And How Do YOU Twitter?

Twitter. Seems like everybody's doing it. And everywhere you go, someone is talking about it. There's really no "right" way to do it, but there are plenty of examples of companies experimenting, listening and learning about what works for them. Want to jump on board? Here are some resources to help you chart your own Twitter course.

Twitter Terminology

Tweet - Each time you enter your thoughts in the What's Happening box and click the Tweet button, that message is delivered to all your followers. Limit: 140 characters.

Retweet - If you like what you read, either from someone's tweet or from a blog post or web article, clicking the retweet button automatically creates a tweet from you and identifies the original sender. Guy Kawasaki, a prominent tweeter, calls a retweet "the sincerest form of Twitter flattery."

Following - The best way to start is to find some people you know & respect and follow them (just click the Follow button on their profile). Once you do, you'll begin seeing all their tweets in your stream. They may even follow you back. Don't rush to start tweeting until you you've done some following, as it's a great way to learn.

Lists - You can create your own lists of people you follow. It's a way of categorizing and organizing your incoming tweets by groups that you define (friends list, family, coworkers, etc).

"@reply" - By default, all your tweets are sent out to all of your followers. But "@reply" allows you to direct a tweet to a particular person. Just type "@" followed by the person's Twitter ID at the start of your tweet. Many people pay closest attention to tweets directed to them by "@reply." In fact, this is a great way to establish connections that lead to trust and perhaps ultimately to new business.

Hashtag (#) - Hashtags add a label to a tweet so receivers can categorize it. Typically, groups agree to add a hashtag + label (#ourgroup) to single out tweets relating to their common topic.

URL shorteners - One of the most popular things to share via Twitter is links to other websites. Since website addresses (URLs) can be long and a tweet can be only 140 characters, there are tools that will -with one click - shorten a URL. The most popular is bit.ly.

search.twitter.com - Not sure who to follow? Use this handy tool to search on keywords of interest and find who's tweeting about your topics of interest, your product/service, or your company. In fact, many people use this tool to find people of like interests, then use "@reply" (judiciously) to get introduced.

Twitter applications - Some of the most popular applications for managing your Twitter accounts, lists, and viewing priorities include: Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, Seesmic, and Tweetie.

Cindy Lavoie is a partner at Sound Web Solutions, an Internet Marketing agency in Seattle, WA. At Sound Web Solutions, we help small to midsize businesses increase traffic to their website, build online credibility for their brand, and turn their website visitors into prospects and sales. Cindy is a hands-on marketing expert with 25+ years experience helping businesses harness the lastest technology to their best advantage.
Sound Web Solutions: http://www.soundwebsolutions.com
Internet Marketing Blog: http://www.soundwebsolutions.com/blog