Are you looking for more clients or visitors to your website?  Below are 10 steps you can use to build your following on Twitter.

1. Social.  You have to remember that Twitter is a social network, People first – Business second. 
2. Helpful.  Look for questions and answer them.  ReTweet stuff you find interesting and most importantly, connect people with your contacts.
3. Contacts.  Work out who you want to connect with?  Who are the movers and shakers in your industry?  What information are people searching for?  Can you help them? Do you want to connect with them?  The key is to follow people first and give out information.  They will then follow you
4. Give.  The truth of the matter is that people are not really interested in you!  They want to know what you can offer them.  Give them useful and helpful advice.  Be Helpful (point no.2)
5. Transparent.  You have to share information about yourself.  But this doesn’t need to be “what you had for lunch”.  It is part of human nature to want to know more about a person. i.e. what are your interests, hobbies etc? What makes you do the work you do?
6. Engage.  You have to join in and become part of the conversation.  Your contacts will very quickly realise by your Tweets if you are engaging with them or just selling to them.
7. Find your Voice. Think about what you want to be known for. How do you want to be seen?  For example, informative, humorous, controversial!!!
8. Time.  Twitter is a real-time tool.  Most people only read their current timeline due to the flow of conversations.  Think about the time you want people to see you messages.  React quickly if you see something or read a Tweet you want to reply to.  You can’t add it to your “To Do” list
9. Commitment.  Think about the time you have to send Tweets.  You need to be updating frequently.  For example – if you are going to provide daily tips, you have to send one out each day!
10. You’re Website. Upload information to your site that is going to be helpful and interesting.  For example “How to use Twitter to Attract Clients” and then ReTweet (RT) these messages.

Don’t just jump in.  Find your voice and start the conversation.

Follow us on Twitter for daily tips and advice http://twitter.com/marketing4sme

The point about social media is that it relates to people rather than businesses.

 This personal touch has filtered through to marketing strategies, as lessons are learnt about how people brand themselves. 

The idea of ‘brand me’ has always been based on self-promotion, but with digital marketing people can do this even better through blogs and social media. Now marketers are trying to use these techniques in business.

Air New Zealand based its ads on a Twitter post which praised the airline because it “allowed its staff to have a personality”. 

To learn more on ‘brand me’ dos and don’ts and case studies of Adidas and Eurostar check out Marketing Week, 3 December 2009, Pp18-22.

This extract is taken from the Article in Marketing Week.

A  very good colleageue of mine, Gareth Morgan from Liberty Marketing sent out this article today in his newsletter on SEO Tips for Twitter.

If you use Twitter or you are just getting into Twitter, check out Gareth’s 5 SEO Tips to tweet your way up the Search Engines.

If you like the article, sign up for his newsletter – where do you think I get my ideas from….. lol

Today I held a social media master class covering the basics of social media and how to set up the different accounts.

To help the people on the course I will be making a series of short videos, which I would like to share with you.

How to set up a Twitter Account in 3 mins

Over the next couple of weeks I will creating videos on all aspect of Twitter.  If there is something you want to to know more about, then let me know.

What a fantastic example of social media marketing check out what Starbucks are up to.  They are asking you to share, help and vote.  I wonder how quickly it will take them to bring a suggested product or service to a store near you??

I am a huge fan of Starbucks and I since moving home from London I really miss having one on my doorstep.

Let me know if you have taken part and joined in.

Once people get into Twitter, the next question I am asked is how do I measure the success of my twitter account. Check out this excellent article on the www.marketingprofs.com website  Twitter Success

Social media marketing is the hot new marketing topic.  If you are not on Facebook, then you are twittering, bebo, myspace, linked in, plaxo, digg, splut and the lists goes on. 

But where do you start?  Check out this article on Social Media tips for some easy help and advice.

Let me know if you are using social media in your business and the effect it is having.

It is predicated that Facebook will reach its 200millionth registered user any day soon.

If you haven’t heard of Facebook, where have you been living for the past five years?  The Moon!

Can you believe that it has only taken the company five years to grow to this level.  What will they do next?

Facebook was born in a student dorm in Harvard University…. I wonder what the next big thing is going to be?