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Getting Started With Twitter

Posted by admin On August - 4 - 2009

What Is This Twitter You Speak Of?

So what is Twitter and how can it be of benefit to you or your business? Twitter is a free online micro-blogging application which gives you the ability to send out short messages (up to 140 characters) called “tweets” to people who are following you on Twitter. You can send tweets either through your computer or by using your cell phone via a text message. These tweets/messages can be about anything you want and they can include links, as well. Making Twitter even more useful is the ability to send a direct message to someone you are following (this is done by entering @username at the beginning of your message) or replying to someone’s tweet with your own. You would be surprised how common it is to reply to someone’s message then to have someone who is either following you or the person you sent the reply to reply to your initial message and so on.

People can follow you and your tweets by first signing-up for their own free Twitter account at the Twitter site then adding you to their list of people they are following. Once you have created your account, you can either check your Twitter page (your own personal page which appears after you sign-in at the Twitter home page) for any of your friend’s new messages or you can send out your own. But it is much easier, in my opinion, to use one of the many online or desktop applications which give you the ability to do all of this and more.

Twitter As A Communication Tool

Twitter is a quick and easy way to communicate with family, friends, business associates, and also within a company setting. Being an online service, Twitter is available to anyone with online access. All you have to do is login to your account through any number of third-party applications developed for Twitter or through the Twitter site and you are ready to go. Within a company setting, employees could have a Twitter account created for them with the option to have their messages protected. This means only people they (or you or the person in charge of creating the Twitter accounts) approve will be able to send and receive messages from them. The same thing could be done using an instant message program but with Twitter, there would be no software to install and it would be accessible from anywhere with an online connection. Additionally, the person who is in charge of the Twitter accounts will have the power to control who is and who isn’t part of this private Twitter network.

Even though there are tons of online communication applications available, Twitter can also be used as a way for people who are collaborating on a project to stay in touch with one another regardless of where they are. And depending on which third-party application they are using to Twitter with, these conversations can be saved for future reference. There are even some third-party apps which you can use to send files up to 10MB to anyone you are following as long as they are using the same application, that is. Still, a handy feature to have and one which may become a feature of Twitter if there’s a big enough demand for it.

Marketing With Twitter

Here in lies the great thing about Twitter from a business perspective: the marketing potential it offers users. Sure, it is great to send messages and chat using Twitter, but it can also be a great marketing tool if used correctly. Have some breaking news you want to get out quickly? Send it out as a Tweet. Made an important update to your blog or web site? Let people know about it instantly with a Tweet. Want to promote your project, book, movie, whatever by giving away a free download or preview? Send out a Tweet with a URL to the free download. Only want to market something to certain individuals you are following? Simply enter their username preceded by the “@” and you are set.

Another simple marketing tool available with Twitter is the ability to befriend people who are following someone you already follow. While this practice could backfire on you if you begin to add everyone you find following someone you are following, be picky and just befriend those who either share similar tastes that you do or work in the same field as you or already follow many of the same people you do. Otherwise, you could come off as a spammer which will be a hard image to shake.

Twitter Now And Beyond

Twitter represents a fundamental change in the way people communicate online. There have always been instant messengers and they have their place and purpose but they don’t offer the one thing which sets Twitter apart and that is the ability to instantly communicate with either a couple of people or potentially thousands without the need for proprietary software. No need to download this piece of software in order to communicate with this person or that organization.

Much like how blogging has become a staple of today’s society, Twitter and “twittering” is on the same path to becoming ingrained in today’s culture despite only being around for less than two years. So simple in its execution, powerful in the marketing opportunities it offers, and ease of use, Twitter will be one of the top web technologies to gain worldwide prominence in 2008.

How to Use Twitter for Marketing

Posted by admin On August - 3 - 2009

It’s not surprising that social media has become so popular in so short a time. Not only is it a source of entertainment for most people, it is also the newest strategy for acquiring customers for businesses. And with hot new tools like Twitter, social media marketing has only become more progressive and popular!

What Is Twitter?

In case you’re not familiar with Twitter, it is a social media tool that allows people to know what their fellow twitterers (people using twitter) are doing at this very moment.

Are you getting ready for bed? Put that on Twitter! Are you buying a new couch or writing a report on the effects of social media marketing? Put that on Twitter! Are you throwing a birthday party for your golden retriever? Well, you can put that on Twitter as well. There are no boundaries as to what you can put on Twitter. In Twitter, even the most mundane updates about your life can be pretty liberating. 

