How to Use Twitter to Grow Your Business

How to Use Twitter to Grow Your Business

Reader Comments (441)

  1. Twitter is fast becoming the medium of choice to spread information quickly to numerous people. A business owners become more comfortable using Twitter, the instant word of mouth marketing Twitter provides will become invaluable.

    Matt

  2. I have made deals, made sales, and given and received opportunities all on Twitter. Twitter has been simply amazing.

    And it drives insane amounts of traffic, too.

    The best part is the ability to so easily nurture and grow your personal network and have fun at the same time.

  3. This article did a great job summarizing the benefits of using Twitter. Most people see Twitter as a time waster but it’s simply NOT the case. You get to interact with great people from all over the world and have conversations you wouldn’t get to have otherwise.

  4. Hello Michael,
    I have been on Twitter for a couple months now. At first I did not get it as Chris Brogan pointed out. After spending more time I started to interact with people associated with foods,organics,healthy living etc . This lead to reading their blogs and commenting. You will be surprised at how many people want to work with you and be part of your growth. The key is to post relevant information so your target audience reads your tweets. This advice coming from a novist is funny considering I am not tech savy and get confused reading some of the post on updates for programming and available tools on the net. The exposure from the people who have sampled my product and were kind enough to include on their blogs have improved my site and helped my placement on the web. I am learning more everyday and can firmly state Twitter is helpful to any business and to people at every level. Tweet on !!
    Alfredo

  5. I use twitter as a marketing tool (spread my brand, broadcast my posts, network by creating value for others), as a place to find useful information, and to connect with others when I want to take a break from work. I’ve also asked questions on Twitter and gotten answers which would have taken me a lot longer to find if I had tried to search for the answer on my own.

  6. I’ve just recently started using twitter for the business account and I’ve seen an increase in traffic and inquiries in a very short time.

    I use it to update the status on projects, what I’m looking at for future projects and even finding beta testers. I get instant feedback from people that helps me gauge the interest in what I’m planning as well as help with directing projects in progress by the very people that are my target audience.

    Thanks for some great tips to help continue this expansion of my marketing plan.

  7. Twitter is the equivalent of the secretary of a CEO who holds the key to who gets to talk to the bigwig and who doesn’t.

    Try to find out what the CEO of Exxon is doing right now (or any 1.0 business that doesn’t use social media for that matter). Better yet, try getting a personal message to them.

    If I want to know what Brian Clark is doing, or have him listen to a 140-character piece of my mind, it will take me 30 seconds with twitter.

    Regards
    Shane
    twitter: shanearthur

  8. Love this article! Some of my “business accomplishments” on Twitter have been getting Shaq to follow me, connecting with the founder of Blog World Expo, and Speaking at the Orem Utah Tweetup Panel and more to come!

    One thing my wife, who still doesn’t use Twitter, asked once was:

    You got Shaq to follow you on Twitter – So What?

    Your article is yet another reason why Twitter is so great for business. Thanks! Because of these reminders, I just added my Twitter account to a clogging shoes website I run so my clients and potential clients can contact me directly and get answers to their questions. I’m going to keep a running total of number of sales made because of this simple Twitter Connection!

  9. Thanks for this useful, practice article. I’ve read a number of “how to use Twitter” articles in the past three weeks since signing up for Twitter, and yours provided some of the most valuable info I’ve seen to date. While I’m beginning to see the potential Twitter has for many businesses, I’m still struggling to see how it can work for a business with a local vs. national reach. Our clients and potential clients are online, but not necessarily on Twitter. We’ll see how it goes.

  10. Brian, this is one of the most powerful posts to date I have read on any blog-rocking hot. Our business from twitter has skyrocketed and picked up 3 huge accounts simply by following and interacting. Our subscriber base to our blogs has seen a great increase and we have seen an increase on all social sites activity because of ping.fm and hellotxt.com which we use daily. Thanks for this post- as it is PROOF that twitter is a viable business tool, if used properly, and can yield staggering results. Rocking hot!

  11. I’m still waiting for my tweeting ROI, but I’ve engaged businesses whose products / services I use in order to maintain or increase my customer satisfaction. Thus I’m part of other businesses’ ROI based on customer retention / acquisition /satisfaction scores.

  12. Am recent new Twitter User and found your information very useful, especially the tools. I have also found Twitter Search an excellent tool to locate Tweeters with common interests or check on conversation chains. Now that I have topped 300 I am receiving more followers and business leads. TU for your informative article.

  13. I started using Twitter about 6 months ago but I still have yet to figure out how to make it useful for my web design blog. I follow a bunch of people in the web design industry but how to get them to follow me is the question. After reading this post I think I understand that just posting tweets will not work, I will actually have to start to interact with the people I follow.

  14. Excellent post, Mike!! I just retweeted and am sharing with my Facebook peeps! 😉

    I use Facebook and Twitter almost exclusively for social networking and have landed contracts for as much as $30k just by making friends on Twitter. There is no comparison to Twitter; the platform is a brilliant concept with such a wide array of uses and this post – with all the credibility of the leading experts – is perfect for those who don’t yet “get” Twitter!!

    Cheers,
    @marismith

  15. What a great article! Full of info. I just joined TweetLater and BudURL because of your post. The idea of strategically scheduling my tweets is very appealing.

    One of my twitter friends is trying to get some viral action started, so if you’re so inclined to join in, just tweet your Christian testimony in 140 characters or less.

    Thanks, Brian!

  16. Twitter is something every person and business who wants to grow should sign up for now. It has helped me network and build my own personal brand as well as I use it and am trying to grow my network for business purposes.

  17. I’ve been a regular on Twitter for several months and just now starting to see the benefit. I think it takes time to establish yourself, especially if you’re just starting out. I’m addicted now!

  18. Twitter is terrific; I was an early adopter. However, Twitter favors those that can bring their audience with them. It’s not a good bootstrapping tool. Isn’t it interesting that most case studies are individuals who were already celebrities in some way? Guy Kawasaki, Zappos, Barack Obama, etc. It is difficult to build an audience just by being engaging, clever and witty when few others know who you are.

    If you are a bootstrapper or non-celebrity, by all means Twitter, but I suggest limiting your participation and doing it in conjunction with other social media tools, like Facebook, where it is easier to make friends and easier to be seen.

    In a vacuum no one can hear you tweet.

  19. Thanks for mentioning our corporate Twitter work with @breakingpoint, although I would warn folks to not simply throw their brand up on Twitter and hope for the best. You have to listen to the conversations first and determine if your community is on Twitter (or any social network) and if they are how they communicate within the context of that network. I’ve seen too many brands and individuals jump onto Twitter thinking they have to and it completely blows up in their face.

