Using Twitter for better Social Media Networking

Everyone knows that Twitter is a social media phenomenon that has changed the face of Internet marketing.

Just in case you haven’t heard, or been living on another planet, Twitter is a free social messaging utility for staying connected in real-time where you can broadcast only 140 characters at a time.

When I first heard about Twitter over a year ago, I thought a few things:

Will it take a lot of non-profitable and valuable time to “tweet” so often?
Who has the time to “follow” and read the ramblings of so many tweeters?
How could this be profitable for users?
Do I really want to tell people (including my competitors) what I’m up to every day?

But I did know straight away, that this had huge potential to be a social phenomenon. Ok, so some people don’t want to know that you are about to feed your cat or walk your dog, but I could see some potential for professionals and businesses:

Imagine as a business, the ability to send regular and instant updates on company news, events and relevant information
As a consultant or professional, sharing your thoughts, experience and links in your relevant area

This has a huge potential for free information – initially at least – so easily accessible. Anyone can follow, direct message or reply to a company’s news and provide valuable feedback. Consumers can ask questions, and get those questions answered.

Recently I tweeted the frustration I was having with Technorati, and in the next few hours a Technorati technician contacted me via Twitter, to see if they could help. They are yet to solve my blog issue, but this is a clear example of the potential power of Twitter.

But you may ask, what do I Tweet? How do I get people to follow me?

Unless you are an official company tweet, it is very important for your twitter to include the 4 following:

Information about you – for people to follow you, you have to get people to like you. Make sure you fill in your short bio, have a photo of yourself, and tweet interesting professional things about yourself.
Information about your profession – show people exactly what you do
Links to relevant internet pages – this is very similar to Digg, but on a much more regular basis. Show your followers what you are reading and other internet pages you like
Interact – don’t just broadcast to your followers, send Direct Messages, send Replies (@) and Re-Tweet (RT) the interesting tweets you receive.

How do I get people to follow me?

For starters, it helps to register on websites like http://wefollow.com and http://justtweetit.com.

You should add your Twitter feed to your Blog, to your website, and to any Social Profiles you use – like Linked In, Ecademy or Plaxo. And there are various applications now that interact with social sites like Facebook.

If you don’t like Twitter, or you resist, you really could be missing out. And if you are a professional or small business owner, you should be on there immediately. And new technology is appearing every day to help people manage, organise and run their Twitter accounts.

You can “mass-gather” followers (something Im not a huge fan of, as I believe in quality versus quantity, but everyone has their own opinion) through programs like Viral Tweets, or Twitter Friend Adder.

You can manage your multiple accounts with programs like Twirl or Tweetdeck.

You can now set up an advertising account, that automatically sends out adds to your followers, and when they click you get paid (something I don’t want to annoy my followers with personally, but still an idea)

You can promote your Twitter account more effectively with a Tweet Background custom-made to your profile and profession.

Don’t resist change, and don’t wait, open a Twitter account immediately but I offer the following advice to make your Tweeting experience a good one:

Don’t just follow everyone to get followers – use Twitter more effectively – carefully choose who you follow, read the tweets you get, interact with the Tweeters you follow, and keep it personal.

Do this, and your Twitter experience will be pleasant and beneficial from the beginning.

Happy Tweeting! Follow me – Here!