We get asked a lot of questions about Twitter. Before we get started, let’s do some shameless self-promotion:
Follow us on Twitter here: October 17 Media
Follow our leaning online marketers on Twitter:Tamara & Brenda
Oh, and by the way! We offer both in-house Twitter training and Twitter account management services. Interested? Check out our Twitter Services Information PDF.
What we’re going to cover in this Twitterific blog post:
- What the heck is Twitter?
Do I need to be on Twitter and how does it benefit me & my business?
- How do I use Twitter?
- Twitter Protocol
- Twitter Ethics
- Twitter Tips
- How do you find the time to ‘Tweet’?
- Our Twitter service
What the heck is Twitter?
Twitter is what’s known as “micro-blogging” or status updates through a social network. Twitter allows users to post 140 chracter long message (tweets) and read updates of other users.
Do I need to be on Twitter and how does it benefit me & my business?
1. Learn from others online, especially established online personalities. Ask opinions, for help and thoughts on topics that are important for you.
2. Interact with others on topics you know about. Establish yourself as an expert. Or, just help out your fellow Twit!
3. Promoting you, your business, valuable content to the world!
4. Monitor what’s being shared about you and your company.
5. Hear what others are talking about. This can come in the form of news, competitor profiles or your target demographic.
How do I use Twitter?
Twitter Protocol:
- Replies are created by using the @ followed by a user name. IE: My Twitter ID is @tamarabrooks
- Direct Messages – Also known as “DM’s” are private messages sent between users.
- Re-tweet is repeating another user’s twitter message. This is communicated by using the abreiviation “RT: Message Here”. RT stands for re-tweet.
- Hashtags represent a topic of conversation found via Twitter Search.
Twitter Ethics:
- It’s okay to promote yourself, but not spam people! Considering promoting other folks too. Mix it up a little bit! (IE: Fridays on Twitter are known as “Follow Fridays” where you promote new or worthy people to watch)
- Don’t tweet about what you ate for breakfast or that you just walked your dog. Save tweets for important items. If you don’t have much to say, it’s okay not to say it. People pay attention more when you talk less.
- Requesting that your friends “retweet” your tweets on a regular basis is considered poor taste.
- Interaction is part of Twitter. Don’t forget to read others’ tweets. Answer questions, provide insight and Retweet when something is worthy!
Twitter Tips:
- Use an Avatar or Photo, not the generic Twitter icons. It lets the world know you’re human.
- Customize your background with images or text. (But not too much text!)
- Follow others. Actively find interesting and relevant people to follow and you’ll naturally get involved in the Twitter community.
- Don’t be afraid to ask! Need to hire? Looking for an accountant? Need a product review? Someone on your network will know something!
How do you find the time to ‘Tweet’?
There’s no doubt about it, Twitter can be time consuming if you want it to be. However, Twitter can also be structured. We visit Twitter three times a day. Once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once before shutting down for the day. We rarely tweet on evenings and weekends because that’s not when we’re working. Is that wrong? Maybe, but that works for us. Find what works for you, but whatever you do, do it regularly! Consistency and quality tweets are key to success.
You want a professional to handle Twitter for you?
We offer Twitter account management marketing that includes:
- 1-on-1 learning session with our Tweeter and you.
- A certain number of tweets per day.
- Replies and questions compiled and forwarded to you in one email.
- A certain amount of Community Interaction
Email us about Twitter Account Management.
We also offer 1-2 hour Twitter consulting. Just getting started and want to get our two cents on what to post about? We can help. Email us about Twitter Consulting.
Shameless self-promotion:
Follow us on Twitter here: October 17 Media
Follow our leaning online marketers on Twitter :Tamara & Brenda
So, we’re not all perfect typists. We occasionally hit the wrong key when we’re working hard in front of a computer screen. Shocking that we’re a little human from time to time, isn’t it? So, what happens someone does type in the WRONG website address into the browser address window?
