The document discusses the significance of Twitter as a microblogging platform for businesses and individuals, highlighting its user statistics and the concept of 'ambient intimacy.' It provides practical tips for using Twitter effectively, such as engaging with followers, sharing valuable content, and maintaining a professional presence. Additionally, the document explores various business applications of Twitter, including branding, networking, and customer engagement.

1. Twitter for BusinessPaul GillinAuthor, The New InfluencersSecrets of Social Media Marketinggillin.com

2. Twitter is aMicroblog ServiceIt is the simplest form of blog. But in simplicity there is often great power.“ A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically much smaller, in both actual size and aggregate file size…microbloggers post about topics ranging from the simple, such as ‘what I'm doing right now,’ to the thematic, such as ‘sports cars.’”--Wikipedia

3. A Few Microblogging ServicesAnd, of course…

4. Did You Know That… 600 new tweets are created every second? (Twitter)

5. 10% of Twitter users account for 90% of all activity? (Harvard Business School)

6. The more followers you have, the more you tweet? (Sysomos)

7. Brazilians are the second largest population of Twitter users? (Sysomos)

8. 15% of all US adults will use a microblog service this year? (eMarketer)

9. Ashton Kutcher, Britney Spears and Ellen DeGeneres each have more followers than President Obama? (Twitterholic.com)Using Twitter is Like Fishing a StreamIt’s a constant flow of information that yields continual discovery

10. Many Uses for Twitter

11. Publish Everywhere44 million members32 million members300 million members1 billion daily views1 million daily visitors6 million daily visitors1.5 million daily visitors10 million members50 million members

12. International FlavorSource: Twitter, Compete.com

13. What’s the big deal about 140?Here’s what 140 characters looks like:“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposi”Or Tweetshrunk to:“4 score & 7 years ago R fthrs brought forth on ths continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, & dedicated 2 the prop that all men R crea”

14. The Appeal of “Ambient Intimacy”“Facebook users didn't think they wanted constant, up-to-the-minute updates on what other people are doing. Yet when they experienced this sort of omnipresent knowledge, they found it intriguing and addictive.“Each individual bit of social information — is insignificant on its own, even supremely mundane. But taken together, over time, the little snippets coalesce into a surprisingly sophisticated portrait of your friends' and family members' lives, like thousands of dots making a pointillist painting.”--Clive Thompson, The New York Times, 9/8/09

15. Uses For Twitter in BusinessBranding

16. Hiring

17. Traffic building

18. Professional networking

19. Publicity

20. News

21. Prospecting

22. Feedback

23. Peer relations

24. Competitive tracking

25. Search engine optimization

26. Mobile visibility$Source: Sirona Consulting

27. Getting StartedSign upCreate personal and business accounts; keep names short!

28. If tweeting for business, choose username linked to business (i.e. “@MeganCIO”Fill out that profile160 characters; choose ‘em wisely!

29. Use keywords

30. Link to an “About” page on your site

31. Include photo or logo, depending on intended useChange the default backgroundChoose images and themes consistent with the intended persona

32. Pay attention to business marketing guidelinesChoose a background

33. Step TwoChoose a ReaderTwitter.com just doesn’t cut it for active users

34. Seesmic (top) and Tweetdeck are popular choices

35. Choose a mobile client

36. Readers support filtering, lists, profiles, follow/unfollow, multimedia, cross-posting to other social networks, tweetshrink, URL shorteningFollow peopleStart with a small list and grow

37. Follow your friends, then find people through search.twitter.com, Listorious the people others followListen For a WhileTweetdeckSeesmicTweetieTwitterific(iPhone)Pandora(Android)

38. Monitor Conversations

39. It's Your Turn to TalkSay Something InterestingCite good articles on the Web

40. Comment on others’ tweets

41. Talk about others, not yourselfThe Golden Ratio is 9:1For every one tweet promoting yourself, send nine promoting others

42. Be courteous, even if you disagree

43. Take time to look up user IDs of others you quote@ShellyKramer: It's An Exciting Time to Be A Creative Type | http://bit.ly/c1FzxoDo not have your username "admin" when using a wordpress blog #wcmiaNew Mashable app is massive improvement from previous incantation and soo glad they dumped that 'graphic' or whatever it wasFacebook Problems Today: Photo Uploads Broken and Other Issues http://bit.ly/cuRs2n4 Reasons Why Nobody Reads Your Blog http://ow.ly/19kDd #BloggingTips by @binterestRomania seeks to tax fatty fast food http://is.gd/8JS5a16 unusual facts about the human body http://u.nu/3fpw5

