by Kristyn Marie Hammond

Created on: April 08, 2009   Last Updated: April 10, 2009

Unless you've been living under a rock, you're probably aware of the social networking phenomenon known simply as Twitter. Twitter is a flash blogging tool; a way to not only stay connected to friends and family, but to connect with people who share your interests. If you're not one of the millions of people worldwide taking part in this amazing social experience, take a moment to consider signing up, especially if you're a blogger, a writer, publish your own website, or own an internet based business. You'll never be sorry you did. Twitter is the best tool to promote yourself and it's free!

-Why tweet?

Twitter is an endless pool of possibilities. Tweeting is an exceptional way to enhance readership, promote your book or business, or just keep your family and friends updated. The potential are infinite if you take the time to truly engage yourself. Just a few moments every few hours can bolster readership, but beware, twitter is a social experience, not a one way street. If you hope to truly enhance your readership, it's vital that you not only tweet, but respond to other's tweets, make friends, follow those with similar interests and engage in the business of becoming a part of what makes twitter such a rich environment for its users. It never hurts to take the time to actually read and comment on the blogs of your twitter followers and friends, reciprocity is a great way to promote yourself, too.

-But, how?

This is the easy part! Once you've decided that the effort, and the fun, is worth looking into simply go to http://twitter.com and sign up. It's quick and easy, you'll be tweeting before you know it! More advanced users might also find API programs such as Tweetdeck helpful.

Once you've registered for a Twitter account, just simply tweet. It's that easy! Just tweeting will attract followers, but be aware that spam is a reality on twitter and don't fill your following with spammers. You can find friends to follow using http://search.twitter.com, where keywords allow you to find other twitter users (tweeps) who tweet about your interests.

-Promoting your blog

If you goal is to promote your blog or website, post a short, concise synopsis of what you've written and include a link. Because tweets are limited to 140 characters (including spaces), sites like bit.ly and tinyurl are supremely helpful in making sure you can include a link with your tweet. Many programs, like Tweetdeck mentioned above, have bit.ly or tinyurl integrated into their interface for ease of use.

Never

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>