Twitter

Crystal: OK - I'm trying...but I still don't quite get it.....for those who use Twitter as a marketing tool, can you please give me some tips on how best to utilize it...??

Do you "follow" any and everyone...? Or just people that do something you're interested in? Or just people you personally know? or....? What's your strategy?

Do you actually read other people's tweets?

What's the best add-on programs you've come across that help the twittering experience?

How often do you tweet? What do you tweet about generally?

How has it helped your business?

I see people who are following thousands of people and I don't know how you could even attempt to read all their tweets....but if you're not reading their tweets, and everyone is just following everyone to get more followers, then who's actually reading tweets??? What's the point of posting tweets if no one is reading them???

I just don't get it...........help....?

P.S. if you follow me, I'll follow you :) :) :) My twitter link is on the right side of our blog here (Jen's too).

Jen: I started my Twitter account because I wanted to keep up with my friends and favorite bloggers. I soon learned that these bloggers were inputting their blogs into their Twitter accounts, so I followed suit. It was a great way to reach out to new readers as more and more people start to follow you.

Then I fell head over heals for Etsy, and I began following Etsy shop owners to keep up with their new creations. Now, some of those people are following me, and have become new blog readers of mine!

Twitter is GREAT for networking, but the problem is that many people use it to sell, sell, sell. They are spamming their followers without giving them anything substantial to read. My rule of thumb is that for every "ad" you place in a Twitter update, be sure to tweet 3-5 personal updates as well. The great thing about Twitter is that you can learn so many interesting things and meet so many amazing people!

Waterstone Jewelry gave great advice in the comment section for this post- "There's no way to read every tweet. I read what's on the page when I pull it up and respond to a few" I do the same! But because I started my Twitter account to keep up with my very favorites, I make sure I add an update of theirs to "my favorites", so I can easily find them at any given time.