Alpha Inventions Upgraded

The site has been substantially upgraded, so now it will display up to ten of your posts – your headlines are crucial in attracting people to click on them.

I have a couple of comments:

The rotating posts don’t stay up long enough for people to decide if they want to click and have more time to read what is actually in there. You can’t leave a comment on something you haven’t had time to read! (anyway, you shouldn’t) AI – can you please look at this?

Once you have clicked on a displayed blog, there doesn’t seem to be any easy way to get back to AlphaInventions to resume browsing. AI – can you please look at this, too?

If your blog is on a networking site like mine Stories My Nana Tells , AlphaInventions cannot find it. So, you need to run a blog on WordPress (or something similar) and have links in your posts back to your other site – to bring visitors and readers to your site. AlphaInventions is a blog search engine, not a website search engine.

Frankly, I love it! It is great for bringing readers to my blog. It is up to me – to keep them here.

Oil Spill Endangers Wildlife In Western Australia

If you haven’t done so already, Please sign the Kimberley oil spill petition to stop disasters like this happening again.

Save Our Marine Life – Oil Spill Petition

Australia has a poor history in protecting its unique species.  While The PM and his Deputy were spruiking the attributes of their favourite football teams in the AFL, thousands of whales, dolphins, dugongs, sea birds and shore line wildlife have been put at risk by the oil spill off the coast of Western Australia.

We need to see clear and decisive action from the Federal and State Governments to create a swathe of marine parks around our pristine coastline to protect our unique animal and marine life.

Please use this link to petition your local Australian Member of Parliament to get the Federal Government to legislate for the parks and to provide the money for their support and maintenance.  If you are overseas, use the link to tell the Prime Minister of Australia that we, as a world, care about how we impact on this fragile planet.

Please sign the Petition for Marine Parks

The End Of The Line – Special Movie Screening – Perth

Save Our Marine Life is excited to announce the first screenings around Australia of acclaimed new film, The End Of The Line.

Please come to the first screening of this new, highly acclaimed film The End Of The Line – on Tuesday 6th October at the Astor Theatre in Mt. Lawley. (Show Time is 7:00pm Tickets available through the Conservation Council on 94207600)

Invite your friends

If you have ever even thought about dropping a line in the water, you must see this film.

The project to lobby the Federal Government to set up a series of marine parks around the coast of Australia is something about which we should be passionate, because marine science is already proving their great value in helping to preserve and encourage better husbandry of our precious wild fish stocks.

I will certainly be there – I look forward to seeing you too. Make up a group of three or four and come along see and hear why marine parks are absolutely critical and highly effective in preserving the wealth of our wildlife and guaranteeing a sustainable fishing future.

Save Our Marine Life has a Facebook page – where you can become a fan Facebook Fan Page. If you are on Twitter, you can also follow Sandy Seal – SandySeal on Twitter

See you there!

Cheers
Lesley Dewar

PS: I am off to Kununurra and Broome tomorrow to fly over and visit the Bungle Bungles, see the Ord River and go whale watching (not in the Ord River, silly. In Broome!) Our Kimberleys are something about which we should all be passionate – to preserve and protect. If you haven’t done so already, please sign the Kimberley oil spill petition to stop disasters like this happening again.

PPS: Stories My Nana Tells is nearly ready to launch – for a sneak preview
Stories My Nana Tells

Save Our Marine Life screens new film

Save Our Marine Life is excited to announce the first screenings around Australia of acclaimed new film, The End Of The Line.

Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year, this powerful new documentary uses interviews with world leading scientists, activists and fishermen, brilliant underwater footage and sweeping cinematography to tell the story of the devastating impacts of over-fishing on our oceans and fishing communities, and the simple solutions to the problem.

The following community screenings have been secured prior to wide cinematic release.

- Fremantle – 26th and 27th September
- Melbourne – 2nd October
- Mount Lawley, WA – 6th October
- Hobart – 8th October
- Adelaide – 18th October
- Newcastle – 20th October

More events are planned, with screenings in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth suburbs on the way.

