The StartUp Blog at PartnerUp

This is a guest post by Zeke Camusio, founder of The Outsourcing Company.

Twitter was a start-up project in 2006, but has since become a major communication phenomenon.  Many would describe it as a global chat network, but it is more than that. Corporations like Apple and Intel have Twitter accounts to engage those interested in them and their products. This is beyond a simple messaging tool; it’s a tool used to network and market.

For Twitter users, the idea is to interact with people interested in what you have to say or what you’re doing. These would be your followers. They use Twitter to track you. Twitter works as a micro-blogging platform that allows the user to post 140 characters each time. Therefore, any information you put out there has to be short and sweet.

In order to get the most from Twitter, you must build a base of followers to allow maximum exposure of your ideas and concepts.  Here’s a step-by-step guide to get there:

Step 1: Setting Up Your Initial Contact Base

Once you get your Twitter account, take advantage of the importing contacts option. You can import from Gmail, Hotmail or your address book. This is a good group of contacts to start with.

Step 2: Using Email, Blogs, Web sites and Other Tools to Continue Building

The key is to build presence. Set up a “Follow Me on Twitter” link in your email signature or on your Web site. Consider including this on your business card or other business literature as well.

When you post on blogs, always invite people to follow you on Twitter. People who find your posts interesting will also know how to find you on Twitter.

Use Twitter directories to identify members who share your interests and would be likely to follow your tweets. Two favorites of mine are Just Tweet It and Twellow.

Step 3: Follow and Be Followed – Learning Twitter Etiquette

Twitter is not meant to be a mass-marketing tool but as a community-building tool—a virtual town square if you will. Therefore, make sure you behave accordingly.

• Do not promote yourself or your business. You are expected to contribute and be helpful by sharing interesting and valuable information. Don’t invite people to your e-commerce site right from Twitter. Use the contributive style by suggesting a blog with useful information where people might find an invitation to use your services.
• Be active. Don’t post or comment once a week. Try to spend time on it every day or every other day. It’s a community, so people expect to hear from you.
• Be mindful of messages sent to you and reply promptly. If you are tweeted, try to retweet.
• You want to be active and interested in your followers and those you follow; however, try not to overwhelm anyone with posts every ten minutes.
• NEVER spam!

Step 4: Watch Your Stats

It’s important that you are seen as a genuine member of the Twitter community. To accomplish this, you will need to watch several stats that tell others what you’re about.

• Make sure you keep a balance between those who follow you and those you follow. If not, you could end up looking either selfish or like a spammer. There’s a helpful tool called Friend or Follow that you can use to see who you’re following that isn’t following you and vice versa.
• Add friends at a slow pace. If you add hundreds of contacts in one day, it will be tough to manage them and get meaningful exchanges going. It’s better to grow slowly and consolidate a follower base.
• Follow those you really feel like following, people whose work or interests you share. Twitter RSS feeds can help you find people you may want to interact with by alerting you about the topics you wish to discuss.

Step 5: Do as the Big Boys Do

If you contribute interesting, useful, valuable comments or posts, you will make it worth people’s while to follow you. This is the cardinal rule of Tweeting. That’s not all you can do though. As in everything there are neophytes and veterans in Twitter. Find a good number of members, maybe 10 or 20, who have a vast follower base. Watch what they do, and try to emulate it.

The most important thing to remember about Twitter is that you won’t do it right unless you are genuinely interested in it. If you try to fake it, people will see right through you. A genuine Tweeter, however, with a good marketing head can hugely benefit from this great tool.

Zeke Camusio is a serial entrepreneur. His sixth endeavor, The Outsourcing Company, is an Internet marketing agency with offices in Aspen, Colo. and New York. Zeke writes an entrepreneurship and Internet marketing blog called Let’s Do It! Check it out at www.TheOutsourcingCompany.com/blog.