Update: (6-16-09) If you’d like to use a program with more features and much cheaper visit my Twitter Bird Feeder Review.

Update: There is now a 15% Discount Code “RECESSION” good until 5-31-09

Notice: This is a review of Hummingbird and is not intended to advocate any misuse of the program contrary to Twitter’s terms and agreement. This post also contains an affiliate link. So please, in your quest to make money, don’t forget where you heard about the program to begin with. On to the post…

Twitter is here to stay and becoming ever more important as a marketing tool. Twitter marketing isn’t anything new, but tools are propelling Twitter use to higher and higher levels. This post isn’t about how you should interact with Twitter members but rather how to get hundreds or thousands of followers.

The biggest goal of Twitter marketing is to get as many Twitter followers as possible in order to leverage those followers in conversation and conversion. A software called Hummingbird by Mesiab Lab’s is the best way I’ve found to manage my Twitter accounts. By using Hummingbird, I acquire the most followers without getting my Twitter account banned.

Hummingbird is a huge (HUGE) time saver and well worth the investment. The primary reason I started looking into programs like Hummingbird was due to the amount of time I was spending managing my Twitter accounts (be sure to follow me @therealjosh). Hummingbird has saved me hours and hours.

Here is a promo video (click to watch):

Hummingbird Review

Adding and managing multiple accounts

Hummingbird allows you to manage several Twitter accounts together. Adding in multiple accounts has never been easier. After your accounts have been added into Hummingbird, you can easily select which account you would like to work with by choosing from a drop down menu.

Following like-minded members

When I use Hummingbird to follow people on Twitter, I look for others who are like my target niche or myself. When I find a person with similar followers I have the option of selecting either his or her followers or the members he or she is following. Next I click the Follow All button and Hummingbird begins to follow every single person in those lists, including automatically forwarding to the next page and repeating the process. My guess is that you can automatically follow 1,000 Twitter members in 30-45 minutes.

Automatically unfollow Twitter members

Hummingbird has a great feature that allows you to easily unfollow all of those who either quit following you or never followed you back.

After I have waited 48-72 hours for people to follow me back after a Hummingbird follow run, I use the automatic Unfollow All feature to remove those who didn’t add me back. I wait a few days in order to give people time to see that I attempted to follow them and give them a chance to return the favor. I take into account that a lot of people only use Twitter at work and might be home during the weekend or on vacation.

Then I click on my own Following link through Hummingbird and select the Unfollow All button. This button works exactly the same as the Follow All button, just in reverse. Hummingbird then goes through your Following list and unfollows all of those who either quit following you or never followed you back. If you have ever done this process manually it can take an eternity. Hummingbird takes care of this process for you while you sit back and watch the magic or work on something else.

Hummingbird’s built-in safety features

In order to not get your Twitter account banned or marked as spam, you should never hit the same people twice. Hummingbird remembers who you have followed and unfollowed in order to skip those members if you attempt to follow or unfollow again. This way you only ever follow or unfollow a person once unless you manually do it. You will see that these people show up as red, and the program automatically skips over them. (seen in the pic above)

Don’t worry about hitting your follow limit for your Twitter account. Hummingbird will not allow you to follow more than Twitter will allow. After you hit your maximum number of followers for that account, Hummingbird goes through the motions without adding to your following number.

Hummingbird’s VIP list

A lot of times you may want to follow a member because you like that person or he or she is really popular or whatever. You can add members to your account’s VIP list so Hummingbird won’t unfollow them even if they aren’t following you back. Depending on what your goal or target market is for your Twitter account, you may want to use this feature. I personally don’t use it much, but it is handy.

Hummingbird’s built-in Twitter search feature

The most impactful part of the Hummingbird software is the Twitter Search function. With the Search function you can drill down and get the most targeted search possible for your niche. After you have done a search, you can click a button to automatically follow all the people in that search result. You can even leave the program running so that it will continue to automatically follow new people as they meet that specified search. You are able to set up the most targeted Twitter search possible, then automatically follow those people while you sleep .

I looked into programs like Hummingbird because of all the time I was wasting by managing my Twitter accounts. I ponied up the $200 for Hummingbird and haven’t looked back. I have easily saved that much in waited time. So no matter if you use my affiliate link or not, I have come out on top. I can now manage 4x as many Twitter accounts in 1/10th the time.

