As one of the leading social networks, Twitter has become more than just a place for friends to keep in touch with one another. It is also a leading platform that businesses are now using to stay in touch with current customers and expand their reach to new clients. One of the central ways to stand apart from other Twitter users is with a custom background. Not only can you brand your Twitter page, but you can also promote yourself in creative ways via a Twitter background too.

Canned Backgrounds

If you’re feeling creatively challenged, or if you’re strapped for time and looking for a quick fix then visit one of these Twitter background sites and explore patterns, prints and images that can be used to spice up your page.

TwitBacks

Twitrounds

Twitter Background Images

My Tweet Space

Themeleon

Custom Built

Here’s a little secret, you can use PowerPoint and Mac’s Keynote software to design your own fancy Twitter background. There are two main elements to consider before you start to build-out graphic elements, monitor resolution size and final image size.

W3Schools current trends show that more than 76% of computers are using a screen resolution higher than 1024×768. The higher the resolution, the more that a user will see of the Twitter background. Having a grid that shows you how many pixels your background components need to be constructed at will make things much easier to put together.

Depending on what resolution size you decide to design your background for your placement dimensions will vary. Try giving yourself a width of 250 pixels from the left margin for your left hand graphics and at least 85 pixels from the top header bar. Experiment to see what works best for your layout and design. Here’s a sample background template from Smashing Magazine to help illustrate how dimensions can be laid out.

Remember that the final size of your design is important because Twitter caps the size of backgrounds at 800k. Try to use JPGs and lower resolution images to avoid ending up with a file that’s 10MB in size.

When you’re ready to start building a background, open up PowerPoint or Keynote and create a blank slide that’s sized to the resolution of your choosing. Use the rulers and drag and drop guides to help you position your background elements. Once you’re satisfied with your creation do a Save As or Export and process as a JPG, GIF or PNG. Try uploading to your Twitter account to see how it looks.

Sidebar Promotion

Just like tweets are limited to 140 characters or less, Twitter bios must be 59 characters or less. That doesn’t leave a ton of room to promote your brand. That’s where the sidebar area comes in handy. You can use the left hand side of your Twitter background to feature other social media profiles, your blog URL, contact information and even some additional highlights about your brand, product and services.

Stellar Backgrounds

A collection of creative Twitter backgrounds is featured below for inspiration and ideas on to set-up your own. Enjoy!

twitter.com/kriscolvin

twitter.com/coreyweb

twitter.com/ijustine

twitter.com/robingood

twitter.com/elitistsnob

If you’re still hankering for more then check out some of these outstanding links and resources below:

How To: Create Custom Backgrounds for Twitter, YouTube, & MySpace | Mashable

Twitter Background Design How-To and Best Practices | Chris Spooner

A Tutorial On Designing a Twitter Background | SEO MoFo

Crowdsourcing is a term that was coined back in 2006 by writer Jeff Howe for a Wired magazine article. Although the concept was far from new, the term wasn’t. In a nutshell, crowdsourcing is the act of sending out tasks that are normally performed by an individual to a group of people. The idea is that more minds and hands are better than one and for the most part that’s true.

Many software developers and computer enginners have been aware of crowdsourcing for quite some time. Clearly, having the collaboration of other like-minded experts allows projects to be built cheaper, faster and more precisely compared to one that is carried out by a single person.

Now more than ever a rash of companies that are built on crowdsourcing are springing up across the internet. Here’s a handful of some of the more interesting and interactive ones.

Editz

Formerly known as GooseGrade, this site is a dream for die-hard proofers and fact-checkers. Editz is pretty basic in concept. Let’s say your reading something on the web, perhaps someone’s blog post, and you spot a typo. As an Editz member you can correct the error and the site’s widget will automatically generate a friendly email that notifies the blog owner so that the correction can be made. Pretty handy for anyone who can’t afford a proofreader or who write and check twice.

Waze

If you find yourself stuck in your car during rush hour or if you just have a long commute to and from your office then you need to checkout Waze. Through GPS technology, the Waze application allows users to report traffic problems to other users. It also gives users the opportunity to see the ebb and flow of traffic when an accident or event is reported.

Another great feature is that users can correct misspelled or unmarked street names and flag errors for correction to ensure that map data is as accurate as possible. Contributions are rewarded for reporting traffic events, miles driven, identifying and mapping new roads and more. As users accrue points they’re eligible for a position in Waze’s Hall of Fame and the privilege to edit other users’ errors.

Happy Spotting

This subsidiary of Trendwatching is a site that allows savvy marketers and trendspotters to sign-up, track and report new trends, consumer behavior and changes in the marketplace. Trendwatching’s Happy Spotting site boasts more than 8,000 members who keep an eye on what’s hot, what’s not and what you might not even be aware of. Spotters gather and submit their information through a report process and receive points in return. Accumulated points can be exchanged for a variety of uber cool rewards and prizes like iPods, jumpdrives and other fun gadgets.

Threadless

Out of all the crowdsourcing sites on the internet, Threadless seems to command the most attention. This community-based t-shirty company has an ongoing open call for design submissions. Graphic artists, creative illustrators and designers alike can submit their designs for review and vote by the community. T-shirt designs with the most votes are produced and sold.

What makes Threadless unique is that the designs are developed by professional and gifted artists. With so many stunning pieces to choose from you’ll find it hard to cast your vote for just one.

Patients Like Me

This is a place where crowdsourcing is joining people together who have life-changing conditions. It’s free to join and by providing some basic health information you can connect with others from around the globe who are living with challenges from the same disease. Through common disease states and diagnoses, patients can share information, develop support groups and discover new way to take charge of their health.

Crowdsourcing as a concept is growing quickly as a preferred way to research and gather information from the masses. Businesses stand to benefit by seeking out feedback from groups of people and using it collectively to shape and build new concepts and ideas. Stay tuned for a future post on social media and crowdsourcing can work together.

Recently, Burger King has been riding the publicity wave for its ’404 error page’ campaign that it’s launched with social media news site, Digg. Simply put, when users enter something that can’t be found on the site, a customized 404 error page appears that is promoting Burger King’s $1 double cheeseburger. Crowns off to Burger King for coming up with an innovative way to expand its marketing efforts. Clearly, this corporation has an open mind when it comes to toeing new advertising waters.

After learning about Burger King’s endeavor, the search was on to locate creative spins through other website’s customized 404 pages. Surprisingly, there’s a vast selection of fresh examples that show how other businesses incorporate their personalities and some fun into these pages.

You might be asking yourself why anyone would want to have a customized 404 error page. It’s just one more way that you can keep visitors on your site. Most visitors who encounter a 404 File Not Found error on your site head for the hills. When you’re searching for something, be it internally on a site or through a search engine, if your target is M.I.A. it can be a bit of a buzzkill. You want your site audience to stick around and creating a custom 404 error page allows you to do just that.

Here’s a collection of some of the unique 404 pages that have been discovered. Hopefully they offer some inspiration so that you can develop your own.

Hasbro

Lileks

Chris Jennings

Apartment Home Living

Craigslist

Slonky

British Mac

The North Face

Rare View

Frye Wiles