44. Consider Your PersonaHelpful?Funny?Offbeat?Sympathetic?Snarky?Unpredictable?Try following some popular people , then choose a style that makes sense for you

45. Check out this interesting article! http://bit.ly/bvnPDVNew entry on my blog: http://bit.ly/bvnPDV@JasonFalls do you like @Backupify? I've heard of it but never from someone I trust who uses it.It’s snowing in Austin and raining in New York. Something’s wrong!We just launched a new product! http://bit.ly/bvnPDVInfo tweet RetweetHelp tweetSix Types of TweetsRT @copyblogger Revised AP style guide http://bit.ly/bvnPDVPostman tweetSmiley tweetSource: Sirona ConsultingYoutweet

46. Don’t…Flame or use abusive languageRepeat personal or confidential informationTalk about your gambling, drinking or other after-hours exploitsComplain about clients or colleaguesRepeatedly send the same tweetTwitter is public and searchable. People are listening!

47. Terms to knowTweet: A single Twitter message of 140 characters or lessProfile: Your Twitter persona, including contact info and 160-character profileFollower: Unilateral relationship in which a person chooses to receive all your tweetsTweetstream: The flow of tweets from people you followPublic Timeline: The globally visible Twitter stream@Reply: Public response to a single user that is directed to a special inbox for that user. Also appears on tweetstreams of that person’s followersRetweet: Twitter message forwarded to another member’s followers

48. Terms to knowDirect Message (DM): Private Tweet; the equivalent of an e-mail or text messageBlock: Prevents someone from following youTweeple: People who tweetTweetup: Meeting organized via Twitter; the event itself is usually heavily tweetedList: 2009 enhancement that enables members to group and share lists other tweeple by categoryFavorite: Saved tweetConnections: Applications permitted to access your accountGeotag: Optional geographic annotation that tells people where you are

49. URL Shorteners – There are About 100 of ThemStatistics about URLs you shareEmbeds ads in tweetsCreate custom URLs like bit.ly/IDGSeminarLook For:Bookmarklets/browser integration

50. Analytics

51. Geotargeting

52. Custom URLs

53. Compatibility with your readerFrom This:http://maps.google.com/maps?q=one+speen+street,+framingham,+ma&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=1+Speen+St,+Framingham,+Middlesex,+Massachusetts+01701&gl=us&ei=-hOES45dh-GUB4G1_I4C&ved=0CAcQ8gEwAA&z=16Claims world’s shortest URLsTo This:http://3.ly/lyx

54. Tips from the ExpertsBe useful. Be helpful. Be an authority

55. Demonstrate you know your market

56. Promote your work thoughtfully

57. Share links and knowledge

58. Use LinkedIn contacts or business cards to look up and follow people in your field

59. Alternate between something relevant to your business and something irrelevant. Comments on the tax season can alternate with notes about my passion fruits coming into season.

60. Add “Follow Me on Twitter” to your emails, web site, and other communications

61. Focus on one or two of your followers a day. Spotlight something about them in a tweet. They’ll notice.Excerpted from “137 Twitter Tips: How Small Businesses Get The Most From Twitter” by Small Business Trends (@smallbiztrends)

62. Tips from the ExpertsTwellow.com helps you find people in your industry or your region. It’s like yellow pages for Twitter.

63. Don’t follow too many more people than follow you, or you risk looking like a spammer.

64. Find other companies that are similar to yours and follow them. Their customers will start following you.

65. The smart way to market on Twitter: Don’t. Instead, provide value to others.

66. Always be positive. The quickest way to get me to stop listening to you is to constantly complain.

67. When the people you are following put out a tweet for help, answer back. Don’t let the it die in cyberspace.

68. If you ask for a RT (retweet) leave at least 15 characters so people RT’ingyour message don’t have to shorten it.Excerpted from “137 Twitter Tips: How Small Businesses Get The Most From Twitter” by Small Business Trends (@smallbiztrends)

69. Advanced ToolsDirect Message – Essentially a short, private e-mail (Both parties must be following each other).Hash tag – Text string that categorizes a tweet’s relevance to a theme. Examples: #fail, #tigerwoods, #obama, #macworld. Useful in organizing and trendingAuto reply – Controversial practice of sending automated responses to new followers