    Kyle Flaherty

  20. I absolutely love the networking possibilities of Twitter. I have created joint ventures, gained fresh blogging and other writing opportunities, made great contacts and gotten to know some fabulous new people I never would have had a chance to meet otherwise! It’s an incredible source of both information and assistance as well!

    I truly believe Twitter will only get bigger and better as time goes on!

    @TeresaWrites4U

  21. We’ve been very pleased with our Twitter experience and have not only made contact with new translators, we’ve also gotten projects from new clients. One of my resolutions for 2009 is to improve the quality and frequency of my tweets.

  22. I, too, was initially skeptical, but within a week had re-connected with previous friends and clients, and met some very nice people.

    I’ve also been exposed to new ideas and found myself visiting interesting and informative websites I would not otherwise have visited.

    I do think, however, that success requires identifying some themes and topics that you can return to on a consistent basis, rather than strictly adhering to an impromptu “what am I doing now?” basis.

  23. Wow – this was brilliantly written. You covered it all. You also helped me figure out how to develop my Twitter plan for 2009. Thanks!

    Deb @debworks

  24. Twitter is still in the early stages at this time and as more businesses jump on this will lead to an even greater growth rate. As more case studies and information show how Twitter can be used by business to increase their customer service at a low cost to them the more widespread it will become. The question is how to manage this growth and show companies how to use it effectively.

  25. I’ve been in a love/hate relationship with Twitter for the last year. I think I left it alone for awhile because I didn’t understand it. It’s posts like these that help people like me continue to see the value. So I’m back on the Twitter Universe and tweeting away.

    One cool tool that I recently came across is MrTweet.net. It helps you discover new relationships and people whom you should be following.

    One more thing. If you start following more people, then more people will start following you.

  26. We have also seen Twitter benefit our company, Author Marketing Experts Inc. Our CEO, Penny Sansevieri (@Bookgal) began offering her tips and tricks for authors and almost immediately we saw our blog traffic rise as well as subscriptions to our Book Marketing Expert newsletter. Now we’re working on getting more of our authors to use Twitter – it’s clearly worthwhile!

  27. I too was a skeptic of Twitter. I’d known about it for a while before I actually tried it. Once I did, though, it quickly became a huge part of my life. I’ve connected with people I never would have otherwise, and lets me keep in touch with friends and family very easily.

    Of course, you have to make Twitter work for you; you have to go out and follow people, otherwise it will get boring with only 6 followers.

  28. I agree with Thomas Schmitz. When you’ve got a big, built-in audience (Kawasaki, Scoble, etc.), Twitter and other social media will enhance and expand your presence online. And it usually does it rapidly as the large audience spreads the word.

    If you’re small, just getting going, trying to stake your claim online, Twitter is not going to be an instant gold mine BUT if you step back and “study” Twitter, you should be able to find a variety of ways to make it work for you.

    Listen to conversations, join in if/when you’ve got something to contribute, find like-minded folks and really get the hang of how the Twitter medium works. If you want to immediately jump off the tallest diving board, go for it, but a gradient approach to Twitter will probably bring you much better returns.

  29. Great article Michael! I started tweeting last summer as a result of hearing a piece on NPR. Just last month I used it to get the word out on a free teleseminar I offer to freelancers, and the word spread like wildfire through the retweets. My sign ups tripled over a 24 hour period as a result of the kind retweeters in my network. No way I could have done the same through any other channel with just a few requests to my peeps.

    And I, too, have been able to connect with people who I’ve always known of but never contacted–and our conversations are “comprehensive,” not just business but the everyday stuff that tends to make relationships sticky. Again, something not doable as quickly through any other medium I know of.

    We certainly do live in interesting times!

    Trish Lambert
    @trishlambert

  30. Hi Michael,

    First of all, wishing you a very Happy New Year!

    Thanks for writing such an awesome blogpost and revealing ways on how to use Twitter to grow your business. And thanks to @MariSmith for tweeting about this blogpost!

    Btw, you got a thumbs up on StumbleUpon and a Digg from me. 🙂

    Best Wishes,
    Shinil.
    @shinils on Twitter – http://twitter.com/shinils

  31. What I like most about Twitter is that it allows you to eavesdrop on what your customers are saying. You can find out what they think of you, your competitors and what issues they are grappling with. Then I can jump in to help when appropriate.

  32. At first I thought (about Twitter) what is thing?
    But, now I’ve realized how important it is to make new contacts and get your message out there quickly.
    I love it!

  33. Very well done, thanks for bringing this to my attention @marismith. Thanks for compiling a (yet another good, solid) list of tools.

    I too was perplexed with Twitter’s value, but using it and watching others helped make some things clear to the point I felt it was worth integrating into a marketing plan (shared my thoughts a few weeks back).

    I’m even redesigning my business cards around social media properties I frequent, while using some of the tools you mention to syndicate content to those properties.

    Thanks again, and keep it rolling!

  34. Great post with lots of wonderful tips, just linked up my Facebook profile, didn’t know about that.
    I started using Twitter about a month ago, and it has drawn people to my new blog which is a blessing.
    I have also met a number of interesting people that I otherwise never would have met, and they share lots of good ideas and advice.
    Also, to my surprise people found me and started following me too.
    I also highly recommend Twitterfox, it works great. I have been a Firefox user for about 3 months now and will never go back to IE again.

  35. I just posted similar thoughts on Twitter on my blog last Friday with a followup yesterday. I had similar thoughts as Terri Rylander, and thought it was fairly useless at first. Like Terri, I saw the light. I don’t use it so much for self promotion as for market awareness. It’s all in finding the right people to follow, and how you follow them. The signal to noise ratio can be a killer.

    I’ll have to check out some of the tools mentioned in the post. Some look very interesting.
    ~jon

  36. If possible, I’d love to see a sample of Cindy’s tweet marketing plan. I’ve tried to brainstorm ways to do something similar but have never actually followed through.

    It would be great to see a template or even her actual tweets over those particular 6 weeks. So, Cindy… anyone?

  37. Thanks for your great discussion!

    I want to give a shout out to Roger C. Parker (who commented here).

    Here’s a man who has sold more than a million books and just joined Twitter only a few weeks ago. Yet he gets it…

    I think his idea about having a plan and specific topics to talk about is critical.

    Happy New Year!

  38. Just checked TwitterLater and it looks like it’s going to help tremendously! It’s much easier to set things up all at once in advance when I have the time, like I do with my wordpress blogs.

