This is the third of a new series which takes two well known twitterers, gives them 10 quick fire questions to answer (connected to Twitter) and then let’s them battle it out before your votes decide who wins the round.

I’ve picked two fabulous designer ladies on Twitter for the latest in the series:

• Kris: @KrisColvin – A User and Brand experience designer and customer advocate for We Heart Studios.
• Misty Belardo: @MistyGirlPH – A Graphic Designer and blogger and currently writes for Bitrebels and Minervity.

Without further ado, let the battle begin…

	Since March 2008, but I only posted one tweet the day I joined. I began actually using Twitter that July, when I learned about following people from a great Problogger article that listed bloggers to follow and told us how to use Twitter. I became active very quickly.
	I started last 2008-05-30 01:28:48 but became really active January this year. I did not quiet get the purpose of Twitter until some designers encouraged, inspired and taught me to share.

	I have no idea. I am on and off of Twitter all day long, from everywhere, via desktop, laptop, smartphone or iPod Touch. It’s the way I work and live, like drinking coffee or brushing my teeth.
	Hmmm, I tweet when I can, I really enjoy interacting with my followers and those I follow. I tweet less during the weekdays though because of work and tweet more during the weekend because time is more relaxed and i can concentrate on the links and the people i converse with.

Many reasons. I like the connectivity with others I’ve met. My best friend from Texas now tweets, so she and I stay connected all day more easily. I meet people who become clients via Twitter, and we work using Twitter, exchanging links and info through DM’s at all hours of the day. I am an only child, and I have no children (except pets) so I think I also just like the constant stream of chatter in my life.

I tweet because I am very much interested in learning from people in my field of interest as well as interact with people in other countries, I love the conversation and the friendships that have developed over time.

	Fun!
	Dialogue – People seem to enjoy conversing with me and sharing with me their thoughts. I love the way they ask for my opinions on social media, design and what is happening with me on a day to day basis.

	Semi-important. I do get a lot of inspiration from reading articles and trading links, but it is not as critical to my design as it is to my overall business in context of getting fast answers to questions from people who know something that I don’t.
	I can say that as a designer Twitter has given me the opportunity to work with the best and learn from the best.

It’s not optional. Any venture we do, gets an account and we tweet about it. It’s just the way we do business now, and something that impacts us as a company because we are perceived (rightfully so) as knowing how to integrate social media into traditional marketing, in addition to customer care, lead generation and more for companies. The tools we use, this social media lifestyle we are part of now, reinforce our brand story these days.

I never had the opportunity to really shine as a designer/blogger before Twitter. Designing and writing is what i love to do. My passion. My work does not give me that opportunity to share my love for design. People never really knew what I could do before Twitter. I was more confined to doing events and video producing. Now more and more are interested in what i do and always a treat when they say they love my work and that they value my opinion.

It has been a hero regarding my business. I moved from Texas two years ago to Kansas (to get married) and was supposed to keep my job with the employer I had in Texas. Instead, my boss abruptly changed his mind two weeks after I got here, and I went from having a nice salary and benefits to being on my own again. The difference here from being self-employed before is that I had no contacts, no network, and I didn’t live in Kansas City – my husband’s business is an hour away so we live in the country. Because of Twitter and blogging, I met people who became clients, met people who became business associates in Kansas City (at a local tech conference) and I now live in Kansas City part-time and office with them downtown. I honestly don’t know how I would have met these people without the online connectivity via social media platforms.

Business wise, it has increased my knowledge in terms of technology and the different avenues in which i can venture and improve on. Twitter is a platform that has helped me connect with the best designers in the world. Various techniques and valuable tips i learned from Twitter users.

	It may sound trite, but “be smart.” Talk about things that interest you, show others you have an opinion, articulate your opinions well, help people solve problems (that one is huge) and reveal your personality quirks to others. Plus, follow people so they will follow you back.
	Be yourself, and be helpful to those who are in need of your guidance. Share information and be a catalyst for creativity and inspiration.

As a vain Libra, I’m a sucker for adoration, so any tweet telling me I’m great in a unique way that reveals some insight about myself from others, I am fond of. I also have sort of a dry sense of humor (love British humor) and so when I see a tweet written to someone else in context to them, that can be taken totally out of context by others, that cracks me up. My friend Chad (@poweredbysteam) had a hysterical one I teased him about… I hunted and hunted and finally found it. I can’t tell you how hard I laughed when that came up in my tweet stream, not knowing what he was referring to. I hope he doesn’t see this!

Always look for blue skies. A friend of mine Rajesh @r27 always reminds me to look for the good in every situation. The value of twitter really for me is the connection and the encouragement that I get from people. No matter how bad my day is, someone in my twitter stream would always make me smile. I am pretty lucky to have such a good variety of people that are positive and very encouraging.

	@thebrandbuilder – Olivier inspires me, motivates me, makes me smarter and has great taste.
	@adamsconsulting – Diana is a great source of inspiration, she lets me be me. She tells me how it is and always has a kind word. Knows when to listen and when to speak. She is very real and she gets me.