Sounds simple, right? Perhaps, it is this simplicity that has made Twitter quite a sensation on the Internet. There’s also something amusing about knowing what other people are doing and letting them know your own business as well. This combination of fun and simplicity is what ultimately appeals to Twitter fans.

Applying Twitter In Business

If you’re business-minded, then you probably already have more than a few ideas on how to make this social media marketing tool work for you. Having a Twitter account allows you to inform your clients and would-be clients the progress in your company. You’re not putting up an ad every week (because that tends to be annoying). However, you get the chance to share with them what’s happening to your company’s products, people, tools, etc. right now. 

Twitter, unlike MySpace and Facebook, poses an advantage for new and advanced marketers. As an efficient social media marketing tool, Twitter allows you to build a giant list of followers. It allows your clients and subscribers to see what you’re doing right now. It gives them access to your immediate profile and permits you to share your ideas with other twitterers. All free of charge.

How Twitter Can Explode Your Profits

While many people have other purposes and values for the use of the free service, the marketer can use Twitter to jumpstart a list of followers that can grow into thousands.

If you’re someone who sells used cars, you can use Twitter to attract members who are interested in automobiles. When a new shipment comes in, you can use Twitter to announce that the latest Ford model has arrived. Or if you’re having a sale, you can use Twitter to let everybody know about it.

These followers are the next best thing to customers. If they haven’t bought anything from you yet, then you can rest assured that they will be buying something soon. As long as you keep providing them something nice to look forward to, they will always be enticed to purchase something from your company.

Think of it as fishing. You already have the fish interested in your bait. All you have to do is wait for the fish to bite. According to quantcast.com, Twitter reaches about 6.1 million U.S. people every month. This social media tool has also reached other countries and is hugely popular in Japan. In fact, there are other Twitter-like applications that have popped up due to its insane fame!

Despite the huge popularity of Twitter, it is not a disorganized system that doesn’t have any limits. For example, you can only send 1,000 updates, 100 API requests and send 250 direct messages each day. And while there is no limit to the people who can follow you, the same freedom doesn’t apply vice-versa.

The maximum number of people you can follow is limited to 2,000. In Twitter-speak, to follow means to receive Twitter updates. This limit will only be lifted if you manage to attract more than 2,000 followers to your account.

According to Twitter, this is done to prevent SPAM users from adding up into their system and to prevent abuse from all current members.

It’s not that difficult to attract more followers into your account. In the long run, this will only make your Twitter account more meaningful because of the effort you’ve put into it.

The beauty at this stage is that once you are at such a level, it’s easier to attract new followers into your account. The benefits from taking such steps are acquiring your own list of eager followers (in which you can pitch your own products and services); and more importantly, gaining new business contacts.

Other Social Media Marketing Methods

There are other methods of social media marketing available for your use. Twitter isn’t the only way to enhance your business and get a constant flow of leads.

Other methods you can explore include:

1) Blogs

2) Community forums

3) Social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, and LinkedIn.

4) Video-sharing sites such as Youtube, Metacafe, Google videos, Yahoo videos, and AOL videos.

5) Content sharing sites such as Squidoo, Hubpages, Wetpaint, Qassia, and Google Knol.

These days, you shouldn’t just limit yourself to one thing. With the Internet as vast as it is, you should use every opportunity to make new contacts and establish yourself. Besides, think of all the new things you can learn from interacting with other people online!

Leave comments on your choice blogs and participate in forum discussions that allow for signature files after every post.  Make informative videos and upload them to video-sharing sites.  Explode your list of contacts through social networking sites. Share your knowledge and be recognized as an authority by submitting your content to content-sharing sites.

Not only will these help you establish credibility, you probably won’t even have to worry or stress about making money in the future. Remember that social media marketing, like any other marketing methods, works if you work it! Now like many of our mentors say – get to work!

