Entrepreneurs must learn to play in their Genius spot.

Start up entrepreneurs must often be their own financial advisor, tech expert, sales force, marketing and publicity team, and personal assistant. All responsibilities that a larger company would delegate to a full time employee.  Doing these things yourself can leave an entrepreneur with little to no time to do what he or she went into business to do in the first place.

Making the commitment to find your genius spot and put the majority of your energy and time there can accelerate your business growth.  Outsource those things that drain your time and energy to make room for your genius spot.

Ask yourself:

Which tasks in my business day absolutely must be done by me and no one else? Most likely the answer to this question includes creating your product concepts and delivering your services.

Which tasks could be done by someone else under my supervision? This could include your bookkeeping, mailings, design work, implementation of your marketing plan, and your legal work.

Which tasks can be completely outsourced with very little supervision by me? Perhaps, computer and software updates and maintenance, travel arrangements, supply ordering, printing.

What is the cost of continuing to do everything myself? The cost of doing it all yourself could be the failure of your business as you burn out or produce less.  Compare that to the cost of outsourcing some tasks and the cost comes into perspective.

Virtual assistants, temps, freelancers and other options are used by Fortune 500 companies when needed to supplement their workforce and keep productivity and performance at peak levels.  Consider whether you ought to borrow this success tip from the big players and outsource some tasks.

Let’s inspire one another. What could you outsource, right now, to create space for you to play in your genius spot.

UPublishU, an educational arm of BookExpo America, will host a keynote presentation by Brand New Brand You President, Cindy Ratzlaff on Sunday, June 3rd as part of their educational outreach to self-published and self-publishing authors.

Ratzlaff’s presentation at the first ever BEA sponsored UPublishU is entitled “Do This, Not That: The Social Media Roadmap for Authors.” Ratzlaff will share the “must do’s” versus the “nice to do’s” to helped authors save time, money and frustration as they build a platform to promote their book.

Infographics are hot. They appeal to visual learners, they grab great Edgerank on Facebook, they rule Pinterest and they demand to be shared. Creating an infographic for your business or brand that provides top notch visual entertainment while driving home a point, teaching something or laying out a concept in an easy to understand way can give your business or brand that viral buzz you’re longing to create.

Here’s what I learned from infographics today. Over 80% of Americans use at least one social network. That’s 245 million people.

An infographic can:

• Tell a story
• Provide a road map
• Present statistics in a surprising or powerful way
• Make us laugh

WIX, is a free website builder offering entrepreneurs and small businesses a quick and free way to create a professional looking website. They put together a terrific example of a statistics graphic that’s really a subtle and clever promotion. Chock full of interesting, retweetable factoids about the reasons every business needs to “go social,” this infographic has all the right stuff to drive viewers to post, share, pin and tweet about it. Things like “Facebook users share over 4 billion items per day” is social sharing gold and is also good for presentations to potential clients who don’t yet believe in the power of social media in a marketing campaign.  By positioning themselves as a company who understands the social web, they’re providing value to their ideal customer, giving that customer something to share on his or her pages and attaching their brand to a visual that will be widely shared; basically putting their calling card out to a potentially massive audience who are willing to pass it along.

Do you have other examples of great infographics that cast their creators in a positive light and add to their brand credibility?  Please feel free to share them here.

You may know Moll Anderson from her award-winning  entertainment reporting or appearances on national television programs such as “Good Morning America,” “The Today Show,” HGTV and E! Entertainment’s Style Network.  An accomplished interior designer, and lifestyle expert, Moll Anderson’s celebrity and private clients are drawn to her “seductive living” brand.  She’s also an author, now on tour promoting her newest book, The Seductive Home.

Moll’s expanding digital footprint helps her share her brand message with a whole new audience.

Moll Anderson

I spoke with Moll recently about the process of expanding her personal brand, and asked her to share some of the things she has learned in the process.

Cindy Ratzlaff: Is there one lesson or takeaway that you’d share with first year entrepreneurs who are transitioning from corporate life to running their own businesses?

