues of just under $1 million. He projects total revenues of between $1 million and $3 million for 2007. Jones says the recreational rental market, in which the company is one of the top three that rent helmet cams and DVRs to individuals to record souvenir DVDs of activities such as skiing or riding roller coasters, could also quickly exceed $1 million as the company moves into resort locations with strategic partners.

The company is currently financed by Jones and his family and friends. With the demonstrated need for his products, Jones plans to seek additional funding to capitalize on business opportunities.

Niche Concepts’ new products and applications greatly expand on their patents use and will increase their functions by adding components such as global positioning systems, as they establish credibility with high-profile placements. “JonesCams” broadcast-quality video can already be seen on shows on several networks, including the Discovery Channel and ESPN.

Hopkins crafted an aggressive, but affordable e-marketing campaign that has helped sell 200 books in six months. She spent just $200 to generate $3,200 in sales of the book at an average retail price of almost $16.

Hopkins, who owns The LeadStory, a media communications firm, developed an e-marketing strategy that promoted her novel while giving impulse buyers the option to purchase immediately online. This combined approach also eliminated the need to purchase advertising online, which can be prohibitive for small business owners. Will this strategy work for you?

Here are the simple, inexpensive tactics and tools Hopkins used to ring up sales:
Add a “buy” button to your e-mail signature. Hopkins’ e-mail signature includes book information and a “buy now” button linked to a product purchase page at her publisher’s Website. Are you selling multiple products? Rotate them in and out of your signature.

Create a blog in an online community. “The best way to be found online is to join a blogging community,” says Hopkins, adding that popular sites such as LiveJournal.com and Blogger.com aren’t communities so they are less useful. She prefers social networking sites MySpace.com and Xanga.com because as communities, they allow members with shared interests to connect more easily.
Hopkins’ Xanga blog connected her with another member who is now “hand-selling” Sleeping with a D-man offline. Hopkins points out that her MySpace page (www.myspace.com/nickyjett) attracted a promotions consultant who invited her to sell books in-person at a Chicago event showcasing the work of local authors.
“The key to using these sites is to join the community to widen your circle of influence rather than do a hard sell,” she says.

Make it possible for people to purchase your product on your Website. “I use PayPal because it’s safe, convenient, and easy to use,” says Hopkins.

Learn the latest technology and use it to help you sell. Hopkins used Windows Movie Maker, a video editing software program, to turn a PowerPoint presentation into a commercial hosted on the popular video Website YouTube.com. Creating a link to her YouTube.com video lets Hopkins post the commercial anywhere online or in e-mail messages.

Use interactive tools to help you identify niche markets. Hopkins originally targeted young African American women with her online marketing efforts but soon learned that men liked the book, too. “High-tech guys seem to love it,” she says, adding that the positive feedback she received from men who were reading her blogs influenced her to consider this market segment.

Getting others talking about your product on popular blogs is an effective promotional strategy, according to Havelock Nelson, an account executive at New York-based public relations firm Goodman Media International. “There are many literary blogs geared toward readers,” he says. “Their writers might interview Hopkins or review her book.”

“Newspaper advertising doesn’t get attention anymore,” says Raices, president of Turn Key Real Estate in Great Neck, New York. He decided to forgo traditional media in favor of a digital window, which is a high-tech advertising alternative developed by Powerful Impact Media, a company owned by Mack Burnett III.

Turn Key’s storefront window became a giant computer screen. Thanks to hidden computers, laser beams, and programmed content, passersby could research the real estate firm’s properties while standing on the sidewalk. PIM’s cutting-edge technology allows customers to use their hands as a mouse. By waving a hand in front of a picture of a home on the digital window, a customer can bring up information about that home. This movement also lets the customer input their cell phone number for an immediate call from an agent about a property.

Raices, who says one home sale could pay for his digital window’s $25,000 price tag, believes the system gives his company’s image a boost. “My business has a strong presence on the Internet that brings people in, but this is something that further differentiates me from my competition.”

The ability to turn a passive display into an interactive customer experience that creates a “wow factor” is just one of the innovative offerings that PIM (www.powerfulimpact.com), also in Great Neck, New York, is bringing to the market. Video jackets with flat LCD screens, digital videos on top of trucks, and outdoor video projectors are just a few of the products that Burnett uses to grab attention.

Another product is PIM’s new “digital clerk” device, which lets stores supplement their human clerks with electronic counterparts. “Let’s say you’re looking at a sneaker,” explains Burnett, 32, who has a computer science degree. “The shelf has a screen that is activated when you pick up the shoe. The screen can show a commercial for that particular model, cross-sell items to go with it, and tell you how many of the shoes are in stock in real time.”

