Twitter 101 Building a following on Twitter from scratch. How to build an audience and engage customers with your tweets. A guide to getting started.

1. How to Get Started on Twitter
Twitter is a great social networking site for people and brands to spread ideas quickly.
Twitter is also a great marketing tool for brands to promote products and services.
Twitter has a few hundred million users worldwide. Getting started with Twitter is
quick and easy. To get started using Twitter you need to do the following:
1 Click on the join link.
2 Provide your first and last name.
3 Provide a valid email address.

2. Once you join, you will need to choose a name for your account. I would recommend
using your name or your business name. You can also choose a name that relates to
what you do. I have two Twitter accounts @DanGalanteand @TrendSettingSM. The
former is my name and the latter is an abbreviation of my company name Trend
Setting Sales and Marketing.
Now that you have an account, you should fill in the bio section. Twitter gives you
160 characters to describe yourself. I would suggest using the space to briefly sell
who you are and what you do. Make sure to leave space to include a link to your
website or blog. Although Twitter provides a place for a web link, two links are better
than one.
The next step is to upload a photo of you. Make sure that the photo that you choose is
professional and clearly visible to members. Remember, this is your image that you
are sharing. Twitter provides users with an option of uploading a custom background.
To do this, click on the settings button and click design. Here you can upload a picture
from your computer or view different Twitter backgrounds.
Now you are ready to tweet. However before you start tweeting away, you need know
the following:
1 Tweets are limited to 140 characters. At first, this may seem annoying, but this is a
great exercise for your creativity.
2 Make sure you have something of value to say, nothing will turn people off faster
than nonsense.

3. 3 Make sure to share articles and content that you create in your Tweets by including
links. Doing this will help you gain followers. Twitter also allows you to share videos
and photos in tweets. This can be a great way to share experiences, ideas and to
promote a business or a brand.
4 Do not be afraid to make a mistake. Twitter provides a delete button with an icon
that is a trash can. This is great if you make a typographical error.
5 Make sure to change-up your message. No one likes the same message over and
over.
6 Leave 10 to 20 characters for your tweets to be retweeted.
Once you start tweeting, your goals are to:
1 Get other users to share your content.
2 Build a following
3 Follow other users who interest you.
The Retweet and The Mention
When a Twitter user shares a message from another user, this is called a Retweet.
Retweets are sought after because the more your content is shared, the higher your
influence is perceived.

4. Mentions are when a Twitter user references or quotes you in on of their tweets. Some
users may use this instead of simply retweeting because a mention shows up quicker
than a retweet does in a users timeline.
Retweets and mentions show up in the interactions and mentions section of the
Twitter account.
The Direct Message or DM
The Direct Message or DM as it is referred to, allows Twitter users to send messages
to other users. I waited to mention this feature until now because Twitter only allows
users to send messages to users who follow them. This is a great way to send a private
message to users on the site.
Sharing Tweets with More than Just Twitter Followers
In order for users to share tweets with more than a their followers, users need to use
hash-tags. Hash-tags are a number bracket next to a word. For example, #business is a
hash-tag. Hash-tags create an index of information on a specific topic. A hash-tag
reaches more people than a regular tweet or just getting a few retweets. Hash-tags are
a great way for users to earn new followers. Follow Friday (better known as #FF or
#FollowFriday on Twitter), is a way for Twitter users to promote other users they like.
Job searchers also use #hire #hireme or #hirefriday to try to get their resume in front
of potential employers.
Integrating Twitter with other Social Networks

5. Various third-party applications exist that allow users to share their Tweets on
LinkedIn, Facebook, a website and a blog. Users will need to click on the application
settings tab to do this. Twitter members will have to authorize these applications on
LinkedIn as Facebook as well. I have included a link to my website to show you how I
integrate twitter with my site. http://www.dangalante.com/. (You will need to log in to
see my tweets on LinkedIn and Facebook.) Integrating Twitter with other social
networks can give users a larger reach than using Twitter alone. Users will also get
more followers from Facebook and LinkedIn. This has worked for me.
Twitter has unveiled company branded pages to certain companies. This is similar to
what Google+ and Facebook are doing.
As you can see, Twitter is a great way for people and brands to share ideas quickly.
Brands can influence a large audience all around the world.
This is how people and brands can use Twitter.
Update: Since I wrote this article, LinkedIn has made some changes. LinkedIn no
longer allow users to integrate their Tweets in LinkedIn updates. However, users can
still share their LinkedIn updates on Twitter by clicking the Twitter icon.
Image by searchenginemarketing.com/