The latest in Twitter buzz is the expansion of character limit. If you haven’t been following there is quite a bit of chatter regarding a possible character count increase, even as large as up to 10,000!

Twitter is expected to change the character limit and their target date is somewhere around April 1st. So for a little while now rumors on the web have indicated that Twitter is expanding their limit from 140 characters to 10,000. To put it lightly, people were losing their minds, burning the Internet streets. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey didn’t substantiate the rumors but did add in a recent interview, “(Twitter character limit) has become a beautiful constraint, but what if it had more utility and power.”

While increasing the character count would mean more searchable text and expandable tweets, the 140-character limit was simple. It was creative and fun and it let people quickly read a message and get on with their day. Now we’re not talking about changing it from 140 to 180. We’re not even talking about 140 to 1,000. We’re talking about changing it to 10,000 characters, paragraphs of copy, stories even. Will your message get lost amongst other novels?

On the flip side, the fun part is that now companies will have to be even MORE creative and even MORE informative than they were before. Twitter is a fun application and as we see nowadays is the quickest way to learn about breaking news. What started out as a quick, creative platform for people to easily access and understand might now be turned into long form updates.

Only time will tell… in the meantime, get Tweeting regardless, here are some tips go get going:

Follow relatable/local companies
Depending on your business, you are going to want to be in-the-know in your area. For example, if you are a small, local business, you may want to follow local government and educational accounts. City Hall, Mayors, Downtown, Local Police/Fire Department, High Schools, local Universities are all good accounts to stay informed in your area. If you are larger, then follow associations and vendors.

Make sure you follow your advertisers/investors/media
If you have investors or advertisers or anyone helping you, follow them. Retweet them and have a conversation with them, show them you care.

Keep Tweeting, no matter what
Being new to Twitter, you are going to want to tweet a lot. You can never tweet too much really. Tweet about your company, about your industry, different links on why to pick your place of business, articles you find interesting and relatable.

Build your profile
Give your profile some pizazz. Get a background image, a profile picture and add some color. Nothing turns people away faster than having a default “twitter egg” photo and no background picture… boring.

Talk about what’s “Trending”
Topics or phrases are always trending on Twitter. You’ll notice in certain areas that some phrases that begin with a hashtag are popular in your area, meaning a lot of people are talking about that. For example, if #WinterNYC was trending, you would want to draft a tweet that included that phrase, so it will turn up in more searches.

There are a lot of things you can do for your business on Twitter with just 140-characters, so stop reading and get started!

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1. We didn’t change our focus from strategic marketers to “social media engagement specialist heroes” – while the trends don’t lie, we know that some things never change and every client needs a strategic partner, one who will guide them and of course execute and kick creative butt, but it all starts with brand strategy, not tactical outlets.
2. We aren’t bandwagon jumpers – while there is a place for new media strategies, we’ve been around the block and began our careers in traditional marketing, so we know not to leave one stone unturned and to consider everything, not just a new fad.
3. Having an external resource like 8fold is key to your success – we are learning new things everyday about both traditional, digital, mobile, social, crowd funding because it’s our job to do this while your team may not have the time to do so.
4. If you are the CEO, you shouldn’t be driving marketing decisions – you should have an experienced team that understands operations, sales AND how marketing fits into the puzzle, not just designers making pretty pictures to work with your team and make recommendations that are easy for you to say yes to.
5. Hiring a marketing firm like us doesn’t have to break the bank – while it makes most sense to have someone on board long-term to help plan, execute and measure results, some companies may just need strategic guidance and planning and keep execution internal.
6. Having a third-party like 8fold talk to your existing customers – this will definitely uncover findings that you haven’t already heard and takes the “anecdotal” to impartiality and statistically significant.
7. We are working daily with diverse clients – our background doesn’t just include one industry, but many and cross-pollinated ideas are nice surprises, who wants to work with an agency that just focuses on one industry all day and is single minded.
8. We aren’t going to insist you change your logo, colors, name – we focus on what the brand needs to get to the next level and who are we to tell a fifty year old company they need a logo update if it’s not critical for growth.
9. We don’t have a bookcase full of awards – because we don’t enter many contests, we are busy doing other things, but of course if you want awards, we will get you some!
10. We’ve been doing marketing for over 20 years – our parents still don’t understand what we do, so we need constant justification and we are always looking for new friends!

