Buying and selling online can be a lot of fun but it can also be stressful. Most of the time you have no idea who you are dealing with, and there is always that slightly uneasy feeling when you have to meet up with a total stranger or have them stop by your house.

But those concerns may be over with the launch of a new marketplace that takes all the worry out of web-based trading. It’s called Emma and it adds a reassuring personal touch to those often anonymous online interactions.

To use Emma, you need to have a Facebook profile. Emma then uses that profile – and your network of Facebook friends – to help you create a marketplace where you have total control over the buying and selling process. You can use Emma to offer your own goods or services or to seek out goods and services from others. You can also scan thousands of other people’s listings, sorted by category, region, or your Facebook friends.

Emma has ambitious plans for its new service. There are six main categories of listings and dozens of sub-categories, covering everything from professional services to real estate to all kinds of merchandise. Emma is more Craigslist than eBay, but with security and peace of mind as the top priorities.

When you post a listing on Emma, you get to choose exactly how much information you want to make public. You can start out with an anonymous listing and then gradually reveal more about yourself as you become comfortable with your potential trading partners. Or you can create a more public listing but restrict who can see it to just a few close friends.

You can also specify how much of a potential bidder’s profile you want to see. If you are selling a car or a household appliance, then maybe you don’t need to know too much. However, if you’re looking for a date or someone to carpool with, then you might want to know a whole lot more.

As well as listing personal information, you can also upload photos, specify a location, and indicate what kind of deal you are looking for – a fixed price, a swap, rental income, etc. There is also an option to put a specific time limit on your listing, which can add some urgency to the trading process.

Bidders are also well-protected. You can show interest in a listing but you don’t have to bid on an item until you are comfortable that you have sufficient information about the listing’s owner. However, once you bid and your bid is accepted by the owner, then you are committed to go through with the contract.

Although the Emma marketplace relies on Facebook for profiles and distribution, everyone’s privacy is respected. Listings do not automatically appear in friends’ or friends of friends’ News Feeds, although listing owners have the option of posting their listings to their own Facebook wall. They also have the option of allowing others to share their listings via Facebook, Twitter or Google+, which can help generate a wider market for the more public listings.

The Emma marketplace is currently available through the Emma web site or as an app for the iPhone, iPad or Android devices. The mobile apps have the added benefit of notifying users when new listings become available.

To celebrate the launch of its new marketplace, Emma is offering Moms the chance to win a $700 gift card. Just post a listing and simply include “Moms Love Emma” in the description area and you will be included in a February drawing. Visit Moms Love Emma Sweepstakes to find out more!

EMMA TWITTER PARTY

#Emma

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Join @TheOnlineMom and friends this Wednesday at 9pm ET, as we introduce Emma, the new online marketplace for moms!

Need a babysitter? Looking for a carpool buddy? Want to sell some jewelry? Whatever you need, Emma provides a friendly and safe online environment, so you know exactly who you are dealing with!

RSVP and join the party on Wednesday to find out more and for a chance to win A $700 GIFT CARD!

1. Email RSVP@theonlinemom.com subject line: Twitter Party
2. Sign up for The Online Mom Newsletter http://bit.ly/9hT93S (optional)
3. Spread the word and RT this link on your Twitter feed:http://tinyurl.com/y9us5ru
4. Join us on Tweetchat or Tweetgrid (#emma) this Wednesday between 9 and 10 pm ET
5. Tell your Twitter followers!

There are tons of sites that come and go that measure reach on Twitter and other social media platforms.  Unless you are making a steady income from social media campaigns and can afford software like Omniture from Omniture.com or other company specializing in metrics you have to rely on less expensive or FREE sites.   I think it can be fun to check out different metrics from various resources when I tweet using a specific hashtag.  I always hear from other bloggers that they are looking for ways to get a view into their influence so I thought I would share some basic sites with you.

