Twitter has become one of the newest social media tools to hit the Internet providing marketers, bloggers and Internet users a new means to communicate. Even though I had worked in marketing for many years, I have to admit–I was more than reluctant to explore yet one more shiny new Internet tool. Once I did, my head virtually exploded with the possibilities Twitter offers. From a simple question, “What are you doing?” Twitter connects you with friends, family, coworkers, colleagues and potential customers. In 140 characters or less, I am able to keep my “followers” (those who subscribe to my Twitter feed) updated on my life. For example, I may post that I am having a business lunch in regards to a new product release. I generally tweet about my life, what I am doing professionally, when I am traveling, links to articles that may interest my followers and join in the general Twitter discussion. If you have been hesitant to join in the Twitter phenomenon, here are some tips to get your started:

1. Go to Twitter.com and sign up for an account. If you are doing this for business, it is advisable to use your real name.
2. Create your profile page and post a photo of you. You will also want to write up a small bio. Do also link any other pertinent information such as personal and professional websites, blog, linked-in page and any recent write-ups. I do recommend creating a custom background for your page. The website twitterbackgrounds.com has a great selection of FREE designs to choose from. The more people get to know you as an individual, the more likely they are going to return to you or click through to see what you are working on.
3. The next big question is “Who do I follow?” You want to start with friends, family, coworkers, and colleagues [Ed- and @BelieversPress too!]. Then go to wefollow.com. WeFollow is a directory of Twitter subscribers. You want to follow tweeple who have similar interests. Twitter, after all, is a social media tool; finding people with similar interests will help facilitate meaningful conversation. [Ed: Check out the ECPA tag for people in the Christian publishing industry]
4. Next, I recommend visiting crazybob.org/twubble. “Twubble” is a service developed by Google software engineer Bob Lee. It recommends new Twitter friends to you based upon whom your friends follow. This is a great means of increasing your Twitter bubble (twubble). I have found many great Twitter feeds to subscribe to from this site. [Ed: Mr. Tweet is another popular service that recommends followers]
5. Do enter in the conversation. Do not bombard followers with constant posts about your product. Ensure that the content for which you are posting is relevant, interesting and noteworthy so that your subscribers look forward to your posts. It is incredibly tempting as a marketer to want to get the greatest visibility for my product, but posting spam too frequently will turn off my followers and they will no longer click through.
6. Encourage conversation. Twitter is not just a source for content. Try posting a thought provoking question, run a survey, or get honest feedback to an idea you have been kicking around. Ask questions that encourage your followers to engage with you.
7. Follow relevant Twitter feeds. If I find someone who consistently posts interesting content, I will comment and let them know. This introduces them to my existence and that builds traffic for my campaign as well.

Still need a little nudge to get started on Twitter? You may want to check out the June 2009 issue of Time Magazine that features an article titled, “How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live.”

Excerpt: Today the language of advertising is dominated by the notion of impressions: how many times an advertiser can get its brand in front of a potential customer’s eyeballs, whether on a billboard, a Web page or a NASCAR hood. But impressions are fleeting things, especially compared with the enduring relationships of followers. Successful businesses will have millions of Twitter followers (and will pay good money to attract them), and a whole new language of tweet-based customer interaction will evolve to keep those followers engaged: early access to new products or deals, live customer service, customer involvement in brainstorming for new products.

If you would like to follow me, you can find me at @kimberlybrock