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Getting Started With Twitter
By Wesley Craig Green (c) 2009

There's a new web application on the block that has everyone
talking and it goes by the name of Twitter
(http://www.twitter.com). Twitter is fast becoming one of the
more popular methods for communicating online and has a large
number of loyal followers who stick with it despite the growing
pains and competitors. While this article won't cover everything
possible with Twitter, it will give you a good starting point on
how to start using it and how you can use it for your business.

What Is This Twitter You Speak Of?

So what is Twitter and how can it be of benefit to you or your
business? Twitter is a free online micro-blogging application
which gives you the ability to send out short messages (up to
140 characters) called "tweets" to people who are following you
on Twitter.

You can send tweets either through your computer or by using
your cell phone via a text message. These tweets/messages can be
about anything you want and they can include links, as well.

Making Twitter even more useful is the ability to send a direct
message to someone you are following (this is done by entering
@username at the beginning of your message) or replying to
someone's tweet with your own. You would be surprised how common
it is to reply to someone's message then to have someone who is
either following you or the person you sent the reply to reply
to your initial message and so on.

People can follow you and your tweets by first signing-up for
their own free Twitter account at the Twitter site then adding
you to their list of people they are following. Once you have
created your account, you can either check your Twitter page
(your own personal page which appears after you sign-in at the
Twitter home page) for any of your friends' new messages or you
can send out your own. But it is much easier, in my opinion, to
use one of the many online or desktop applications which give
you the ability to do all of this and more.

Twitter As A Communication Tool

Twitter is a quick and easy way to communicate with family,
friends, business associates, and also within a company setting.
Being an online service, Twitter is available to anyone with
online access. All you have to do is login to your account
through any number of third-party applications developed for
Twitter or through the Twitter site and you are ready to go.

Within a company setting, employees could have a Twitter
account created for them with the option to have their messages
protected. This means only people they (or you or the person in
charge of creating the Twitter accounts) approve will be able to
send and receive messages from them. The same thing could be
done using an instant message program but with Twitter, there
would be no software to install and it would be accessible from
anywhere with an online connection. Additionally, the person who
is in charge of the Twitter accounts will have the power to
control who is and who isn't part of this private Twitter
network.

Even though there are tons of online communication applications
available, Twitter can also be used as a way for people who are
collaborating on a project to stay in touch with one another
regardless of where they are. And depending on which third-party
application they are using to Twitter with, these conversations
can be saved for future reference. There are even some
third-party apps which you can use to send files up to 10MB to
anyone you are following as long as they are using the same
application, that is. Still, a handy feature to have and one
which may become a feature of Twitter if there's a big enough
demand for it.

Marketing With Twitter

Herein lies the great thing about Twitter from a business
perspective: the marketing potential it offers users. Sure, it
is great to send messages and chat using Twitter, but it can
also be a great marketing tool if used correctly. Have some
breaking news you want to get out quickly? Send it out as a
Tweet. Made an important update to your blog or web site? Let
people know about it instantly with a Tweet.

Want to promote your project, book, movie, whatever by giving
away a free download or preview? Send out a Tweet with a URL to
the free download. Only want to market something to certain
individuals you are following? Simply enter their username
preceded by the "@" and you are set.

Another simple marketing tool available with Twitter is the
ability to befriend people who are following someone you already
follow. While this practice could backfire on you if you begin
to add everyone you find following someone you are following, be
picky and just befriend those who either share similar tastes
that you do or work in the same field as you or already follow
many of the same people you do. Otherwise, you could come off as
a spammer which will be a hard image to shake.

Twitter Now And Beyond

Twitter represents a fundamental change in the way people
communicate online. There have always been instant messengers
and they have their place and purpose but they don't offer the
one thing which sets Twitter apart and that is the ability to
instantly communicate with either a couple of people or
potentially thousands without the need for proprietary software.
No need to download this piece of software in order to
communicate with this person or that organization.

Much like how blogging has become a staple of today's society,
Twitter and "twittering" is on the same path to becoming
ingrained in today's culture despite only being around for less
than two years. So simple in its execution, powerful in the
marketing opportunities it offers, and ease of use, Twitter will
be one of the top web technologies to gain worldwide prominence
in 2009.

If you like, you can follow me on Twitter by going to
http://twitter.com/GeekEntrepreneu and click on the Follow
button.
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Wesley Craig Green is The Geek Entrepreneur, an entrepreneur who
is a publisher, owner of an online classified ads network of
sites, two web sites focusing on independent and digital comics
and graphic novels. You can check out his personal blog, Geek
Entrepreneur (http://www.geekentrepreneur.net) which is dedicated
to entrepreneurship, blogging, inspiration, technology, and
small business.
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