Moll Anderson: Hire a great Business consultant! If I leaned anything in business so far it’s that you need to know what your strong suits are! I am a total visual, creative and positive person. I’m smart enough to know that because I did not go to business school that I needed to hire someone that could guide me and challenge me continually. Most importantly help me to make a strong business plan. Always surround yourself with a strong and positive team.

Cindy Ratzlaff: How do you determine which new projects are right for your brand?

Moll Anderson: Continually ask yourself, “Does this help the brand?” For me, I am the brand so it’s quite simple. If it’s not good for the brand then we have our answer. Choose ventures that will aid you in advancing your brand in the direction you are pursuing. Set a path and follow it. Whenever I speak to marketing classes, I  tell them that my company and brand are unique. Why? I am the thing that my little company sells and it’s different for each and every company. For example, if you’re a company that sells cups, then you can hire salesman to go out and travel around to sell cups. When you think of my company, I am the cup. No one can sell me like I can; If I get sick or I don’t look good or I need to take time off, it affects the company. It’s just not the same for anyone else to show up.  I am the brand and the business.

Cindy Ratzlaff: Promotion is always challenging for entrepreneurs.  Any advice for entrepreneurs on what works best?  Advertising, publicity, social media?  What works for you and your brand?

Moll Anderson: The challenging part of promotion is the financial commitment. Print media is great but costly. However, in social media you can reach a lot of people quickly at a much more cost-effective rate. There comes a time in business, and with entrepreneurs, when you need to  say “Go big or go home.” Do it, do it right, or don’t do it at all. It will serve you well.

Cindy Ratzlaff: You’re a designer and you are very visual.  Where should start-ups focus their attention when developing their own visual identity for their brands?

Moll Anderson: Nothing should begin visually without first creating a strategic brand statement. You must know your brand and who your audience is before you can begin to start any visual. When you have your statement in place, you’ll find the visual easily follows because it speaks for the brand.

Cindy Ratzlaff: As a business owner or entrepreneur begins to grow and branch out with new brand extensions, they face challenges about how the new products fit their current brand. You’ve done a fabulous job of staying true to your core brand by adding new touch points for fans with video, television, books, and live events.  How do you determine what’s a good fit for “Brand Moll,” and do you have any guidelines you’d recommend to others facing expansion?

Moll Anderson: I’m very lucky in that, once again, I am the brand so for me it has to make sense. If you are authentic to what you sell and you believe with all your heart that what you are selling is important and needed then the doors open that are part of your path and doors close that are not. My favorite saying is “That’s mans rejection, is God’s protection”

Cindy Ratzlaff: What’s next? Tell us a little about where you see your brand going in the coming year.

Moll Anderson: Wow! I’m really excited about this year. We finally have turned a very important corner in gaining traction in media awareness. We still have a long way to go, but what I am experiencing is very positive. We are launching a new book this month, and are developing products that compliment our brand messaging.

Moll’s digital footprint includes a Facebook page, Twitter, YouTube Channel, Pinterest, a recurring guest column at Magazines.com and her own MollAnderson.com website.  She’s currently traveling to promote her newest book, The Seductive Home.

As entrepreneurs, we are all our own brands and everything we do or offer as products or services are our brand extensions. Asking ourselves the question “does this represent my brand” will help guide the development of brand you.

What are your biggest concerns, questions, or challenges in developing and delivering your brand message? Let me know and I’ll find the experts to answer your questions.

You are a brand.  Your products or services are your brand offerings.  When you add something new to your offerings, that becomes your brand extension.

Let’s say you are a successful author.  You’ve written a great book on marketing.  You’ve promoted the book with advertising, personal appearances, traditional media and even social media.  Your brand, to the consumer, is “marketing expert.”  Now you’re ready to add something new to your services.  You might add consulting, coaching, webinars or live trainings.  But if you were to add a cookbook to your brand, you’d have a great deal of work to do in order to bring people along with you as you evolve your brand from business to baking.  BUT, if cooking is your passion and you’re using cooking as a metaphor for blending, mixing and creating a product, you’d have a brand extension.  If the book were about your favorite cookie recipes, you’d need a new branding strategy.

It’s possible for a personal brand to evolve and include a wide variety of products and services.  However, adding things far afield from a brand’s original DNA is best done once the brand is mature and the brand leader (YOU) is well established and has a strong and loyal following.