    And as usual, the commenting is a great followup to the article. Love the twitterbar, thanks Nicki

  39. Great guide, Mike, and I can’t find a fault with it except for one bit: Ping.fm.

    I used to use ping.fm for broadcasting the same message to everything including Twitter. No longer. Now, every tweet is manual. Every Facebook and LinkedIn status update is also manual. I use ping.fm for the more extraneous outposts that I rarely log onto but I know others use, e.g. Friendster, Livejournal, Bebo, etc.

    When someone is broadcasting the SAME message everywhere, there is a question of a person becoming a robot. I prefer to be a person to other people.

    @ariherzog

  40. I think it’s basically because a lot of people are using Twitter today, but tomorrow can be a different story. Its all about getting access to people – yesterday it was MySpace, today its Facebook and Twitter. Tomorrow it can be something else.

  41. Twitter at first glance does not seem to make any logical sense, you join, make a profile, post a short tweet message, maybe follow a couple of people, after reading some profiles, and then think, well now what ?

    The strange thing is that it is just a very simple idea, based around sending snap shots about your personal thoughts, life, ideas, or just fun stuff, and before you know what is happening, you have attracted the attention and a follower who likes your tweet comments, then more and more seem to follow, i still don’t understand it today, but after only a short time trying it, it seems to work, which to be fair is great, as the main post describes here, it is a tool now used by main stream business.

  42. Fantabulous post! I gave it a stumble and a RT. 🙂

    I wasn’t sure about Twitter at first. I just thought it was basically another IM tool. It’s much more than that, though. I’m networking with a ton of different people – some just for fun and some are actually writers, editors, and (potential) clients and/or sources. The DM feature is awesome, too. I’m loving Twitter now (I’m @MicheleTune and @rawjuiceblog) and look forward to even more Twitter-related success in 2009.

    Happy New Year!

    Michele

  43. I love Twitter. It’s my water cooler. Also, as I am currently neck-deep in projects and not blogging as much as I would like, it’s a way to me to keep a relationship open with the folks who are interested in my stuff.

    There are days I love it too much, though. Seductive little critter that it is.

  44. When this blog had a tweetfest awhile back with everyone writing a story in the 140 spaces, I still thought Twitter was a plaything where the most profound thing would be “Omg, I swallowed my gum.” Then, other VAs and writers like Copyblogger and John Jantsch began pushing twitter and I decided to give it a try.

    I am a ‘savor’ person and I don’t follow everyone who follows me. I still get overwhelmed by the traffic…with fewer than 100 follows or followers. I check before I follow; I don’t care for the auto-follow idea. I also prefer the manual updates. A tweet doesn’t read quite the same on FaceBook or LinkedIn. I will post the same update, but it needs re-wording. I’ve been in a post/comment campaign for VAnetworking.com and use my updates to raise my count; the t-shirt arrived and proves I will write for clothes.

  45. Great article, Judith! You’ve answered a lot of my questions and gave me great ideas. Thank you so much for tweeting the bit.ly link :^)

    I’m definitely forwarding this link to some Twitter skeptics in my circle.

  46. Twitter certainly is getting much more mainstream these days with more people trying this platform. I dont yet rate it as an alternative to PR agencies or a replacement for marketing teams but twitter certinaly if used effectively is a great new channel for reaching a targeted audience.

    At SinoTech Group (http://www.sinotechgroup.com.cn) we are getting more requests from our Brands and Agencies to manage twitter as a channel in a digital campaign… I wonder if 2009 is the year we get some serious competitors to twitter in the micro-blogging space?

    Cheers
    Matt
    http://www.twitter.com/sinotechian

  47. Hi Michael,

    Great article.
    I’ve been seeing plenty of “Twitter doesn’t work” articles, so it was refreshing to see mini case studies of how it “works.”

    I think Terri Rylander’s comments were excellent, she joined Twitter and began following and interacting with the people she respected ….

    Following and Interacting is the real secret of Twitter.

    Eoin

  48. Thank you! I had an idea what the hype was (Kawasaki’s face lights up when he talks about it), but I had no idea what exactly these people with 50,000 followers were doing with Twitter. Now I know! Thanks!

  49. now got an idea how to attract the viewers and moreover posting some interesting facts and messages will attract some viewerss to our blog and need to work hard on that

    regards
    aartha
    lexar 8GB flash card-$0.51
    @ http://budurl.com/jv3k

  50. Mike,

    Wow. Great information. Couldn’t have come at a better time for me. Here’s a personal experience.

    I was reading tweets from my followers, and noticed an interesting tweet. I followed the tweet to a website . The first headline was a shout about how the writer detests parking tickets.

    I recently launced a website about fighting parking tickets in New York City. I sent a direct message tweet about our mutual interest in parking tickets. The writer presents a challenge faced by millions of motorist who try to find parking space in cities. My partners and I provide a solution that eliminates or reduces the cost of parking tickets.

    A great match. I can communicate my message to a wider audience about a subject both of us care about, thanks to twitter.

    It’s just one example among many shared by commenters to your post. What started out as a diversion is exploding into a powerful communication medium.

  51. Is twitter the latest pet rock project on the net or will it survive it’s new found popularity?

    I have been able to connect with people I never thought I would and am building relationships with some of them.

    I really like the 140 limit causes you to focus if you are sending a marketing thought or wanting peeps to go to your site or blog. I use it to promote latest blog posts for italkblog.com and to build friendships.

    I found Barack Obama was using twitter for his campaign and decided to follow him even tho the elections are long over and he followed me back- automatically- proly using twitterlater and he was my 500th follower .

    I think I will write a post about this one, I know there are peeps reading my blog that are not twitters yet.

    Happy New Years

    http://twitter.com/Mark_Ayers you follow me I will follow you

    Mark

  52. I’m not certain yet whether Twitter has had any significant impact on my business or blog, but I do subscribe to the school of thought that any networking is good networking. And Twitter does provide an excellent opportunity for real relationship building.

  53. This was an absolutely fantastic blog post! The uses of Twitter are endless, all it takes is a little creativity and persistence to find what works for you. The best part is Twitter is scalable to whatever your needs are. It doesn’t matter if your an enterprise sales rep for a Fortune 500 company or a small business owner. You can benefit from the collectivism of the Twitter community and the extra reach it enables your business!

    I especially love the relationships you can build and people you can meet through Twitter that otherwise would not be possible.

  54. Since one of the services I offer is PR, seeing someone say that Twitter had “just about replaced their PR firm” was not what I love to hear (gulp!). But I do think that if you can’t afford to hire a PR firm, it’s certainly a great tool for DIY. In fact, I started getting tweets on my mobile phone just to get a jump on the HARO listings (help a reporter out).