If you want to purchase tickets, find out more, or watch the film trailer visit www.saveourmarinelife.org.au

All the best

David Mackenzie
Conservation Council of WA
For Save Our Marine Life

PS. If you haven’t done so already, Please sign the Kimberley oil spill petition to stop disasters like this happening again.

Lulled by low interest rates?

Have you checked your bank’s interest charges, lately? Even with low interest rates, they still make mistakes. 

 Home Loan Checker is a quick, reliable way to make sure that you are not paying too much interest and to get a refund from your Bank if they have overcharged you.

Open Letter to The Prime Minister

Dear Prime Minister 

You must be as pleased as so many of us are, that the sister City of Broome, Taiji, has suspended its dolphin cull this year.  While they officially say it is due to the low price of dolphin meat, there is no doubt that the international condemnation of the dreadful dolphin and whale slaughter that continues in Japan is one of the prime reasons.

The screening of the movie “The Cove” has made this travesty of ‘culture’ highly visible.  The Cove Movie 

Our Japanese neighbours are extremely concerned about the loss of face that their continued hunting will cause them, in international circles.  With your unique understanding of their culture and that also of the Chinese, you know how important it is that any Government continues to do itself what it requires of others.

In this context, we are extremely concerned about the impact of the oil blowout of the coast of Western Australia.

As the Prime Minister, we call on you to:

1) Ensure that the West Atlas oil spill is capped at the earliest possible time, and all necessary resources are made available to clean up the slick and treat affected wildlife.

2) Commission an independent expert inquiry into how Australia can be better prepared to respond to similar disasters in future.

3) Create an Australia-wide network of marine sanctuaries which buffer and protect the most important parts of the Australian marine environment from polluting development.

Creating a real balance between the needs of our unique wildlife and the pristine wilderness of the Kimberly with the economic development of the North West is not a easy task.  The people of Australia call on you to apply the most stringent controls on the oil and gas industry, to protect our environment and our wildlife, within their plans to develop our natural resources.

We urge your Government to act quickly both in this matter and also in the matter of extending the marine sanctuaries so greatly needed to help protect our unique and highly diversified marine life.

Yours sincerely

Lesley Dewar

***************************************************************

Take action NOW!

Ask Your federal MP to support large marine sanctuaries

 

Please add your own thoughts and send a direct message to the Prime Minister of Australia regarding the Oil Spill  

Contact your own Federal Member of Parliament and tell them that you understand the the need for more MarineSancturaries around our Australian Coast and urge their support.

We had over 12,000 people visit this blog to read the original story about the dolphin slaughter in Taiji  http://bit.ly/SecretSlaughter

How To Help Save Our Australian Marine Life

Ask Your federal MP to support large marine sanctuaries

Help To Save Our Australian Marine Life – Only 1% of their home is protected!

Do your bit for our magnificent Australian marine life. Join us in calling for a network of large marine sanctuaries in Australia’s South West.

Our marine life is unique – but unprotected and under pressure like never before. Pollution, mining, and rapid declines in breeding stock of our popular fish mean urgent action is needed now.

Use this link to send a letter directly to your Australian Federal Politician and get your free sticker showing your support of Australia’s unique and diverse marine wildlife.

The best time to talk to your local Federal Politician is NOW, before Federal Parliament goes into recess for Christmas. .  Use this link to have your say NOW!

 

Follow Sandy The Seal on Twitter: http://twitter.com/sandyseal/

NOT IN AUSTRALIA? YOU CAN HELP US, TOO!

 Not In Australia?  You can help us, too – by sending your letter to the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, MP.   His link is on the website and you can find him on Twitter, too. http://twitter.com/KevinRuddPM 

 
Share this story with your friends. http://www.saveourmarinelife.org.au 

 

Come for a ride in our Red Helicopter – it’s free

Stories My Nana Tells are for the young and the young at heart.