For the rest of us, annual evaluation and planning for our emerging brand life cycle is an exercise worth doing.  As you plan your growth, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Where’s the money? What is my most profitable offering right now? In other words, what are people buying from me now?  When people are willing to part with their money to purchase your products or services, that’s the simplest and purest market research.
2. Customer needs: are my current clients or customers asking me for additional information or services I don’t yet provide?  If those services or products are within your skill set, this is the proverbial low hanging fruit.  Put energy and time into providing your current client base with what they are already asking you to offer.
3. Next offer: after I’ve delivered my first product or service to a client, and I know they are happy, what do I want to offer them next?  This is the beginning of your funnel.  Take note of the needs of your clients. See if there are natural additional ways to serve your client base.  Repeat this question after every new product or service to create additional offerings.
4. Brand extension: once you’ve developed a client base the trusts you and is thrilled with what you offer, you can begin to stretch your brand. This is best done in increments.  Taking our example, the marketing book author might now write about sales by making the connection in the consumers mind between sales and marketing and letting marketers know they also have to be salespeople, especially if they are entrepreneurs or small business owners.  Next, our expert might branch out and claim mind share as a provider of information about product development, distribution and even sourcing.  He or she might divide upcoming product offerings into categories that provide deep knowledge in the how-to aspects of each phase of creating new products or services. Then our expert could create speeches, live events, webinars, DVD series, more books and other creative delivery systems for those new products.

Brand development is like story telling. Don’t try to take your reader from “Once Upon a Time,” to “the wicked witch was dead” in two steps. Tell the full story. Lead the consumer through your thinking process by offering logical, helpful, inventive product and service development. And, every step of the way, double check to see that your brand development is ringing true with your customer base.

Do you have questions about extending your brand? Let’s talk.

Nearly every guru or expert mentions consistent engagement as a routine or habit that contributes to online success.

Ever since the publication of  The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, people been fascinated with the notion that there are some common traits, habits, rituals or routines that all successful people embrace.  They extrapolate that by adopting these same routines or habits they, too, might be able to tap into their own path to personal and professional success.

In speaking with leaders in a wide variety of fields, I’ve come to realize that this is not entirely true.  The habits or routines followed by leaders are as diverse as are their talents.

Still, a recent Twitter conversation about daily habits and successful business leaders, prompted  me to ask 14 top performers in a wide variety of fields to share one thing they do, every day, they feel has contributed significantly to their success.

Here’s are the lessons I gleaned from what they shared.  The headlines are my interpretation of their routine or habit.

1.  Associate with interesting people

Robert Scoble, Robert Scoble, Blogger, Tech Evangelist and Rackspace Executive

“For years now my main habit is to have a different conversation, every day, with someone who is DOING something interesting!  I’ve kept doing that for years, and recording almost all of them, and that has enriched my life immeasurably (and my career, too). I make sure I always keep my calendar full with at least one conversation with someone different.”

2.   Pay yourself first

Jeremiah Owyang, Industry Analyst, Altimeter Group

“Opening and responding to emails is often the act of paying someone else –instead I ‘pay myself first’ by researching, reading, and writing my thoughts on a blog each morning for about 2 hours before responding to email.”

3.  Make technology serve your needs

Ben Parr, Editor-At Large at Mashable

“I have a private wiki that I use to organize my entire life. It has a list of what I want to accomplish, my personal philosophies, important links and even my bucket list.”

4.  Clear your head and keep your energy high

Loic Le Meur, founder of Seesmic.com and LeWeb.net Conference.

“I run nearly every day. That makes me relax and take some distance about daily projects. While many think it’s tiring, when you get into it you actually feel an incredible energy kick for the entire day if you run in the morning. It makes me feel happy and nice to my coworkers and makes me forget about annoying things I would otherwise have a tendency to focus on.  Otherwise, I could not understand technology the way I do if TechMeme wasn’t there.”

