7 Tools for Power Users in Maximizing Twitter
- Tweetdeck – lets you retweet, reply, search, create groups, follow categories of tweeps like celebrities, and it even incorporates other twitter services and Facebook.
- Twitalyzer – is an interesting tool that shows you how effective your tweets really are. It rates you on how often people retweet you, mention you, and many different interesting variables.
- Cotweet – if you’re trying to manage a large company brand then this is the twitter tool for you. It allows you to tweet from the same or multiple accounts, link tracking, scheduled tweets, and even lets you monitor keywords like your brand name to see what people are saying about you.
- DM Whacker – I LOVE THIS TOOL! It’s a bookmarklet that you select when you want to bulk delete Direct Messages with no hassle. Nuff said, try it for yourself! (Be sure to read the instructions carefully, it’s not hard but it took me a minute to get it to work the first time.)
- TwitTip – This is the definitive twitter blog on the web from Mr.Problogger himself Darren Rowse.
- Mashable – has some great Twitter guides that will satisfy any social media ninja’s thirst for knowledge.
- Bonus: They key to Twitter success is listening, engaging, and repeating the process as mentioned by Annie Sorenson in 4 Steps to Success with Social Media for Entrepreneurs
Twitter 101: Getting Started (A Newb Quick Guide)
Twitter is an online social network.
So, I’m sure you’ve heard about twitter on the radio, television, or while surfing the net. What is it? What’s the big deal behind it? And what in the heck is a “tweet?”
Today we’re going to explore the wonderful world of twitter. You’re going to learn what it is, what it isn’t, why it’s popular, how it can help your business, and how to start on the popular online social network.
twitter homepage
What is twitter?
First and foremost, twitter is considered a micro-blogging social network. For those of you who write blogs, when you create a post for your blog what you’ve written is in real time. That’s all the information you give your readers until the next time you create a new post for your blog. But what if you shared information with readers of your blogs in between the blog posts? What if you stayed connected with them throughout the entire day?
That is essentially the essence of twitter. Where as other online social networks require you to create a spiffy profile, add some pictures, music, and create an entire online identity; twitter simply asks, “what are you doing?” It cuts out the fat and gets straight into the “meat” of online social networking. And the best part of all, you have to write your posts in 140 characters or less. So when you send a post or “tweet” you have to be very selective and strategic with what you share.
Why is it so popular?
Twitter is popular for a number of reasons. I personally believe that it connects people in a unique manner and that’s why it’s so successful. You’ve got geeks, nerds, professionals, entrepreneurs, politicians, and even celebrities tweeting away on the platform. One reason it’s so popular is because of the “real time” flow of information and news. If there’s an accident on the highway in Memphis, I can let my Memphis “tweeps (aka twitter peeps)” know right away. That message might break the story of the accident hours before a news crew arrives on the scene.
How does twitter work?
Well the user end of twitter works in a sms or text message styled fashion for sending messages. I won’t go into detail on the backend . . . it’s no telling how the twitter engineers are keeping it all together! You can update your status via the twitter website, text message from any cell phone, or using any of the slew of twitter applications for desktop and mobile use. I use a twitter application called twhirl and more recently I’ve been using something called tweetdeck. For a beginner I would suggest posting directly from the twitter website until you’re more comfortable with the service.
Once you sign up to the site you can then find friends that are already using twitter via email and “follow” other people’s updates. When you “follow” someone you are saying, “I want to hear what you have to say and be connected with your updates.” And when someone follows you they’re “saying” the same thing. The more followers you have the more people you have to share your information, news, resources, services, life, and world.
I’m on twitter what do I do now?
Rod's twitter profile
Above you’ll see a snapshot of my profile on twitter. In the upper right hand corner I have my wonderful picture and profile with a link to my blog. Notice my stats below my picture? I’m “following” 70 people and I have around 100 followers. In the center where it says, “what are you doing?” that’s where you update your status. And below it displays the updates from everyone that’s in your network (people you follow).
