With the launch of my book, Twitter Marketing for Dummies, I have been getting a ton of questions about Twitter and the use of Twitter for business. I wanted to update and republish this blog post from the beginning of last year… to better inform you on some tips for using Twitter.
Use them. Learn them. Love them.
1. Use your personal picture in your Twitter profile. There is only one situation where you can use your logo… if you have two profiles. Your personal profile and your company profile.
2. Don’t setup an Auto-DM to send when users follow you. Why you ask?
Here are two posts talking about why you should not:
Tweeter Blog: How to STOP These Freakin Auto DMs
Social Media Club: To Auto DM or Not to Auto-Dm
3. Use Twitter Search to find subject matters that interest you. This can cater to your business interests, as well as your personal interests. This will help you find people that share intriguing content.
4. Add in some of your personal life while you are using Twitter. What is important to remember is that you are using Twitter for your business communication as well. The people following you want to know that you are REAL and want to interact with you. This is especially important if you are a small business owner.
5. Use it. It is important to use Twitter but do not waste valuable time when at work. Tweet about what you are reading online.. Maybe a new insight you found while reading the night before. Try to use Twitter a couple of times a day.
6. Reply. Reply. Reply. Whenever you get a response (@yourname) make sure that you respond to the reply. This is extremely important because your most valuable followers are the people that respond and communicate with you.
7. (via John Janstch) Use strawpoll to create a survey to feed into your Twitter stream. This will be an awesome way to get information regarding service offerings and products.
8. Follow some awesome business Twitter people (@problogger, @chrisbrogan, @gacconsultants, @jaybaer, @roundpeg, @Ribeezie)
9. Use a business Twitter account (example: @brandswag) to create a great place for customer relationship management. Teach your clients to use Twitter to keep with the happenings of your company. Also, it can help you share the news and information regarding the success of your clients.
10. Use Twitter as a discussion forum. Ask your clients and prospective clients what they would like to see, hear, taste, and experience.
11. Help. (via Twitip) Always help before asking for money. Twitter is not a place for you to hard sell individuals on services. We are here for discussions and not sales.
12. I started out with a personal profile that allowed me to create relationships before starting my company profile. (also via Twitip) I was able to cleaning transition between two accounts because people trusted me. If you start two accounts at the same time you will be overwhelmed and underwhelm your followers.
13. Use Hootsuite for productivity. Hootsuite allows you to pre-post Tweets to be sent out throughout the day. The important thing to remember is that you need to be involved in the conversation. If you are not there to interact with your followers there really is not a point for using the tool. However, it does help for those random tweets to stay in front of your followers.
14. Take pictures and share on Twitter. Add pictures on Twitter using Twitpic using your iPhone or mobile phone.
15. Use Google Analytics to measure the traffic directed from Twitter to your blog or website. If you can measure the traffic related to sales or aquisitions it help you understand an ROI from the tool. You can also use PostRank to measure engagement or your followers and your blog.
16. Encourage your employees to join Twitter and become part of the conversation.
17. Twitter connets thought leaders. Talk about a great brain trust!
18. Fill out your profile. Make sure you put information regarding your personal life as well as your business life. This is important because.. everyone reads it.
19. We add our Twitter URLs to our business cards. I also like to add my LinkedIN account and blog URL. This will encourage more of your networking friends to follow you and communicate more effectively.
20. Follow @Zappos. A perfect example of corporate twittering.
21. Download TweetDeck. Tweetdeck is a powerful tool to help you be productive while using Twitter.
22. Are you using a Blackberry or iPhone? You should definitly be looking at downloading an application to help you manage your twitter account while you are out of the office. Tweetdeck will sync your entire system together on one platform (fyi).
23. Thank you. When someone shares your post or tweet make sure you send a DM or Tweet thanking them for their support. Just as you should be emailing people to thank them for comments… same goes with Twitter.
24. Create a column or search feed on your Twitter productivity tool (Hootsuite or Tweetdeck) and start following potential clients, competition, and industry leaders…. Be very sure to organize them out to keep the messages separate.
25. Don’t add hundreds of people when you first join Twitter. Let the entire conversation happen naturally… your follower base will grow naturally
If you have anymore tips. Please add them below! Get on it!
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=22cf2622-4847-46f5-9be3-ee9c1d1f7f44)
[...] 25 Twitter Tips for Small Business (kylelacy.com) [...]
[...] 25 Twitter Tips for Small Business | Kyle Lacy, Social Media … [...]