Stories My Nana Tells is an online subscriber service, which will dispatch a new story every second week. Each story will come directly to you as the subscriber or can be sent at the same time to your nominated child or grandchild – It will be your choice – you can subscribe for both of you, if you wish. You can subscribe here and it is an “opt-in” subscription, so you will be asked to confirm your subscription

We will deliver the first five stories before we ask you to become a paid subscriber – and then it will be about $US1.93 per fortnight – paid quarterly – so $US12.50 once every three months (including Australian taxes).

Why not give it a try for free, today?

If you missed our launch the party, don’t miss spending a few minutes with us, viewing the launch of Stories My Nana Tells. We gave away toy helicopters and four real helicopter flights on the night. It was fun! Our Launch Party

There is a great press release too – on Andrew Spriegel’s blog, on LinkedIn! Social Media Works!

Stories My Nana Tells has fabulous stories for 7yo to 12old children, so come and try us out. You can subscribe here and you will have plenty of stories to enjoy in the weeks and months ahead.

Stories My Nana Tells

A Good Read

Ringwraith and his black horse

With a thudding heart, I watched the black rider come down the road and shrank even closer to the side of the road, so vulnerable in the fading light with just a few bushes to hide us from the ominous threat. Corrupted by the power of his own Ring, the Ringwraith’s body had faded until it was invisible to any mortal eyes.

Ringwraith

Yet, beneath his black hood and robes, his eyes reflected the hellish red rays of the setting sun, its light glintedon his sword and our terror deepened when his unholy face swung away from the light towards us and we feared that his poisonous Black Breath might strike us where we lay. Alongside me, Frodo had his eyes fixed on horse and rider – for we had barely………..

This story is now part of our online delivery from Stories My Nana Tells
You can subscribe here and you will have plenty of stories to enjoy in the weeks and months ahead.

Thank you, Twitter and LinkedIn

We have just broadcast a third post from Stories My Nana Tells. Thank you, my LinkedIn and Twitter subscribers -your support is much appreciated. Read it here

Linda says “Ban on Second Life has started”

 

Linda – Do I understand you correctly? That you can still log in to Second Life – but you can only access a PG area and from there you cannot progress to an “adult” area? I am not familiar with SL, so I don’t actually know what is classified as an “adult” area in comparison to any other area in SL? Lesleyhttp://linkedin.com/in/lesleydewar	Australia To Ban Second Life 36 #
Submitted on 2009/07/06 at 2:31pm It’s already happened, I verified my age and everything is there, but I cannot access any adult areas. When I do it crashes the whole SL Client, if I try to login from last location it screws up and crashes until I tell it to go to a PG area…

Are You New To Twitter?

Updated Version of “Are You A Twitter TWION”

Perfect for learning how Twitter works and how to avoid making some silly mistakes.   Request your personal copy here

Responses we have had:

_buzzirkmobileRT @LesleyDewar Absolutely loved your blog on Twittering – probably the best I’ve read on the subject. Kudos to you and thanks.

dcychan@LesleyDewar Like your mentoring and help to newbies. Great to follow.

RT @chrisabraham @BlogCoach TheTwitterati keep telling us how to use and not use Twitter but we need to learn how it is actually being used.

TheClassicCarol: RT @LesleyDewar: Tips for Twitter newbies Tips for Twitter Newbies [LOVE this info, polite, helpful and reminder to say thanks. THANK YOU!]

 

 

 

 

A Squidoo Ripple

A brand new Squidoo Lens Creating A Ripple will follow the ripples we make launching a new business – Stories My Nana Tells - that has started out with a big splash and now needs to have some gentle Chinese water torture applied.

You know what we mean – just dripping, dripping away into the pool of referrals and newsletters and letting all those tiny ripples build up their energy to become a tide of success. Stories My Nana Tells is on WordPress and the splash was a great launch party, with a big press release on LinkedIn and Twitter. Making A Splash We will follow the building of the business with the ripples we make by dropping small stones into big ponds and see how far those ripples go. Which social media is the best for creating ripples to build your business?

The Ripple Strategy

After a week of “splashing” stories about the launch of Stories My Nana Tells all over social media, it’s time to settle down to making some small, regular ripples and to track which ones work the best.