Micro-Blogging on Twitter

Posted by admin On August - 1 - 2009

There’s a hot new trend going on right now and it’s called micro-blogging. So what’s a micro-blog? And moreover, what’s Twitter? Twitter is a micro-blogger platform that allows users to create entries that are only 140 characters in length. These entries are referred to as “tweets.”
Originally designed to keep friends and family up to date on what you’re doing, Twitter can also be a great place to share your latest book project, promotional ideas as well as interacting with fellow tweets (folks who twitter) and writers. And yes, you can have a blog and a Twitter page. I have both but I feed my blog into my Twitter site so that my Twitter page gets updated each time I add new content to my blog. There’s an easy application to add your blog feed to Twitter, it takes just minutes to do. Head on over to: Twitterfeed.
To sign up for a Twitter account just complete their short sign up form. Remember to brand yourself! This is important. Once you create a Twitter account you can’t go back and change your name so find something that works for you. Maybe it’s fictionwriter or businesswriter or whatever you want. My Twitter page is bookgal which is fun play on words for what I do (and what I love). Once you have a Twitter account you can immediately start tweeting. The service is completely free and you can also keep up with other people’s tweets by “following” them. Their micro-blog entries will show up on your Twitter home page so you can easily keep track of them. You can also be notified by phone when they add a tweet. You can twitter from anywhere, even your phone. I’ve been known to twitter from my blackberry.Why on Earth Would you Want to Twitter?
When Twitter first started, people were a little perplexed. I mean why on earth would you want to blog in 140 characters? Well since the site emerged in 2006, it’s grown enormously in popularity. With Twitter pages from sites like CNN and every one of the political candidates, the site’s popularity can’t be overstated. Nor can its applications for the future. Also, even if you don’t have a ton of people following your tweets, keep in mind that Twitter search sites are popping up everywhere. This means that if you tweet using keywords that matter to your reader/market, you could be found and followed! For one such search site check out: summarize. Also, if you’re trying to gauge the popularity of a certain word or phrase and how often it’s being used or referred to, you can head on over to Tweet Volume and find out. Just plug in your search term or terms and up will pop a list of results!Most Well-Known Twitter Users
• Many organizations (such as the Los Angeles Fire Department) have embraced the technology and put it to use in situations such as the October 2007 California wildfires.
• Higher education is also using the technology to relay important information to students in a more timely manner. The University of Texas at San Antonio College of Engineering is one such example.
• Several U.S. presidential campaigns use Twitter as a publicity mechanism, Ron Paul, John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton all have Twitter pages.
• Media outlets such as CNN have also started using Twitter to break news.How to Use Twitter Effectively
If you’ve pondered using Twitter but aren’t sure how to use it effectively, here are some quick tips to give you some great twittering-ideas:
• Teach stuff – teach a little mini-lesson on Twitter. Delve into your area of expertise or just talk about book publishing and how to get published.
• Showcase your book – don’t do this in a “my book is so fabulous” kind of way but offer to give advice (like I mention in Teach Stuff) or share with your Twitter followers how the promotion of the book is going.
• Use Twitter as a news source: you can easily announce news both from your world (as long as it relates to your topic) and from the world of your expertise. So for example I’ve done tweets on book industry stuff, breaking news, etc.
• Widen your network – follow other Twitter folk, this will not only give you some ideas for your own “tweets” but it’s a great way to network with other writers or professionals.
• Keep the buzz going when you’re on the move – it’s hard to keep blogging when you’re on the road (trust me, I know this first hand) – so when I travel, I tweet. I share what I’m doing, what’s happening in my world and try to offer insight and advice.
• Market yourself – remember that while Twitter may seem like a fun little tool, it’s also a great way to market yourself. Just like the ideas we mention above, there are a hundred+ more things you can do.Golden Rules of Twitter:
Here are a few rules to live by when tweeting:
• Be Original, useful and helpful.
• Every Tweet counts (don’t tell people you’re washing your cat) don’t just tweet on useless stuff or you’ll lose followers.
• Ask questions: you’ve got a network (or you want one) now use it! Ask questions, take surveys, get your followers involved in your message and marketing!
• It’s not all about you (again, back to the cat) people want to know useful stuff, I know, it’s getting repetitive but there’s a reason: it’s important.
• Promote your Twitter account in your email signature line and on your blog.
• Network: don’t expect your followers to grow if you’re not following other people. Network, search for others in your area and follow them.
• Personal is ok. Even though I said not to post useless information it’s still not a bad idea to (from time to time) post a personal Tweet or two. Provide value and twitter-followers will beat a path to your door.
• Keep Twittering, followers will come if you keep updating your Twitter account.

