Using Twitter to Create a Following

by Diane Eble

Just a couple of months ago, I had only heard of Twitter. Several people I knew were using it, and saying it was "great."

"Great" is such a generic word.

Then I took a class on "Blogging in a 2.0 World " with Cathy Perkins. (She will be teaching it again in a few weeks so stay tuned!) I learned about Twitter from Cathy and started "Tweeting."

What has happened since and how can you, too, benefit? (Read to the end for your free gift.)

1. I've gotten followers and begun following new people (as well as people whose lists I've been on for some time). Such fun to see who's following me and follow new friends! This is a great way for you to begin both connecting and gaining a following.

2. I've made new friends and contacts to follow up with. Setting up interviews with people that you will want to hear from. I'm excited! Look for interviews with people who will help you achieve your publishing goals!

3. I've learned, from the people I'm following, about cool resources (some of which I've passed on to you). You too can be exposed to what other people find work for them, that you'd never know about otherwise.

4. Gotten more traffic to my sites and "upped" my Google page rank and brought my Alexa rank down (down is good with Alexa, up good with Google). If this is Greek to you--trust me, it's a good thing. Means people are finding me. More traffic to your site means more people who know about you and what you have to offer.

Like anything online, however, it can be a time suck. You have to be deliberate about your goals. There are also tools, such as TweekDeck, Tweetlater, Mr. Tweet, that automate things and make it easier to manage and use effectively. Here's a link to some of the many applications you can use with Twitter, and another to a review of Twitter tools.

If you'd like to get started with Twitter, I have a Special Report on Mastering Twitter that tells you how to do it in 10 minutes or less. This latest version is an update from the one I gave before, so even if you got the other, get this one too.