The strategy is

* post three times a day on Twitter – about Stories My Nana Tells

* update every third day on LinkedIn – about Stories My Nana Tells

* add a short post every day on WordPress (in one of three different, but linked blogs)

* post connecting messages to ezine sites three times a week – about Stories My Nana Tells

* leveraging on two specific groups inside LinkedIn – about Stories My Nana Tells

* opening up a facebook page – specifically about Lesley Dewar and how she is building her business

AlphaInventions

Whatever the changes are that have recently been made in the algorithms for AlphaInventions.com, the search engine is certainly no longer responding to postings about it, as it was when we first started reviewing its ability to send traffic to blogs. See our earlier post

 

TWION – Twitter Open Networker (updated)

Are you a TWION – Twitter Open Networker? Are you worthy of your Twibe?

After being on Twitter for about eight  months and having about 7,000 worthwhile people as my followers – I have given a lot of thought to the question of how much time should I spend on Twitter – and what do I have to do to GIVE valuable INPUT into Twitter. What is a TWION? It is a Twitter Open Networker.

These are my basic five basic concepts for using Twitter.

Every day I look to have 20 genuine, non marketing, non threatening ways to interact with my Twitter Twibe.

• Answer questions and offer help

Answer 4 questions or offer help when someone has asked. We are all newbies in the beginning and if it is really embarrassing, I will do it by DM (direct message) to that person.

Embarrassing? It might be personal; it might be that they just don’t know how to do something that is very simple – when you know how. – and it would be embarrassing to them to have it answered in your public Twitterstream. Be discreet.

• Be original and be yourself

Post 4 original tweets of my own, so that you have some idea of how I think and feel about things and whether life is good or bad. I need hugs sometimes, too.

Remember the concept of Twitter is “what are you doing?” Let’s use Twitter to celebrate, congratulate, commiserate, and accelerate.

• Retweet and share your friends

RT 4 others, because I read, appreciate and love to share. To be re-tweeted is a great compliment. It is also a great way to expand your own followers.

It is quite likely they will click on your avatar and check your Twitterstream, too.

Are your tweets to your friends and lots of answers to questions?
Is your Twitterstream interesting?
Do you look like a TWION?

You are far more likely to get other people to follow if they can see that you a good member of Twitter than if you constantly just Twitter about yourself or your product. If you RT me, I will always thank you and I always give attribution if I am Re-tweeting a quote.

• Say “Thank You” to your Twitter friends

Give thanks to 4 others for help received, because I have had lots of great help on various projects through Twitter. Twitter is closely aligned with LinkedIn, Facebook and other web based sites – where there is a wealth of knowledge, help and genuine friendship. You can never say “Thank you” too often, when the thanks are genuinely deserved. Not all your Twitter followers will use LinkedIn or Facebook – so remember that and say “Thank you” in your Twitterstream as well, with reference to your other connection.

• Welcome some of your new followers and acknowledge them all

Welcome 4 new followers in my public time line – because that gives others a chance to check them out and see if they would like to follow too. Some days it’s more. Sometimes, less.

But that’s the daily target. I check the profile of every single new follower and follow back unless there is very good reason not to do so – you may not be of enormous interest to me – but you like me enough to follow, someone else in my follower group could well fall madly in love with you and your tweets – who am I to judge or deny?

Understanding some Twitter outcomes.

Protecting my Twitter Tweetstream

Blocking some followers is OK and, in fact, recommended.

I block all porn; phony accounts; anyone who gets over 300 followers in less than twelve hours or uses an obviously fake avatar. No exceptions. If it turns out you are the alter-ego of one of my regular Twibe, sorry, but it’s your brains I am interested in, not your boobs or bikinis.

DM (direct messages) – What, when and what else.

What

You can’t DM anyone; (including me) until they follow you back – because DM’s are only allowed between those who are directly connected. An automated DM is the automatic message sent by those you have followed, when they have a system set up to send you back an automatic message that acknowledges they are following you back.

Usually, it just points you to their website or commercial offering and is never personal. So, most Twitters ignore automated DM’s. – However, once they have followed you back (even automatically) it does allow you to DM them personally.