    I’ve only been tweeting for a few months but definitely see my visibility growing. On the downside….like any other new marketing tool, I think it takes a while to get comfortable with how you’ll use it. Am hoping that I will scan more and read less, since it’s taking up a lot of my time right now.

  55. Thanks for the great article Michael. I realize I haven’t given Twitter the attention it deserves. It’s so clear, the applications are truly unlimited.

    In gratitude,
    Laurie Hayes

  56. This is an excellent post. I have been using Twitter just because everyone else was. I now have a better understanding of its benefitsfor meas a blogger.

  57. I really enjoyed this article and passed it on to a few friends. Thanks for the info, I am new to Twitter and this has really helped my thinking of how to use it.

  58. I really appreciate this post and I’m glad you linked to the Business Week article too as it has such great info. I think we’ll be amazed in Jan 2010 at the progress we see out of Twitter and how businesses use it over this next year. As I’m reading the comments here, I’m still amazed at how much doubt your readers have at the power twitter and social media offer us. I’ve been having a little fun writing about my “affair” with twitter for the past few months on my first blog. But now, that just doesn’t seem like enough. I feel obligated to help push the twitter tipping point as best I can. As a past telecom professional, MBA/CPA type with love for business strategy, I see opportunities for businesses everywhere. Thus, my partner, @alanunderkofler, and I launched http://www.twitterattraction.com which is devoted 100% to Twitter and it’s grandeur. I’ll be writing a post over the weekend linking to this fabulous post and discussing my continued inspiration from the writers of this blog and of course twitterfriend @copyblogger, Brian Clark. “M Wallace was right.”
    Angie A. Swartz
    @aaswartz on Twitter

    http://www.twitterattraction.com (on Thesis)
    http://www.squaremartinimedia.com (on Thesis)
    http://www.sixfiguremomsclub.com (done before I knew about Thesis 😉

  59. Excellent post! I began using Twitter a few months back and initially didn’t “get it” so I began by following industry colleagues. I work at home and having TweetDeck open is like office chatter so I’m never alone. I like to follow those located internationally because someone is always twittering when I’m working at 2am. I get my news, comic relief and inspiration, learn through informative links, and I chat with those I would not otherwise speak with. The value has been amazing! I own a small bookkeeping & support business and my network is fairly small now, but I’ve already gained 2 new clients. I’m even more excited about 2009!

    @kellywilliamsva

  60. When I first saw Michelle MacPhearson using Twitter I thought it looked stupid! LOL About a month later I heard Ed Dale praising it’s usefulness. I immediately became a Twit…

    Hello! My name is Wendy Merritt and I am a Twitter addict!

    Thanks for the great tips and links 🙂

    blessings,
    Wendy

    Twitter: WendyMerritt

  61. Nice tips. I started using twitter around six months back. Till now it has been a very useful tool for me. It is contributing to the growth of my blog. But, some times I feel I have addicted to twitter. 🙂

  62. Here is a new one how to get new followers. I have a new blog post up that tells you how to get new followers on autopilot once you take a few minutes to set it up.

    I know I could tell you right here, however as a new blogger I am openly admitting I want you to visit my blog, maybe leave a comment and if you like contact me to be a guest blogger.

    Shameless plug I know, however using this simple set of instructions I have on my blog will get you followers.

    I have added well over 100 in less than 24 hours and I cannot stop it now if I wanted to.

    Twitter like other social media marketing paths is in the numbers.

    You will like what I have to say if you really want to grow your followers, fast and on auto pilot.

    Takes a small amount of time to get going maybe 20 minutes.

    Yes it is legal, moral and ethical

  63. I found twitter a great way to meet other people that like the same topics that I do. It’s fun way to share the question what am I doing.

  64. The world of social media is a fascinating one. We’ve just started using twitter and are amazed by the unusually powerful 140 characters.

    This is a great article and a great site – which is referenced in Seth Godins ‘Meatball Sundae’ – a good read.

  65. I didn’t get Twitter at first. Avoided it like the plague for a year. Eventually tried it out as part of a book project I’m working on – and surprise, surprise – loved it.

  66. Great post Michael. Like Jeremy above, it took a few months for the ‘Twitter Penny to drop’ but when it did, it was awesome!
    I now see it as only fair that I tell as many people about it as possible……well it would be wrong not to, wouldn’t it?

  67. Hey peeps 😉

    I have been applying a technique with Twitter over the last few days to increase followers and it is proving itself well.

    I have gone from around 80 follows to nearly 900 in about 1 week.

    What I do is just go through people in my niche ( IM ) and just begin following people. I spend 20 mins each day just following other people and you find that most will follow you back. The other advantage if you follow ‘Big’ players in your niche is that people will seach them out to see who they follow too and in turn may follow you !

    Try it out.. Hope that useful to you 🙂

    Good luck

    Dean
    http://www.DeanHolland.com

    Oh yeah.. Happy New Year to you all !!!!

  68. I put up a lot of resistance to Twitter, but I finally caved and followed the crowd. It’s already proved it’s usefulnes in a matter of a few days.

    I can see I’m going to get very hooked very quickly. Thanks for sharing the resources.

    Paul Hancox / paulhancox

  69. Mike, thanks for the great summary of the value of Twitter. I started as a casual user but have change as this channel provides access not only to people with distinctive knowledge but to people with similar interests. Both evolve into me providing better services and also attracting customers for http://YourSmartKitchen.com

    As an aside, I use HelloTxt.com in addition to Ping.fm

  70. Hi Michael,

    Thanks for the great article on twitter, I’ve been looking for information to give me an overall idea of what its all about and how to use it, and you’ve provided me with some great ideas as well as some very useful tools!

    Thanks!

    Derrick
    (One Month Blogging Newbie)
    http://www.TheNetExperiment.com

  71. Wow, I hope this is what my blog looks like when it grows up… 😉 !! Now I really have something to shoot for! This is incredible… what a wealth of information. I’ll be bookmarking this for sure! Thanks for the Twitter tips!

  72. Michael – this is a very helpful post including some good tips for us newbies. Good inspiration for me to make Twitter part of my 2009 Business Planning. You make it sound like fun!

  73. I read the article and it seems to supply general information. I love to see a specific strategy and measured results of someones success on Twitter. How could Twitter help a site like http://www.worldclassnutrition.com I opened a Twitter account in May of 2008 but lost interest because I could not measure any results.

  74. I think many people are using Twitter to keep up with family and friends. Reading your article made me think about who I am following on Twitter. I may have to deactivate some people. It’s just like MySpace and Facebook. I think it could come down to separating professional and personal. I’ll give this some thought.

