Twitter as a Marketing Tool

Curiosity, you can’t fight it, so you may as well take advantage of
it. People are curious by nature! They like to see who is following
who, so often they will click on the links and check out the followers
of people they know and follow them as well and by following the
leaders, so to speak you may naturally end up will new followers
as well. Just try and keep your target market in mind when you
choose which power user to follow.

Now let’s talk about meeting even more people and making
hundreds of new friends by using retweets.

With this method, you take the original twitter message someone
else has posted, and rebroadcast that same message to your
followers. When broadcasting the message, you should definitely
give credit to the original poster. I know at first it may sound like
this will only be good for the original tweeter, but retweeting can
actually benefit you just as much if not more because:

1. It provides more value to your followers.

When you provide value to your followers, you make them happy!
You are also more likely to attract followers. Providing quality
content is always a great way to build your business no matter
what platform you use.

2. It will benefit your brand.

If you point a reader to a source if good information that is truly
relevant and beneficial to them, the amount of trust that they have
in you will increase.

3. It will help you build relationships with the original posters.

Retweeting someone else’s content is an act of kindness, and for
the most part bloggers like to return the favor. You shouldn’t expect
someone to retweet your content just because you retweet theirs.
Still, just keep in mind that your chance of being on the other end of a
retweet increases as you retweet.

Retweeting is all about providing value to your followers so if you
want others to retweet your post then you want to make sure that
you are providing them with quality content worth tweeting about.

The bottom line is retweeting is a great way to add quality and
value to your Twitter page. If done right, retweeting can help you
educate your followers, build your personal brand, increase future
traffic, and connect you to other great people in your niche.

Just be careful if you use it incorrectly, retweeting can actually hurt
your personal brand and future traffic. You want to treat your
followers like gold. Don’t ever send them to inappropriate
websites or spam them with one sales pitch after another.

Remember you want them to like what you have to say, so they will
follow your lead. Then when you do recommend something to
them you will get the results you are looking for every time!
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Twitter ToolsIn this lesson we are going to go over some tools that you can use
to make your Twitter page more interactive and successful.

Whether you want to generate more traffic to your site or you want
to increase your social relationships, Twitting is a fun and exciting
activity that you can quickly master and use to achieve your goals.

We already know that Twitter keeps people connected at all times.
Some people send tweets regularly (every day) and others only a
few times a week. Since you are planning on using Twitter to build
your business the latter is the best option for you.

That leads us to our first tool, Future Tweets. This works great if
you aren’t able to send important tweets because you have other
commitments. It only takes a few minutes to set up and you can
use to automatically post your prepared tweets.

It is very important that you don’t use this tool to auto spam your
account with worthless information and constant offers. That will
only lose you followers. Here is an example of proper ways to use
this tool would be to remind your followers of upcoming seminars
or meetings, maybe even let them know about products and offers
to help build a buzz.

You can find out more about Future Tweets here:

http://futuretweets.com

Sharing pictures and product images is also possible with Twitter
by using the tool Twitpic. When you make new contacts there may
come a time when you want to share some of your pictures with
them so that they can get to know you and your business better.

Once you’ve created your Twitpic account you can upload your
pictures and quickly post them on Twitter. Another great thing
about this tool is that it is also compatible with mobile devices
which make it easier to share pictures from your mobile device.

You can find out more about Twitpic here:

http://twitpic.com

If you are using WordPress for your blog (you have a blog we hope), there are quite a
few tools that you can use to automate your Twitter activities
from inside your dashboard including:

TweetThis plug-in – This will encourage your visitors to tweet your
blog post. TweetThis also adds a Twitter link in every blog post
you create plus gives you the ability to shorten your blog post URL
to fit the 140-character limit.

TweetMeme button – Helps other people to easily retweet your
post on Twitter and it also shows a count of how many times your
blog post has been retweeted.

Twitter Tools – This plug-in integrates your blog with Twitter
by pulling all your tweets into the side bar of your blog. You can
also use it to post new tweets from inside your WordPress blog.

You can find these and a whole slew of other tools specifically for
Wordpress by doing a search for ” Twitter WordPress plug-in”

Now let’s talk about Twollo. It is another Twitter tool that you
can use to find people you want to follow. Just type in the subject
or topic that interests you and the tool will find people who are
talking about the same thing and automatically follows them for
you.

And the list goes on. I could literally list hundreds of tools that work
with Twitter for you, but then we would be stuck on this lesson for
days, so instead I am going to suggest that you do a little home
work after you are done reading this lesson.

All you have to do is open up your favorite search engine and do a
search for “Twitter tools, plug ins and add-ons” you will find more
that enough to meet your needs. You can narrow your search even
more if you are looking for something more specific.

