This free service allows you to automatically convert your recent blog posts into Twitter posts.

Although the credit crunch is still weighing on millions of people, it doesn’t mean the end for every small or medium-sized business. In fact, this is a great time for savvy entrepreneurs to grow a business and prosper by thinking creatively and strategically. To make sure your business thrives during the downturn, you need to take a good hard look at your business.

Here’s how you can flourish during difficult times. It just takes a bit of creativity…

1. Trim the fat. Now’s the time to review your company finances in a calm and collected manner. Be sure to look at what is being paid on time. Then look for waste and how you can save – there are sure to be a few places where this is possible. Eliminate expenses that aren’t essential to your core business.

2. Know your customers. Spend time with your customers and find out more about their needs so you can deliver what they want when they want it. Also consider sending out a customer satisfaction survey to gain additional insights. Continue offering great service and going above and beyond so that every customer feels as if they are getting the VIP treatment.

3. Stay ahead of the competition. Researching your competition is invaluable so you can make sure you’re competitive with their quality and service. Also remember that during a downtown, some of the people who are laid off may start their own businesses. Monitor the market for newcomers, but remember that you have a head start.

4. Enhance your offering. Cutting prices is one way to make your product or service more attractive, but it’s not the only way. Once you lower your prices, it can be hard to raise them again. Think about adding other incentives like reduced delivery times or added bonuses instead.

5. Adapt to the market. If you notice that sales are declining in one area, focus your efforts on areas that are seeing more sales. Don’t waste your time on sectors that are in freefall. If your business is focused on a single product, consider repositioning it and be ready to cater to people’s changing needs.

6. Invest in you. Now is the perfect time to build on your knowledge, skills, and talents by attending conferences, taking a professional development course, or investing in a business coach. It will help position you as an expert in your field and give you a competitive edge!

7. Make more noise. Continue advertising if you can afford it, but look for other inexpensive ways to get the word out. Perhaps start a blog, join web forums in your field, or write a column for a trade publication or local newspaper.

8. Prepare for the good times. Remember that a recession is a periodic event, but it doesn’t last forever. Resist the urge to run for cover. Instead, keep doing business.

Come out fighting and energize your business to ensure that you don’t go the way of the dinosaurs. The good times will come again – this is your chance to make sure you’re a part of them.

© 2009 Ali International, LLC

Online entrepreneur Ali Brown publishes the award-winning ‘Highlights on Marketing & Success’ weekly ezine with 36,000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to jump-start your marketing, make more money, and have more fun in your small business, get your FREE tips now at www.AliBrown.com

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Enjoy the article here:

Social Media is Rife with Experts but Starved of Authorities.

Merge and filter multiple feeds into a single stream.

I’m evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they’re letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it’s still free.

The Top 77 Mistakes New Bloggers Make

1. Not hosting their own blog
2. Registering a blog name (URL) that has been copyrighted
3. Registering a long and difficult to remember domain nameStyle, Design, and Basic Blog Ingredients
4. Keeping the basic template that came installed on the blog
5. Using a black background or one that flashes, blinks, or moves in any other way
6. Using background music
7. Not updating the blogroll that comes with the blog
8. Not using permalinks for their blog posts
9. Not protecting their blogs from SPAM comments with easily installed plugins
10. Under-utilizing easily installed plugins
11. Not including a clear way to contact them
12. Not including a basic About the Author page
13. Not creating a sitemap for Google and other search enginesBlog Comments
14. Keeping the first post & comment that came with the blog
15. Forcing guests to register in order to leave comments
16. Commenting on other blogs with nothing to say other than “nice post” or some other worthless nonsense
17. Commenting on other blogs and posting spamming their blog’s URL in the post
18. Not commenting on other blogs enough
19. Not thinking through what they comment about on other sites
20. Not responding to comments on their blogs
21. Asking other bloggers to link to their blog in comments
22. Gathering email addresses from people who comment and adding them to email marketing lists without permission (privacy violation)
23. Posting affiliate links when making comments on other blogs

There’s more! READ ON . . .

Link for more information on the source.

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But, after a few more articles, webinars and seeing Twitter links on many of my artist’s friends sites, I threw caution to the wind and I decided to give it a try.

It didn’t take me long to realize that if I said I was “working on a painting of xyz,” someone might ask about it later. So, in my warped, task achieving, type ‘A’ personality mind, Twitter transformed itself into this this really cool accountability for the tasks I need to get done And at the SAME TIME it keep me updated, on task while sharing with my “followers” stuff from my life. I don’t write most things on there, that WOULD be overkill, and I really wouldn’t accomplish anything, but I do try to include some highlight of the day and interact with other Twittters, too!

I am finding that everyone has their own approach to the types of entries that they share. The best thing for me, is that I can see what other artists around the world, friends, family member, and successful professionals are doing. My art licensing friend, Tara Reed, who wrote an excellent free e-book on Twitter, refers to Twitter as her “virtual office.” What a great way to stay in touch! I am realizing that we all lead the most interesting lives which further fuels the fire for what we do.

I don’t know if it has helped business yet, but I realize that building a brand takes a long time, so until I find out I guess I will be posting about it one tweet at a time.

You can follow me @cherishart on Twitter.

Search Twitter in realtime – see what the world is doing right now.

If you have content, music, artwork etc. . . that you want to share on the web. This is a great wizard that will help you choose the license it should be categorized under. You can protect your work and still befefit from sharing it with the world. Start Wizard

View an explanation of all the Creative Commons licenses.

Happy Sharing!