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TwitterTwitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service

send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets)

Limit 140 characters in length. Use widely by cell phones, blackberry, etc.

Sign in – can search groups

Contact friends in Twitter @friendsemailaddress.com

Form group – import contacts – enter bio and picture – link to your website and blog

MORE UPDATES RESULT IN MORE FOLLOWERS

OFFER VALUABLE INFORMATION – ANSWER QUESTIONS

Twitter – a Public Relations Tool For small businesses without the

resources Twitter presents a free and efficient alternative to promote goods and services directly to customers

Recent data issued by market researcher Kelsey Group indicates that 9 percent of small businesses now wield Twitter accounts as public relations tools.

Twitter Advice Listen before speaking Don't be boring

Offer useful content Update daily

Give your customers a reason to follow  Embrace Twitter applications

Twitter Advanced Search, ChirpCity, Nearby Tweets and Tweepz. 

Video – Using twitter to promote your business

Using Twitter for Your Business Sign up using Company name Search and Learn before posting Monitor tweets about your company

Use tweetdeck.com Monitor competitors use

Search.twitter.com Participate – answer questions

A Few Uses for Twitter A restaurant tweets their daily

specials A ticket agency tweets about-to-

expire tickets A realtor tweets new homes on the

market A chamber of commerce tweets

local events and promotions.

Major benefits using twitter with your business: Marketing – think of twitter as just another front

in. When you release a blog post or a product or service you can announce it on twitter

Knowledge network – if you follow other people on twitter in your field of expertise you have a huge resource

Support – are you having a technical or other issue, let people know on twitter. You will get help.

Soft sell – give information be helpful.

Using Twitter for Your Business Identify influential tweeters and

establish relationships with them. Twinfluence.com

Use sponsored tweets for very popular tweeters. Must be in sync with your brand. (new concept)

Create a user-friendly Twitter ID (@yourname)

Your Twitter ID is part of your personal brand. Plain and simple. Your first choice for a Twitter ID should be your name

Search for people to follow

It’s completely normal in Twitter culture to “follow” people you’ve never met.

Begin by looking for people with common interests, hobbies or professions.

A few tools to get you started: • Twitter search  – This is the only search

function actually hosted by Twitter. It’s extremely easy to use and offers comprehensive results.• Twellow  – An application similar to Twitter search except that you can search by categories (which makes results more targeted).• TwitDir – I like TwitDir because it offers a search function and breaks Twitter users into categories like the top 100 people followed and top 100 updaters.•A more recent addition worth checking out is the Twitter people directory, WeFollow

Learn the lingo. You’ll want to join the crowd

• DM = Direct Message• @ = Use to reply and always include proceeding a Twitter ID in a reply• RT = Retweet• Tweet = Sending a message on Twitter• Tw + any other word. A fun practice on Twitter is to develop a new twist on old words.

Add your Twitter ID to all of your signatures

Pimp out your Twitter name (and not just on Twitter). As social networks like Twitter continue to go mainstream, you’ll want to be able to connect with new users.

A few opportunities to pimp out your Twitter ID: • Add under your name when you comment on

a blog• If you friend someone on another social network, add a personal message which includes your ID• Include a “follow me on Twitter” signature on all of your email accounts or for your social media email signature

Read the bio of those who follow you

Know something about those who follow you. The information you get from a bio makes it easy to engage in dialogue. If someone lists knitting as a hobby, send them a link to a knitting blog you came across. It opens the door for dialogue and that is what your community is all about.

Learn the etiquette

NEVER post personal information like your social security number 

Many people on Twitter will “unfollow” someone who sends multiple “tweets” in a row.

Asking multiple questions to the same person or the same question asked to multiple people

Remember this is a public forum. Email them privately if the tweet is senstive.

13 social network apps

iPhone – Blackberry, etc.

Ads Targeted to Keywords

TWITTER 4.5

Staten Island

Why Twitter Rocks Traffic Promote your

content Fast help and

feedback Find a new

audience Inform people of

your status Networking

Marketing It’s fast and mobile Provides

inspiration It’s viral Latest news. It’s fun It’s simple Make money

twInfluence is a simple tool for measuring the combined influence of twitterers and their followers,

with a few social network statistics thrown in as bonus.

Imagine Twitterer1, who has 10,000 followers - most of which are bots and inactives with no followers of their own. Now imagine Twitterer2, who only has 10 followers - but each of them has 5,000 followers. Who has the most real "influence?" Twitterer2, of course.

Bot is a piece of software automatic and repetitive

Time Saving Methods

TweetLater.com

The free version of this service allows you to schedule (future-post) your Tweets on Twitter.

This service also allows you to set up one custom (filtered) version of your Twitterfeed to post on your blog

Social Search allows Google searchers to link their Google Profile with the various profiles they have on social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Google launched it as a Google Labs project, but it's now going to be available to the wider Google user base.

Google Social Search into beta 

Watch a Video with this Link

Google Social SearchWith Social Search, Google finds relevant

public content from your friends and contacts and highlights it for you at the bottom of your search results. When I do a simple query for [new york], Google Social Search includes my friend's blog on the results page under the heading "Results from people in your social circle for New York." I can also filter my results to see only content from my social circle by clicking "Show options" on the results page and clicking "Social."

The art of “retweeting” taking a twitter message someone else has posted, and rebroadcasting that same message to your followers.

Use the hashtag # symbol. Prefix a word with a hash symbol: #hashtag in your

Tweet Example #taxinformation Twitters doing a search for tax information

Follow you and possibly retweet your post. Result – Thousand of new followers. Can be used to advertise events – seminars,

etc. They link to your blog and get access to your

web site.

Feeds your blog to twitter, facebook and more.

Twilert.com – Get alerts on twitter based on various criteria.

Symbols @ = Placing this before a person’s

Twitter name (i.e. @sethjenks) is an open conversation directed toward that person. Anybody can see this communication between you and the person your @ing. You can @ anybody on Twitter, even people who are not following your updates.

Symbols D = A private conversation between you

and a person who is following your updates. There is a space between the ‘d’ and the person’s name and you don’t need to use the @ sign. You can only direct message people who are following you.

Symbols RT = Re-tweeting means, Sweet! I like this!

Passing it along. Always give props to the original tweeter.

# = This is the hash tag. It means that the tweet that you are sending out belongs to a particular topic or conversation but is not directed to anyone in particular. People interested in that topic will search that hash tag and find your update on the subject.

Go to Hashtags.org

Enter subject – see result

Summary Connect with customers and really listen to

what they’re saying - Have an eye-catching Twitter page, back it

up with interesting comments, and retweet, retweet, retweet!

- Keep an eye out for influencers and reach out to them

- Search what people are saying about your company or yourself

- Follow trending topics – your business might just show up as one

The bottom line? Using Twitter effectively as a marketing tool means reading more than you are writing.