by Carol Rucker

Created on: September 16, 2011   Last Updated: September 18, 2011

Twitter is a great platform for connecting with others. You can use it to market products and services, announce events and fundraisers or simply interact socially. However you choose to use Twitter, your effectiveness will depend upon building a group of followers with whom to share your message.

Whether marketing yourself or your business, you must approach Twitter as a venture that's worth your time and effort. You don't have to put in long hours to get followers. Just start with a good twitter name and devote a few minutes a day to twitter related activities. Here are a few hints to help you build your twitter network.

Get followers by having a relevant Twitter name

Choose a name that lets people know who and what you are. Current customers will recognize your existing business name. Remind them, “Please follow me on twitter?” If you are new to marketing, choose a Twitter name that says what you do. For example, DIYjewels would be a unique twitter name for handcrafted jewelry makers. It also includes the key word "jewelry," which is important for people to find you. The good news is, if you don't like your Twitter name, you can always change it.

Sign up at twitter.com

If you're not already a Twitter user, sign up and tweet your message immediately. Until you have followers, few people will see your tweets, but tweet anyway. Your tweets will come up when a user does a search using key words in your message. They may also show up in non twitter search engines.

Follow people and they might follow you

Are you looking for car dealers, cat people or just something bizarre? Enter your key words in the twitter search block the top of your home page. Try “cat,” “cars” or even “bizarre.” You'll get a list of people who sent tweets using those word. Look at their profiles and click the “follow” button of people you can relate to you. They will get an email that says “@yourname is now following you on Twitter.” Not all of them will follow you back, but some will.

Give people a reason to follow you

Why should someone follow you on Twitter? Their decision to follow or not follow you is often based on your name and profile description. Your Twitter name appears automatically at the top of your page along with a small space for additional details. Use that space to provide a concise, compelling description of you or your business. Statements like “I bake the best brownies in the world?”

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>