Voting will automatically close in exactly one day – Friday at 1pm, so get voting now! The Twitter Face-Off will take place once a month on a Thursday so make sure to check back next month!

Twitter Face-Off: Kris Colvin vs Misty Belardo is a post from: Grace Smith, a Freelance Web Designer based in Northern Ireland, UK. Grace runs a micro design studio called Postscript5 and works with range of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the world.

This is the second of a new series which takes two well known twitterers, gives them 10 quick fire questions to answer (connected to Twitter) and then let’s them battle it out before your votes decide who wins the round.

I’ve picked two of the best linkers to take part in the second in this series:

• Cheth: @cheth – The man who needs no surname, he is one of the top retweeters and linkers on Twitter. Cheth is a designer, social media enthusiast and avid blogger.
• Richard Darell: @minervity – Richard is a web designer and developer and founder of Minervity.com. He is known for his excellent twitter stream full of design and development gems.

Without further ado, let the battle begin…

	The first tweet was on August’08 but I guess the next one was 3 months later. So actively tweeting since October 2008.
	Well, started in January so it’s…6 months then. I first find out about it by accident really. Saw a clip on YouTube from the Web 2.0 and in that clip Gary Vaynerchuck talked about Twitter and I had to check it out. Awesome presentation! If you have the time you should really check it out.

Many reasons! I love be connected with like minded people, it helps both personally and professionally. The best known method of self promotion in the process of promoting our friends.

Well, it’s for two reasons really. The number one reason is really to meet and interact with new and exciting people. It would have been impossible for me to meet all these great people going around the world. I would have time doing what I do if I had to travel to all of these people. Everyone has their value and as I am a knowledge fanatic I am constantly learning new things from these people. Second reason is really to get some feedback on the companies and work I put out there on the Internet. It gives me the inspiration to take things one step further. I am always out to better myself and this is what Twitter helps me to achieve.

	I take breaks of 5-10 mins (each hour) just to update my status. So it would make 3-4 hours at a stretch.
	Hm, that’s a hard one. I am sure someone would tell me too many. But a pretty accurate estimation would be like 19-20 hours a day. I only sleep around 2 hours a night if any. I am way to excited about being creative so I mostly can’t stop what I am doing until I am totally satisfied with what I am creating or doing.

@mayhemstudios ‘coz he is one of the first tweeple I interacted with, plus all the quality tweets.

Well, I am a HUGE fan of Gary Vaynerchuck and I think his dedication and his way of looking at things are so healthy when it comes to working for success. I think being him for a day would be quite interesting to say the least. His energy is just off the hook and that is what I can relate to as I only have one gear…full on. I have a saying I came up with that says “Life won’t wait for you to make up your mind” and I live by that down to the very pixel I put on the screen..

	“I Tweet Therefore I am’” is my fave because it speaks the spirit of tweeting. Right?
	I think my favorite Tweet is anything that puts me in a creative and inspired mood. I guess you mean a specific tweet but there are so many and it’s so dependent on what I feel like learning that particular moment. However, I think my favorite Tweet comes from some of the Authors on my project BitRebels.com. BUT, also any Design related stuff.

	One word oh that’s tough!! Hmm, a very good ‘connector’.
	From time to time I tweet promotional stuff, as does everyone. I tend to Tweet too much but I am so excited about the feedback and sometimes I get ahead of myself. However, my stream mainly consists of Design, Geek and Tech tweets…with occasional random stuff.

Immensely! It has given me to shake hands with some really awesome designers and moreover learn from them. Career wise I never had a heap load of freelance projects before joining twitter. So this is an excellent place for self promotion and to be noticed in the crowd.

It has had a profound impact on my career and business and without it I would know where I would have been today. Things are constantly growing and with an ever impressing speed. Twitter has been the fuel and the booster for both Minervity.com and also BitRebels.com which is just a puppy project as is was started just over a month ago. Already we’ve had over 60,000 pageviews and I am just blown away by its success.

	On the top of my list! Marketing and branding is now a part of a designers life and what better place than twitter where you can do it all yourself with so many buddies backing you up. Isn’t this just brilliant?
	Well, I tend to use it as a platform for directional accomplishment planning. To guide me in the direction where my creativity and the amassed audience liking meet so to speak. It’s important for me to know that what I am doing is beneficial to other people as well and not only for my own satisfaction when I think I’ve come as close to my own perfectionism as I can get.

	I have a dedicated mail account just for design links subscribed from over 300+ blogs. With Google Reader And Digg + SU to fill my twitter stream with value.
	It’s quite easy I think. With so many great people doing so many cool and inspirational things out there it would really be weird if I didn’t find anything. However having said that, I do mostly Tweet the stuff that I have found useful and educational myself as well. If I like it maybe there are other people out there that likes it as well. That’s how I see it.

	It would be @aplusk just to have a feel of seeing my replies section having 2 Million replies for each update!
	I would say @mayhemstudios on that one. Why? Well, first of his is a huge inspiration for me both professionally and personal. His links are off the hook and he was among the first people I started following when I first started. He became somewhat of a mentor on social media for me and I am forever thankful for all the great advices he has given me throughout the journey.