Twitter Metrics & Reach Sites

1. Hashtracking – although it only measures the past 1,000 tweets it is still a fun source to use that shows you how you measure

2. Tweetstats – get a graphic glimpse into your twitter handle

3. What The Trend – great way to see what people are talking about

4. TweetReach – enter a hashtag and see who is talking

5. RowFeeder – a free source that provides a small sampling from the much larger version used by agencies called Simply Measured

Regardless of what sites you check out, unless you are paying for a service the results you get are not going to be a true measure of the actual reach of a hashtag or Tweeter.  This is merely a small piece of a much larger picture – but it is fun to play with nonetheless.

Most people probably don’t think about what glass means to our overall life, but if you think about it glass is pretty impactful.   Owen-Illinois, the maker of over half the worlds glass packaging, is a sponsor of “Glass is Life”.  There isn’t any other packaging that protects freshness and flavor of both liquid and solids as glass does.  How many times have you taken a drink of something that was packaged in glass and said, that tastes like glass?  Never.   Not only is glass 100% recyclable it is also made of all natural ingredients: sand, soda ash, and limestone.

Have you ever wondered how glass containers were made?  I honestly thought it was sand that was heated and melted.  I’m not sure where I got that, but I recall watching a movie once where lightening hit a beach and made really cool looking glass.  In all actuality making glass is a very interesting process.  All the natural raw materials are heated (to 1,565 degrees Celsius) and melted into a molten state.  The molten glass is cooled and cut into “gobs” which form a single glass container.  Each are then molded and formed into glass containers and then reheated and cooled again to eliminate stress.  Finally the glass containers are inspected for final approval.

Some of the brands Owen-Illinois makes glass for?  Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Heinz, MillerCoors and S. Pellegrino

Find them on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Disclosure:  This is a sponsored post, however opinions are my own.

Join me tonight as I gather with some friends to share some Halloween tips and tricks as well as memories on Twitter for a Fanta Scary Good Twitter Party from 8-9pm EST.  Piera Jolly and Sara Patterson will be co-hosting the event with me and we will be giving away seven (7)  Fanta Scary Good Mom Halloween inspired prize packs valued at $100 each.  Be sure to tell us you coming!

Tweet:

I’ll be having a Fanta #ScaryGood time tonight with @lisasamples @JollyMom & @Sarann from 8-9pm.  Find out how to win: http://bit.ly/tpeFP1

The Logistics:
Who: @JollyMom, @LisaSamples, @Sarann

What: #ScaryGood Twitter Party

When: October 27th from 8:00 to 9:00 PM EST

Where: on Twitter with Tweetgrid http://bit.ly/umN4xB

RSVP: No formal RSVP is necessary, but feel free to Tweet about the event leading up to it using the hashtag #ScaryGood

Prizes: Seven (7) Fanta Scary Good Halloween inspired prize packs (valued at $100 each)

Be sure to check out MyCokeRewards.com\Fanta for fun activities and a chance to win other prizes!  You can also check out my Fanta Halloween Punch Post.

Disclosure: Fanta provided me with a gift card as a token of appreciation for hosting this Twitter Party. The prizes are provided by Fanta, but Fanta is not a sponsor, administrator, or involved in any other way with this giveaway. All opinions expressed in the post are my own and not those of The Coca-Cola Company. Entrants must be 18 or older and located in the US or Canada only. Winners to be chosen at random.

For those of you who have been following along this is the final week of my PerioBalance challenge and we are celebrating with a #HealthyGums Twitter Party!  Come join @SunstarGUM, @NiaVardalos, @madijack, and me (@lisasamples) next Tuesday night between 7pm and 8pm CST on Twitter using the hashtag #HealthyGums.  We will be talking about the PerioBalance probiotics and oral health with some of our other challenge participants and we will be giving away PRIZES!  It’s been four weeks since we began our journey and we can’t wait to share it with you!  If you missed any of my previous posts you can find them all here:  PerioBalance Challenge

The Details

Who: @madijack & @lisasamples (co-hosts), @SunstarGUM (sponsor), @NiaVardalos (special guest)

What:  We will be discussing our recent PerioBalance Challenge using the hashtag #HealthyGums

When:  Tuesday, July 26th 7pm – 8pm CST

Where: On Twitter using TweetGrid bit.ly/qqS0oC

Other additional featured guests may include:

• Zippy Sandler, Champagne Living (@zipporahs)
• Jacqueline Renner, Blessings Abound Mommy (@akblessings)
• Jerri Ann Reason, Mom-E-Centric (@The_Jerri_Ann)
• Niri Jaganath, Mommy Niri (@mommyniri)

The Prizes

Participants will be drawn randomly from tweets during the party.  There is no required RSVP but feel free to tweet out this post (see that button on the top right) to let people know you are coming!  Winners must be from US/Canada, 18+.  Also check back on Monday for your chance to win PerioBalance from Life with Lisa!