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It is important that your site accurately represent the quality of your brand. The design and functionality must mesh like the engine of a finely tuned Ferrari. And now more than ever your site needs to be mobile ready. Google recently released emails notifying companies, in not so many words, that their pages will not be indexed by Google if they were not mobile compliant (see below). With over 50% of searches being done on mobile devices, Google is changing their algorithms to better serve users the most accurate and user-friendly content.  We’ve all been to sites that aren’t optimized. The dragging to enlarge the page is like finding a parking spot at the mall on Black Friday.

8fold can help update your website and have you mobile compliant so you don’t see any loss of search ranking, and we’ll have you looking great to. Give us a call so we can talk about your site today.

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Oh and back in the day, she really liked learning too, she received her BS from The College of New Jersey and a BA from Kean University. She also holds an MBA in Marketing from Seton Hall University.

How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?
Leading is about setting an example and doing things, everything and anything to show the people that work for you and with you that you are in the trenches with them and it’s a real team effort. The way I lead and act as a team member comes a lot from my younger years playing team sports, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts mentality.

How has your previous employment experience aided your position at 8fold?
My previous jobs working for other companies not only laid the foundation for my marketing expertise, but also helped me define what type of leader I wanted and didn’t want to be. I often noted to myself what worked and what didn’t in the companies I worked for and try not to repeat that in my own firm, whether as a leader or mentor.

What have the highlights and challenges been during your tenure at 8fold?
Winning and losing business. It’s always a wonderful feeling when you work so hard pitching a client and the outcome is a contract, of course on the flip side you can spend weeks writing an RFP and not win an account and when you know you left everything on the table it’s hard to understand sometimes why it didn’t work out, but you have to move on.

Why did you want to open your company?
I wanted a marketing firm that operated a certain way, attracting a certain type of client and employee, a real team effort, no finger pointing, collaboration, challenging one another, no egos. I love the process of brainstorming and the passion that comes from creating new ideas, that’s what drives 8fold.

What advice can you offer women who are seeking to become entrepreneurs?
Finding the balance between work and family is not easy, it never is, but when you own your own business it’s even more challenging. Figure out what works for you, it’s not a one size fits all thing.

How do you maintain a work/life balance?
Reminding myself continually that my kids will only want my attention for so many years since they are still young, so I try to carve out time to have real in the moment time with them. It’s so hard with technology, but sometimes I leave my phone home on purpose when we go to the park, etc. it matters to them that I am present and it matters to me.

What do you think is the biggest issue for women in the workplace?
I never minded competing with men in the workplace since I was used to it from playing sports and having a tough mentality, but it’s hard for women to find the balance between being strong yet feminine and not coming across harsh and nasty, it’s a fine line.

How has mentorship made a difference in your professional and personal life?
I had a few mentors early in my career that were helpful in urging me to follow my gut and dreams, but mostly I had to seek out mentors and because of that I try to mentor others as much as possible, it’s mutually rewarding.

Which other female leaders do you admire and why?
I don’t have any specific famous person I admire per se, there are so many business leaders that are doing amazing things and just amazing people in general, not business owners. Having watched the paraolympics this year, the athletes blew my mind, anything is possible. I do admire my Mom greatly for working and having kids when most women were staying home, she’s still working at 71.

What do you want 8fold to accomplish in the next year?
It would be wonderful to continue to attract clients that are open to growth and have the patience to stay with a strategic marketing plan to see it through, it’s hard to wait for results I know, but marketing takes time to build momentum.

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Leading Women Entrepreneurs is a media and events company that recognizes outstanding women business owners. The mission is to create a sustainable, ongoing environment that brings leaders together and showcases their attributes and contributions.

A veteran marketing strategist, LoBianco is experienced in developing integrative marketing plans on both the client and agency side for 20 years, making her an exceptional candidate for this award.

Jen LoBianco was selected from a large pool of accomplished, intelligent and trend-setting female entrepreneurs. They each make a difference in their companies, industries, and communities. LoBianco is honored to have been chosen among so many accomplished entrepreneurs.

As a working mother of two children, LoBianco has managed to build a very successful marketing business. Ranging from business-to-business and business-to-consumer clients to international companies and local shops, Jen LoBianco has directed the strategic growth initiatives for a wide range of clients. She always demonstrates the same desire and drive for every client.

Jen LoBianco was selected for her outstanding performance in four areas: Market Potential, Innovation, Advocacy for Women and Community Involvement. Each of these qualities exemplifies LoBianco’s skills. Jen successfully balances her work with raising her family, and she exhibits both dedication and passion in both aspects of her life.

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