How to Use Twitter to Grow Your Business

Surely you have heard of Twitter but it's possible to not really know what to do with this social media giant. Twitter is a powerful networking tool that can help spread the word about your business. It's basically a micro-blogging tool that you can use to post status updates but you're limited to 140 characters. It's actually very similar to text messaging.

You're probably wondering how you can use Twitter to grow your business, right? What are you supposed to say in 140 characters or less, known as "tweets", that will help you attract more customers? The good news is that it really isn't difficult at all. Here are a few tips that can help bring more business.

• Don't be "spammy". Everybody hates a spammer. To be sure you don't appear to be a spammer to others, be sure that you aren't overly promoting your business. Posting often will only damage your marketing efforts if you're pushing the envelope a bit too much. It's okay to post several times per day but be helpful and interact with your Twitter followers.
• Follow other local businesses. "Following" other businesses or people on Twitter means that you will receive their updates in your Twitter feed. This is a great way to network and it's also free and easy. If you're a landscaping company it'd be a good idea to follow local businesses that may be looking for the services that you offer.
• Follow local and national news organizations. Staying on top of current events makes it easy to interact with others because you'll have plenty of conversation-starting material to work with. Try to post what you think about breaking news updates - especially if it's related to your field.
• Provide useful and interesting information. When you post updates on your Twitter feed, be sure that it's something others will find either interesting or useful. The more helpful you are the more people will appreciate your tweets.
• Be personable with your followers. Going out of your way to be friendly and having a pleasant manner about you will make others more comfortable. It'll make you and your business more likeable as well. Don't be afraid to talk about how much traffic stunk on a particular day or how your dog won't stop chasing its tail. People enjoy reading about those types of things and it's better than just talking business all the time. It's actually very refreshing and it may attract customers to you without you even having to be overly promotional about it.

As you can see, Twitter is a very popular social media tool that you should have in your networking and marketing arsenal. The fact that you're able to follow people and have others follow you makes it simple for networking purposes and getting to know people all around the world. Twitter is also a great tool that you can use to locate and follow businesses that are in your area. The more you network the better and Twitter makes it easy.