If you have acknowledged my follow with an automated DM – I don’t care. I will already have looked to see who you are, what your background looks like and maybe already looked at your website. I don’t need your link to your product offering. If it is interesting, I will “favourite it” to go back and have a more detailed look at another time.

When

I try to answer every personal DM. That means you (not some computer programme that you have set up or paid to do it for you) have sent me a DM that is genuinely meant for me, personally. The more often you answer a genuine personal DM, the better you bond with your followers.

Some on Twitter have so many followers that it is really impossible for them to answer every single DM – so, they may chose to have DM’s turned off. That’s reasonable, too. None of us can spend our whole lives on Twitter – so, we have to be realistic about this.

DM’s can be deleted, when you have too many, if they are obviously automated and you don’t want to keep them or if they are old and you have established good rapour with your friend on Twitter.

Warning: When you delete an inward DM, any response that you have sent to that specific DM will also be deleted in the DM Inbox of the person to whom you responded. So, just remember that, when deleting your replies to DM’s. Your original responses will stay in their DM Inbox view until they close their browser session and after that, the original DM you sent is gone from their DM Inbox. It will, of course, stay in your own Sent DM box, until you choose to delete it yourself. And then the reverse is true: If you delete a DM you have sent, any response received will also disappear from your DM Inbox.

Automatic DM’s: An automated DM is the automatic message sent by those you have followed and they have a system set up to send you back an automatic message that acknowledges they are following you back.

Usually, it just points you to their website or commercial offering and is never personal. So, most Twitters ignore automated DM’s. – However, once they have followed you back (even automatically) it does allow you to DM them personally, read their Twitterstream, see their responses to others and post your messages to them in their Twitterstream.

Their real purpose is that it opens up YOUR Twitter universe to them, without them having to do any work to respond to your follow and it builds the numbers of their followers. Every message they send will appear in your PRIVATE Twitterstream and their Twitter ID will appear in your PUBLIC Twitterstream, if you respond to any of their messages.

There is no requirement to send a DM when you follow back – manual or automatic – I like to send a DM because at least then, you know that I know you have chosen to follow me and I have agreed – personally – to follow you, too. I like to think that adds more value to the Twitter relationship between us.

Get  Your Own Personal Copy Of This Post – For Future Reference

Just Click Here

And What else

Understanding your Personal and your Public Twitterstreams

Every Tweet posted by you and by everyone that has followed you AND you have followed back, appears in your PERSONAL Twitterstream. This is what YOU see when you log on, to Twitter.

If you want to see your PUBLIC Twitterstream, click on your own avatar. This is what anyone – including your followers – sees. What you have posted and the replies you have made to others that are following you.

If you want to thank a new follower, in your public Twitterstream, you could post a message like this:

@lesleydewar Thank you for the follow. Welcome to my Twitterstream. My blog has been updated http://notallpoppies.wordpress.com Pls stop by.

This message will be seen by all your followers and they will also see the Twitter ID of your new follower.

But if you posted this in your public Twitterstream, even acknowledging your new followers, twenty or thirty times in one day – you could be considered a spammer. Why? Because you are using your welcome message to also promote your own blog (or whatever other link you include in the message), posting the message more than three or four times in a short space of time is really frowned up.

So, choose three or four of your new followers for your public time line and then you can copy and paste the welcome message to all the other new followers as a DM to them.

Never fail to post an open thank you message to all your new followers and invite them to DM you or respond to your Tweets. If you have a blog, you could post a message like this:

Thanks to all my #newfl today –appreciate your company. Great post in my blog for you if you are new to Twitter http://tinyurl.com/l4z4gn

… then your Tweet is read by all your followers, including the new ones. Only do it once or twice a day at the most – and have something interesting in your blog for them to read.

From time to time, you should post a message like this:

Thanks to all my followers and I love to hear from you. If you have just come on line, click my picture and catch up with today’s events.  

…. ..then your followers can have a quick read of whatever has been going on in YOUR public Twitterstream today and makes sure they have an opportunity to keep up with what you are doing. It gives them the perfect opportunity to respond and be part of the Twitter activity.

