This following guest article was written by Richard Hemby who regularly writes about and college related topics for Online College Guru, an online college degree guide.

In recent years, Twitter has grown from a place for teenagers to share what they just ate for lunch to a serious platform for businesses to connect with their customers and for the media to break stories. In late January of 2010, even Bill Gates (@BillGates) started “Twittering”, and in less than two weeks has more than 400,000 followers. Here are a few other CEO’s that you might look or the next time you are on Twitter.

@guykawasaki - Guy Kawasaki was one of the Apple employees responsible for the original Macintosh in 1984. Now he is the Alltop CEO. He is extremely active on Twitter and primarily uses it as a broadcasting tool to announce new Alltop sites. He currently has 211,577 followers.

@mashable - Pete Cashmore is the CEO of Mashable. With 1,954,389 followers, Pete is one of the most popular Twitter users. Pete uses Twitter to offer other users Twitter tips, Twitter news, and Twitter help. He also shares social media stories from around the web. Pete Cashmore views Twitter as an excellent companion to his company’s blog.

@gcolony - George Colony is the CEO of Forrester Research. His company provides market research mostly in the area of technology. George likes Twitter because it allows him to understand what his clients are thinking about the world of technology and his company. He also regularly tweets about his ideas and thoughts about the technological world. He currently has 6,575 followers.

@demandrichard - Richard Rosenblatt is the CEO of Demand Media. His company provides web content and SEO services to a wide variety of clients. Demand Media also owns eNom, one of the biggest domain registration companies in the world. With 6,642 followers, Richard uses Twitter to communicate with investors, users, colleagues, and clients in a real-time manner. He likes that Twitter feels much fresher and not as cold as email.

@DrBobParsons - Bob Parsons is the CEO and Founder of Go Daddy Group. When he’s not dreaming up effective Super Bowl advertising campaigns, Parsons is excited to connect with his 21,559 followers on Twitter. He says he really likes the subscription model of Twitter in which people sign up to follow you. In this way, he can be sure that whenever he sends out a message there are a lot of interested people on the other end.

@timyoung - Timothy Young is the CEO of Socialcast. On his Twitter profile, he proclaims that “Email is Dead”. Rather than email, Tim likes to use Twitter to engage in discussions with his customers. He also likes using Twitter to tune in to other conversations that people are having about his company, the social media industry, and market trends. Timothy Young currently has 2,101 followers on Twitter.

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In my previous post I talked about getting the mobileStorm tornado tattoo. I also mentioned I have a $1,000 bonus for any employee willing to step up and get the tattoo in a visible location. This weekend a brave soul named Roxanne (a wonderful customer satisfaction rep) went and got an even better looking tornado than mine on the inside of her wrist. Way to go Storm Trooper! (I am a Star Wars fan so I started calling our staff this and it just stuck).

This will undoubtedly spur a number of other people to go out there and brand themselves with the company they are so passionate about. Well I hope its mostly about the passion and not just about the money, after all your branded for life.

I was surprised that someone did this so quickly and even more surprised that four others have told me they too will get it soon. I like to think this says a lot about the type of company we have built. It’s not a start up with an unsure future . We are a profitable growing company who has been around for more than eleven years. Sure people could use a thousand dollars but most people I know do not have tattoos and would never get one no matter how much you offered them. Trying to get inside the mind of an employee willing to do this, all I can think of is that they love being part of a team working for a company doing great things. My guess is that it’s about pride, dedication, and making a difference.

Tomorrow our editor is going to post a video and interview with Roxanne on mobileStorm’s Digital Marketing Blog. I guess I will find out then what really inspired her.

I wonder how much this stunt is gonna cost me?

I have not shared this bit of information with anyone outside of my friends and family (unless you happen to be around me at the beach), but six years ago in Dublin Ireland I got the mobileStorm tornado tattooed on my ankle. It was certainly was one of the most painful things I have ever done in my life; it felt like a jigsaw hacking thru my leg.

Why am I sharing this with you? Because as an entrepreneur you need to be insanely dedicated to your cause. I thought I would share with the public, my insane dedication (or at least what my mom calls insane).

I have been asked numerous times, “What happens if mobileStorm goes bankrupt? Won’t you hate that you got that?”.  My answer is always the same. I have learned so much about how to run a company and have had so much fun doing so, that even if I lost everything tomorrow, I would still deem mobileStorm a major success. To me, mobileStorm can never fail. And that is why I won’t need to seek out Dr. Tattoff as one might, after a bad break up with an ex-girlfrend.