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Voting will automatically close in exactly one day – Friday at 1pm, so get voting now! The Twitter Face-Off will take place once a month on a Thursday so make sure to check back next month!

Twitter Face-Off: Cheth vs Richard Darell is a post from: Grace Smith, a Freelance Web Designer based in Northern Ireland, UK. Grace runs a micro design studio called Postscript5 and works with range of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the world.

This is the start of a new series which takes two well known twitterers, gives them 10 quick fire questions to answer (connected to Twitter) and then let’s them battle it out before your votes decide who wins the round.

It’s inspired by Daniel from the awesome DailyBlogTips who created the Bloggers Face-Off back in 2007, i think it’s a hugely interesting and innovative way to gain valuable insights into how and why some of our favourite tweeps use Twitter, rather than resorting to the average interview format.

I’ve picked two of my favourite people on Twitter to kick off the series:

• Calvin Lee: @mayhemstudios – Calvin is a designer and self-proclaimed media ho and twitter addict. He’s been interviewed numerous times regarding twitter, has one of the top twitter backgrounds and is one of the best resources for design links.
• Andy Sowards: @andysowards – Andy is a professional Web Developer, Programmer, family man, and all around advocate of all things tech. Andy is one of the nicest guys on twitter, always happy to have a conversation and shares a wealth of design and web development resources.

Without further ado, let the battle begin…

	Actively, I’ been tweeting for about 6 months. I initially signed up over a year ago but didn’t find it useful until I gave it a second chance. I approached it differently then the first time. Instead of updating on what I was doing, used it for source of inspiration for my design projects and retweeting using info.
	Since October of 2008.

It’s about the people. I like helping others by offering my advice, retweeting useful information and connecting with new friends. It’s also a great way for self-promotion, networking and finding new clients.

Many Reasons! I love connecting with like minded designers/developers and meeting new people. I love to share links and resources with people and also helping them get their great content out to everyone with RT’s. Twitter also helps me gain credibility as a designer, developer or programmer and brings in a lot of freelance business and traffic to my sites. It would probably be easier to ask ‘Why DON’T I twitter?’

	I spend about 8 hours or more through out the day on twitter. Maybe that is why they call me a Twitter addict?
	On average I’d say 2-3 hours a day.

	WOW! That is a really tough question to answer. There are so many great people on Twitter. Jeff Fisher comes to mind. He is a great guy, designer and master self-promoter. He’s always willing to give any advice about logo design and self-promotion. Gives back to the design community with great information about his design process and self-promotion tips.
	I would probably follow Calvin @mayhemstudios.

	A well-designed profile page or at least not the default design is a must, even if you’re not promoting anything. It will help to express your personality. People will find you more interesting, want to get to know you better and follow you.
	I do, because people with well designed profile pages are taking twitter seriously and trying to get their brand in front of you.

Gaining and keeping followers isn’t that important to me. You will always have people that won’t like how you use Twitter. My best advice, Twitter is what you make it. I try to help others out by participating, interacting, tweeting using information, retweeting others, being part of the community, replying to questions, sharing part of my life and being nice. That’s how I gain and keep followers.

Be yourself. They will follow you for YOU and they will stay for YOU.

Using a photo, as an avatar is more personable, people relate to you better as real person, opposed to a graphic or illustration. Your profile description should be something about you or what you do. Make it fun. Your Twitter background should to be attractive, clean and unobtrusive. Keep away from making the background too busy. You don’t want people to be distracted by the background when reading your profile, updates or favorites. There should also be a good contrast between the background and fore ground of the tweet content area for easy readability.

For Avatars, use a pic of yourself, or use your logo or brand as the avatar, or use both(be creative). For Profiles, definitely use your logos/branding here, and list your sites and any contact/social media urls so twitterers can connect with you there too.

	It would have to be either Guy Kawasaki or Chris Brogan. It would be cool to travel around the country meeting everyone from Twitter and speaking about your experiences. It would be like not working at all.
	Would definitely be @aplusk with all those followers that would just be interesting to see.

Twitter is an awesome tool for networking, self-promotion and finding new clients. It has given me more opportunities to get my name out there, than anything else I have used before. People contacting me for projects have doubled and my website/blog traffic has increased significantly. I get a lot of referrals from other followers as well. I also get asked to contribute to articles and interviews, which helps in building my credibility as design professional.

It has greatly impacted my career, it has given me the opportunity to network with excellent designers and put my work in front of a lot of people that otherwise may not have seen it. In turn this has helped me grow my freelance business drastically!

	There is no secret; it’s combination of things. It’s about being you. If I had to say just one, it would be Helpful. Here are a few other words I would use too: engaging, retweet, content, nice.
	Kindness.

Voting will automatically close in exactly one day – Friday at 1pm, so get voting now! The Twitter Face-Off will be twice monthly on a Thursday so make sure to check back on July 2.

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Twitter Face-Off: Calvin Lee vs Andy Sowards is a post from: Grace Smith, a Freelance Web Designer based in Northern Ireland, UK. Grace runs a micro design studio called Postscript5 and works with range of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the world.