  75. I say follow the big guys. Stay right at your computer and pick the brains of the top people in your target interest area. Twitter is all about sharing. Learn something and give something back. It can work for you if you have a plan and make contact with the right people.

  76. Thanks for the great info. At first, I’m sure I made misitakes, and just let go and kept on giving. I put book tips up, article mkg tips up, asked quesions and was so happy with results,
    got 1/3 of my traffic from Twitter,and even got over 150 telesminar attendees from my tweets. Satisfying work if you ask me! My lists are building well from twitter and article marketing-my 2 favorites!

    Judy

  77. The best part about Twitter is that it has the feel of a far-smaller community than it really is. Seeing posts about the mundane aspects of everyday life from some major players makes everything feel a little more intimate than the ordinary blog.

  78. It’s taking me a while to learn and understand all the ins and outs of Twitter, but am loving it! Can’t wait to get my iPhone in the next couple of weeks so I can be mobile with it!

  79. Excellent Article, Michael, Thank you for compiling and Sharing All of this Great Information about how Twitter may be used to Grow Your Business! 🙂

    We ReTweeted (RT) it for you as well! 🙂
    We hope this helps!

    Thank you again, Michael, for the Great Article and information and Everyone Have a Great Day! 🙂

  80. I’m finding so many great people and customers on Twitter that I’ve written 4-5 different articles on my blog just focused on Twitter! I’ve received sooo much traffic and sales from Twitter and it’s growing by leaps and bounds every single day.. Great article!

  81. I completely agree that social media is the way to go if you’re really going to be successful at blogging. And blogging in and of itself is taking off just as quickly as sites like twitter and Facebook. In a recent article about the hottest job skills of 2008, it shows that the demand for blogging skills has increased by 4 times that of the previous year. That’s impressive, particularly in this economy.

  82. YES, twitter has brought me good traffic and I also use that Twitter for Facebook thing. That also brings me some amount of traffic and I’m loving it.

    I love Twitter!!!

  83. Like some others, I didn’t get the initial appeal of Twitter. “Why would anyone care about IMs of someone’s current doings?” I finally got around to checking it out last week and do I ever regret waiting so long.

    In the promotion of my website, it has been an extremely effective way to find a targeted audience. Plus, you can’t beat the instant access to some many “big brains.”

    Thanks for the article. I’m finally one of the Tweeple. 😀

  84. Thanks for great info.

    However, Twitter has become so crowded and people go only there to publish but seldom read.

    Focus blog community like this is more effective to grow your business.

  85. Thanks for great info on twitter. I’d like to say to new people. post in 140 characters to attract your audience. Give away tips with a link to a freebie, so they can get to know you as the go to person in your field. Our mkg on twitter has paid off well. lots of new targeted visitors and even some sales!
    Thankful for twitter,

    Judy Cullins
    PS As me how in a tweet to coachjudy

  86. What a great article, I love twitter but its so addictive.! Hopefully affiliate links will gain more signups, but at the moment i`m just enjoying the fun chat and meeting new friends from around the globe, keep up the good work.. warm regards.

  87. I completely disagree with the commenter above (Free PPC) who says:
    “However, Twitter has become so crowded and people go only there to publish but seldom read.

    Focus blog community like this is more effective to grow your business.”

    Twitter is becoming busier, but that just means you might have to be more thoughtful with how you use it. And to say that a blog community is more effective is missing the point. Not every organisation has the time, good fortune or persistent effort required to build a successful blog like Copyblogger.
    For some businesses, Twitter is a better option because the bite-sized posts require less commitment and can potentially provide similar rewards.
    The key to any social media marketing is deciding what is appropriate for that organisation. And not every company is going to be able to blog well.

  88. Good post and i like twitter for sharing things with my followers and to RT than anything 🙂

    For business people it do work, so that can stick on tweets

  89. Michael Stelzner has put together a worthwhile intro to Twitter. His thinking here is more insightful than articles I’ve read about Twitter on Forbes, Guardian and the New York Times.

    Myself, I’m thinking that Twitter is going to be essential to how I think about the internet within six to twelve months. So I get it. Getting it in six months from now would have been a considerable disadvantage.

    Thanks Michael. Let’s chat soon.

    Stan Faryna
    My unofficial blog

  90. Being a newbie I read everything with interest. As I am in the final stages of getting an ebook out there it is very useful to know that I can make this tool work with me.

  91. In comics, especially webcomics, Twitter has become a vital part of the business plan for many creators. I noticed upon visiting some websites that the tab that used to link to the cartoonist’s blog or webforum had been replaced with a link to Twitter.

    Comics in general are a strange beast because the business and personal aspects of the community are pretty fluid and interchangable. Tweeting among the comics community is pretty hazardous for the person with a vested interest. I’ve learned business related news from the same people who informed us about what they had for breakfast. Some users seem to get their business and familiar contacts mixed up which can lead to some embarrassing mistakes. Fortunately, for all, the beat keeps playing and all tweets are washed away, or more appropriately, buried under a mountain of more tweets.

    http://www.twitter.com/darrylayo

  92. I enjoyed the post, and I really “want” to get the motivation to join Twitter and start learning all about it.
    But I really missed the objective results in your post. Vague “increases” and percentages aren’t enough. And branding? Branding can be accomplished by buying park-bench ads.
    I’m going to suck-it-up and join Twitter, I’ll probably become addicted in no-time.
    thanks for the great post,
    Chris

  93. Hi I am using Twitter since last 6 months or so and its really nice to be with twitter. The instant messaging system helps you to populate your brand with just one post to the thousands of people.

    You will get a handsome amount of traffic and with following others as they can see your tweets instantly.

  94. Good post.

    I’ve been messing around with Twitter for a couple of months now and agree it adds a lot of punch to any marketing campaign once you get to grips with it.

    A couple of useful application are Twollo and Twitterfall. Both keyword targetted – one to find and follow and one to keep up to date on terms of interest to you.

    Neil

  95. great post… i am touring our town speaking at business networking events on social networking sites – and didn’t know about Ping.FM – who’s fired? 🙂 OUCH.

  96. I’m making Sunday March 29, 2009 My Twitter Day.

    I’m going play around (not spam) to see what the big deal is and hope this not another hyped up platform.

  97. Great article! I’m one of those people that don’t quite get Twitter. I run my company’s blog (www.gettingspotted.com) for online video and signed up with Twitter recently in hopes of promoting the blog as well as to attract clients, but this looks like it’s going to take some research. However, reading everyone’s success story and high praises for Twitter it seems to be worth my while.