If someone shares a link to a website that had an interesting article and you wanted to tell that person how grateful you were of that information you would “reply” to their tweet. To reply, all you do is place your mouse over their update, click reply, and send them message in 140 characters or less. Or, within the “What are you doing?” box you can reply by typing, “@username and then type your message.” For example;
Rod – @Oprah Good morning Ms.Winfrey! (2 minutes ago from twhirl)
Oprah – Good morning twitterverse! (6 minutes ago from web)
Notice how my message comes before Oprah’s. That’s because twitter displays messages in chronological order in real time. If someone says something inspiration that really moved you and you want to share it with your followers, then you would “retweet” their message. Retweeting is reusing someone else’s update as your own and it gives the original author credit as well. It’s kind of like saying, “Hey man, that was really awesome what you said, I’m going to share it with my network!” Using twitter applications like tweetdeck allows you to retweet anyone’s update simply with the click of a button. Unfortunately, when you’re logged into the twitter website you’ll have to do it manually. To retweet do this;
Rod – RT @Oprah – Live your best life and be fulfilled!
Oprah – Live your best life and be fulfilled!
“RT” as you can guess, means retweet. It let’s everyone know that the statement following is not something you thought of yourself. Retweeting messages is a great way to show appreciation to other twitterers for their insight, information, news, wisdom, or resources. The more you share the more you care – remember that!
What if you have a specific message for a specific person and you don’t want everyone “all in your business?” Then send them a “direct message.” This is how you do it; the first way is to go to that person’s profile page (by clicking on their picture) and send them a message. Or you can do this within the “what are you doing?” box;
Rod – D @Oprah I’m going to be late to our dinner date in New York tomorrow. Can we reschedule?
The “D” indicates a direct message and only the receiver can view it. Simple huh? Now that you’re equipped with the tools to network, engage in conversations and start tweeting!
What do I tweet about? (Creating your brand)
Ok, so you’re on twitter and you’re wondering, “what in the world am I going to talk about?” Well, first you need to identify the reason you’re on twitter in the first place. Is it for professional networking, keeping up with friends, making new friends, generate sales for your business? Why are you here?! Once you’ve figured out why you’re here then you can start communicating effectively to your followers. When I first signed up my initial intentions were purely personal and I just wanted to connect with friends. However, as I’ve continued to use the service my goals are more professional.
My updates usually run the gamut of inspirational quotes, technology and business news, updates on my business, and finally just the general run of the mill “what I’m doing at the time” type of updates. Notice the order in which my updates run. If you’re here to generate sales for your business you won’t do it if you advertise, pitch, and try to sell people on here.
The key to success on twitter is sharing, being a resource to others, networking, engaging, and building relationships.
That’s soooo important to understand. No one likes to be sold to but people love to buy things. If you give your followers something substantial in terms of information or inspiration then you’re twice as likely to make sales by garnering respect. When I first signed up I followed just about everyone. But I started noticing that some of the people I followed wouldn’t shut up about their products or services. And I “unfollowed” them as a result.
If you’re on twitter for personal reasons then just stick to letting people what you’re doing. If you’re here for professional reasons share your insight and knowledge on a particular topic. If you’re here for sales then share resources that will help people understand your industry (people will appreciate you being a resource to them and naturally gravitate to your products or services). One rule of thumb, if you’re trying to intentionally sell something, let your intentions be known. For example;
Rod – Ad: 2 for one sale on all computers, shop today! (4 minutes ago)
And just because you made your intentions known doesn’t necessarily mean it will sit well with other twitterers. If you are going to advertise remember to share, engage, and connect first with your community and keep your ads to a minimum (Don’t share a quote and every 5 minutes make an ad).
Review
There you have it, twitter in a nutshell. I hope this guide has at least settled any fears you had of the network. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns let me know in the comments below. If you think this guide should be expanded in any way drop me line here. Below you’ll find some useful articles that will further help you in your twittering. Until next time share, connect, and engage to twittering success!
p.s. – you can follow me on twitter by clicking here!
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About the Author
Rod