This is also a great way to give them something to RT to their followers and help build your Twitter profile, too. Or they may prefer to DM to you, themselves, with a personal message.

Understanding other people’s Twitterstreams
If you are following someone; they haven’t followed you back and you want to contact them, just click on their avatar. You can read their PUBLIC Twitterstream. These are the Tweets they have posted and you can see their responses to others. You can respond to a post of their own in their Twitterstream. NEVER post to them in response to their answer to someone else, because you do not know the context of that reply and you would be intruding into a private conversation. You could get blocked and it certainly is bad manners.

If you click on the name of the person under the message, you will see the tweet that is being answered. If it is part of an ongoing conversation, you can just keep clicking back and back, to see how the conversation went. But do not intrude into it.

To message someone who is not following you, you can either reply to a post of their own, that they initiated and that is not part of a conversation stream, or simply post the message with their name at the beginning. For example, you would message me @lesleydewar – that will get the message into my PERSONAL Twitterstream but unless I choose to reply to it, you will not see it.

Remember, it will NOT show up in your view of their Twitterstream – if they are not following you, so don’t send the message over and over again, wondering if they can see it. Make sure your message is relevant to them.

It will show up in your own Twitterstream, (as a posted Tweet and will be seen by your own followers) but it is not a good idea to try to “fluff” to your followers about being connected to someone famous when you are not, just by sending them one or two posts through their own Twitterstream.

For instance, I do follow @stephenfry and occasionally I respond to one of his Tweets. That’s in my Twitterstream. He does not follow me – but should he ever deign to respond, you will see his reply in my Twitterstream. The following example is about someone else, not Stephen.

Example: April 27th – I sent a message to XX (I am following) and gave a link to a photograph he would like. – My message does not appear in either my Twitterstream (he does not follow me) nor in mine (because I have sent my message inside his Twitterstream, not my own).

Response: May 7th – He responds to me (he still is not following) and his reply appears in his Twitterstream (with my Twitter name) and in my Twitterstream (with his Twitter name). So, now, on both sides, all our followers know that we have been in contact – but, for as long as he does not follow, we cannot DM each other.

Reply: May 10th – I reply to his response (he is still not following) and my reply appears only in my Twitterstream (with his Twitter name) BUT it does not appear in my view of his Twitterstream because he is not following. If he and I have mutual followers, they will see it. If we do not – then it appears only in his PRIVATE Twitterstream until (if) he answers again or decides to become a follower.

 Sorry, but sometimes I have to unfollow you

Conclusion: Decide that there are some people you will follow who will not follow back but you are interested in their Tweets (for example Stephen Fry) – and if you want to know what THEY are saying, you will have to click on their avatar from time to time to see what’s happening. You can comment to them – only. Or you can decide to unfollow them. It’s your choice. You can also respond to someone you don’t follow, in the same way – but it is not good Twitter etiquette to Tweet to those you do not follow. (I did it once, as field testing for this research – but only once).

Follow first, Tweet second – and wait for a reply.  If it is not forthcoming, then decide if you still want to follow – because their tweets will NOT show up in your Twitterstream for your own followers to see.

Will they reply to me……

If you do choose to let them know you are following and that you find them interesting, make your post polite and interesting and relevant to their style – or you could find yourself being blocked.

They, too, are on Twitter for some interaction with their followers and many famous people will respond kindly to a single message from a follower, without actually following you back. Your Twitter to them will appear in your Twitterstream AND, if they do reply to you, their answer will appear in both their Twitterstream and your own. That’s good viewing for your followers. If they are really famous, it’s almost like getting their Twitter autograph – treasure it and don’t be a Twitter pest. Because you can be blocked, whether they are following you or not.

Remember – no one can send you a DM, unless they follow you and you allow yourself to receive DMs.

Who and What can I see in Twitter…

If you click on the avatar of anyone in Twitter, you can see their PUBLIC Twitterstream, who they follow and who follows them. This is open to public view – even the very rich and famous – like Stephen Fry or Oprah or Ellen. If you want to scroll through more than 2.2 million followers of @TheEllenShow, you are welcome to do so.

