Everyone talks about Twitter.
Social networking sites have been popular for a while, but Twitter exploded on the scene and continues to grow rapidly.
Everyone seems to be getting on Twitter.
If you have an online business (or even a regular storefront business) and you think you don't need Twitter, you are in denial.
The simple fact is that Twitter generates traffic.
Just this past week alone, without spending much time at all posting updates, I have over 1,600 clicks on my posts.
That's free advertising for your business.
Twitter is known as a micro-blog because you have only 140 characters to make each post.
That means your words count and it's a great way to test headlines.
When you make a post, you are "tweeting".
There are all kinds of sites that work with Twitter and I use a scheduler to post quite a few tweets.
I can do that when I have a few minutes to spare and plan when my posts will appear.
An online presence in Twitter can help your business grow, because Twitter uses a lot of word-of-mouth (retweets in Twitter-speak) to share information.
Here are a seven simple tips you can use to get Twitter working better for you.
1.
Followers Followers are the lifeblood of Twitter.
You follow people you are interested in, and people follow you.
Create an interesting (160 character) bio about yourself to help people find you.
You can use Twitter's own search features to find people you are interested in following.
Or try researching your competition.
See what they Tweet about.
See who follows them.
The people who follow them are likely to be your niche market as well.
Try following some of them and see who follows back.
These people are likely to be targeted prospects.
Imagine having 5,000, 10,000 or 50,000 people following what you write about your business.
Do you think that's powerful free advertising? 2.
Promotion You can promote your blog, newsletter or website in Twitter.
Tell everyone about your latest blog post, a sale you're having or any new updates you've made.
Is there some industry news that you think your target market should know about? Tell them and link to the story, your followers will appreciate it.
Tell them if you're in the local news or featured anywhere online or offline.
Engage your followers to keep them interested.
3.
Search Using Twitter's search, you can enter your own information, or that of your competitors and see if anyone is talking about you, your competitors or products and services you offer.
4.
More Places to Get Noticed.
There are a ton of Twitter directories out there and they're increasing all the time.
Take a few minutes to do a search and get yourself listed on some as it will improve your chances of being found.
Add your twitter account to your blog, suggest people tweet your blog or site and make sure you promote your Twitter account everywhere.
Consider adding it to your emails along with your website.
5.
Getting Involved You'll start generating a few conversations with people over time and as they retweet or reply, their own followers will see your name.
Some of them will decide to follow you.
Another way I find works is to regularly retweet items of value to my list, from other "Twitterers".
Doing this helps to gain reciprocal value as you will find people are more willing to retweet your posts too.
6.
Build Links The purpose of using Twitter for your business is to increase your market, build awareness and improve your visibility.
Make sure you take the time to fill in your profile.
Use a free service such as Twitbacks.
com to create extra profile information at the side of your Tweets and personalise your site.
You can also use their paid service if you want a custom Twitter background.
By adding your website or blog URL or your signup email for your newsletter, you are likely to get more traffic and subscribers.
7.
Mini-Blogging As Twitter is a mini or micro-blog, it's updating continually.
Make sure you tweet regularly.
As mentioned earlier in this article, if you don't have time.
Use a scheduler.
SocialOomph has an excellent service and they have a free section too.
Twitter may at first have just been a phenomenon, but social marketing is here to stay.
You need to be involved to keep your business up to date, and even ahead of your competition.
Social networking sites have been popular for a while, but Twitter exploded on the scene and continues to grow rapidly.
Everyone seems to be getting on Twitter.
If you have an online business (or even a regular storefront business) and you think you don't need Twitter, you are in denial.
The simple fact is that Twitter generates traffic.
Just this past week alone, without spending much time at all posting updates, I have over 1,600 clicks on my posts.
That's free advertising for your business.
Twitter is known as a micro-blog because you have only 140 characters to make each post.
That means your words count and it's a great way to test headlines.
When you make a post, you are "tweeting".
There are all kinds of sites that work with Twitter and I use a scheduler to post quite a few tweets.
I can do that when I have a few minutes to spare and plan when my posts will appear.
An online presence in Twitter can help your business grow, because Twitter uses a lot of word-of-mouth (retweets in Twitter-speak) to share information.
Here are a seven simple tips you can use to get Twitter working better for you.
1.
Followers Followers are the lifeblood of Twitter.
You follow people you are interested in, and people follow you.
Create an interesting (160 character) bio about yourself to help people find you.
You can use Twitter's own search features to find people you are interested in following.
Or try researching your competition.
See what they Tweet about.
See who follows them.
The people who follow them are likely to be your niche market as well.
Try following some of them and see who follows back.
These people are likely to be targeted prospects.
Imagine having 5,000, 10,000 or 50,000 people following what you write about your business.
Do you think that's powerful free advertising? 2.
Promotion You can promote your blog, newsletter or website in Twitter.
Tell everyone about your latest blog post, a sale you're having or any new updates you've made.
Is there some industry news that you think your target market should know about? Tell them and link to the story, your followers will appreciate it.
Tell them if you're in the local news or featured anywhere online or offline.
Engage your followers to keep them interested.
3.
Search Using Twitter's search, you can enter your own information, or that of your competitors and see if anyone is talking about you, your competitors or products and services you offer.
4.
More Places to Get Noticed.
There are a ton of Twitter directories out there and they're increasing all the time.
Take a few minutes to do a search and get yourself listed on some as it will improve your chances of being found.
Add your twitter account to your blog, suggest people tweet your blog or site and make sure you promote your Twitter account everywhere.
Consider adding it to your emails along with your website.
5.
Getting Involved You'll start generating a few conversations with people over time and as they retweet or reply, their own followers will see your name.
Some of them will decide to follow you.
Another way I find works is to regularly retweet items of value to my list, from other "Twitterers".
Doing this helps to gain reciprocal value as you will find people are more willing to retweet your posts too.
6.
Build Links The purpose of using Twitter for your business is to increase your market, build awareness and improve your visibility.
Make sure you take the time to fill in your profile.
Use a free service such as Twitbacks.
com to create extra profile information at the side of your Tweets and personalise your site.
You can also use their paid service if you want a custom Twitter background.
By adding your website or blog URL or your signup email for your newsletter, you are likely to get more traffic and subscribers.
7.
Mini-Blogging As Twitter is a mini or micro-blog, it's updating continually.
Make sure you tweet regularly.
As mentioned earlier in this article, if you don't have time.
Use a scheduler.
SocialOomph has an excellent service and they have a free section too.
Twitter may at first have just been a phenomenon, but social marketing is here to stay.
You need to be involved to keep your business up to date, and even ahead of your competition.
Source...