by Krista Tannahill

Created on: November 06, 2010

Twitter is a form of online marketing that can get the word out to the world about your business.  Many businesses utilize the power of twitter to connect with current customers, learn more about their customer base and to increase their customer base.

However, not every business or company realizes the power that twitter has. The fact is, when used correctly, Twitter can help you dominate your market, find new leads, expand your customer base and increase sales.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a form of micro-blogging that allows you send out quick messages or “tweets” to your followers.Its kind of like sending a text message over the internet to your twitter followers.

Twitter has a limited number of characters (140 maximum) that are permitted in every tweet so you need to make your message short and concise. The concept of twitter is truly a social media masterpiece because it allows you to reach a mass audience in a short period of time. Whenever you want to promote your business, writing, product etc. just send a simple tweet and you have reached hundreds, thousands or even millions of people.

Set up a Twitter Account

The first thing you want to do when you set up your Twitter account is to create a background. You can design your own background or you can use a template. If you prefer to have a solid color background over a designed background you can simply set up your background color.

Set up your links and make sure they are visible so that potential followers will know how to get to your site and your products. You can also set up your text preferences by choosing a particular text color.

Finally, you need to set up your notices so you can be sent an email notice when you get new followers or are sent direct messages from other people on Twitter.

Gain a Following on Twitter

Once you are set up with a Twitter account you can start following people. When I started on Twitter I simply followed others. I looked up keywords that related to my business and followed the interesting tweets. Soon enough, people started reciprocating and following me in return. Now I get daily email notices advising me of new followers.

The key with building a following on Twitter is to make your tweets count. Avoid sending out spammy and jargon laden tweets. Create tweets that are fun, interesting and compelling. You want every tweet you send out to be valuable to your followers. Send out thoughts, ideas, questions, statements, announcements and anything that will engage people.

The key is to target your market with relevant, fun, influential and interesting tweets. The quality of your messages is incredibly important because you can lose followers just as quickly as you can gain them. You want your followers to want to learn more about you and your business – that is the ultimate goal!

Build Relationships on Twitter

Isn’t this the point?  You want to build business relationships using Twitter because this will ultimately help you build your brand and create a buzz around your business, product or service.  Engage in conversations on Twitter and create a network so you are up to date an engaged in what is going on in your industry.

Twitter is one of the most relevant social networking sites for businesses today.  Not only can it help you significantly grow your business but it can also help you find out what your competitors are up to and allow you to stay on the cutting edge of what is going on in your industry.

Learn more about this author, Krista Tannahill.
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