If you are using Twitter for your business, chances are you are following a lot of people. You need to, in order to connect with quality colleagues and future customers. The issue with following more than just a handful of people on Twitter is that it is hard to separate the quality content from the noise.
In order to do that, you need to be using the right tools to manage Twitter. There are several great tools for managing your Twitter usage. First, you need tools that will make it easier for you to follow a large number of people but still focus in on a select group of quality content providers.
Tools to Manage Your Followers
In order to properly manage your followers, you need a way to follow the whole stream of all of your followers as well as smaller groups of followers that you can arrange by categories. For instance, I follow two groups of Tweeters pretty closely. They are my Favorites and my Network.
Three applications that allow you to set up groups are Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, and Seesmic. Tweetdeck and Seesmic both offer download-able applications for your desktop. Hootsuite offers and in-browser application, and Seesmic also offers this option.
Each of these tools allow you to set up groups to follow. You can create a group based on anything. You then select which Tweeters you want to follow in that group. If you are a jeweler, you might want to create a group for other jewelers you find on Twitter. Once you have the group created and populated, you will only see tweets from members of that group. This will make it easier for you to follow and engage in conversations with a small number of people.
You can add new people to groups as you engage with them on Twitter. Just because you use groups doesn’t mean you should ignore all of your other followers. It is a good idea to dip into the full stream of people you are following from time to time to engage and perhaps build new connections.
Of the three, Tweetdeck is the most robust and easy to use, though Hootsuite has made some major improvements lately and is also a great tool for scheduling tweets.
Tools to Manage Your Tweets
Twitter is not just about following people, of course. You want to build your own following. To do this, you must send out quality tweets and engage with other Tweeters on a regular basis.
There are tools available that will send out automatic Tweets when you do something, say put up a blog post. While this is nice, you will want to use them sparingly. The most popular of these tools is Ping.fm. Just be careful not to develop the reputation that you have a computer making all of your updates for you.
It is always better to personally Tweet your messages. However, sometimes you just can’t be on Twitter all day posting updates. That is where a tool like Hootsuite comes in. Using this tool, you can schedule your tweets in advance. Take 15 minutes in the morning and write 5-15 unique Tweets for the day. Make sure you write original content for each Tweet. You can promote your blog post for the day, someone else’s blog post, your website or business, or just provide your thoughts. A good mix of these things is best.
Writing these Tweets in advance and scheduling them to send out during the day is fine as long as you follow the rule of being original. Also, if you can, still try to get on Twitter throughout the day to respond, retweet, and connect with your followers and friends.
Tools to Manage Hash-tag Chats
One of the best ways to build your network (read relationships) on Twitter is by taking part in Twitter chats. These chats take place on various topics at various times throughout the week. Search for your niche and you will probably find a Twitter chat that is taking place. If not, you can start one of your own. I will talk more about that in a later article.
The reason these are called hashtag chats is because they utilize a search function that is popular on Twitter. If you want to discuss hotdogs, for instance, you might add this code to all of your tweets on the subject: #hotdogs. The pound sign “#” is referred to as a hash-tag on Twitter.
So, if there is a Twitter chat about car repair on Twitter, it might use the hash-tag #carrepair. The people who take part in the chat all use #carrepair in each of their updates. This way, the tweets can be grouped together and anyone can follow the chat by searching for #carrepair.
There are several ways to take part in a Twitter chat. You could just go to search.twitter.com and type in the hash-tag as your search. You would have to refresh constantly as more people chat. A better tool is Tweet Chat. This tool automatically searches for the hash-tag and refreshes the conversation as it goes. Plus, you can customize various things to make your chatting experience better. A similar tool is Tweet Grid. Lastly, you can also use a tool like TweetDeck or Hootsuite to set up searches for the hash-tag in question and follow along with the chat. For ease of use, Tweet Chat is the way to go.
Twitter becomes a much more powerful tool if you learn to manage it properly. Learn how to use these tools, and you will be a pro at managing your Twitter feed in no time.
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Bradford Shimp is the publisher of All Biz Answers. He is also the co-creator of Idea Anglers, a place to see your ideas come to life through collaboration. Follow on Twitter @bradfordshimp. Let Bradford help you with your business – visit BroadRiverCreative.com