Is Twitter Useful for Vision Mapping

Posted by admin On July - 31 - 2009

Twitter has taken the internet with a storm, everywhere you look, everywhere you search everyone is sending twits and is twittering. The question is, is this worth the time and effort to get involved in? The answer to this question is, yes.

 l. Twitter is a free social networking site where you post what they call tweets, it gives you the ability to keep in touch with hundreds maybe thousands of people on a daily and sometimes hourly basis with current events and information. Twitter is also called a micro-blogging service that allows users to post short messages of text of not more than 140 characters or about 25 words and share them with your “followers”. Tweets can be posted via the web site, text messages from a cell phone or any of the various third-party applications designed to work with Twitter.

2. These messages are posted to your profile or your blog, sent to your followers, and are searchable on Twitter search. Twitter offers many ways to post updates, from the web in the update box, from your phone, from your mobile web browser using Twitter.com. After you click the follow button on someone’s profile, you’re following them. The follow button will change to a box that says “Following” with a drop down option to remove a person if you want to. See a list of people you’re following by clicking on the following link on your profile or your home page’s sidebar.

3. All you need to use Twitter is an internet connection or a mobile phone. To get an idea of what other people are saying or doing on Twitter you can search by keyword or just check out the trending topics to what’s hot on Twitter right now. If you’ve registered your phone with Twitter, you can set up text preferences for a person as well; Twitter sends you an email when someone new follows you.

4. What does it mean to follow someone on Twitter? Following someone simply means receiving their Twitter updates. When you follow someone, every time they post a new message, it will appear in your Twitter home page. Twitter offers other ways to follow people too: you can get updates from certain people on your phone. When you create an account, you can search for people by name or user name, import friends from other networks, or invite friends via email. Once you’ve found your friends or business associates, follow them to start getting their updates. New messages are added to your home page as people post them, so you always get the updates in real time. When you log in, you can see what the latest updates are.

5. Everyone can view your Twitter profile as it is public by default, if you’re hesitant to have strangers read your updates, you can protect your profile by selecting approved followers and keep your updates out of search. There are spammers on Twitter and it is encouraged for you to block them, and every one on Twitter will thank you for that. It is good to know that Twitter Support keeps an eye on block reports to see who is getting in trouble on Twitter.

6. Miscellaneous Twitter trivia: Oprah is now on Twitter and it is said she is posting her own Twitters; Ashton Kutcher became the first Twitter user to have one million followers; Twitter users can gather, meet and socialize while raising money for charity; it has been said that if they hear the word ‘Twitter’ one more time they are going to go virtual postal and the same goes for Tweet, Tweetted, Twittering and Tweeter; Britney Spears and many of your favorite celebrities are active Twitter members; why is there a star at the end of updates?. The star is a way for you to mark an update as favorite.

7. As in any social setting there are certain common courtesies and Twittiquete one should keep in mind; and on Twitter it is no different, some people take the “What are you doing?” question a little too literal, and also fill the site with 20 updates a day. Learn the etiquette on Twitter and be a fun and interesting Twitterer and find out how much great information is out there and what your favorite followers are doing without being obnoxious.

8. Last but not least, Twitter is great for marketing and finding information that is useful for your personal empowerment and/or improvement, this can include building your business and the use of vision mapping to manifest the business you intend to improve and/or develop into what you want for it to be. Vision mapping is a great visualization tool to manifest your hearts desires and the tool to use for this is Vision Map Videos, it is said that if you watch your video once a day for 30 days you will see every area of your life and/or business being created the way you visualize it.

If you haven’t joined the Twitter micro-blogging world, now is the time to start, but do beware, it can be addictive.

Twitter Applications and Tweets

Posted by admin On July - 30 - 2009

Twitter applications are becoming known to every person rapidly, the reason might be these are user friendly and can be used in cell phones like Blackberry. Those who are technology savvy can understand very well what the importance of using applications through cell phones is. When I was new to twitter, I had no idea what I was doing — as is the case for most people when they first sign up. After I started following a few people I noticed all the different applications their Tweets were coming from various applications like Twhirl etc. How do you sort through all of them and find the right application to use? Is any one of them better than the others? After trying nearly everything, I have a few ideas as to how to find the right Twitter application to suit your needs.

