Those of you who have been blogging for a while know the importance of using visuals to get your point across in your posts. Spicynodes is a cool visualizer that lets you demonstrate what you have in mind to your readers in a more dynamic fashion. All you have to do is break down your thoughts and put it all in nodes.

Spicynodes is free to sign up for and quite easy to work. Once you have developed an outline or have the concept you want to demonstrate to others broken down, you can use this service to present your ideas in a more dynamic fashion. You can add and customize nodes easily. You can change the style of your nodemap easily.

Of course, if you are willing to pay for this service, there are plenty of other things you can do with your nodemaps, including integrating them into your very own website and taking advantage of the API behind this service. Spicynodes is overall a pretty easy tool and very effective for those who want to communicate with the world in a more visual way (catch a demo here).

If you have been following this blog, you have probably realized that I am not a big fan of automating Twitter tasks. There are plenty of tools on the market that you can use to completely outsource your Twitter work. But what’s the fun in that? It’s similar to traveling miles to get yourself to a party and then decide to sit outside or in the corner without interacting with other people. Of course, Twitter tools do have a place for active Twitter users. Unfortunately, there are only 24 hours in each day, which means somethings should and need to be outsourced if you are to get the most out of Twitter.

I got familiar with Market Me Tweet on Twitter. There was a discussion about branding one’s tweets on Twitter, and that’s when Market Me Tweet comes in. It’s a Twitter management tool that allows you to brand each and every tweet of yours. But this tool is more than just about branding your tweets. You can use it to manage multiple accounts and monitor your replies, direct messages, and  other people’s time-lines using this software.

Of course, just like any other Twitter tool, Market Me Tweet has a controversial feature as well. The Reply campaign with all its templates and automation capability is something you want to look at with caution. You certainly don’t want to spam Twitter. Besides, I am not sure how template messages can help you build real relationships. It may work in the short-term, but that is not the right approach for the long-term.

There are a lot of things to like about this package. It’s nice to have an option to find new followers and manage existing followers with the smart algorithm feature included in this software. The fact that you can use this account to manage unlimited accounts is a plus as well. The software is pretty affordable as well. So it may be worth checking out if you are planning to move to a premium brand management tool for Twitter. Just don’t spam Twitter, but you already knew that.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t go anywhere without my Blackberry. Sure. I still have my iPhone too, but I use my Blackberry to manage the business side of things. But even when I am on the move, I still feel the need to be involved on Twitter. I am just addicted to it. Thankfully, there are a few cool Blackberry apps for Twitter that let you manage your status on the go without too much trouble. Just because you are traveling, it doesn’t mean Twitter conversations will stop going on. So it’s essential to be involved on Twitter as much as you can and get the word out about your brand and projects as well.

With that in mind, here are 8 cool Blackbery Twitter apps you should try:

TwitterBerry: the most famous Twitter Blackberry app around It’s very easy to use and makes it so easy responding to your followers or start new conversations.

Twibble: it’s a super app designed for folks who want to get more from their Twitter account on the go. You’ll be constantly updated on what’s going on Twitter and comes with lots of short-cuts and power user features.

UberTwitter: UberTwitter is one of the best Twitter clients for Blackberry. The folks at UberTwitter are bringing Twitter to many different platforms, and Blackberry is one of those.

jTwitter: a Java Twitter application that goes on your everyday cell phone or your BlackBerry. It will cost you 10 Euros, which is not exactly cheap, but it’s worth a try if you have an old phone you want to put your Twitter client on.

Yatca: Yatca is a powerful and free Twitter client for Blackberry that makes it possible for you to get your Twitter messages in your inbox and handle them on your Blackberry.

Tiny Twitter: Tiny Twitter is designed for folks who want to be able to tweet on their mobile device without having to get “dinged” for it. It’s very easy to use and works on most Java enabled phones.

BlackBird: a very simple and easy to use Blackberry Twitter client. It makes it so easy to communicate with your friends and send updates from your phone. It’s not as fancy as some of the other solutions available on the market, but it gets the job done.

Social Scope: a cool tool that lets you tweet, retweet, and do all kinds of Twitter things on your Blackberry phone. It’s still developing, but it’s quickly becoming one of the top apps in this category.

There you have it. 8 super cool apps that let you enjoy Twitter on your Blackberry. I personally still use TwitterBerry most of the time, but that doesn’t mean the other ones are not decent. It really comes down to your taste.

Your turn: what Twitter client are you using on your Blackberry? Any specific reason?

Twitter is one of the hottest properties on the Internet. Sure. It has been struggling with downtime and a too hard to handle growth rate, but it’s a still a goldmine for those who know how to use it. A lot of people assume that Twitter is all about sharing information with others. There is nothing wrong with providing useful information to others. But you’ve got to be more active if you want to get more value out of this community. I don’t mean you should post more often or go out of your way to answer to all the replies that you get. If you can do that, more power to you. But there is actually more to life than posting and replying to others on Twitter. Here are a few ways to get more out of Twitter:

1. Trends: forget Google trend. Twitter trends are more interesting, and they give you a lot of information about what markets to pursue and what people are searching for. Services such as twitscoop let you find what people are talking about, and that can help you pounce on new opportunities faster!

2. Network: networking is a big part of being on Twitter. The more people you know, the more power you have on Twitter. And let’s not forget that Twitter is the best way to approach super users. No matter how shy you are, there is no better way to connect with superstars than on Twitter.

3. Jobs: let’s say you’ve been unlucky and got laid off lately. Twitter is one great place to find jobs. People post jobs to Twitter on an hourly basis. You just have to listen.

4. Keywords: the beauty of Twitter is that you can analyze the information on both macro and micro level. If you want to track keywords, there are plenty of services to do so. Think of these services as your Google alert, only you are tracking things on Twitter.

5. Content: you can also track content on Twitter. You can track links and find the most popular ones on Twitter. You can even figure out about upcoming product launches and new services. Try Twitter Buzz!

6. Testimonials: Twitter allows you to get people engaged with your product and get their feedback. The more followers you have, the better chance you have of getting useful feedback from the community.

7. Traffic: you don’t have to be a genius to realize that you can drive traffic to your blog with Twitter. If you have 30K followers, there is no reason you can’t drive at least 3000 of them to your blog. Just make sure you don’t spam your followers.

8. Ideas: Twitter is a great place to brainstorm and even discover new ideas. As long as you are willing to listen and observe, the sky’s the limit. Many have used Twitter to come up with ideas for their products and make money. Who says Twitter is overrated?

9. Partnerships: Twitter is a great way to reach out to potential partners and discuss opportunities with them. It’s not too hard to come up with a list of Twitter users who may be interested in partnering with your business. There are a lot of partnership opportunities on Twitter if you are willing to listen and reach out.

10. Blog: a lot of super bloggers get ideas for their posts from Twitter. Twitter is a blogger’s best friend as it gives you access to a wealth of information. As long as you are willing to listen and observe, there is no limit to how many post ideas you can come up with.

There you have it. There are a lot of other things you can do on Twitter. Just think outside the box. Who’s stopping you?