Twitter Marketing: 6 Steps to Creating a Viral Marketing Campaign with Twitter Hashtags

by Donna Gunter, The Online Biz Resource Queen (TM)

Twitter, as a popular social networking platform, is a viral marketing strategy all on its own, especially if your followers like your tweets and retweet them to their followers. However, I’ve recently noticed another trend in Twitter usage that increases its viral marketing capabilities through the use of hashtags.

What’s a hashtag, anyway? Also called the pound sign, the hashtag (#) is added to a tweet as a way of creating trackable categories, groups, or topics that others can use to search for info using the Twitter Search feature. One of the most common uses of the hashtag is to tweet what’s happening at an event or conference. The event organizer will request all attendees use a specific hashtag, i.e. #yourevent, when tweeting about the event to your followers. So, then, someone who isn’t present at the event but wants to follow what’s happening there can simply search for #yourevent and see what’s going on and what participants are saying and sharing about the event. (more…)

July 21st, 2009 was the 3rd anniversary of the opening of Aspen Mountain Press and The Romance Studio helped us celebrate with a drawing.

RoxAnn won five downloads of her choice, downloads that will go far in alleviating the dog days of summer.  What did RoxAnn select from over 220 stories?  She chose the following: (more…)

You know you love it, the extra crispy fried chicken not unlike what you might get at KFC (what do they do to that chicken that it makes your mouth water?) or if you are in Denver, The White Fence Farm…

Here is a recipe for a fried chicken  that will have you salivating.  Poke around the site.  There are tons of recipes for all sorts of tastes.

For those of you interested in marketing, you might want to take a look at this article:

10 Rules for Advertising on Facebook that is available at www.BusinessInsider.com 

…and I got no privacy…ooo uuu ooo

I used to think that song was a touch on the creepy side, but these days, you don’t know just who is watching you.  (more…)

The Asphodel Cycle 4: Apostle of Asphodel

Author: Celina Summers

Artist: Renee George

BUY LINK: http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/apostle-of-asphodel/prod_263.html

Tamsen Ka’antira has grown into a woman of incredible power as the Virgin Huntress’ player in the game of the gods. After discovering the Hippolytes, a fabled race of women devoted to the arts of combat, she must lead them back to the plains of Ilia to fight the greatest war of antiquity again. The pantheon of gods awaits her in their Hall of Judgment, where the ultimate fate of the Elven Realm will be determined. (more…)

The shaman “Lizard” is one of the two-souled-ones, a Berdache. Lizard must convince his proud and stubborn childhood friend, Red Wolf, one of the finest warriors of his village, that he too is a Berdache and must take the shaman training, before he loses his mind.

A call for aid comes, so the Berdache, his friend Red Wolf, and the beautiful Chickasaw slave, Born In Moonlight, take the journey to hopefully avoid a war. Will these three give in to the closeness they feel or will they be forever separated by the dangers they face from both the Spirit World, and the world that surrounds them.

Excerpt:

With the swiftness of a badger, Red Wolf’s hands clamped down on Lizard’s arms. The dream-crazed warrior yanked the Berdache to his chest with total disregard for dignity. All Lizard managed was a gasp of surprise before Red Wolf’s lips clamped down on his.

Lizard’s mouth was open from his gasp, and Red Wolf forced it open further with his tongue. The violent kiss, full of an unspoken need, aroused in Lizard a burning heat. Tongues tangled and fought, each vying for supremacy. Some force in Lizard demanded he not submit, until he was sure it was truly a choice on Red Wolf’s part, and not the dream that made him act thus.

With a moan, Red Wolf broke the kiss. “You with your maiden’s hair and shaman’s skills. You call to me like no other. I don’t understand you or the battles you fight, but I know now that you make war with an unseen enemy. It is enough.” (more…)