That being said, having a permanent symbol on your body tends to make you believe that failure is not an option. It is a constant reminder of the dedication you need to have. Maybe this is the same reason people get a tattoo of their spouses name? I guess they feel they will work harder at the relationship since there is a permanent and visible reminder, that, or a really crazy night in Vegas.

Failure is not an option when you ink yourself up, but having dedication is everything.

On a related matter, I have a $1,000 standing bonus in my company for anyone who gets the tornado in a visible spot and lets us blog about it. No takers yet, however someone did want to get one on the inside of their lip, but this is to gangster and it fades after two years. Maybe I will institute a “tear drop tat” policy for anyone who loses a customer.

Then stop sending crappy resumes. Being an employer for a decade now, I have seen every type of resume you can imagine. I really like to interview everyone even if it’s for 10 minutes. I like to make sure that person fits within our culture (while lowering the risk of a lawsuit because of our wonderful, politically incorrect organization).

Every time we try to fill a position, I feel that the majority of people either a.) aren’t really looking for a job but are just sending their resumes to see what is out there or, b.) don’t have any self-esteem and feel that they are one of a thousand applicants and there is no way they can get a job, so why bother to send a polished document. Here are five tips to make sure someone reads your resume and calls you in for an interview:

1. Attach a Cover Letter: Far too many people simply email you their resumes and there is nothing in the body of the email, just a Word doc attachment. It’s as if the applicants are just sending their resumes to as many people as possible, and they don’t have time to write a quick intro on themselves and why they want this job. I can tell you right now the only time I review coverless-letter resumes is if I am not getting a sufficient number of applicants; otherwise, they are trashed. Showing your personality and thoughts on the position goes a long way. Also, most executives are reading your resume on their blackberries. Can we open Word attachments? Yes, but it takes 15 seconds; reading the body of the email does not. Entice us with a beautiful cover and then hit us hard with a good story.

2. Do Your Research: A company wants to see that you have researched their website, studied their business model, and know what they are all about. They want to hear comments like, “I really feel I would fit into your corporate culture because of x.” Flattery does get you far; just make sure you don’t get cheesy.

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Recently I purchased Dell’s Wireless Projector (The 4610x).

What’s great about this device is that you can connect to it wirelessly from a laptop. Actually up to 4 people can connect and all project their own screens in 4 different quadrants. mobileStorm just moved its corporate headquarters into a new building with tons of space, really high ceilings etc.. I am working on ways to use all of the space since the majority of our employees don’t work out of corporate.

A couple of employees gave me the idea to project stuff on this big white wall we have. I found this projector and the rest is history. Currently I am using it to project positive words and inspirational tid bits. I also plan to use it for quick “stay put” presentations (yes I made this term up). Everyone in the room simply looks over at the wall from desk (since we are all in one big room it makes communication very open and fluid).

I need ideas for what I can do with this projector. Got any ideas of what I could dispaly that would keep the team energized and entertained? I would love to hear them.

This is an article for all the service-based business out there…

The reason I push my team to document everything and turn it into a process, is because the faster and more efficiently we can do something, the more we can scale our business. And the more we can scale our business, the bigger we will get and the more valuable we will be. The benefit of a product is you are selling a thing and not your time. However a big part of a service-based business requires human involvement. So how do you turn a service into a product?

Smaller companies are so busy hustling to make a buck; they usually only do an ok job at productizing their service. Does this sound like you? This is something you need to change if you want to see massive growth. I admit I am guilty of not always following thru and having the disciple to ensure everything my company does becomes a template, but I recognize that and try to strive for it.

Service-based businesses typically don’t have a large multiple when it comes time to sell. Meaning they won’t sell the company for much more than what it is grossing each year. It’s like being a dentist; you only make money when you are in the office (franchisee owners aside). Being a SaaS company mobileStorm has the opportunity to sell software and messaging which is great, because it has a very high profit margin and can be recreated over and over again for little cost. However the service part of our business can slow our growth if we don’t execute right. Service means head count, and people are always the highest cost to any organization, hence one of the reasons service based companies don’t have the best valuations. However the smart service companies recognize this and put a plan in place so they can scale. Look at salesforce.com, they now have a market cap of 8.24 billion, I remember when their stock was at $15, its now $65! These guys figured the perfect way to offer software and service.

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Ok maybe I am late to the game but for the last month and a half I have been using TweekDeck. If you follow me on twitter you will notice that I am not a big tweeter, I am however turning into a big consumer of tweets.