5.  Eat your own dog food.

Laura Fitton, CEO/Founder Oneforty.com and co-author of Twitter for @Dummies

“I actually ‘eat my own dog food!’ Every day I use SocialBase (our social media productivity management software) to stay on top of my social media presence. It lets me easily track tasks and bookmark the tools and platforms that I need to keep updated every day. It reminds me of my daily, weekly & monthly recurring tasks, and gives me a jumping off point to execute them in one single spot.”

6.  Flex your spiritual muscle

Michael Stelzner, founder of SocialMediaExaminer.com and author of Launch

“I pray! I thank God for working through me, pray for inspiration and ask for encouragement during the difficult moments. The Lord has always taken care of me.  This is something I do in my car just before I walk on into the office.”

7.  Practice what you teach

Mari Smith, Facebook, Social Media & Relationship Marketing Specialist, Author of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day

“Every day, I personally respond to as many messages as I can, whether by email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I do my best to make time to thank and acknowledge people. As Sir Richard Branson says, “lavish praise on people.” I agree wholeheartedly. People love to be heard and I pride myself on being inclusive and treating others as equals. At the end of each day, I can sleep peacefully knowing I’ve reached out and connected with as many people as possible and it ultimately all helps to build social equity.”

8.  Keep an inquisitive mind

Rieva Lesonsky, CEO GrowBiz Media

“One of the keys to my success, is I “explore” every day. I check Twitter, read the newsletters I subscribe to, go to my favorite websites. There’s so much information out there which can inspire or inform something I’m working on.  As busy as I may be, I make sure to do this every day.”

9. Replenish your resources

Gretchen Rubin, author of New York Times bestseller, The Happiness Project

“My habit: Getting enough sleep. Research makes it clear that sleep has an enormous influence on our mood, health, energy, athletic performance — lack of sleep may even contribute to weight gain! The top two reasons for people to be in bad moods at work? Tight work deadlines and lack of sleep. As a writer, my mental acuity and energy are critically important. I see a huge difference in my analytical capacity, my creativity, and my productivity based on how wide-awake I feel. It’s hard to turn out the light before I finish that chapter or answer one last email, but now I’m zealous about getting enough sleep.”

10.  Plan for success

David Zinczenko, Editor in Chief, Men’s Health

“I get in before the rest of my staff almost every day. It’s the only time that I can concentrate on writing, editing, and other close work. Once the team is here, it’s all about meeting and managing. I’m a nutrition guy, so I stock my office with healthy snacks and drinks like almonds, trail mix, dried fruit and coconut water. It keeps my energy up, and I don’t need to waste time running out to look for something to eat. And, I go to the gym almost every day at lunchtime, and read through emails on a stationary bike. It makes the second half of my day much more energetic, and I take less time—and get more done—during a workout than during most business lunches.”

11.  Trust your intuition

Maria Andros, The Video Marketing Queen, creator of The Social Media Traffic Blueprint and The Video Conversion Formula.

“I think that the biggest key to my success has always been strengthening my intuition on a daily basis. I download ideas and get inspiration for the content of all my programs much like an artist does. Often it’s very easy to let our analytical minds take over and keep us stuck. I feel that the more we are in tune with our inner guidance, the more we can make the right decisions to move our businesses forward. For example before I partner with anyone, or create a new product, I listen, for if it’s a hell YES or not. If not, I do not proceed, as that will only have a impact down the road. I have learned the hard way in the past.  I practice listening to my inner voice and my gut and it’s almost always accurate. I highly recommend building this muscle as it can make a great difference in your results.  I think that some of the most successful people in business are very in tune with their intuition and this helps them to stay on track and moving forward.”

12.  Banish the naysayers

Kathy Kinney, Actress and Author and literacy advocate

“I get out of my own way. ”

13.  Find your creative zone

Wally Lamb, #1 New York Times bestselling author of She’s Come Undone, and I know this Much is True

“Since I began writing fiction 30 years ago, I have always found the shower to be a place where my creativity is unleashed. I hit the ‘rain room’ each morning before I hit the button on the computer. The earlier the better–5:00 a.m., if possible.”