In Twitter there are few terms which you have never heard of it before joining twitter like tweets which mean comments, followers which mean friends in your list. These things sound so good that’s why people attract to twitter and want to know what these things are. Though meaning of these terms are common but still tweets, followers are very catchy words and this is the reason that what makes twitter different from other social networking websites. Orkut, facebook and so on all these are social networking websites. With the advancement in technology these social networking websites launched. With these sites their special features like for twitter, twitter applications launched. The usage of these sites became popular in people especially in youth. Best source to connect people in all over the world. Alumni meets started happening through these sites. Friends, relatives, old buddies started connected with each other. Then slowly various other social networking websites are launched. Now on internet on the average maximum people surf these sites on the internet.

With the popularity of these sites amongst people, companies have started preparing various and special features for these websites. It includes applications like games, astrology, changing font of your websites and so on. These special applications give the special looks to user’s account. With the craze of twitter, twitter applications have also become popular.

Twitter applications are the additional feature which is added in the twitter. Twitter can be called by different names like twitter tools, twitter add-ons, twitter applications which are commonly used. But whatever the name they are called, they are simply websites which have built-in scripts that complement Twitter. There are various twitter applications which are used with twitter.

There are various websites which provide twitter applications and one of them is The Twitter Secret. The Twitter Secret makes applications especially according to user’s need. But these applications are paid which are providing by The Twitter Secret. Our twitter applications fulfill all your need and we are assure about it because while making application we always keep in mind user’s requirement that what you people want, what kind of quality and design.

Purpose of Twitter Applications

Posted by admin On July - 29 - 2009

There are thousands of twitter applications; twitter has different varieties in it from simple twitter applications to automatics content generators. The scope of twitter applications are so vast, it’s up to you that how do you choose the best twitter application which can give you more benefit.

Every twitter application has different purpose, like one site allows you to specify a new background for your Twitter page.  By clicking you can automatically upload to your home page, simple to use. It’s a great way to customize your page and to generate more interest.  Getting your profile and home page right are two of the most important factors in getting more followers in Twitter.

When your page is ready, you want to set up this site to automate the following of people who follow you, and send direct messages to your new followers.  The message can be as simple as a welcome greeting, or may include a link to a webpage.

Few applications are used to find people of same interest. It’s more interesting when you follow those people who have same interest as yours. So you can easily follow them. Using these kinds of twitter applications will help you to find people in the niche you are promoting and therefore improve the click through rate when you send them links in your updates and direct messages.

Other twitter applications are to find people who share similar interests to you. This one allows you to search by subject matter but also you can meet those people who are from your city. You can then click to follow them.  This is a great tool for structuring geographically-based campaigns.

Why Twitter applications are made??? The reason is to give comfort and facility to the twitter user. Finding single person from lakhs is very difficult job. This is one of the reasons that twitter applications were launched. Special twitter application is available which help you to find a particular person with the same community, interest and same geographical reason.

In Twitter there are few terms which you have never heard of it before joining twitter like tweets which mean comments, followers which mean friends in your list. These things sound so good that’s why people attract to twitter and want to know what these things are. Though meaning of these terms are common but still tweets, followers are very catchy words and this is the reason that what makes twitter different from other social networking websites. Orkut, facebook and so on all these are social networking websites. With the advancement in technology these social networking websites launched. With these sites their special features like for twitter, twitter applications launched. The usage of these sites became popular in people especially in youth. Best source to connect people in all over the world. Alumni meets started happening through these sites. Friends, relatives, old buddies started connected with each other. Then slowly various other social networking websites are launched. Now on internet on the average maximum people surf these sites on the internet.

Twitter applications are the additional feature of Twitter which helps to overcome the drawback of Twitter.

Top Twitter Scripts and Apps – Twitterscripts.net

Posted by admin On July - 28 - 2009

Quality Twitter App scripts, Unique Code, Templates, Custom Designs, and more. TwitterScripts.net offers you a new way to create your very own Twitter Resource website without having to pay someone a lot of money to do the coding, design, etc. Jump on the bandwagon and start making some money as you offer Twitter users around the globe valuable twitter apps they can use daily. Just Added:

Over 200 Backgrounds you can use to start your own Twitter Background website. Can be used with our Twitter Background Generator script or on their own to add to your existing or new twitter background site. You cannot afford to not jump on this niche! A few of the other scripts that we offer:

Offer your users a unique way to make their own Twitter backgrounds with this amazing script! There is no doubt that one of the highest keyword searches on the web these days is “twitter backgrounds”. Now you can easily offer your users a way to create vibrantly designed Twitter backgrounds with this very powerful Twitter Background Generator script. This niche has been a cash cow for many developers, now you can have your own Twitter Background site! Many of these sites have sold for over thousands of dollars on Sitepoint! The script is incredibly easy to set up, features an admin panel for which you can add new Theme packs and backgrounds with ease, a login area for existing users, and some pretty amazing features! ———————-

Create a way for your users to mass follow and unfollow twitter users. This script allows users to mass follow, defollow or retrieve friends or followers from Twitter. It’s an incredibly easy way to manage a user’s twitter account as well as add new followers and friends! ———————-

Create your own Status Update Box Website Using this script on your website, you can create a unique site that will allow twitter users with websites and blogs to place your widget box’s on their own site for their users to update their status’s directly. Easy to add your own styles, and designs. Your users will need to copy the code from the generated text boxes on your website and paste that code into their sites source code, then upload! Brand with your own website URL! ———————- For more apps and scripts visit:

Twitter Scripts offers unique custom twitter apps and scripts for you to create your very own Twitter resource website! Have you ever wanted to create your own Twitter App / Resource website but didn’t want to pay hundreds of dollars to a developer to get it coded from scratch? TwitterScripts.net is your NEW solution! Quality Twitter App scripts, Unique Code, Templates, Custom Designs, and more. TwitterScripts.net offers you a new way to create your very own Twitter Resource website without having to pay someone a lot of money to do the coding, design, etc. Jump on the bandwagon and start making some money as you offer Twitter users around the globe valuable twitter apps they can use daily. Just Added:

Over 200 Backgrounds you can use to start your own Twitter Background website. Can be used with our Twitter Background Generator script or on their own to add to your existing or new twitter background site. You cannot afford to not jump on this niche! A few of the other scripts that we offer:

Offer your users a unique way to make their own Twitter backgrounds with this amazing script! There is no doubt that one of the highest keyword searches on the web these days is “twitter backgrounds”. Now you can easily offer your users a way to create vibrantly designed Twitter backgrounds with this very powerful Twitter Background Generator script. This niche has been a cash cow for many developers, now you can have your own Twitter Background site! Many of these sites have sold for over thousands of dollars on Sitepoint! The script is incredibly easy to set up, features an admin panel for which you can add new Theme packs and backgrounds with ease, a login area for existing users, and some pretty amazing features! ———————-

Create a way for your users to mass follow and unfollow twitter users. This script allows users to mass follow, defollow or retrieve friends or followers from Twitter. It’s an incredibly easy way to manage a user’s twitter account as well as add new followers and friends! ———————-

Create your own Status Update Box Website Using this script on your website, you can create a unique site that will allow twitter users with websites and blogs to place your widget box’s on their own site for their users to update their status’s directly. Easy to add your own styles, and designs. Your users will need to copy the code from the generated text boxes on your website and paste that code into their sites source code, then upload! Brand with your own Website URL! ———————- Twitter Signature Generator Script User’s tweets in dynamic sigs!

Twitter Demystified for Business Users

Posted by On July - 27 - 2009

Twitter is the current top “hot property” on the Web, but its popularity and how to use it has mystified many business owners. Many people think that they want to, or should be using Twitter, but simply do not understand the platform, its use, or its place in building web exposure. This article will demystify Twitter and help you to learn how to use it in the workplace and to promote your business.

First, I have to say that I had been confused on how to use Twitter to benefit my own business until I downloaded TweetDeck. TweetDeck is a desktop application that allows you to review and post status updates on Twitter and Facebook simultaneously. I consider it a “must have” application for anyone who wants to make sense of Twitter. TweetDeck allows you to sort the people you follow on Twitter into groups, allows you to limit the number of Tweets (Twitter micro posts) to be shown at any one time, and also allows you to remove all Tweets you have seen with one click. Additionally, using TweetDeck, finally a Twitter search on a topic makes sense.

Since using TweetDeck, I have had a much better Twitter experience. As a Twitter newbie, visiting your own Twitter home page is intimidating; it consists of post after post from people who you are following, who you may not know much about, and it just seems like a huge volume of content. To get started effectively first group the people who actually have something interesting to say on TweetDeck and voila, you have a powerful tool that keeps you at the forefront of what is happening in your industry and on the Web.