Twitter has really turned into a major news source. It is not only where I go to find out in real-time what is going on around me (like what was that loud boom in my neighborhood), it is also becoming one of my primary news sources for my industry, my company and myself.

If you can think of something and say it within 140 characters, you can enter your thought into the thought stream. The only way of being able to visualize the thought stream is with a app like TweetDeck. You can enter in any search term you want like “Email Marketing Solution” or “Mobile Marketing” and then sit back and like that little email box that fades in and out when you get a new email in Outlook, anytime someone puts a thought out on twitter and it matches your search criteria you get alerted. The most important terms in my industry are now popping up on a second by second basis. It takes me no time at all to glance at the new tweet, and within a split second I can decide whether or not I want to take some sort of action. I follow my name in case anyone is talking about me, if they are I engage with them personally. I follow my company name for the same reason and most of the time it is people telling the world what a good experience they had with us. If they are a client, I like to do something special for them.

As I stated above I also follow important search terms. What you will find is that you get someone looking for a solution, email , mobile or otherwise. You can reach out and contact that person directly and now you are using the thought stream as a way to generate leads. I also love how easy it is to re-tweet something you found interesting. If you don’t tweet as much as I do, but you know it is important to do so for a decent sized following, then the re-tweet is a great feature and one that is easily done using TweetDeck.

On a personal note, I only use facebook for friends and family. I don’t like logging into facebook on my mobile device or from a desktop, it takes time and it’s a time suck, so it is nice to not have to log in anywhere to see your friends status updates and wall posts, TweetDeck also provides this functionality.

I bet within 5 minutes of this post someone is going to tweet this article, and then others will re-tweet it. Heck I will tweet it now, so to get some more views to my blog.

This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of executive mba programs . Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson1@gmail.com

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They are one in a million too now, even though they may be the CEOs of some of the richest and most successful companies in the world - Richard Branson of the Virgin Group, Kevin Rose of Digg.Com, Jonathan Schwartz of Sun Microsystems and John Lilly of Mozilla.Com are just a few of the top honchos who have taken to Twitter to let the world know more about their companies and themselves. It’s a micro blogging site that lets you put forth your opinion in 140 letters, and it has taken the world by storm, so much so that even some of the most powerful people in the world are now hooked to it.

So why and how do CEOs use Twitter? Well, the reasons may vary, but the benefits they reap remain the same across the board. In general, CEOs could use Twitter to:

• Take their company to the common man: When you feel that the CEO of a company is speaking personally to you, you tend to feel more favorable towards that particular company. So you prefer to use their products and services as opposed to a competitor’s, because it feels like you’re doing a friend a favor. People are more likely to get people interested in the company when the head honcho itself is communicating to them directly, even if it is together with hundreds of thousands of other followers.
• Provide quick updates: Twitter is a great tool to let people have a sneak preview of what’s new in their enterprise and what the future could hold. They no longer seem to have the time or the inclination to read long-winded press releases or informal blog posts. Short is sweet, and Twitter helps them accomplish this effortlessly.
• Monitor what people are saying: The Internet is a relatively safe place for people to get away with saying what they want and not being sued for slander. This allows people to be as free as they want and to give vent to their feelings on Twitter. The worst part of this is that news travels fast, especially when it’s negative and directed towards some of the topmost enterprises in the world. When CEOs use Twitter, they can monitor what people are saying about their companies, good or bad, and take appropriate action.
• Boost traffic to their websites: Behind every successful company is a successful website, and one way to boost your website is to provide Twitter updates that will drive your followers to it. When traffic increases, you know you’ve made more than just a hit in the online world.
• Follow people who matter: It’s no secret that CEOs are very busy people who do not have the time to follow too many people on Twitter. To use their time on this application effectively, they could choose to follow a select set of people who they admire as salespersons or financial whizzes and other CEOs who they admire and who are relevant to their industry.

Twitter is just one tool in the arsenal of CEOs that could be used to propagate their companies’ popularity, and when used well, it pays off rich dividends.

Great memo from Bill Taylor to young leaders.

He breaks down 5 questions that you should ask yourself:

1. Why should great people want to work with you?
2. Do you know a great person when you see one?
3. Can you find great people who aren’t looking for you?
4. Are you great at teaching great people how your team or company works and wins?
5. Are you as tough on yourself as you are on your people?

http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/taylor/2008/05/memo_to_a_young_leader_what_ki.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a38:g26:r17:c0.000116:b28574983:z6