14.  Create space to think

Peggy Rajski, Academy Award Winning Director Of Trevor and co-founder of The Trevor Project

The daily habit that contributes to my success is morning meditation.  I’ve done it for over 20 years.  I usually sit for 20 minutes or more, but honestly, even 5 minutes does the trick.  I feel more resilient, ready to take on the challenges of the day, and less likely to experience ‘I think I’m going to kill you if you don’t do what I want’ versus ‘I think this is kind of funny that I can’t get what I want.’ But more often than not, I do get what I want–or understand that what I’m getting is what I need regardless of what I think I want.

15.  Cindy Ratzlaff, Author, Speaker, Consultant

It’s only fair that I share mine as well.  I set a success goal every morning, for that day.  I write it on a white board in my office and when I find myself being pulled off track, I ask myself “will this action serve today’s goal?”  If not, I set it aside until I’ve accomplished the daily goal.

Are there habits or routines you can incorporate in your own life to achieve a higher level of business success?  Please share and let’s see if we can enrich one another’s daily practices toward higher levels of achievement.

First, when you share valuable information through social bookmarking, you position yourself as a resource to your online community.  You train your potential customers to follow you to stay up to date and in the know on advances, news and strategies in their fields of interest.

Social sharing creates social influence for you and the original content creator.

When you comment on a blog post, and, this is important–add to the conversation by contributing additional resources, original thoughts or insights–you also position yourself as an individual or brand highly engaged in your field of expertise.  The more interesting your comments are, the more likely people will follow your digital footprint back to your home base and subscribe, follow, friend or bookmark you.

Share to Position Yourself as a Leader

When you read a blog post you like from a writer whose work you value or respect, leave a comment. By doing so, you provide a service. Google and other search engines pay attention to the amount of interaction that takes place on a website and the more interaction, the higher the social authority of that particular blog.

Think about it in this way.

1. You’re at a business conference where you hear a presentation about a new technology coming out of a brand new start-up.
2. You go back to your company and tell your colleagues to check out this new start-up because they have some valuable marketing tools that might help you on an upcoming project.
3. Your firm hires these new innovators for a project which is hugely success because of their new technology.
4. They grow and continue to innovate and help your whole industry.
5. You are a hero at your company and you, in turn, consider that original business conference to be your new “must attend” event.
6. HOWEVER,  if you attend the conference but tell no one about what you’ve learned, their start-up fails to thrive and grow for lack of customers  and eventually they don’t produce any new ideas or products and perhaps even go under.
7. Everyone loses; the start-up, your company, and you.

The same thinking applies to blogs. If you find a blogger is consistently providing you with valuable tips and strategies, then commenting is your way of encouraging Google rank them well and ultimately to help others find this blogger. So being a conscientious blog content consumer by subscribing and leaving comments is a way for you to contribute to the ecosystems you inhabit. And, in return, you garner social equity for yourself as an aggregator of useful information, a leader in connecting your fans and followers needs to resources they can use and as an informed player in the marketplace.

Bookmarking Benefits

Social Bookmarking is another responsible way to help spread valuable or entertaining information. In addition to leaving a comment, go to one of the many social bookmarking sites and recommend the blog post to others. Social bookmarks are a way for you to save links to posts you’ve found helpful, and others can subscribe to your bookmarks.  By bookmarking a blog, story or news article, you create a home for it where you can easily access it and refer to it again later.

This serves as a visibility strategy for you because you found the post or blog, and now, by bookmarking it, you’re telling other that it’s worth reading.  You increase your own social currency as someone who passes on great information and ideas, and you increase the visibility of the original blogger.

It’s Called “Social” Media for a Reason

Social Media is, at it’s heart, people engaging and sharing ideas with one another. So remember to consume information and pass on the tips and strategies that you find most useful. In this way you become a valuable resource to your followers, you become more visible to those you follow and you foster a sharing mentality throughout your network.

Some social bookmarking site you might consider using include:

* Digg
* Delicious
* StumbleUpon
* Reddit

Please let me know if you have a bookmark list so I can consider subscribing. It’s time to create conversations about YOU by creating conversations about others.

Can you put your core offering into one compelling sentence?

I always ask them, for the purpose of achieving those goals, to shift their focus from the end result to the first challenge; clearly stating their unique value to a potential customer.  This “why to buy” focus helps businesses center their marketing, branding and public relations messages around the most important point of all—their offering.

