Getting Started with Twitter for your business

You would think that I would have jumped on the Twitter band wagon as soon as it was launched but I really struggled with how to use it effectively, I didn't want to sell my services but I didn't want to talk about naval lint either.

After a discussion on Linked In I have jumped in and now don't know why it took me so long. So if you just "don't get Twitter" then these tips will help you start.

1. Create your account
This is obvious as you need this to actually tweet, but you should also customise your account with your look (Brand) and think carefully about your name, you can always change your name within the same account if you need to and keep the same settings and account details. Have a good photo of yourself not just a logo, so people know they are interacting with a real person.

2. Download TweetDeck for your Computer
TweetDeck is a software application you download and use on your Computer to manage your Twitter account, view tweets from the people you are following and create search panels for topics such as #webdesign. This is a topic that I monitor to see what is being talked about web design.

2. Set up a Hootsuite account at http://hootsuite.com. This is much better than TweetDeck as you can schedule your tweets and use it anywhere as it is a web based Twitter management tool.

3. Register on directories
www.twellow.com and www.wefollow.com are the two that I registered on and they really helped me find people I wanted to follow. They are like the yellow pages of Twitter.

4. Follow the influential people
You can find these people on twellow, Twitterati.alltop, TwitterCounter, and Egos.alltop. By following these people you can get an idea of what they are doing.

5. Look at who your existing network follows
Go through profiles of people you already know who are on Twitter and follow who they are following, if they sound interesting, also go through your existing LinkedIn contacts and see who they are following. This will get you started with like minded contacts.

6. Follow everyone that follows you - initially
The reason is that it’s courteous to do so and because when you do, some people will respond to you and everyone who follows them will see this - which is more exposure for you. More about this in my follow up article Twitter beyond the basics.

7. Search on Topics (hash tags)
In my TweetDeck I have a panel just for #webdesign so I can find out what the world is talking about regarding web design, find your topics and search on them to find useful information for you and your followers. You can read more about Hash Tags and how to use them here. http://www.techforluddites.com/2009/02/the-twitter-hash-tag-what-is-it-and-how-do-you-use-it.html

8. Always include a link in your tweets
Think of Twitter as a headlines only and if people are interested they will click on the link to read more. Always link to an article or picture so the user can find out more information.

That should get you started in monitoring and using twitter, once you become familiar with these you will find a wealth of information to help you with your business.

These tips have been taken from the following articles and other resources on the web.

Getting Started with Twitter for your business

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