For instance I did a search for “Twitter tools business” while I was
writing this lesson and came across some that I didn’t know
about.

Before we close this lesson I do want to tell you about one more
tool that you can use to find out who you are following that isn’t
following you back.

It’s Tweepler and all you have to do is type in your Twitter
username and password and it will give you detailed list of who is
following you and who you are following. It also has a very nice
point and click interface, so that you can quickly sort through your
peeps.

It does take it a few minutes to populate the list but it is well worth
the wait. You can find it here: http://tweepler.com

So, go do your homework and find some Twitter Tools that will
work in your niche and start using them to make new contacts,
automate your posts and promote your site even better with
Twitter!

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3 – Getting New Customers with Twitter

Let’s jump right in and talk about how you can use Twitter to
conduct your market research. Every business has a target
market, but the simple fact is that many business owners often
miss the mark because they don’t know the true needs of their
market.

By using Twitter, you can easily listen to the needs of your
prospects, the issues they are currently facing and the kind of
help that they want.

Whenever you meet someone new on Twitter it’s a good idea to
try to establish a good relationship from the start. Think like your
customer. You buy from people who you trust and like. Your target
market also behaves the same way. It is important, especially in
social marketing that you get to know your clients and do your best
to win their trust and confidence.

A good rule of thumb is to try and keep 90% of your
tweets full of helpful content and try to limit your promotional ones.
By doing so, you can attract more followers and hopefully
customers.

Offering educational materials, seminars, video training and
networking events will also go a long way when you are trying to
convert your followers into paying customers.

As a matter of fast I recently came across a great website that
allows you to stream live video on your Twitter page and chat real
time with your followers, so if you’re not camera shy, plug in your
webcam! This will be a fantastic way to make an instant
connection for you and your peeps.

You can find out more here:

http://twitcam.com

There are so many different techniques that you can use to help
the transition from follower to customer by using Twitter. Just
remember to keep the value of your content high and the volume of
your promotions low and you will begin to see real results from
your efforts.

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4- Getting Traffic to Your Website

I hope you are learning a lot from the Twitter For IM Professionals
Crash Course. Today we are going to talk about how you can
maximize your Twitter traffic.

As an Internet marketer one of your main promotional goals should
be to dominate social networks and what better way to access the
global market than through Twitter. Simply by attracting followers
and making friends you can quickly build a list of valuable leads.

Did you know that Twitter is considered to be one of the most
effective and impressive ways to increase traffic?

Most people use Twitter simply to send tweets to one another
and keep in contact with friends and family, but as an Internet
marketer you can use it to drive traffic a serious amount of to your
business sites.

Just imagine, with the increased traffic to your website, you can
gain more subscribers, leads and convert them into paying
customers which all leads to increased income.

As we talked about in lesson one, you need to spread the news
that you’re on Twitter. You will want to include your Twitter url in
your email messages, post blogs and on your websites. That way,
everyone will know that you’re using Twitter.

Believe it or not regularly updating your tweets will help you drive
more traffic to your site. Avid Twitter users like people who post
tweets regularly. If you want to gain active followers through your
tweets you will want to set up a schedule for posting and do your
best to stick to it.

You will also want to make sure that you reply to the tweets
addressed to you. I don’t recommend that you stay on the site all
day or spend long hours tweeting away your time. Just pick a
good time once or twice a day and login.

If you have a mobile device, all the better because you can sync it
up with your Twitter account and you won’t have to worry about
being away from your computer.

Don’t worry if your followers don’t become active right away. It may
take some time, but they will begin to notice the times that you are
more active and after a while they will join in your conversations,
which is one of your main goals.

Just remember the basic rule we talked about in lesson three
“keep ninety percent of your tweets full of helpful content and
limit your promotional ones” this way you will keep the followers
that really matter.

While some personal tweets are a must if you want to help your
followers get to know you, you will want to avoid sending out to
many personal or unrelated tweets because it can actually cause
you to lose followers.

After all there aren’t too many of your business contacts that will
want to hear that you took a shower or what you had for breakfast,
so keep your tweets focused!

By taking the time to build good relationships with your followers,
you will be laying the ground work for converting them into lifetime
customer for your products or business.

Establishing a good relationship with your followers is vital if you
want to take advantage of the massive flow of traffic that pours
through Twitter every day.

Here is a little checklist that you can keep handy:

- Let everyone know that you’re on Twitter.
- Send tweets regularly.
- Retweet good content.
- Reply to the tweets addressed to you.
- Pay attention to the kind of tweets youíre sending.
- Make the tweets personal, but not too personal.
- Most of all, build good relationships.

