Twitter Resources

T w i t t e r

TOPICS ON THIS PAGE:
Getting Started on Twitter | Twitter Tools and Add-Ons
Twitter Theory - How to Use It for Business | Sources for More Twitter Help | Give Us Feedback / Contact Us

Before you actually get started, and as you go through some of the preliminary resources below, it is well to to use the time to plan ahead a little bit. In particular, be clarifying "why" you plan to use Twitter and "who" will you seek out on Twitter. Such questions may help you to decide, for example, whether it makes sense to have more than one Twitter account (presumably to seek out, or keep track of, different groups of people).

Getting Started on Twitter (For Beginners)

Getting Started: Before You Post (article)
One of a series of articles called Twitter 101 posted by the Twitter people. Very general introduction.

Twitter Tools (e-book to download)
Step-by-step directions on how to register for an account; Very basic few pages on using Twitter; Three page list of eBooks on using Twitter for marketing.

Three Training Videos with Mike Klingler
Very basic; goes v-e-r-y slowly for those that need it.

How to set up your account - a step by step guide.
An introduction - a step by step guide to using Twitter.
Leveraging the growing Twitter movement - Commentary on the value of Twitter as a networking tool

Build Your Personal Brand on Twitter (blog post on Mashable)
This article by Dan Schawbel is a must read. It's good to read this even before you set up your account. Then return to the article every month or so until you are on target. Oh, and here is a slightly different emphasis on "personal branding" that I believe is really important.

Re-Tweets (RT) - Learn how to do it and why to do it. By the way, re-tweeting is super-simplified with a control panel - see, Twitter Tools and Add-Ons, below.

How to Re-Tweet (blog post on Mashable)

Build Your Thought Capital (blog post on Mashable)

Hash Tag (#) Basics (blog post on Mashable)
Explains the origins and examples of usage. Mentions #followfriday, and how it can be used to follow a conversation or event.

How to Create a Custom Twitter Background (blog post on Mashable)
A custom background is one that you create and upload, as an alternative to the several sample backgrounds selectable in the Twitter settings. First, the article explains why it might be desirable to do this. Then it suggests different examples and resources for doing this.

Twitter Tools and Add-Ons (After You Have Gotten Started)

Control Panels (AKA, Desk Top Clients) - It's hard for me to imagine using Twitter without a control panel. They are free. It's hard to recommend the best one, because the features keep changing and advancing all the time, on all the different control panels. Here's an example of how quickly things change: Twhirl was a popular control panel; it appears to have been purchased by Seesmic and is no longer supported (as of May 2009).

There are other control panels. But the two listed below are clearly leading the pack. Choose one and go with it. Right now, I'm using TweetDeck.

TweetDeck (site)
Investigate the features, and download the TweetDeck application/program from here. (Works on Mac or PC.) If you do choose TweetDeck, you might like these two helpful step-by-step training videos, created by Becky Joubert, to be helpful. They focus on "set-up" and basic orientation to features.

Seesmic (site)
Investigate the features, and download the Seesmic application/program from here. (Works on Mac or PC.)

Finding People to Follow - It boils down to using Twitter related search engines, twitter related people directories, and getting recommendations from programs that can study the characteristics of your current followers. You can read about ten of these different services here.

Below are the services I like and use:

Twitter's own search engine for finding people.
Might as well start with the basic one.

Tweepz.
Better search engine because the searches can be more specific.

Twellow.
Like the yellow pages for Twitter. But to be found, a person has to register. It's free.

WeFollow.
Not as comprehensive as Twello because each Twitterer is limited to three categories - another good reason to have more than one account. Again, to be found, a person has to register. It's free.

Working with Your Communities:

30+ Ways to Create Twitter Groups
Forming - or being part of - a group has many advantages. This link refers to the tools available to help you do that.

Twitter Theory - How to Use it for Business

The Truth About Twitter (blog post)
The article defines Twitter, focusing on the social role of Twitter as it has evolved.

Five Things You Can Do to Get Business on Twitter
A guest post on TwiTip from Chris Johnson. Good sound pointers. By the way - TwiTip is an ongoing blog focused on Twitter. You can certainly learn a lot more, right there.

How to Win Friends and Twinfluence People (blog article on Mashable)
Ten things you can do with example of each.

The Top 10 Reasons I Will Not Follow You in Return on Twitter (blog post on Mashable)
It helps to understand that many people do NOT automatically want to follow you. It helps to take notice of the reasons why you may not be followed.

Using Twitter as a Business Tool for Traditional Home Businesses (Not network marketing)

Comprehensive Twitter Social Marketing Theory Put to Practice Training Package.

It's a program developed by Kenneth Yu called Twitter Salvation - it's extremely useful, but it's not free, like the rest of the information from this page. By clicking here, you will have the opportunity to read about the modules that make up the training package along with endorsements of marketing leaders. We recommend this one Twitter training expenditure.

All the Rest

Mashable

TwiTip - Blog devoted entirely to posts about Twitter

100 Resources

99 Ways To Make Money Using Twitter This book was published at the end of June, 20009. It already has a surprisingly high number of recommendations. It looks excellent. I'll be checking this out more.

Comments, suggestions, or feedback
regarding the resources on this page are welcome.

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