Sheri Helvey

What is “Twitter” anyway?  Twitter is a place where you can share and discover what’s happening in your life at any given moment, anywhere in the world.   It is a short message service or SMS where people from around the world type in explanations for what they are doing at the moment. These statuses are known as “tweets” and have to be 140 characters or less.

People can post tweets about anything – you can carry on conversations, share information, quotes, jokes and recommendations quickly and easily.

Twitter also allows you the chance to read other people’s tweets by becoming a “follower” of friends, random people, or celebrities. You can also send messages to people and edit your profile page by adding a photo and a short biography.

Watch this fun video about Twitter . . .

Ok, so now you have a pretty good idea about what Twitter is, now you might be asking . . .

How can it help MY business?

With Social Networking growing exponentially and going mainstream so quickly, Twitter has become THE place to instantly find millions of people in every single niche imaginable.  It’s a powerful way to quickly and easily build a targeted following.  It’s also a simple tool to use to building relationships and brand yourself with easy communication and invites. 

The whole object of Twitter is to follow and be followed so people are very open to following you and many people in our niche use automated tools that will automatically follow you as you follow them.  This equals a fast, free way to build a targeted list.

You will want to find and follow influential people in your niche.  Why?  That’s usually where the biggest lists of targetd people are already hanging out.  Leaders have already done a lot of research and list building for you.  So following them leads you to more like-minded people to follow. 

Following influential people also puts you in their followers list and it makes it super easy for others to also follow you as they’re looking for like-mind people to follow.  As your follower list grows, you’ll happily learn how viral Twitter is.  You’ll start getting followers on autopilot as you start showing up and more and more people’s follower lists. 

One very important rule to keep in mind . . .

So many people use Twitter in the wrong way when marketing their business.  You will see the same people “pitching” and “selling” their business in every tweet.  This is a “social network” and many people do not want to be “pitched”.  So what should you do?  A good strategy to use is this formula:

• 70% Value with NO promotion (quotes, training tips, valuable and relevant blog post links, jokes, etc)
• 20% Tips with links to your own articles, blog posts, videos (tips, reviews, training info)
• 10% Invites to your webinars, and promo invites to affiliate products, lead capture page or business opportunity

You will want to spend some time in Twitter everyday so that you can brand yourself as you establish “Top of Mind Consciousness” with your followers . . . when they think of ‘Internet Marketing Valuable Information and Training’, they will think of YOU! 

Have FUN!!!!  Twitter can be addictive!