Using Twitter is fun and easy that is why is has such a big draw.
I’ll be honest, not everyone who uses Twitter as a marketing tool
will be successful because it takes time, effort, and patience to
see effective results. But if you follow these steps regularly you
should see an increase of activity and conversion.

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5- Common Twitter Mistakes

By now you should have a basic plan and schedule for your Twitter
marketing campaign. Have you tacked your checklist from our last
lesson somewhere close to your computer yet?

In this last lesson we are going to talk about some of the common
mistakes that Twitter users make, so you can avoid making them.

Over the last few days we’ve talked about what an exciting, cool,
and extremely profitable social network site Twitter is. The fact is
millions of people are using it to connect with each other all over
the world, but as an Internet marketer there are some common
mistakes that you will want to avoid making even before you start
sending tweets.

Mistake number one:

The picture as your avatar in your profile is not yours.

I’m sure you’ve seen it. Some users don’t post their real picture.
They use cartoon pictures, company logos, or their pet’s pictures.
Although the pictures are quite cute and may grab some attention,
most Twitter users will appreciate seeing a real picture of you,
especially if you are trying to connect on a business level.

When you post your own picture it lets others know that you are
real and that you’re confident enough with what you do to let others
see you. You want people to recognize you as a leader in your
market and having a face to go with a name always helps.

Depending on your niche you will want to choose a photo that
represents business, For instance if you are have a children’s
online book store you will want to choose a picture that shows your
fun side. On the other have if you are selling product to
professionals you will want a photo that looks conservative and
business like. A nice smile never hurts either.

Mistake number two:

Automatically sending the wrong type direct message through an
AutoDM.

In lesson two we talk about using the tool Future Tweets that
automatically sends messages to people who follow you. What we
didn’t talk about was sending the wrong type of message with this
tool and how it can lose you followers.

Direct messages can be seen as impersonal and pushy when
they aren’t written properly. If you decide to use a tool that
automatically send messages to your new followers keep it simple
and friendly. A message saying “thanks for following me” is fine,
but sending automated messages promoting your business or
product is not a good idea and most instances people will click
the unfollow button right away.

Mistake number three:

Trying to build a huge following before you have done some
tweeting.

People will not be interested in following you when they click on
your Twitter page to see what you’ve got, and notice you don’t
have much. You need to have tweeted more than, “Trying to figure
this Twitter out” and “I think I’ve got it figured out now.”

If you don’t know what to say, try “retweeting” (RT) some other
peoples’ tweets that that are related to your niche. Read what
other people are tweeting about and reply to them, this will help
start up a conversation. Talk about market related news, what
you’re doing on your business right now. That will give you several
tweets to get the ball rolling.

Mistake number four:

Tweeting promotion after promotion.

Yes, you are using Twitter to promote your business, but posting
one offer after another will only cause people to unfollow you.
When people look at your timeline and notice that you aren’t
posting anything of value to them they will quickly move on.

There are millions of Twitters to follow, why should they follow you
when you’re only tweeting about promotions? Remember this
basic rule of sales “people want to know what’s in it for me”?
Twitter is a social network and you have to keep that in mind
before you post a tweet.

When you are using Twitter for your IM business you must learn
how to communicate and build good relationships with your
followers before you start sending them with promotions.

Even if you already have a good list of leads, it is still not a good
idea to barrage them with promotions. As we have talked about
before, promotional tweets should be sent only in limited numbers.

These are just a few of the more common mistakes committed by
new and old tweeters alike. Take note of them and don’t make the
same mistakes.

Before we close this final lesson I want to share a couple of more
things with you that we didn’t have a chance to go over in the last
few lessons.

The first thing is using the Twitter search feature. It is a very
effective tool that allows you to check on yourself and your
business. You will be surprised to find out how much chatter
takes place on Twitter.

By using the search tool you can quickly find out what others are
saying about you and your business and learn from them. If you
find out any criticisms, think about them carefully. You can also
make some adjustments to your business if there is a need to so
that you ensure profitability.

The next thing is your Twitter background. The background on
Twitter page tells a lot about your personality. If you plan to use
Twitter for Internet marketing you will want to make the background
look more professional. You can do this by using the basic
customization tools that Twitter supplies to make some simple
changes to the color scheme of your page.

For even more impact you may want to consider a custom
designed background. There are many editing programs that you
can use to create your own graphics if you want to and if you do a
quick search you will also find a variety of pre-made Twitter
background available. If you really want to go all out you can hire a
designer to create one for you.

Capitalizing on Twitter’s popularity can be very rewarding and
profitable for your business, but only if you know what you’re
doing. While I tried to cover the basics during this short course
there is always more to learn and you will want to continue
education as you go along and as Twitter changes and grow I’m
sure more great thing will come.

Just remember the basic rules, keep your checklist handy and you
will be sure to see results from your efforts.