So how do you get started with Twitter? Well the first thing is to start on Twitter yourself to understand what you like to read, who you like to follow, and to clearly identify what you like about Twitter. For me, it boils down to this: I like to follow people in my industry who say something of value, who provide a link to a new application or point me to an interesting new article, video, or blog site that I should review but may have never have found myself. Based on what I like, and the people who I find interesting to read, I now write my Twitter posts using this same formula to grow my own Twitter audience.

What I also like about Twitter is that the people who I follow also know how to show their true personality in their Tweets. Ye,s I do like to know what Danny Sullivan (famous search engine marketing guru) ate for lunch, but better yet is the link to the video he thought was funny. I love following Ashton Kutcher (movie star married to Demi Moore who just hit 1 million Twitter followers in April). Man, that guy is really funny and is having a ball with Twitter. His posts are great and he has just earned the status of the user with the most followers. This is why you can’t hire someone to “Ghost Twitter” for you. It’s about showing the real you – you can’t fake that!

So how can you use Twitter for business? Twitter is an excellent tool for linking and this is the real value for businesses. By using Twitter to point people to content on your website, articles you have written either on or off your website, or by linking to a service you want to highlight, you drive traffic. On top of that, Google actually indexes Twitter and so your Twitter page can appear in the organic search results so make sure your bio is well thought out. Don’t waste time using Twitter to point to blog posts, use TwitterFeed to post your blog posts directly onto Twitter. If you have a blog or website, you’ll get new Twitter followers by posting your TwitterFeed right onto your web pages. People who may not have known your Twitter ID can simply click the bottom “follow me link” and start following you on Twitter.

What’s important to be successful in using Twitter is to identify what you personally like about this new media and then deliver the same type of things that you like back to your own followers – work to provide value not drivel! So you’ve got to play with Twitter and learn how to use it first before you can really become successful with it for your business.

So how do you get followers? Well, I started by following everyone (who I found by doing a Twitter search) who had the last name McCord. Then I searched for web design, search engine optimization, and pay per click. Any site profile that looked good, I clicked to follow the writer. It was that easy. Many times people who you follow yourself will choose to follow you. That’s how you initially build up your Twitter base. Over time you will start to identify your “Twitter voice” and refine the type of Twitter presence you want to have by changing your content style and the things that you Tweet about. As you refine your presence, you will build a following.

Another cool Twitter use is that you can reply to any of your followers by simply putting an @ in front of their Twitter ID. For example to send something to my attention use @mccordweb at the very front of your Twitter posting and click enter. Just remember that this post is seen by all followers on my site and on your Twitter site. If you need a more private exchange, go to the direct message link on the Twitter.com site and select a follower by Twitter ID name and send your message from there. This note will be private. If you are using TweetDeck you can click on a follower’s Twitter ID icon and then select to send a direct message or @reply to them. TweetDeck will automatically insert the correct syntax for you in the Tweet.

For many businesses the ability for users to communicate with top management using Twitter is an invaluable resource. This one-to-one exchange allows a company principal to keep tabs on customer viewpoints, concerns, and interests. As a Twitter reply or direct mail does not use email and does not require a response, this is a great way to tap into social networking to test new ideas and to ask for user feedback. For example, if you have a new software product ask your Twitter followers for feedback on a specific feature, or provide a link to your beta version for their testing.

How you use Twitter is all about your personal business needs. The best advice that I can offer to you is that you need to use Twitter a bit yourself first to understand the medium and to find out what you like to read best using Twitter. Then, create your own Twitter network sharing information that you find interesting and have some fun.

Currently I am following 204 people and 183 people are following me on Twitter. Personally I find Twitter great fun and a very cool way to find out first what’s happening in the world before you see it on TV, read it on the Web, or see it in the newspaper. That’s the real power of Twitter; you share, you find out, and you know, all by a person-to-person exchange of information.

For those of you clicking in from my e-newsletter the rest of the content on Twitter applications and uses follows.

Below are some of the Twitter applications that I like and use regularly for my business.

