Twitter can be used as a real-time news or communications tool. For example, the first responders to the plane crashing in the Hudson River were people on Twitter. One way to think about Twitter is as a kind of global text messaging.

Austin, TX June 07, 2012

OVERVIEW--HOW TO USE TWITTER EFFECTIVELY:

--Understanding Twitter--

Many people may think that Twitter is just for 13-year-olds (and Kanye West), but it's important to realize that Twitter is like a telephone: If one were to call up a 13-year-old, they wouldn't blame the phone if the conversation was not interesting. Twitter is absolutely worthy of its users' time if they are having the right conversations. The social media site has been around since 2006 and has over 200 million users, with almost every fortune 500 company represented. Twitter can be a very effective business tool if used properly.

--A Communication Tool--

One way Twitter can be used is as a real-time news or communications tool. For example, the first responders to the plane crashing in the Hudson River were people on Twitter. One way to think about Twitter is as a kind of global text messaging.

--Set Up--

When creating a profile, it's important for users to understand that this is how they are presenting themselves to the world. It is their first impression, so they need to make it count. First, one should add a smiling headshot for their personal profile. (For a business profile, one should go ahead and brand it with their logo.) It's important for a user to use both their first and last name in their profile. This makes it easier for people to find them. Finally, one should write a short and sweet bio highlighting who they are. Space is limited, so it's important to make it count.

--Connect--

The next step is connecting with people and finding friends. Twitter integrates with other platforms (Gmail, Yahoo!, Linkedin, AOL…) to help users find friends that are already on Twitter. Next, one can browse people by their interests. This is a great way for users to find other people who are actively discussing what they themselves are interested in.

--Tweet--

For a Tweet, one types a message up to 140 max characters. Before tweeting, one should make sure they are okay with everyone and their brother reading it. Tweets go directly into the user's followers' news feeds, and adding links to a website or blog is a great way to drive traffic. One should focus on providing and sharing value content on a daily basis to grow their influence and their followers organically.

--Retweet--

When a user finds a post that has valuable content, they can click the "retweet" button to share that post with their own followers. If a user is posting valuable content, others will reweet their posts as well.

--Lists--

Twitter is the most transparent of social platforms. Everyone can see who is following them and and who they are following. While learning about people, there are a lot of ways to use that information for finding leads or marketing a business. Placing followers into segmented lists helps cut through the Twitter clutter. Some examples of lists that one could create are: friends, co-workers, social media people, celebrities, etc. Then one can load their "social media people" list to only see those posts in their feed.

--Search--

One can also use Twitter as a search tool. In this webinar, Kevin discusses an example of how he found a friend a job in just eight minutes. Searching key words on Twitter will deliver results from sources in real time.

This webinar will help users forge a "know, like and trust" relationship with others on Twitter.

Click here to watch the entire webinar.

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