70. Use Hash Tags To…Find people with similar interestsCreate conversations around a brand or eventCreate structured online eventsMonitor topics of interest Discover new sources and informationQuick assess sentiment

71. Twitter CultureTrends: Popular topics of the moment, often displayed as tag cloudsSelling: Just don’tMemes: Thematic conversations, often tied to days of the week. Ex: #FollowFriday, #Music Monday, #SinnerSundayResponses: It’s considered a snub to fail to respond to a request sent as an @ messageTexting Slang: Avoid all but the essential. “IMO” is OK; “LMFAO” isn’t

72. Building Followers: The Quality/Quantity Tradeoff

73. A Tiny Sampling of Follower ServicesTwtrFrnd - Find out who two members follow in common, plus who member 1 is following who also follows member 2TweetSum - Follow or ignore your recent followers with a simple drag and drop interfaceTwtUpon - Find people based up on interests and feedbackTopify- One-click follow-back; Answer direct messages from your inboxTwitSeeker - Find & follow tweeps based on keywordsJoule- Charts, graphs, and RSS feeds of your follower changes.TheTwitterBot - AutoFollow massive number of new peopleTweepi - Value of metrics to help find people to follow and unfollowTwitroduce - Track activity around your tweets. One-click of other usersstalking (and who is stalking them).iHazFollow - Check to see who is following who, and if the relationship is reciprocated.Source: Twitter Fan Wiki

74. Word to the WiseTwitter has a very open architectureThis is both blessing and curseA lot of Twitter apps don’t work or deliver questionable results404 – Caveat EmptorJust don’t expect too much

75. Engage Popular People1.7 million followers1.1 million followers1.2 million followers473,000 followers980,000 followers

76. Building your follower baseFollow people you admire

77. Comment upon and retweet their messages

78. Include their Twitter name

79. If they follow you, thank them

80. Ask for advice, input

81. It’s occasionally OK to ask for a RT

82. They know they’re important; don’t abuse the relationshipChecking out "Facebook and Health Ads" on @WEGOHealth : http://ning.it/93dQ6zTweeps: I'm in front of a college journalism class. What shld these students know abt social media.RT @tshuttleworth: This is the golden age of engagement for book publishers. - Arianna Huffington #toccon

83. Building your follower baseAttend and organize events

84. Tweet from events you attend

85. Create Twitter-only events

86. Add your Twitter ID to all communications

87. Participate in topical Twitter chats

88. Think outside the box: What can you try with Twitter?#brandchat(Weds. @ 10) #smallbizchat (Weds. @ 7)#solorpr(Weds. @ noon)#journchat (Mon. @ 7)#blogchat (Sun. @ 8)

89. Auto-followFollowRobotic process in which a person automatically follows back any new followersFollowProsQuick way for both parties to build follower count

90. Easily automated

91. Can introduce both parties to wide variety of other perspectivesConsAccumulates undesirable followers

92. Tweetstream quickly becomes unwieldy

93. Looks like a numbers gameTwitter BuzzDana Lewis (@danamlewis) and co-creator Arik Hanson created the Twitter hashtag #hcsm in early 2009 to stimulate a discussion of healthcare issues. It has become the most cited healthcare community on Twitter, drawing more than 2,000 followers for the moderator account, 50 to100 regular participants during each weekly scheduled chat and contributions from more than 200 people throughout the week. AdWeek used Twitter, video and near-real-time reporting to bring an eager US audience the latest news from the annual Cannes advertising festival. The coverage spiked the b-to-b magazine’s website traffic and provided comprehensive coverage of an event that’s crucial to its audience

94. Offbeat and OriginalPaul Armstrong has built a following of more than 22,000 people for his Twitter persona @themediaisdying. Last summer he was hired as head of social media for one of Europe’s largest public sector consultancies.A team of 16 publishing professionals collaborate on the satirical tweet stream @fakeapstylebook. They’ve amassed more than 100,000 followers in less than four months with just 850 tweets. A book is in the works.Justin Halpern began recording his father’s off-color and often hilarious homespun wisdom on @Sh*tMyDadSays. Six months and 103 tweets later, he’s got 1.2 million followers and a TV pilot.

