Twitter has recently exploded and became a huge success. Even offline mainstream news media have talked about twitter, and it seems everyone has a twitter account now. Twitter is one of the most highly recommended social media sites there is. If you only use one social media site, it should probably be twitter.
Even Our President has a twitter account with hundreds of thousands of followers. If you follow him, you will automatically get followed back.
News sites anywhere from national news like CNN to local hometown newspapers have twitter accounts as well as all kinds of celebrities and well known figures.
Many of these celebrities are outsourcing their tweets so they aren’t making the tweets themselves, but someone else is managing their twitter account for them, keeping anyone interested updated on what is going on. Even they have realized the power of social media and they need to get involved to stay on top.
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If you don’t know what twitter is and go there for the first time, you will probably be very confused and wonder what kind of site is this and what’s it good for? Most people do have this reaction the first time they visit, so if you’re first visit confuses you, you aren’t alone. It just takes a little time and you’ll soon be a pro at it.
You will have to become familiar with it and learn how it works before you can harness it’s full power for your business and marketing.
First here are some new terms created when twitter became so popular:
Tweeple: Twitter users
Tweet: A message sent on Twitter
Tweeple: Twitter users
Tweet: A message sent on Twitter
DM: Direct Message (A tweet sent directly to a particular user.)
The first thing you need to do when you go to http://www.twitter.com is to create a free account. Pick a name. It can be your real name, your website’s name, a business name, or whatever you choose.
The second thing you want to do is upload an avatar. Many people are hesitant to follow anyone they don’t know who doesn’t have an avatar. This can be your real picture, a logo, a stock photo or anything else.
Just make sure you don’t leave your avatar blank. When using your real picture, people will feel more comfortable following you back, but you can use any picture you like.
Then, it’s time to start following people. If you are in any kind of marketing forum, there will be many marketers who use twitter, so start following them. If you know anyone who uses twitter, follow them. Then, if you need help finding new people to follow, simply use the search function on twitter and search for people based on keywords.
For example if you are a writer type in “writer”. If you are a programmer, type in “programmer” or you can type in your towns name to try to find local people or even your state’s name.
Another great way to find more followers is once you have a follower or someone you are following, click on their followers. Then start following everyone you are interested in. The majority of these people will follow you back and you can have a lot of new followers in just one day.
And another way to get more followers is to offer some kind of freebie to any new followers such as a report. Make a tweet such as-Free report for all new followers, please retweet.
Asking your followers to retweet is asking them to repeat your message to their own followers. They will copy and paste your post after RT which stands for retweet.
The majority of people you follow will follow you back. Some people have their accounts set to automatically follow everyone back. Some people review their new followers to see if they want to follow them back or not.
Make your account so that people will want to follow you back. If you have no avatar and no tweets, then nobody will want to follow you back.
Start making tweets, even if you don’t have any followers yet or just a few. Nobody wants to follow someone who has no tweets at all. They know nothing about you. Introduce yourself to your future followers. Talk about your business, post your website link, ask any questions you may have, and tweet that you are looking for new followers.
After you have followed several people, you will probably start to get people following you. Follow them back. A few tweeple are nothing but spammers, so if you end up following blatant spammers, you can remove them.
There are also several twitter tools out there. Some allow you to see who unfollowed you, some allow you to send automatic direct messages to all of your new followers, and some help you find lots of new people to follow.
Once you’ve gotten several followers and are following them back, start interacting with them with your tweets.
Some use twitter purely to socialize, some use it purely to market, but the best combination is using it to both to market and socialize.
Your followers will see you are a real person and not just some bot programmed to do nothing but paste links.
Make tweets sometimes about what’s going on in your life or what do you did that day and ask questions to your followers. Respond to their tweets, ask them how they are and build a relationship with them. People like when others show interest in them so show interested in your followers.
You will find yourself making new friends and your new friends are more likely to visit your website and purchase from you than complete strangers.
There are even a few ebooks and guides out there that comprehensively explain twitter and how to make the most of it. What seems like a silly site that’s hard to understand when you first see it, will turn into a great marketing tool.
If you have enough followers you can get tons of clicks of people viewing your website.
Whenever you have an update, make a tweet about it. For example, if you have a blog and make a new post tweet: I made a new post about such and such- Read it here- (insert link)
If you add new products to your website, new services, or are offering a promotion, tweet about it. For example- All products are 25% off this week only (insert link)
Since people have different schedules, when you post a link not all of your followers will see it. So the thing to do is post your link about 3 or 4 times at different times.
For example, one in the morning, one in the evening, and one the next afternoon and next night for the maximum possible viewers. Some of your followers may have many, many followers themselves and can’t read every single tweet. So if you post your tweet while they are online, they will see it and be likely to click.
Twitter is also a great place to find online work. If you are a web designer, you can tweet-need a web design? Great rates and service, DM me for more.
Be sure to use twitter as a combination of socializing and marketing so you don’t look all spammy. You can market and find traffic and customers, but still find some time to socialize.
If one of your twitter friends posts-Busy day today, ask them what they are busy with. If someone tweets about their children, ask them how old their kids are. People will usually respond and you’ll build a relationship with them and people will start asking you questions themselves. Instead of just an anonymous business out there amongst many on the internet, you will now be an online friend and a “real” person.
Automatic DM’s are direct message that are automatically sent to new followers. If you choose this, be sure not to make it look spammy. A great automatic DM message to your new followers is something along the lines of “Thanks for following me, I look forward to your tweets. To know more about me visit (insert link)
Some people have found twitter addicting because they have fun socializing in real time with all their new friends, but don’t let it be so addicting that you spend too much time there.
Dana Willhoit has been branded the “Queen of Twitter” and has written possibly the very first guide on using twitter. She has found many press release clients on Twitter alone. If you want to learn more about using twitter for maximum results, watch her tweets.
Sometimes she will talk about her kids, dog, or something that happened in her day while other time she will promote her press release business. She is also very good about responding to people to talk her. You can follow her by going to http://www.twitter.com/Dana_Willhoit
Dana Willhoit has stated that she gets 90% of her press release work from twitter, which shows what a great tool it is in finding clients.
When making tweets, you can either make a general tweet or reply to a specific person. When someone tweets, run your mouse on the right side of their tweet and you will see a reply arrow. Click on that arrow and you can reply to that person. Of course all of your followers will be able to see your reply, but if that person clicks on @username, they will see your direct reply.
For example if you wanted to reply to one of Dana’s tweets, move your mouse the the right side of her tweet and click the arrow.
Then your tweet will start off with @Dana_Willhoit and she will see it when she clicks on @Dana_Willhiot.
If you look on the right side of your twitter screen you will see @replies and you can click on this to see who has replied to you directly.
More and more tweeple are also customizing their background. When you sign up with twitter you can a plain blue background. You can customize it and add any pictures you want.
When you make your twitter profile, you are allowed to put in one website link. Be sure to put your website in this link so when people visit your twitter page, they can visit your website.
Twitter tools are not necessary for your twitter account. They are completely optional. But there are loads of twitter tools out there that can do all sorts of things with your twitter account. This website is loaded with all kinds of twitter tools in one place. If you are interested in using any twitter tools, look through the huge list of tools at this website:
http://mashable.com/2007/09/29/twitter-toolbox/
Twitter is a more powerful social tool than most people realize. While you can go there to talk about your day and the weather, it’s also a great place to find new clients, business prospects, to network with others in the same field as you and joint venture opportunities.
Personally, Twitter has been my most powerful form of social marketing. Twitter followers can be remarkably responsive if used correctly.