Ellen DeGeneres only follows 26 people on Twitter – whereas Stephen Fry actually has followed 55,000 – not that he responds to many of those – you can imagine what his PERSONAL Twitterstream must look like. He is a brave man!

If you select any one of his followers (or mine), you can click on their avatar and see who they follow, who follows them and what they have posted – in their public Twitterstream. You will also be able to see if you are following the same people, because as you scroll through who is following whom, if anyone you are following is there, the follow icon will have a tick on it. So, amongst Stephen Fry’s followers, I found several of my own followers.

Amongst @problogger I find many of my own followers, too and we share a lot of tweets between each other’s Tweetstreams – but only where we mutually follow one another.

However, you cannot see what those followers see in their private Twitterstream. You can only see their PUBLIC Twitterstream – whether you are a follower or not.

Twitter sidenotes

#followfriday and other #(hash) signs

I rarely do #follow (anyday) unless the person is really special. The (hash) #followfriday sign is becoming so prevalent that Friday is almost a good day to stay off Twitter, because it is becoming just a blur of red # signs. However, I acknowledge everyone who includes me in their list, because I appreciate their effort and I appreciate them putting my Twitter ID in their PUBLIC Twitterstream.

I nearly always respond to a “please follow my friend” direct request, especially when your friend is close to a critical mass number, unless you are both flogging the same automated “followme” Twitter tool.

If you use Tweetlater to endlessly send me RT and quotes at the rate of ten an hour, ten hours a day so I think you live on Twitter, you will be unfollowed. But I will tell you first – and why.

Who should you follow

The most important thing about who you follow on Twitter is finding people who Tweet about the things that are of particular interest to you. Are you a chef? Do you want to learn how to cook? Then a Twitterstream that only sends recipes could be exactly what you want. Try @Videorecipes

I select about 100 people a week (ten on each of five days) to follow and if they don’t follow back within ten days, I may unfollow them because (unless you have a great claim to fame) we have to keep our follow/follower ratios in balance. I am not Stephen Fry or Oprah. I use an application (app) called friendorfollow.com that helps me keep track of those who do and don’t follow back – we all have free choice here.

Using Twitter to promote business interests

I have no problems with someone in my Twitter Twibe, including myself, leveraging our time and effort in Twitter by making a commercial offer in 140 characters or less. I have bought excellent products and services on Twitter and expect to continue to do so. I expect that, in time, some of my Twibe will buy mine as well.

 

Searching in Twitter

Twitter has the greatest search engines and you should get to know how to use them, efficiently.

You can search people, by name or their Twitter ID. You can also search by a specific word (like “mice” or “mouse” or “twion” ) and find people who have Tweeted about a specific topic. You can search for a word by its # (hash) prefix – such as #followfriday

Being worthy of your Twibe

And I am chuffed – this is the first time I have invented a new Twitter word. TWION. I believe the time commitment is well worth it, given the quality of my Twitter Twibe.

This post will be updated from time to time – but I hope it will help you, especially if you are new to Twitter, to have a better understanding of how Twitter works. There are dozens of applications out there to help you use Twitter more efficiently, but knowing what happens when you do certain things on Twitter is something of which we should all be aware.

Please feel free to follow me at http://twitter.com/lesleydewar – I will follow you back and also on LinkedIn at http://linkedin.com/in/lesleydewar – where I am a LION.

My personal blog is No Tall Poppies and my techo blog is Build Your Traffic – where, in both places, I will always respond to your comments with a personal reply.  My new business (now that I am retired ) is Stories My Nana Tells

Welcome to my world – whichever way you would like to connect with me. On Facebook – I reserve myself for my family and very close friends. 

Comments and connections are highly welcomed.

Get Your Own Personal Copy Of This Post – For Future Reference!

Just Click Here

Already comfortable with Twitter? Want to know how to use the best Twitter Applications for more speed, efficiency and better time management?  Twitter Tutorials are essential as the next step.