Sunstar G.U.M. will give away the following prize packs during the Twitter party:

• 3 prize packs, each containing:
  • 1 month supply of PerioBalance
  • Technique toothbrushes
  • Soft-Picks
  • Flossers
• 1 grand prize:
• $100 gift card to CVS
• 1 month supply of PerioBalance
• Technique toothbrushes
• Soft-Picks
• Flossers

On any given night you might see tweets coming through on Twitter about an upcoming Twitter Party. Unfortunately for people who are new to twitter it can be very confusing and frustrating trying to figure out how to participate.  I remember when I first started on twitter and all these strange tweets with weird symbols (#) were showing up on my twitter feed.  People were winning things and congratulating each other.  I was lost.  I wanted to play.  I wanted to win great prizes.  I wanted to share my ideas with all these people, but didn’t know how.

I think it took me about 3 months before I ever fully figured it out.  I couldn’t find any resources online that helped and finally some of my awesome twitter followers clued me in.  So, to keep in the spirit of helping others I am writing this post about “How to Participate in a Twitter Party” in hopes that you will share it with others.

What is Twitter?
According to their site Twitter “is a rich source of instant information. Stay updated. Keep others updated. It’s a whole thing. Customize Twitter by choosing who to follow. Then see tweets from those folks as soon as they’re posted.”

You can read more about Twitter on Wikipedia.

What is a Twitter Party?
A Twitter Party is a virtual party that takes place on the Twitter platform. Parties usually focus on discussion around a particular topic or brand. Additionally these parties are set up in advance by a host and the time and other details are outlined on a website or blog (here is an example of one of those posts). Although most parties are at night, there are some scheduled during the day. A party generally last between 1 – 2 hours and can generate thousands of tweets during that time. Depending on the parties theme or purpose there may be special guests or expert panelists present to answer any questions about the topic. Many times guests (tweeters) have an opportunity to win prizes by tweeting during the event using the designated hashtag.

What is a hashtag?
A hashtag is this # followed by a topic. Hashtags are predetermined by the host prior to the party. Any time a person tweets they follow up with #topic. This allows anyone following that particular hashtag to see their tweet regardless if they follow them on twitter or not. For example, if the party is about organization the hashtag may look like this #GetOrganized and every tweet you write to participate would end in #GetOrganized.

There are a bunch of websites that have information about hashtags. To read more check out HashtagDictionary.com.

What is a party host?
The party hosts are announced prior to the party. This is the main person (or people) you want to make sure you are following. The role of the host is to keep the conversation focused around the topic/brand. This is usually the person who is also giving away the prizes.

Anyone can be a party host and anyone can create a hashtag. However, running a party is not as easy as it looks. It is impossible for a host to answer all the tweets they receive during a party. Do not get frustrated with them if they do not return your tweet or answer your question directly; a host can get hundreds of tweets every minute or so depending on the size of the party. A good host will follow up with you after the party if you question isn’t answered during the event.

How do I win prizes?
This depends on the host. Some parties require you to sign up on a linky on a blog or website and winners are drawn randomly from the link. Other parties ask questions around the topic (watch the host’s tweets!) and either give out prizes randomly from the tweeted responses or award prizes to the Xth tweeter (or predetermined number). The Xth tweet that comes through in their twitter stream becomes the winner. It is sometimes required to tweet directly to a specific host when replying to questions, be sure to pay attention to the rules.

Note: As a general rule, the parties that award prizes to the first person to tweet the answer can be very frustrating to most participants and it is highly recommended not to use this strategy. Not everyone is a speed typist and some peoples internet connection isn’t as good as others.

