Hot Gossip >Beginner’s Guide to Twitter – 10 Steps
...and how to get it working for you and your business

Not long ago we held a presentation for non-profits on using social media to build a network and boost traffic to your site. A summary of this presentation can be read at the Hot PJ blog.

For those who missed it, and to extend the article to those in the general business world, you can now find the 10 best practices for Twitter use in this newsletter post.

So, how many people have heard of Twitter?

I’m guessing a fair few seeing as Twitter receives 55,000,000 visitors a month, with 6 million of those being unique visitors (i.e. non-repeat visits)

How many people have setup a Twitter account? Probably a fair few again. There are a massive amount of people who have opened Twitter accounts in the last few months alone.

How many people have posted more than 10 updates and regularly return to the site? Ah, now that’s where the number drops off slightly. Twitter has just a 40% retention rate, i.e. 60% of the people who visit Twitter think, “This isn’t for me,” and never return.

Our hope is that those people, and those who have never been to the site, return for a second look. Twitter really does have its uses like no other provider can offer. And best of all, it’s free, quick and simple!

10 Step Guide to Starting Your Twitter Account:

1. Go to www.twitter.com and create your Twitter account with either your own name or the name of your organisation (if you need authority to use your company name for this, be sure to obtain it from the relevant parties). Your username will be used in your URL link, i.e. www.twitter.com/yourusername, so try to make it something people might guess if they were trying to find you. Also, get in there early to stop other people from taking it!
   
   
2. Post 3 or 4 messages. Something along the lines of “Hello Twitter-verse, <your organisation> is now on Twitter!” and a couple more posts about you and your business, and perhaps something you have been involved with recently. To begin with, no one can see these messages, but having them on your Twitter site means you have something “pre-entered” so anyone checking you out will see a little of what you are about before they decide to follow you. If they see a blank screen, they may move on without following you.
   
   Be aware that if you begin by selecting “protect my messages”, visitors to your profile won’t be able to see anything you have written unless they follow you. They will need a good incentive to join your network if they can’t see for themselves the updates you are posting. As always, view your site from your visitor’s eyes and ask yourself: “Would I connect with this person?”
   
   
3. If you want to start building a network with a focus on New Zealanders, head to the likes of “www.twitter.com/marklincoln” (Mark’s Twitter account!) and “www.twitter.com/hotpj2tipsaday”. If you are logged into Twitter, you will see a “follow” button next to their name. Click this to add them to your network and begin receiving their updates.
   
   Also note the difference in the success of those two accounts. Our “marklincoln” account is thriving because people are interested in people. Our “hotpj2tipsaday” account is doing well but originally received little interest as people saw it as an automated update rather than a real-live-person open to conversation and interaction.
   
   
4. Take a look at the people following the accounts in step 3 (by clicking on followers while you are viewing their profile). Find people who may be interested in your business or with interacting with you for whatever reason, i.e. people who are in New Zealand and perhaps in your home city, or people who are already following others with the same profession as you, and click “follow” next to their name. Their updates will now show each time you log on to Twitter.
   
   
5. Observe! Before posting too much, be sure to observe what others are doing and get a feel for the updates that get the best response. Keep an eye on the successful users (those with a lot of followers and a decent number of updates, not necessarily those who are following a lot of people as anyone can do this).
   
   
6. Post updates in a similar fashion to those successful “tweeters”. Use material that may already be available to you as a basis for your updates. If your site has a blog, or an online newsletter, write the heading in your Twitter update and add a link to the article on your site (use www.tinyurl.com if you want to make your links shorter to fit in the box).
   
   
7. Participate. Once you have an understanding of the basics, get communicating! Add relevant updates about your services or products and you’ll find your network growing. You can also communicate directly with your followers by adding an “@” sign in front of their name before your message, or by clicking on the small arrow next to their post. Note that these “replies” are public. To communicate privately, click the envelope icon.
   
   
8. Use the search tool. Find out if conversations are already taking place about you or your organisation, or about subjects you are interested in. See who is posting the comments and reply to them to add value to the conversation.
   
   
9. Give it time. Many people are put off by Twitter in the first few attempts at using it. Put some time into seeing how people interact with other and the extra tools that are available to ensure you get the most from Twitter. If you use Twitter in the right way, your network will grow itself.
   
   
10. Enjoy it! But realise it’s not for everyone. If you find you are really not getting into it, find someone in your organisation who is a champion for your branding message and will enjoy interacting with your network through Twitter and then set them up with an account!
    
    A Few Quick Don’ts!
    
    Do not post a link in every update unless you want to build a following of people whose only interest is in those links. If you constantly post links to other sites, people may think you are spamming and so will avoid you.
    
    Do not start raving about your products and your special offers. The basis of social media is providing others with an opportunity to tell each other how great you are, not for you to do that for them! Raving about your products in Twitter is like walking into a bar at a networking event, standing in the middle of a crowd and shouting about your products to no one in particular! By all means discuss your products and services but do so in relevance to a particular conversation. Twitter is all about the value of people-in-the-know and adding input to conversations where that input would be well received.
    
    And one final DO! If you start a Twitter account, let us know! We will be happy to assist in growing your network by interacting with you on Twitter to help broaden your reach.
    
    Warm Regards
    
    The Hot PJ Team

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