Twitter is a phenomenon that is taking hold in popular culture. Simply turn to the news, talk shows, presidential speeches, or even the comics and you'll likely hear about someone using Twitter to share his or her thoughts. Even with the rising popularity of Twitter, it still remains widely misunderstood. Why are all these people spending their valuable time using Twitter? What possible gain can there be from sharing what you had for breakfast? Yet experienced Tweeters (Twitter users) will tell you that there is a great deal to be gained from this surprisingly simple online networking tool.

What exactly is Twitter?

Twitter is an online "microblogging" tool that allows people to share their thoughts with one another, 140 characters at a time. The easiest way to think about Twitter is as a big cocktail party. People are engaged in a multitude of conversations about every subject imaginable. People share ideas, advice, resources, and much, much more. In the process, They develop friends and valuable relationships that can result in additional prospects for their businesses. The true value of Twitter comes from both the relationships built, and the content that is shared.

How do you get started with Twitter?

To get started with Twitter, simply navigate to http://www.twitter.com, and sign up for a free account. It's suggested that you skip connecting with friends during the sign-up process. You'll have an opportunity to do so later, once you've set up your bio.

Once you've set up your account, fill in your profile. Before you do anything else, upload your picture (avatar), as well as a link to additional information about you. I highly recommend that you fill out the parts about your business, website and your business blog. You'll also want to write a short bio about yourself. Others will be able to find you on Twitter, based on the keywords

you include in your bio, so keep that in mind as you plan the 160 characters allotted for your bio. Don't skip these simple steps. Many people decide whether or not to follow you based on whether or not you have a photo of a real person, a link, and a bio.

OK, so my profile is set up. Now what?

Once your profile is ready, then you can begin to follow people and interact with them. Twitter relationships are comprised of people you follow (Following), and the people who follow you (Followers). There are different schools of thought on whether or not you should follow back everyone who follows you, but as a general rule it's usually a good idea to follow back the people who follow you (unless they're spammers or bots, which you can generally determine by whether or not they've filled out their profile - see previous section.)

Twitter allows you to find the people on Twitter who are in your address book using the Find People function available on the Twitter web interface. You can also find people based on keywords within their bios using tools such as www.Twellow.com. You may also find interesting people using the Search function of Twitter. This can either be done by searching on topics of interest to you from http://search.twitter.com, or by using the search field on your home page within the Twitter web interface. The search on the home page is better for finding people. The search on http://search.twitter.com is better for keyword searches. When you search for a keyword, everyone who mentions that phrase appears in the search. Then you can search the bios of people that use that phrase to see if you'd like to follow their tweets.

Some excellent Twitter users that you may want to follow to learn how to use Twitter properly include:

http://twitter.com/chrisbrogan
http://twitter.com/unmarketing
http://twitter.com/liajen,
http://twitter.com/PRSarahEvans and of course,
myself http://twitter.com/pspsolutions. 

Each of these users share helpful resources about Twitter.

Now that I've got people to talk to, what do I tweet about?

When you begin to engage in the conversation on Twitter, think again about that big cocktail party. You wouldn't spend all your time at a party talking about yourself, would you? The same holds true on Twitter. It's about the conversation, not broadcasting. So look at what others are saying, and contribute to the conversation when you have something of value to add. Answer a question. Share a resource. Provide value.

Unlike a cocktail party, you can jump in on any conversation within Twitter in which you have something to addit's not rude. There is always someone who will benefit from the value of your experience. Share and gain the goodwill of others on Twitter.

You can also use Twitter to share content of your own, in order to drive traffic to your blog and website. Especially when you build followers within your targeted niche market who have an interest in what you have to say, Twitter can offer a great way to reach new people who may be interested in your products or services. However be sensitive to the fact that it's not considered polite to ONLY talk about yourself on Twitter. Share a link to your own material once or twice per day, and spend the rest of the time engaging in the conversation and providing value on a myriad of subjects.

What do all those crazy symbols mean?

As you begin to observe people talking to one another on Twitter, you may notice somesymbols that don't make sense. It can sometimes feel like the people on Twitter have their own language!

Here are the most commonly used symbols on Twitter.

@ - This symbol is used before a person's username. When you use this, the user will be able to see when you speak to or mention them.

# - Hashtags are used to track specific conversations. For example, a popular hashtag on Fridays is #FollowFriday. This is a day when people recommend people they particularly enjoy following to the people that follow them. By searching on the #FollowFriday hashtag, you can track everything that's said about that topic, even if you're not following every single person using the tag. Try both uppercase and Lowercase #followfriday and #FollowFriday - you will receive different results.

RT - to share someone else's tweet with your network. The proper way to "retweet" someone else's tweet is in the following format: RT @username text of original tweet (your thoughts about the tweet in parenthesis if applicable)

DM - Direct Message, a private message sent only to one specific user. Be careful not to overuse these, it can be very annoying.

This can get a little overwhelming, How do I keep track of all these people? Help! There are many tools that can be used to make the Twitter experience easier. One essential tool is TweetDeck. Once you've got 100 or more followers TweetDeck makes it much easier to organize the tweets you really want to see. To download TweetDeck, go to http://www.tweetdeck.com, and download this free tool. Then you can organize the people you're following into groups, set up specific keyword search columns, etc.

To automate or not to automate, that is the question

The true power of Twitter comes from the relationships you build, and every time you automate you interfere with these relationships. It is best to avoid programs that claim to get you followers, and instead find people organically who are interested in what you have to offer. That way, you can actually build relationships with your new followers.

It is also worth the extra effort to take a look at your followers before following back, to make sure they are real people who bring value to your network. If you truly want to build a relationship with a new follower, send them an @ message in the public stream. This will be the foundation of an actual relationship that can bring you real results.

Twitter is a powerful tool that can be used to build relationships that result in both profits and professional development. By taking the time to add value and get to know people on Twitter, you will gain tremendous benefits that establish you as a thought leader with a powerful network of friends who will help you grow your business.

©Bob Sachdev          twitter.com/pspsoultions           This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it