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Twitter Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets)social networkingmicro-blogging Limit 140 characters in length. Use widely by cell phones, blackberry, etc. Sign in – can search groups Contact friends in Form group – import contacts – enter bio and picture – link to your website and blog MORE UPDATES RESULT IN MORE FOLLOWERS OFFER VALUABLE INFORMATION – ANSWER QUESTIONS

Twitter – a Public Relations Tool For small businesses without the resources Twitter presents a free and efficient alternative to promote goods and services directly to customers Recent data issued by market researcher Kelsey Group indicates that 9 percent of small businesses now wield Twitter accounts as public relations tools.

Twitter Advice Listen before speaking Don't be boring Offer useful content Update daily Give your customers a reason to follow Embrace Twitter applications Twitter Advanced Search, ChirpCity, Nearby Tweets and Tweepz.

Video – Using twitter to promote your business

Using Twitter for Your Business Sign up using Company name Search and Learn before posting Monitor tweets about your company Use tweetdeck.com Monitor competitors use Search.twitter.com Participate – answer questions

A Few Uses for Twitter A restaurant tweets their daily specials A ticket agency tweets about-to-expire tickets A realtor tweets new homes on the market A chamber of commerce tweets local events and promotions.

Major benefits using twitter with your business : Marketing – think of twitter as just another front in. When you release a blog post or a product or service you can announce it on twitter Knowledge network – if you follow other people on twitter in your field of expertise you have a huge resource Support – are you having a technical or other issue, let people know on twitter. You will get help. Soft sell – give information be helpful.

Using Twitter for Your Business Identify influential tweeters and establish relationships with them. Twinfluence.com Use sponsored tweets for very popular tweeters. Must be in sync with your brand. (new concept)

Create a user-friendly Twitter ID Your Twitter ID is part of your personal brand. Plain and simple. Your first choice for a Twitter ID should be your name

Search for people to follow Its completely normal in Twitter culture to follow people youve never met. Begin by looking for people with common interests, hobbies or professions.

A few tools to get you started: Twitter search – This is the only search function actually hosted by Twitter. Its extremely easy to use and offers comprehensive results. Twellow – An application similar to Twitter search except that you can search by categories (which makes results more targeted). TwitDir – I like TwitDir because it offers a search function and breaks Twitter users into categories like the top 100 people followed and top 100 updaters.A more recent addition worth checking out is the Twitter people directory, WeFollowTwitter search Twellow TwitDirWeFollow

Learn the lingo. Youll want to join the crowd DM = Direct = Use to reply and always include proceeding a Twitter ID in a reply RT = Retweet Tweet = Sending a message on Twitter Tw + any other word. A fun practice on Twitter is to develop a new twist on old words.

Add your Twitter ID to all of your signatures Pimp out your Twitter name (and not just on Twitter). As social networks like Twitter continue to go mainstream, youll want to be able to connect with new users. A few opportunities to pimp out your Twitter ID: Add under your name when you comment on a blog If you friend someone on another social network, add a personal message which includes your ID Include a follow me on Twitter signature on all of your accounts or for your social media signaturesocial media signature

Read the bio of those who follow you Know something about those who follow you. The information you get from a bio makes it easy to engage in dialogue. If someone lists knitting as a hobby, send them a link to a knitting blog you came across. It opens the door for dialogue and that is what your community is all about.

Learn the etiquette NEVER post personal information like your social security number Many people on Twitter will unfollow someone who sends multiple tweets in a row. Asking multiple questions to the same person or the same question asked to multiple people Remember this is a public forum. them privately if the tweet is senstive.

13 social network apps iPhone – Blackberry, etc.

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TWITTERTWITTER 4.5 Staten Island

Why Twitter Rocks Traffic Promote your content Fast help and feedback Find a new audience Inform people of your status Networking Marketing Its fast and mobile Provides inspiration Its viral Latest news. Its fun Its simple Make money

twInfluence is a simple tool for measuring the combined influence of twitterers and their followers, with a few social network statistics thrown in as bonus. Imagine Twitterer1, who has 10,000 followers - most of which are bots and inactives with no followers of their own. Now imagine Twitterer2, who only has 10 followers - but each of them has 5,000 followers. Who has the most real "influence?" Twitterer2, of course. Bot is a piece of software automatic and repetitive

Time Saving Methods TweetLater.com The free version of this service allows you to schedule (future-post) your Tweets on Twitter. This service also allows you to set up one custom (filtered) version of your Twitterfeed to post on your blog

Social Search allows Google searchers to link their Google Profile with the various profiles they have on social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Google launched it as a Google Labs project, but it's now going to be available to the wider Google user base. Google Social Search into beta into beta

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Google Social Search With Social Search, Google finds relevant public content from your friends and contacts and highlights it for you at the bottom of your search results. When I do a simple query for [new york], Google Social Search includes my friend's blog on the results page under the heading "Results from people in your social circle for New York." I can also filter my results to see only content from my social circle by clicking "Show options" on the results page and clicking "Social."

The art of retweeting taking a twitter message someone else has posted, and rebroadcasting that same message to your followers.

Use the hashtag # symbol. Prefix a word with a hash symbol: #hashtag in your Tweet Example #taxinformation Twitters doing a search for tax information Follow you and possibly retweet your post. Result – Thousand of new followers. Can be used to advertise events – seminars, etc. They link to your blog and get access to your web site.

Feeds your blog to twitter, facebook and more.

Twilert.com – Get alerts on twitter based on various criteria.

= Placing this before a persons Twitter name is an open conversation directed toward that person. Anybody can see this communication between you and the person You anybody on Twitter, even people who are not following your updates.

Symbols D = A private conversation between you and a person who is following your updates. There is a space between the d and the persons name and you dont need to use sign. You can only direct message people who are following you.

Symbols RT = Re-tweeting means, Sweet! I like this! Passing it along. Always give props to the original tweeter. # = This is the hash tag. It means that the tweet that you are sending out belongs to a particular topic or conversation but is not directed to anyone in particular. People interested in that topic will search that hash tag and find your update on the subject.

Go to Hashtags.org Enter subject – see result

Summary Connect with customers and really listen to what theyre saying - Have an eye-catching Twitter page, back it up with interesting comments, and retweet, retweet, retweet! - Keep an eye out for influencers and reach out to them - Search what people are saying about your company or yourself - Follow trending topics – your business might just show up as one The bottom line? Using Twitter effectively as a marketing tool means reading more than you are writing.