  98. Most of one’s followers are following for a reason, figure out WIIFT (what’s in it for them) and then offer it up… As an example, most of my clients are discovering FB and Twitter for their businesses, I demonstrate the WIIFT, by offering that same concept – currently FB and Twitter Tips for a business… A business must always keep the concept of WIIFT at the forefront of their business… doesn’t matter who the customer/client is… they are with you (following) for a reason.

  99. This is an interesting read. And i am glad i came across it.
    Thanks for sharing this freely unlike most others that will sell it.
    As an investment representative with investment numerous portfolios, i need a means of gathering and harvesting clients that will seek funding for their projects and one of the ways i would recommend is what you have suggested here.
    thanks
    God bless.

  100. The sales and marketing process is first and foremost about relationships building. Without a relationship nothing ever gets sold. Social media is an excellent opportunity for any small business owner or entrepreneur to reach potential prospects and make relationships without leaving their office or spending loads of cash.

    Twitter is a big part of the new social media opportunity and shouldn’t be ignored. One caveat is that you need to look at Twitter or any social media opportunity as just that, a media, just like print, radio, adwords, tv or direct mail. It’s a tool in a marketing arsenal that needs to be monetized, tested and measured for it to be considered a viable, time worthy investment in growing a business.

    We discuss how to apply the laws of Gravitational Marketing to both online and offline media regularly in our daily web show WTF?.

  101. I was thinking “well…ive heard people seem to be using twitter to help grow a business” etc. and to be honest before reading your article i really did not see how it could be so beneficial, but now i have read it i can see so much potential for this brilliant, fast growing site. I am literally signing up right now just because of you! i wander how many more people are in the position i am (was now, thanks to you!) in thinking “is it really worth the time?”.

    Once again i commend you on your information packed, brilliant article.

    Regards,
    Nathan
    Caterfix

  102. Great article. This badboy is getting saved to my desktop so I can check it out again tomorrow–I don’t think I retained half of the info.

    This is a very good primer on how to use Twitter for your online buseiness.

  103. I have recently launched my personal training website and was advised by many business experts I read about to add a twitter link. I had my programmer add a link to my homepage but not much has happened.

    How does someone with a small following and unknown reputation create a huge following?

    Even with solid twitter posts, how will people see it if they’re not following you?

    I’d love to hear feedback from anyone

  104. Great post and exactly the kind of info I will need to share as I attempt to grow TwitAgent. Part business venture part social media experiment. ciao for now!

  105. I find it hard to figure out what the best tools to use. In socila media, there is just so much clutter now and it is hard to hear through the noise. To twitter or not not twitter. I think one really has to look at their lives and ask, ”what is it really that I am doing here with my life?”

    Dont be a wage slave and dont be a twitter addict!

  106. We were on the fence about Twitter for quite awhile. However, we signed up and our customers have really appreciated us letting them know about specials and new products. It’s so quick and easy that I think it’s definitely worthwhile.

    Joe, do you do email promotions? You might look into sending a “follow us on twitter” campaign.

    Great post!

  107. Now You can buy twitter followers. through a company uSocial. they are providing twitter marketing services i.e. adding bundles of twitter followers on payment based service
    . check more on my site

  108. I use Twitter to promote my website and telling peoples what services i provide to him. Its very effected because you immediately have a response from others to find what peoples want from you or your services.

  109. Great article, as usual! I haven’t tried TwitterFox yet, sounds like a great tool.

    Here’s a good example of a small business using Twitter well. It’s not so much the number of followers that’s impressive, it’s the way people interact with them so much. Do a search on ‘healeo’ and you’ll see what I mean.

    http://twitter.com/Healeo

  110. Great advice!

    I also offer something value to businesses using Twitter. I create custom designed backgrounds. I am rated #1 in the Twitter design industry and you can find us at TwitterBackground.com. There’s tons of free backgrounds too, so def check it out.

    Thanks,
    James F.

  111. As something of a novice i must admit that this tweeter thingy is amazing.Coming from me of course that means nothing…ohhh got to go…. SHE who must be obeyed is calling.Probably to do the little jobs she has been asking me to do for the past 40 years

  112. I too was a bit sceptical about Twitter, but I recently jumped on it as well. Signing up does not take forever and it’s quick and easy to “tweet”. And don’t forget there’s a whole lot WordPress plugins to make your life a little easier as well!

  113. a little interesting note, though: 60% of people who tweet stop tweeting after 30 days. if only I had written the source for that piece of info!

  114. Wonderful article on how Twitter can help your biz. I am a writer and author of books. I am using Twitter to help build my “author’s platform” and increase my global visibility so that people will want to buy and read my books.

  115. Hey Michael. Thanks for some very good information on using Twitter for business. I’m pretty comfortable with it for my own “personal” use, but I’m still fumbling with it trying to figure out how I can use it to help my local offline businesses grow their business. We’re in an area where Twitter is just beginning to show, so I’m hoping that the main value is getting my business clients there before their market is there. Once again, thanks for a very informative post.

  116. Cool article. Thanks. We use twitter but not the way it is supposed to be used, at least until now. Going to sign up for TweetLater

  117. If you put the time into learning the ins and outs of any social networking platform you can find much success there. I personally love and have made money using Twitter for my business. There is a learning curve however.

    Great post!

  118. Thanks for the informative article. Twitter is a great tool. A lot of people thing its too time consuming, but if used well it will create traffic to your company.

    Happy Tweeting..

  119. I used the ping.fm service to update all my notifications on every single social network site. This is such a good time saving tool to hit your audience immediately and quickly.

  120. I love this great new age networking tool! I have been on twitter for a little over 3 months now. I have not used it really for any business needs, mostly just personal needs. I enjoy the updates from people I follow. One of the people I follow is very helpful with his posts regarding apple and apple products (like the iphone) whenever I have a certain question about something, I tweet him and he responds quite quickly and always accurately. It is something that (i’m not going to lie) did not like at first. My friend introduced me to it, and he is on it constantly. He uses it for his business and upcoming screen writing career. Great tool!

  121. what i really love about twitter is how it keeps you up to date. Love it when i get a tweet that informs me of news, sports, new sites, etc. i posted a cool blog on my site about how to use twitter for your business.

  122. I am a college student that is new to Twitter. After reading this article I realized that a lot of people/businesses use Twitter to network both professional and causal. Well done!

  123. I have decided today to start a TWITTER account. It was recommended by a friend. I’ve read all the helpful comments and decided where can I go wrong. I started a new and well needed business in Arizona (www.arizonahomedelivery), and think TWITTER will serve a huge purpose.

  124. Great post. so relevant these days. Everyone is looking for a way to grow their business using Social Media. The amount of comments and interest is no suprise! Keep up the good work.

  125. great article! I like Terry Rylander’s business social networking perspective. make no mistake, twitter is an essential business and web marketing tool.