Twuffer – I love this one, it is a Twitter post scheduler. Some people feel that Twuffer defeats the immediacy of Twitter posts or Tweets, but I like it as I will schedule Tweets on days that I am not blogging to keep my followers advised of things I find important. It is easy to use, allows you to Tweet ahead, and lets you select a posting schedule by day and time. If you are pushing content on a service or product this is an excellent tool to use. Set your Tweets up one week or one month at a time and feed your content to readers in addition to your regular Tweets. Make sure to use www.TinyUrl.com to change any long URLs you point to in the Tweet to a Twitter-friendly short version to save space.

Twitter Feed – This is another one of my top favorites. TwitterFeed allows me to show my blog posts from “The Web Authority” directly onto Twitter. It also allows me to post my Tweets back on my blog (by installing a widget) in my blog template – very cool cross interaction! I pick up many Twitter followers with this technique. Readers come to visit my blog and then choose to follow me on Twitter.

Twitter Grader – This one is a vanity application that allows you to see where you stack up against other Twitter users. Twitter Grader measures the power of a Twitter user based on followers, number of updates, and posting frequency.
 
TweetBeep – With this application, you can manage your online Twitter reputation. Alerts will be emailed to you whenever a Twitter user Tweets about your business, name, or domain. You select the alert criteria and what to watch for using TweetBeep. This is great for a business that is concerned about branding and online identity. PR professionals should make sure to use this tool to watch for comments about their clients.

Twitoria – Clean up your Twitter followers by finding out which people never use Twitter or post infrequently so you can delete them right from the Twitoria interface.

 Qwitter – If you want to know when someone stops following you, sign up for this service. Actually, this can be an excellent tool to find out what a reader hated that you posted about and caused them to “chop” you, so you can fine tune your message. If you get a flood of drops after a Tweet, it allows you to learn that people don’t like a certain type of Tweet – instant feedback at an anonymous level!

One big thing about Twitter that I have not even mentioned yet but is actually one of Twitter’s best features is the ability to text-in Tweets from your mobile phone. Although you can’t easily link to great content typically on the fly like this, the ability to connect with others without being tethered to a computer is an opportunity to show the “real you”. Maybe your followers do want to know what you are eating for lunch or about a seminar you just attended, just be kind and don’t vomit out Twitter spam using your Blackberry on meaningless drivel.

You can easily set up the ability to receive text messages from your Twitter account to your cell or Blackberry, but be careful as you may be inundated if you have a large following. I would recommend receiving Twitter updates via text message to your cell only from a small group. For example if you have a project team, set up a Twitter account for each member to allow them to post just to this small unique circle of team members. The value to track and interact with each other at anytime and anywhere using Twitter by computer or by cell phone adds real value for work groups and teams – particularly team managers. Twitter even allows you to make this type of group private.

Another feature of Twitter is the ability to add hashtags in front of keywords in your Tweets to help with sorting to allow others to find your important content. For example if you wanted to Tweet about a recent earthquake in LA you would use #laearthquake in the front of your Tweet.  By using hashtags you enable Twitter to return your information for topic searches on newsworthy Tweets. You can visit Hashtags.org for more information on the current hot hashtags that are in use for today so you can follow, add to the topic, or create your own. For example in Twitter World, Fridays are the day you post with #followfriday and enter in the Twitter IDs you want to recommend to others.  You would be amazed at the cool new people you can follow and interact with from recommendations of the people you follow.

In conclusion, Twitter is one of the hottest new mediums to arrive on the Internet scene since Facebook. Although it is not exactly “new”, Twitter has just recently become very high profile. If you are in business, Twitter definitely warrants your attention. Not only is it a very smart new tool to use in your marketing arsenal, but I think that the more you use it you will grow to love it and find it fun to use. The ways that you can use Twitter are endless:  for teams, for family members, for business networking, to stay at the forefront of news, to promote yourself and your services, and to just have fun connecting with others online. Just remember you can’t really make sense of Twitter for business without using TweetDeck or another similar aggregating and sorting application. Thanks for reading, see you on Twitter, you can reach me at @mccordweb or visit me at www.Twitter.com/mccordweb.

About the Author

Nancy McCord is the founder and President of McCord Web Services LLC which provides search engine marketing, web design, blog writing, and webmaster services globally. Since 2001, Nancy McCord has developed a national reputation as an expert on search engines, blogging, and how businesses can harness the power of Web for profit. You can visit Nancy and her firm at www.McCordWeb.com.