How do you follow a party?
Because most twitter parties have a lot of people tweeting it is nearly impossible to get in on the discussion using the web-based Twitter application. There are a few good options available that people use instead, such as TweetGrid, TweetChat, TweetDeck, HootSuite, and Twhirl. Most of these such as TweetGrid and TweetChat are web based and do not require downloading the software. When TweetGrid is cooperating it is my personal favorite.;There are a few good options available that people use instead, such as TweetGrid, TweetChat, TweetDeck, HootSuite, and Twhirl.  Most of these such as TweetGrid and TweetChat are web based and do not require downloading the software.  When TweetGrid is cooperating it is my personal favorite.

Twitter Jail:
Being too social has it’s drawbacks.  Twitter jail is when you get locked out of tweeting for tweeting too much.  Here is a Twitter Jail 101 article to read more about it.

TweetGrid – Getting Started:
The TweetGrid platform is relatively straightforward.  Once you are on the site click the “Party” tab.  I usually choose the 1 x 3 option which gives me on row with 3 columns.  Since parties go by so quickly any more than 1 row makes it difficult to view tweets as they come through.

The screen below is where you fill in the information for the party.  First is the hashtag (ex. #TPRPchat), next is the host twitter ID (in this case there are two hosts, @ThePRPlace and @TPRPchat), finally you enter your own personal twitter ID (ex. @lisasamples).  Finally, click “Join the Party“.

Which will bring you to a new screen with three columns.  The first column is where you will find all the tweets from the party goers, regardless if you follow them directly or not.  The middle column will show you only the tweets from the party host(s) and the last column will show you all tweets that mention you directly.

Along the top portion you will see a bar that says “Tweet”, this is where you type in whatever you want to contribute to the party.  The hashtag will automatically be attached to each of your tweets.  The first time you tweet  you have to fill out your twitter information so that TweetGrid knows who you are (example above).  Once your username and password are entered hit the gray “Tweet” button right under the bar where you typed your tweet.

Congratulations!  You are now interacting with other party goers!

More info on TweetGrid:
Here is what one tweet looks like on TweetGrid.  The little icons on the bottom right are not usually present when viewing your screen unless you hover your mouse over the tweet.  Here is what each of those do:

• To respond to a person’s tweet you would click the arrow pointing to the left.
• To retweet (RT) a person’s tweet you would click the arrow pointing to the right.
• To favorite a person’s tweet for later you would click the star.
• To send a private message to the person you would click the “idea bubble”.
• To view what the tweet was in response to click the magnifying glass.
• To email a tweet click the mail button.

Each column of TweetGrid has a Search! and Stop button.  Remember, the tweets are quick and it is almost impossible to read them all. You will skim the tweets as they load through each column but if you ever want to stop the tweets coming in to read something that catches your eye, click the Stop button.  Once you read what you were wanting to read remember to click the button again to get the tweets you missed.  The Search! function allows you to search the stream for keywords.

There is also a +Settings (clicked the + in above example) where you can update how often you want to pull in tweets.  I usually keep mine on 0 so that I don’t miss anything such as an opportunity to win a prize.

TweetChat – Getting Started:

TweetChat is pretty easy and straight forward; however, it does not have as many tools as TweetGrid.  To sign on you have to be logged into your twitter account.  You enter the hashtag in the box at the top and hit “Sign Into Twitter” which will bring you to this screen:

Does it look familiar?  Yes, it runs on the twitter platform similar to what you would find on your twitter.com page; however, it is somewhat different in that it pulls in all tweets with the hashtag regardless if you are following that person or not.

More Info on TweetChat:

Along the bottom of the box where you type your tweet (again, no hashtag necessary because it adds it automatically) you will find the Pause, Refresh Speed, User Control (clicked in example above), Toggle Front, and Share Link tabs.  The Pause tab when clicked pauses the stream of tweets and the Refresh Speed is where you would set how often to refresh.  The User Control options are Feature and Block.  You can Block party spammers by entering their twitter ID and they will not show up in the party.  You would use the Feature to add the Party Host and your twitter ID.  This enables those tweets to stand out in the stream.  I don’t use the other buttons.

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