  126. I’m using Twitter as one of the key lines of our company promotion. As for me, I still didn’t catch how to convert your followers to your customers, what to post so that it will not sound like intrusive ad. After reading your post I have some ideas in mind which I’d like to switch to. Thanks for the inspiration. 🙂

  127. I started twitter a few weeks ago, since then I’ve begun to love it. What started out as a love hate relationship it’s allowed me to network with people in my industry alot easier. News and updates happen in quickly which makes for a great social communication app.

  128. I have decided today to start a TWITTER account. It was recommended by a friend. I’ve read all the helpful comments and decided where can I go wrong. I started a new and well needed business in Arizona (www.arizonahomedelivery), and think TWITTER will serve a huge purpose.

  129. We were starting up a new FSBO company (for-sale-by-owner). when the wes site development was delayed we started using Twitter (also Linked-In & Facebook) for past 5 weeks to jump start building brand and seed the soil for SEO. I was sceptical about Twitter but now find I enjoy it and add followers every day. Getting re-Tweeted (after only 5 weeks we rank in 98.3% percentile) and getting direct messages in good numbers. We launch our web site on Monday and I will report back in a month about inter-relationship I see, if any, from continued Tweeting. paul@propertyplace.ca

  130. No offence, but TweetLater is a bonehead play. Here’s why — it will be obvious to everyone that you aren’t really spending much time on Twitter because if you don’t have the time to be there and tweet in real-time, then you are likely not participating much in conversations, either. That will be very clear from one look at your profile that your account is basically just for flogging your stuff and little else. That’s death; nobody will follow you but other marketers who barely read anything because their ‘philosophy’ as read above is that it’s just a ‘stream’ and you just take a dip once in a while. You may want to be that kind of follower, but you don’t want to get that kind of follower. (Seriously who needs followers that aren’t reading? It’s a mirage.) So TweetLater will teach you bad Twitter habits and will depersonalise your feed.

  131. I joined Twitter last May after being VERY sceptical and dismissive of it. Boy was I wrong on that! Twitter has been great for me – in just over 6 months it has shot up to number 6 of referring sites & the visitors I get from it have generally been high. I fully expect it to be in the top 4 or 5 this year.

    I’ve also made a lot of good connections with people in my field who I wouldn’t have otherwise met and deepened connections with people I already knew.

    I do use Twitter in a fairly focused way though. I mostly follow people in my field & the majority of my tweeting is on topic. Basically if you follow me, it’s quickly apparent that you’ll get lots of art links & news, a little bit of personal colour & direct conversation with me if you @reply me. I also try to avoid being spammy about my own stuff.

  132. I recently watched a couple of videos by Laura Roeder (@lkr).

    She has a very good perspective on twitter and has changed the way that I think about it. It’s like a marketing event online, except you don’t need to talk to people you don’t want to. It’s a great way to access people whom you would otherwise never have the chance to speak to.

    WORD OF WARNING: A friend of mine used an automated program to help “grow” my twitter list. BAD IDEA. You end up with a list of people who couldn’t give a “who-ha” about what it is that you represent. Their not relationships, it’s just numbers. Not what it’s about at all. I now have a list of people I need to unfollow.

  133. I was looking online found a website that you can have a ebillboard for FREE. Just go to seekshallfind.com. I was talking to my friend Mark he sign up for a ebillboard. He told me that he is happy with ebillboard.

  134. Our China govment had blocked the ip of Twitter. We can’t visit the twitter. I am so sorry to live in China. I can’t use twitter to grow my business.

  135. Thanks for the article. Twitter can be very useful (and fun!) but, by its very nature, takes considerable ongoing work to do effectively. As with everything, it pays to regularly evaluate if your twittering is cost-effective, or if your time and money would be better spent on other marketing channels. Twitter has famously failed to monetise its own audience, so be warned it is not a guaranteed money earner for you either!

  136. Thats a great to know much about twitter and how to grow my business. This will all surely help all to grow more and more on twitter and grow their business.

  137. Thanks for the article! Good information! I recently join Twitter… but I only have 2 followers… Hope that changes soon!

  138. We’ve recently joined the Twitter revolution here at Dexcomm. While I’ve seen some increase in interest, its still up in the air exactly how to maximize the 140 characters given to us. We haven’t been overly engaging, but we have been extremely relevant with regards to our content. Getting others interested in an Answering Service is definitely a challenge! Thanks for the great info.

  139. Twitter presents a vast array of opportunity because if you get good at following the trends you’re always right in the “know”.

    I’ve benefited from my share of clients I’ve gained through Twitter and with some tweaking plan on making Twitter my number one communications portal…

    Well actually more or less hybrid between Twitter and Facebook to communicate with my audience when off of my domain.

  140. Wow, I never knew the power of twitter. I am absolutely amazed. I am definitley going to give it a go. Thank you author for a great piece of info.

  141. I only used twitter recently but it create some good links to the sites that i usually visit aside from social bookmarking sites

  142. We use Twitter as one of the promotion chanels for our products. As others pointed out, its not easy to convert your followers to your customers. Thanks for the inspiration.

  143. I like your post and all you share with us is up to date and quite informative, i would like to bookmark the page so i can come here again to read you, as you have done a wonderful job.

  144. I have been using twitter since last 3 months i got seen amazing result of twitter for first 1 month i didnt get a result much but later on i got a good visit from twitter,it is awesome and invaluable

  145. So many people who “didn’t get it” first up. Then did, in spades. So good for one who still doesn’t but now sees it’s worth trying for as long as it takes

  146. I’m hoping to use social media to promote my newly opened business. I’m doing a lot of study on the same as well. Hope to come up with social media(twitter and facebook) based marketing plan and strategies as well. I’ll keep twittering updates on the same as well.

    Thanks for the article. Very helpful.

    @icloudtech
    http://www.icloudtech.com [under construction]

  147. I spent a bit of time with Twitter but never had much success. After reading this I think I wiill have another shot at it. There seem to be quite a few benefits.

  148. Small businesses today have a good weapon to introduce their product via online. Thanks for social media networking sites for opening doors of opportunity to businessmen for introducing their services. Though strong social media sites like twitter benefits most small to medium scale of business, there are companies who avail services of contractor leads to widen more their network.

  149. Definitely twitter is a great source to spread the information on internet. Small businessmen and the bloggers use twitter for their businesses and for blogs to keep inform others about their products and services. Its an easy way to supply information to thousands of people in just seconds.