Australia To Ban Second Life

Australia to ban Second Life? This is been reported today under Conroy’s new Censorship Rules http://tinyurl.com/lz8f8x

The Australian Minister for Censorship has today confirmed what has been reported for nearly two years: online adult games including Second Life will be banned in Australia.

A spokesman for Censorship Minister Stephen “Goebbels” Conroy confirmed to Fairfax newspapers that “under the filtering plan, it will be extended to downloadable games, flash-based web games and sites which sell physical copies of games that do not meet the MA15+ standard.” In Australia, the MA15+ rating means that the content is restricted to those aged 15 and above. Australia does not have a R 18+ or similar rating for computer games, with all adult games automatically being classified as RC (Refused Classification.)

Come Fly With Nana!

Check out this SlideShare Presentation on LinkedIn : Stories My Nana Tells – Launch Night What A Party! What A Blast!

If you missed the party, don’t miss spending a few minutes with us, viewing the launch of Stories My Nana Tells. We gave away toy helicopters and four real helicopter flights on the night. It was fun!

There is a great press release too – on Andrew Spriegel’s blog, on LinkedIn! Stories My Nana Tells has fabulous stories for 7yo to 12old children, so come and try us out.

Social media – don’t you just love it! Just Love Social Media

Cheers
Lesley

Stories My Nana Tells

Word of Mouth Works Best

One of my friends on LinkedIn – Andrew Spriegel – has given me a great press release on his blog A Born Entrepreneur and “Retired” Financial Planner Launches Yet Another Business announcing both my retirement and the launch of Stories My Nana Tells.  Stories My Nana Tells

When a new business is being launched, nothing – but nothing – is more vauable than the support and promotion of friends. Andrew is also a great supporter of Kiva.org and you may already know that No Tall Poppies has a group there, doing micro loans.

Please take the time to read Andrew’s blog and visit him on LinkedIn Andrew Spriegel

Of course, there is an additional spin off from this: the three other businesses mentioned in the press release ( Guildford Landing Function Centre; Sarre Photography and Bob Litchfield (one of Australia’s most highly awarded commercial photographers) are now all enjoying much wider promotion around the world. Word of mouth referrals are priceless!

Aust Govt Must Act Against Japanese Whaling

There is no doubt that the International Whaling Commission is wallowing in a sea of bribes, inertia and a lack of will to tackle the real problem – that Japan will not come to the negotiating table with both hands open and clean of whale blood. Their continued stance regarding ’scientific’ slaughting of whales is indefensible and Australia must honor its earlier stands against these unnecessary and horrific acts.

The call by Greenpeace should resound around the world – when one considers that it was bringing whaling to an end in Australia that really set Greenpeace up to become the environmental force it is today. Surprised? You shouldn’t be! Here is the real story about Greenpeace and they have a historical legacy to uphold when it come to the fight to protect whales. Greenpeace – It Is More Aussie Than You Think

Here is the link to the Greenpeace story about the IWC.
Is There Life In The IWC?

What A Party! What A Blast!

Come to my retirement party and the launch of  Stories My Nana Tells

Venus of Hohle Fels

The article written by Deborah Barlow in her blog Slow Muse http://tinyurl.com/quh8la clearly needs some comment – because I agree wholeheartedly with the writer’s view.

Venus of Hohle Fels

This is a great artifact and archaeological find – and clearly is meant to represent respect and admiration for the fertility and reproductive value of women in an ancient society.

One man may be able to fertilise many woman, but without even one woman, men cannot reproduce themselves. Without women and childbirth – the human race would soon become extinct.

Why do we pretend to be so surprised that the value of a woman’s reproductive capacity was regarded as worthy of respect and perhaps even worship, in ancient times.

Women demand to be respected as individuals and as more than just breeding stock. I agree with those demands.

But we cannot escape the simple biological facts of human reproduction – which clearly was evident in society 35,000 years ago.

It is only the denial of those facts that could even remotely lead to comments about this beautiful and sensitive carving being regarded as pornographic.