SisterSledgeSays

There have been tons of blog posts and wikis written on the use of Twitter and I couldn’t hope to improve on a one of them. But, I’d like to provide a resource here for just those who’ve asked me about Twitter…what it’s good for and how to go about getting started using it. These questions usually come from my clients or coworkers hoping to use Twitter to further their eCommerce businesses, so this resource will be tailored to those needs.

I have two Twitter accounts, one just for hobbies/entertainment and one for business endeavors:

For business I tend to follow quite a few marketing/PR specialists, content writers, developers and designers…with a sprinkling of news, brands and eclectic peeps. With this group I get a lot tweets of great links and information about new happenings in website programming, free tools and pointers to kewl new sites as well as helpful resources and ideas pertaining to internet marketing of all kinds. Peeps who follow me receive my tweets along those same lines, and can provide quick answers to my questions…I might be able to help answer their questions and I can help others promote their stuff.  A few of my followers are also my clients, which means I have an additonal avenue for providing assistance and friendship to them via Twitter.

Basically, my business use of Twitter is focused to research and promotion. For your business needs, you might use Twitter in multiple ways and though one account may be dandy, you may find the need to have more than one Twitter account to provide for meeting specific business goals…such as having one account for marketing, another devoted only to customer service and one for research.

When you find someone who might be interesting to follow, read their Twitter profile to find out their location and their description and check out their site they’ve linked to get to know them better. You might read the tweets they’ve marked as favorites, see who they follow and who follows them, read some of their past tweets…these aspects will provide the basis for deciding whether you want to follow them and perhaps you’ll learn some ways that you can engage them.

Below are some links to more resources on Twitter and a list of peeps you might want to follow and learn from, after you get your account set up. When you find someone you want to follow, check out who they follow to find additional peeps in the same niche.

Twitter - http://twitter.com

Here are some examples of Twitter searches you can do, where the tweets will all be focused to your interest - grab these random tweets of helpful info and find peeps interested in your topic to follow.

“ecommerce” - http://search.twitter.com/search?q=ecommerce

“marketing” - http://search.twitter.com/search?q=marketing

Peeps that you decide to follow will automatically get a message that you’ve taken that action…they in turn will check you out to decide if they want to follow you back (some will follow you back automatically). When you follow someone, you will see their tweets on your Twitter page.

Getting started list of interesting peeps:

SisterSledge - that’s me

PawLuxury - eCommerce

SomeEcards - eCommerce

Zappos - eCommerce

GaryVee - eCommerce

PandoraRadio -marketing

BDCsharon - eCommerce

MyBabyFirst - eCommerce

Chiropractic - marketing

Comcastcares - customer service

CoWorkUtah - marketing

Popshopology  eCommerce

GoGreenTube - marketing

UtahNewsSource - marketing/PR

MattCutts - developer

NewspaperGrl - marketing/PR

Twitter does put a cap on how many new peeps you can follow in time period, so take it easy getting started…keep it below 50 for awhile and then add more in small bursts.

Here are some links for interesting and helpful resources to learn more about Twitter:

Twitter Alltop - http://twitter.alltop.com/

Top Twitter Tools - http://www.longest.com/2008/10/28/top-twitter-tools/

TwittURLy - http://twitturly.com/

Using Twitter for Customer Service - http://www.searchengineguide.com/paul-jahn/using-twitter-for-customer-service.php

Using Social Media Wisely - http://www.searchengineguide.com/jennifer-laycock/stick-and-stones-may-break-your-bones-an.php

7 Ways to use Micro-Blogging Platforms for Traffic and Brand Exposure  - http://www.doshdosh.com/7-ways-to-use-microblogging-services-for-traffic-and-brand-exposure/

~Edited to add more links~

Twitter Benefits for Freelance Writers - http://theadventurouswriter.com/blogwriting/quipsandtipsfreelancing/139

TweetLater (tools to be more productive on Twitter) - http://www.tweetlater.com/

Why do People use Twitter? - http://wearesocial.net/blog/2009/01/why-do-people-use-twitter/

Use Twitrans to Tweet in a Variety of Languages - http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/14/use-twitrans-to-twitter-in-a-variety-of-languages/

Twinfluence to measure your Twitter Influence - http://twinfluence.com/

Twitter To Go: How one local coffee shop used Twitter to double their clientele - http://blog.mrtweet.net/twitter-to-go-how-one-local-coffee-shop-used-twitter-to-double-his-clientele

Who is 1 peep you recommend to follow on Twitter? Who’s the 1st peep you followed?   

Please, have your say in the blog comments here