Burnett founded the seven-person company in 2003. The idea for his venture came about after a lunch conversation with a colleague who was a technology consultant. “We would compare problems and projects and say, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we could build such and such?’ We eventually took one of those ideas, a digital jukebox, and figured it out,” recalls Burnett, who projects PIM sales revenues will reach $500,000 this year.

Making an impact on consumers is an example of what PIM does best: It stays on top of what’s new. Joseph Anthony, CEO of the Vital Marketing Group in New York City, says PIM’s innovations will help stores sell more products and respond to current retail trends, which indicate shoppers are more informed and independent.

“Digital tools like these will help customers who are accustomed to doing their own product research to become more knowledgeable about products in the store without the help of clerks,” Anthony says.

LIVE! Technologies created the game using Qwizdom (www.qwizdom.com) audience response software. Interactive questions were projected onto a screen from a laptop. Teams then used remote control devices employing radio frequency (RF) technology to send their answers to the computer, which was equipped with a small receiver plugged into a USB port.

The first correct answer received for each question flashed on the screen. And since each team was named after a rock band, which LIVE! Technologies Graphics Coordinator Jerman Abney had programmed into the corresponding response devices, a photo of the band flashed on the screen when a team answered correctly. “It was nuts in there,” Abney recalls. “People were very engaged and having a great time.”

Interactive audience response systems are transforming business gatherings coast-to-coast. Drab conference workshops have become highly-customized interactive sessions. Businesses can make more informed decisions by polling customers or employees for input and opinions. Trainers are using them in corporate classrooms to help participants learn and retain more through increased participation.

While these systems have always been an effective way to gather votes or determine an audience’s knowledge, past RF technology was too expensive and limited to be a practical choice for many businesses. New, less expensive RF technology and companion software have changed that.

Prices vary, but a 50-remote audience response system with a receiver and software costs about $6,000. When purchasing an audience response system, look for ease of use, software that integrates with presentation applications you already use, and easy access to the data gathered through question and answer sessions.

“This is a real time-saver,” says James D. Jones, founder and president of First Wellesley Consulting Group Inc. in Wellesley, Massachusetts. The consulting firm uses an audience response system to help lenders select technology. It gathers end-users from various departments, and they rate desirable product features or rank problems the technology should solve. “When we used a paper questionnaire, it took time to tabulate the results and generate a report. Now we get the results in real time.”

The system allows marketers to gather demographic information — job title, age, geographic location — and use the data to identify trends. Focus group participants can now express preferences freely without first assessing what others are thinking. “Because it’s anonymous, it removes the anxiety and peer pressure,” says Pete Rassega, director of professional sales for Turning Technologies L.L.C., (www.turning technologies.com) a Youngstown, Ohio provider.

PDA trainer David Pope, owner of The PDA School in Fairport, New York, says Griffin and others like him who understand the importance of getting the most from their PDA are the exception rather than the norm. “Most people have no idea what their PDA can do,” Pope says, adding that training can make a difference. In just three hours, Pope can transform a basic PDA user into a mobile technology sophisticate who can use her PDA to access a PowerPoint presentation on her desktop computer, make last-minute changes to the file, then beam it to a projector for a meeting.

The capabilities of a handheld device depend on your PDA’s features, though. The least expensive devices don’t have built-in WiFi or cellular technology to access e-mail or download directions to a restaurant. Still, Pope says that most users — even those with the simplest devices — can maximize the potential of their investment by learning more about their handheld’s capabilities.

As with all technology, it is possible to overdo it once you’ve discovered the possibilities. Griffin says his wife frowned when she saw him checking e-mail messages at a recent Oscar party. Still, that’s what he likes most about his PDA. “Mobile e-mail on my PDA really improves my productivity,” he says.

Here are a few suggestions for getting the most from your PDAs:
Assign a color category for each calendar item. “The different colors for the categories let me scan the day’s events to see whether I have a conference call or I’m taking the cat to the vet,” says Palm Treo 650 Smartphone user Nyree Wright, senior director at McGinn Group, a crisis communications firm in Arlington, Virginia.
Use the task application as a project management tool. Assign each project a category name before listing the tasks for it. Prioritize each task using the PDA’s numbered system and add a due date.
Use the repeat calendar function for birthdays and anniversaries. Wright has birthdays of friends, relatives, and associates repeated annually. “When I send a quick birthday e-mail, clients are so surprised that I remembered. It’s a great customer service tool,” she says.
Investigate the “add-ins.” There is a myriad of additional software and hardware that doesn’t come with a PDA. Yvonne Shortt, client services director for Small Biz Booster in Rego Park, New York, added Laplink Everywhere software to her HP Ipaq rx1955 Pocket PC so she can access files from anywhere. “I can get the most up-to-date version of client survey results right from my client’s office before a meeting,” she says.
Wright’s wireless keyboard provides more mobility. Free programs, such as AvantGo, save valuable travel time by downloading Mapquest directions during the PDA/desktop computer hotsync process.