95. The Twitter Fan Page Wiki lists more than 700 applications. Everyone’s tastes are different. Some of my favorites: Continuous keyword/ hashtag monitoringBig directory of businesses on TwitterMeasures power, reach and authority of a Twitter accountSchedule tweets for later deliveryTweetStats analyzes your own Twitter activityWho’s tweeting in your areaCustomer Twitter dashboard

96. Business Uses of Twitter

97. Informa-tionalPromo-tionalInforma-tionalInforma-tionalInforma-tionalAuto-maticInforma-tionalPersonalInforma-tionalCategoryCategoryCategoryAction ActionActionTwitter in BusinessBroadcastListenEngageConver-sationPrimary Flow of InformationPrimary Flow of InformationTrend research based on analysis of Twitter data

98. Ask questions, conduct market research

99. Collect ideas, innovations and feedback from social network

100. Customer service and retention

101. Humanize brand, increase staff retention, build team spirit

102. Expert exchange

103. Publish recent news

104. Advertise events, activities, products and promotions

105. Automatically broadcast of events related to businessSource: Richard Caelius (@rcaelius)

106. Dell on Twitter33 Twitter accounts

107. Special offers and promotions (by segment and geography), special interest engagement groups and information channel

108. Top 10 accounts have more than 98% of the followers, top account (DellOutlet) has more than 90%. Median is 618 followers15% off any Dell Outlet Insp 11z, 15-1545 or 17-1750 laptop with coupon*! Enter code at checkout: ?PZMKKWHQG7DMM. http://cot.ag/7mwkWd.Alltags-Problem-WettbewerbAnalysis & FrameworksFlow of InformationType of CommsPersonalBroad-castInfor-ma-tionalAuto-maticEn-gageListenPromotionalPrincipal ValueAdditional channel for promotions

109. Free permission marketingSource: Richard Caelius (@rcaelius)

110. Spending time connecting with candidates on Sodexo Careers Facebook page this AM - http://www.facebook.com/SodexoCareersSodexo RecruitersMost of the company‘s 60 recruiters user Twitter and other social media to meet hiring demand.

111. Focus is on building relationships and enthusiasm among prospective employees

112. Traffic to careers site up 182% in last two years, job applications up 25%. Recruitment ad costs down $300KSpending time connecting with candidates on Sodexo Careers Facebook page this AM - http://www.facebook.com/SodexoCareersPrincipal ValuePersonal relationships with recruiters improve applicant quality

113. Image of Sodexo as progressive company appeals to young workers

114. Recruitment costs substantially reducedQuote“The human touch is essential. People know there’s somebody behind the message and the photo.”-Kerry Noone, Manager, Marketing Communications

115. Albions OvenAlbionsOven (Der Bäcker Ofen)Keep customers informed/engaged about current status of product/service

116. In this business, timing matters

117. Twitter is low-cost real-time promotional channel

118. Goals: Increase demand and customer loyaltyContrary to popular belief, our golden gallic Croissants are perfect anytime, not just breakfast. http://bakertweet.com/m/714 Analysis & FrameworksFlow of InformationType of CommsPersonalBroad-castInfor-ma-tionalAuto-maticEn-gageListenPromotionalBest PracticeGood use of realtime/neartime Twitter features

119. Messages are informative, witty and original Source: Richard Caelius (@rcaelius)

120. Twitter in the EnterpriseStill a very early-stage market

121. Tools mainly manage multiple accounts and monitor conversations

122. Next generation will automate posting across multiple channels, summarize feedback and follow up on actions

123. This will be a hotbed of activity during the next two years as corporations learn that Twitter is the killer social media applicationUseful Links50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business – Chris Brogan100 Twitter Tools to Help You Achieve All Your Goals - Online Best Colleges.comTwitter tools for teams – BtoB magazineTwitter Fan WikiA Twitter Mini-Guide: 60+ Useful Twitter Resources – E-Marketing PerformanceA Twitter Basics Primer – BuzzBin62 Ways to Use Twitter for Business – WebWorker DailyThe Ultimate Guide for Everything Twitter – WebDesigner Depot101 Tweets on How to Use Twitter – SEO BlogThe 10 Twitter Commandments – Econsultancy137 Small Business Twitter Tips – Small Business Trends

124. Thank you!Paul Gillin508-656-0734paul@gillin.comwww.gillin.comTwitter: pgillinSubscribe to my free weekly newsletter at gillin.comAvailable on Amazon or at NewInfluencers.com Available on Amazon or at SSMMbook.comComing late 2010: Social Marketing to the Business CustomerBy Paul Gillin & Eric Schwartzman