  150. I love this post. Thanks for sharing so much about Twitter. I am not on Twitter yet but after reading this, I certainly plan to use it now. BTW, TweetLater is now call Social Oomph

  151. Twitter is far less annoying than Facebook, and has proven to have some benefits I did not expect. It doesn’t take much time, and finding and following good people on Twitter can actually be quite beneficial. Throw in the opportunity to interact with clients, and perhaps increase sales, and I would say Twitter and small business can be good partners for a long time to come.

  152. I had thought of using Twitter and Facebook for business when I first read this article. Three months and some five/six posts(above) later, I feel like I like Facebook more. It’s easier and more effective to connect to people and circle.

  153. O.k. I never really had a desire to pursue social media. A mistake I knew I was making but never found the time to correct. But after reading this post I am shaking my head in disappointment for not having wised up sooner. I will definitely change the fact that I am not utilizing twitter and other social media more effectively. Thanks for the enlightenment.

  154. I’ve just started up a blog, and one of the first things I did was make a twitter account. I run a music blog, so I followed users who followed music blogs similar to mine. Only about 10% of people follow back, but of those that do, my analytics show that *every* single person who arrives via twitter will look at least 3-4 pages and spend at least 10-15 minutes on the site. You can’t beat that for targeting a niche. I’ve only got around 40 followers, but plan to work very hard to get more – why wouldn’t I?

  155. Excellent article. I haven’t used twitter personally, but I have found it take over from news sites in terms of breaking news.

  156. This is an excellent post. I have been using Twitter just because everyone else was. I now have a better understanding of its benefitsfor meas a blogger.

  157. I use Twitter for many different reasons and find it the single most important social media tool in existence. For business, it beats FaceBook hands-down. Here are some of ways I use Twitter:

    As a research tool (Twitter Search) when I’d like to find out what others are doing with things like QR codes and then build lists to aggregate the influential Tweeters by topic.

    To share updates and connect with attendees and presenters at conferences. The DM (direct message) feature works great for arranging to meet/chat in person with others at the conferences. Also, I use my hash tagged tweets as notes to refer back to after the conference, especially if I’m blogging about the conference.

    I promote my blog postings, pose questions to followers, and DM followers regarding interesting posts

    I created a paper.li from my Twitter following list. It’s a tremendous way to read great posts from those I follow.

    I create goodwill by actively promoting companies, products and individuals who deserve recognition!

  158. This is such a great article on using twitter for business. Using tools for submitting your tweets is a great idea. After reading this article I think I should go ahead and make most of the twitter.

    Thanks for the motivation.

  159. Interesting I found this great article a couple years after publishing. I believe Twitter has improved in popularity with small businesses, and in my opinion is better than Facebook for laser targeting potential customers. I just started my business last year, and I enjoy using Twitter to gain followers with my quality tweets.

  160. I tried and tried, but couldn’t get direct business from Twitter. I just use the twitter search to see what people are saying, which is helpful though.

  161. If you are a small business owner, twitter is one marketing tool that you should use right away. Why? Twitter is easy to get started and easy to use. How difficult is it to login and tweet a short message here and there?

    Lots of small business owners have had lots of successes using twitter to grow their businesses. You should promote your twitter handle everywhere, from your business card to receipts to every marketing collaterals you have.

  162. Really interesting article on many levels. We really haven’t given Twitter a lot of attention, focusing much more on Facebook and Linkedin. Your article has given me some new ideas and inspiration.

    Also, the comments by both Pam O’Neil and Mike Damphousse were interesting, in that businesses are finding more ways to have Twitter become part of the advertising/marketing infrastructure.

  163. I am really embarrassed to say that I have yet to use Twitter. I can’t really believe it myself and it’s on my list of things to do. So many things so little time! Thanks for the reminder and I appreciate the comments and wisdom. I really must get on the ball.

  164. An interesting article that raise questions as well as gives answers. Like with most SEO or any marketing for that matter, usingtwitter to grow your business really depends on how well you plan it, review it and then finally execute it. If done properly you will get results, if not then you maybe wasting your time.

  165. I use Twitter, but what it does it sometimes get me a burst of hits to a website when I link to it. It isn’t a be all end all to your marketing. It’s just one of many tools you use. Though their new feature of showing you a few new profiles to follow is helpful in keeping your profile on the ball.

    Don’t spam or your followers WILL drop you like a hot potato.

  166. I completely agree – and thanks for a great post. Especially on following new tools. With consulting being a large part of my business, I struggle to stay on top of all the new technology – with twitter I can follow people who develop and sell new tools and have open dialogue about features, value etc. It really has made a difference in my knowledge learning straight from the source.

  167. I have already connected my facebook and blogger account together.So that every time I post on my blog it shows up on my facebook.I have also already connected my blogger account with twitter account I have no friends or followers on twitter yet but will as soon as I update my blog.

  168. I’ve been trolling around the web looking at how to use twitter and facebook to build relationships with my visitors. I’m reluctant to just jump in and risk ruining my reputation. I’ve found lots of bits and pieces but nothing that gives a good simple overview of how to go about it properly. Can anyone recommend any sites or information I can look at which give a good overview and strategy for newbies?

  169. You’ve given me encouragement to seriously look into Twitter. You pulled a lot of thought and ideas together in one place there. Good research and good thinking.

  170. Twitter is no doubt a great social network. But I think a lot of people are using it the wrong way. Love the Twitter plan outline. Really delineates a proper way of using the social network the right way.

  171. Thanks for the great tips you provide on how to grow your business using Twitter. Now that your social media signals are a ranking factor now is a great time to do social media to promote your business along with helping your website increase in the search engine rankings.

  172. I wasn’t a big fan of Twitter in the beginning and refused to waste time on it. I was like a child who wouldn’t eat a particular food, even though I’d never tried it! Today I use Twitter a lot to promote my copywriting business, and I’ve even secured projects as a direct result of my tweets!

  173. It takes time and effort to build targeted followers in Twitter without which there will be more “sellers” (of one thing or another) than “buyers”. If you are not already an established company or business, trying to build targeted Twitter followers is extremely difficult.

  174. “ReTweeting is an action you wish your readers to take, and, like any other action, the best way to persuade people to do it is to ask them to.”<—is it really, though? Why not just give them an incentive to click; like, inspiring them to do it. I don’t know, I haven’t tried twitter-marketing; but that was my gutresponse. But yeah, ““please ReTweet” does make sense, as it’s neither offensive nor as*-kissing.

    “Time of day also seems to be important; between 9am and 6pm EST the amount of ReTweets sees a sharp increase”<—also, if you’re from another timezone, you have to keep that in mind.
    “The likelihood of a tweet being ReTweeted increases dramatically each time it is ReTweeted. “<—-wow – powerful lesson!

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