F.O.C.U.S stands for “Find Our Core Unique Service.”  Figuring this out helps companies address one of the four key elements of branding; variation.  Asking the tough questions, doing the research and creating clear, concise communications will save entrepreneurs and even bigger companies time, money and frustration.

Some questions to ask to help define the unique service or selling proposition are:

How is this service or product different from all others in the competitive set?

• Less expensive, more detailed, easier to use, more conveniently located?

Does the personality of this business or service give it something special?

• Is the business or service provider more highly qualified, more experienced, personally enriched by the product usage?

Why would someone choose this product or service from all other choices available?

• Better customer service and support, first to market, more stylish packaging, more rave reviews, higher perceived value?

Try to put your core offering into one compelling sentence.  This exercise will tell you if you’ve nailed your F.O.C.U.S.  I invite you to post your F.O.C.U.S. statement here and I’ll give you my opinion on whether or not your statement conveys your F.O.C.U.S. to me.  Go.

Secret Millionaire stars share some common practices entrepreneurs can adopt to create their own success.

Dani Johnson was homeless at 21 and a millionaire at 23. She now speaks, writes and conducts virtual home study courses and live events designed to help people get out of debt. Her story is compelling and inspirational.  The tone of her communications is all about having experienced the fear and frustration of financial debt herself. By sharing her personal story, helping people identify with her, then modeling a success route, Dani acts as a mentor, cheerleader and coach to those who follow her program.

James Malinchak is a speaker, consultant and internet marketer who models hard work and reward.  He is everywhere, all the time, with boundless energy and a message that you can create the life you want if you just have the will.  He’s a mindset coach and people aspire to the life he has created for himself through relentless hard work and strategically brilliant marketing.  Among other things, he coaches people on becoming paid speakers, something he is very good at doing himself.  He understands creating ambient awareness and brand connections. His newest offering is called the Millionaire Apprentice Program, which piggy backs his programs SEO nicely with the buzz Secret Millionaire is garnering, and authentically ties in by teaching the techniques that helped him become a millionaire.

Gary and Diane Heavin are the founders of Curves, the fitness franchise for women. They have a different model.  They’re not internet marketers.  The majority of their work is hands on, with people who buy a Curves franchise. They model the in the trenches, “do it with you,” style of business. Even though they’ve created the largest women’s fitness franchise in history and have become very wealthy in the processes, they still operate like entrepreneurs. Gary’s philosophy is “Entrepreneurs don’t get paid on effort. They get paid on results.” He and Diane believe “success is not about who runs the fastest but rather who gets up the fastest after they fall.”  This year they’ve teamed up with Zumba to create a new Curves Circuit with Zumba Fitness class to add to club offerings and are in the process of adding a diet counselor certification program through the Cleveland Clinic so clubs can provide better diet counseling to their members.

Ali Brown is a high profile coach for women entrepreneurs.  She’s offers a tiered system of coaching programs that go from free webinars all the way through a very elite high priced personal coaching program and she has clients lined up to work with her.  Her personal story of leaving corporate America and struggling as she launched her own business helps entrepreneurs identify with her and her “my gamble paid off and yours can too” mantra is appealing.  She models success, glamour and adventure.  And, she works hard.  From that first business in her living room, Ali has expanded her brand into a magazine, an online style boutique, women’s retreats, info-products and more.

So what lessons can other entrepreneurs learn from these successful self-made millionaires?

1. Poverty is a strong motivator in each of their success stories.  A driving passion to improve your life can be a powerful influencer.
2. Creating a business from the ground up takes more hard work than anything you’ve ever done before.  Persistence is the key.
3. Continued success lies in continued reinvention. Successful people never stop innovating.
4. Financial freedom is a strong motivator and there are millions of people who want and need the information you may have on how to create financial security. A down economic climate may be the ideal time to launch a business that solves a problem.
5. Sharing your personal journey helps others envision themselves as potentially successful.  People want to do business with successful people and modeling success can produce powerful results.
6. A great career or business is less about making the next sale and more about building lasting relationships.

If you enjoyed this article, I’d appreciate hearing from you. Please leave a comment below or on my Facebook page and share your thoughts.

