How To Use Twitter for Business (for Beginners)

Posted By Michael D'Elicio ~ 17th April 2009

Twitter is quite possibly the most important innovation for marketing small businesses since the inception of the Internet.  Unfortunately, its potency is often clouded from a superficial and flighty image.  Katie Couric was recently quoted saying: “I don’t think anybody gives a rats ass whether I am about to eat a tuna sandwich. I don’t even care. Some of it is so inane and narcissistic and bizarre I don’t quite get it. I don’t know why anyone would want to read it, much less why I would want to write it.”

Granted, there is a lot of white noise on Twitter.  But like anything else online, you can effectively filter that noise, and really make Twitter work for you.   As Gary Vaynerchuk ( @garyvee ), a very successful ‘tweeter’ put it, Twitter Search is possibly the most important search engine for businesses on the Internet.

However, I’ve found that many small businesspeople unfamiliar with new media are intimidated with how to properly initiate a Twitter presence.  Below is an outline of how to start a Twitter account, how to begin “tweeting”, how to find the right people to follow, and the quickest yet most substantial way to obtain followers.

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Create an Account

Add a photo of yourself
Make an interesting bio
Add your website
-    if possible, make a special landing page for Twitter followers

Start following people of interest and value
-    Use search.twitter.com, twitterholic.com, localtweeps.com or twitter.grader.com to find local people
-    Use search.twitter.com, enter keywords of interest to you (industry words, consumer trend buzzwords, etc.)
-    People tend to follow you back if you follow them (about a 1 to 3 ratio, depending on your level of value for others)
-    Start by following at least 200 people of varying specialties, local “Twitterati” (people on Twitter with large followings): will take about an hour

Write as often as you can – minimum 3x a day
-    Write things of interest for people
-    Post links to sites you like
-    Give little tips relevant to your business
-    Promote your own blog posts but not often (1 out of every 20 posts)
-    Remember: you’re limited to 140 characters.  Make your point succinctly

Respond to people: Start conversations
- Respond to comments where you have something of interest to say
- Could be an answer to a question
- could be an amusing quip
- Use @username to publicly reply
- Use d username to send a direct message
- Direct Messages can only be sent if you are both following each other
- Direct Messages are good to establish an initial relationship with followers

- Upload photos when applicable
- Go to www.twitpic.com
- Enter your twitter name and password
- On the top bar, click Upload A Photo
- Find the photo on your computer via the Browse function
- Add a message in the text bar if you like
- Will automatically tweet your photo

Now start tweeting!  And don’t be ashamed to say so.