Hummingbird does offer an affiliate program that does pay out handsomely (approx $60 a sell). This explains the high cost of the program, but it only takes 3 sales to recover your initial investment into the program. I have already made my money back on the program and there is plenty of room to sell Hummingbird to other new and existing Twitter members. By using Hummingbird and pimping its affiliate program you can save time, but also make a profit.

Best of luck to killing it on Twitter and to your future Twitter marketing ideas. Also be sure to follow me at @therealjosh

This is an interview with Jason from iwearyourshirt.com. Jason came up with a fun and interesting idea for marketing businesses by wearing a paid-for shirt everyday for one whole year. For Jason to wear a shirt, businesses or people paid by the day starting at $1 January 1st and $365 for December 31st. He still has some days left and is more than willing to wear and promote your shirt for any number of days.

What inspired you to start iwearyourshirt.com?

I’ve always been an out of the box thinker and lover of creative and interesting marketing/advertising ideas. I wear shirts on a daily basis, don’t typically care what the shirts say and knew that a lot of companies make shirts to promote their stuff. I put 2 and 2 together, started my pricing structure extremely low and exploited a bunch of free social media tools on the web to help me out.

What has the overall perception been with your idea of wearing a new shirt everyday?

When I first started the project back in October of ’08 there was a mix of positive and negative feedback. My friends/family obviously supported me 100%, but like me, they didn’t think it would take off as well as it has. I just gave my first ever presentation at a Refresh Event in Toronto and not one person clapped when my name was announced to speak because they had never heard of me. 7 minutes later my presentation was done and people were clapping and lining up to ask me questions. Moments like that are very rare and really awesome.

When do you think all of the day slots will be sold off?

A couple times this year I guessed and was wrong. I am not worried about the last remaining days selling out, but I hope it happens sooner than later!

What do you plan on doing after the end of the year?

Wearing more shirts obviously… Ha. The project will continue in some shape or form, I just haven’t figured out exactly what that is yet. I love meeting all these new great companies/people and wouldn’t mind having my wardrobe picked out for me again. Maybe start next year at $2? Can we lock you in for a day Josh?

Josh Here: I would absolutely love to book days next year if you were to do it again. Especially if I get first dibs.

What are some of the different venues you plan on visiting while wearing others shirts?

No planned venue visiting. I’ve told people from the start, I am living my life.. You didn’t spend $67 and get to tell me what to do all day. You spent that money to have me be your advertising for a day, get your name out there to a new audience and see me in your shirt. As far as planned events I will be attending, I have a few weddings coming up, a trip over the summer at some point to somewhere tropical and that’s it.

Have you had any strange encounters while wearing other people’s shirts?

Not too many strange encounters. I always get really funny looks when I explain the idea to a complete stranger, a stranger who is typically not internet savvy. I have had a couple ‘celebrity sighting’ moments. I had someone DM me on Twitter saying they were sitting behind me in a movie theater and I had a guy come up to me in the Washington DC airport and ask if I was “the iwearyourshirt guy”? That stuff is pretty neat.

How would you measure the success of your shirt wearing venture with nearly four months behind you?

I would say it has been very successful. 334 days have been sold at this point, I haven’t gone a month without a monthly sponsor and I am still receiving media attention. I really enjoy meeting new people and encourage anyone to reach out to me. My e-mail address is iwearyourshirt@gmail.com and my Twitter name is @iwearyourshirt. I’m easy to find and happy to chat. Obviously when I am sitting on Oprah’s couch I know I’ve made it… haha, kidding, maybe.

How much time a day are you spending on the adventure?

Typically between 6-10 hours depending on the day. I spend a lot of time interacting with people on E-mail, Twitter and Facebook throughout the day, along with all the content creation that goes on (daily photos, video and live video show). The more time I spend, the more results I see. I could spend 3 hours a day and be done, but I know I wouldn’t be in the position I am right now.

To view the video visit www.joshwhitford.com.

The trade ring is a simple yet very effective marketing idea. Find other businesses or friends that are in similar niches like “home improvement” or other service related business and combine forces. Each person in the group posts the others’ information on the back of their business card. Such as: name, phone, and category.

Every time you do business you pass your business card out to your clients and your friends do the same. Now, you have referrals to all of their clients as well. Simple yet very effective. Great idea brought to you via buzzprofits.com newsletter. Give it a try what do you have to lose?

Anyone have any success with this promotional method before? Like real estate agents, loan brokers, title companies and so on?