We now produce a billion tweets per week.

We’re alerted to breaking news, disasters, celebrity deaths, political unrest and emergency procedures through Twitter.  We talk, real-time, to the CEO’s of major corporations and expect them to pay attention to what we have to say about their brands.  We rapidly spread the word about political unrest and change the colors of our avatars and our home country information in solidarity with oppressed people to help them keep their anonymity in countries where they could be in harms way just for Tweeting.  We share, and sometimes overshare, from our computers and our mobile devices, a billion times per day, all in 140 characters or less. Books have been written and published on Twitter. Poetry, especially Haiku, is flourishing on Twitter.

In short, we’ve fallen head over heals for the micro blog. We’ve got a lot to say in a few short characters.  But as much fun as Twitter can be, the power brands have figured out how to utilize Twitter to drive customer actions, to create brand loyal communities and to enhance their business reputation.

A good business strategy always includes listening and monitoring.  So in honor of Twitter’s 5^th birthday today, I’ve compiled a short list of sites that will give you insight into your own Twitter habits. These stats can provide you with a clear picture of when you tweet, what keywords you use most, how influential you are in your Twitter circle and help you determine your course of action moving forward.

Tweetstats: This site helps you graph your Twitter patterns such as number of tweets per day, tweets per month, tweets per hour and provides a great visual look that can help you understand your patterns.  If you’ve been effective with these patterns, you can replicate them.  If you’re struggling with your Twitter marketing, then you knowledge about your previous patterns can help you adjust.  The bright, full color charts are great for presentations, too.

Klout: Klout is a social influence score based on proprietary metrics and takes into consideration your influence style, how often your network retweets or interacts with you, the influential scores of your close network followers, unique mentions, number of followers and also factors in your Facebook community, blog subscribers and your LinkedIn tribe. In the past year, some high profile events have been known to use Klout scores to determine which bloggers to invite to parties and press events. It’s clear that the ability to measure social influence is important to companies and paying attention to yours, might be worth your time.  Klout gives you suggestions on areas in which you might put more focus to raise your score.TwitterCounter: This site gives you a visual map of your recent follower acquisition, a ranking among all Twitter users, predicts your growth over the next 15 days and gives you an estimate of the time it will take you to double your following given your historical data.  A paid version will give you significantly more information and this site is well worth a look.  I particularly like the live link on the right hand side to follow other Twitter users who have recently visited the site.

TwitterGrader: This site gives you a grade from 0 to 100, uses their own algorithm to measure your power, reach and authority or your actual impact in the Twitterverse.  It looks at the number of followers, the power of those followers, the number of updates from your account, the currency of those updates, your follower to following ratio, the engagement between you and your followers and then calculates a grade.

Hootsuite: Hootsuite is a web-based Twitter management tool that allows you to monitor multiple Twitter streams in a glance.  It also allows you to pre-schedule tweets to go out to your account at different times of the day.  Hootsuite just rolled out a new suite of very useful analytic tools to help clients monitor their account activity.  Ow.ly is the Hootsuite link shortener and you can now print out and share with clients, a nifty color pie chart analysis of exactly how many people clicked on a given link.  This is useful for tracking the effectiveness of your messaging and the actions that message was able to create.  The “Quick Stats” report gives user, at a glance, their top referrers, percentage of followers from any given country, and their most popular shared links.  These reports can be exported, customized and shared.

Twitterholic: This simple site takes a look at the date you joined Twitter, where you rank in terms of followers against others in their database and also gives you a ranking based on your location. This could help location based accounts see where they stand in their market.

Twitter, itself, gives you some great ways to monitor your marketing effectiveness.  Check your @replies, your DM’s and your @mentions daily for real-time valuable information about the effectiveness of your marketing message.

Using a variety of sites to listen and monitor your marketing and branding efforts on Twitter will give you an effective way to develop your own bench marks and success metrics.  The key is to monitor, measure, and adjust your business marketing strategy based on the valuable information that these and other sites can provide.  If you found this article helpful, I’d appreciate hearing from you.  Please leave a comment, ask a question or share any other sites you like to use, and be sure to wish Twitter a happy birthday today.