To Twitter or Not to Twitter?

Feb.25, 2009 in Internet Marketing Tools, Make Money From Your Blog

Twitter is one of the hotest new social networking platforms out there right now…

The word Twitter is rolling off so many people’s lips these days, lets all just … Tweet away!

If you have not yet heard of Twitter, you need to see what you are missing? Twitter is becoming one of the hottest and most social networking sites around these days. It is getting expontentially bigger each passing minute!

Why is Twitter better than all the other social networking sites out there?

For Starters, it is the preferred hangout for Internet Marketers. When you are in the business of making money online then you need to network with others, make new contacts, and exchange ideas. This is not difficult to figure out but I will state it bluntly, the more exposure your site or product gets, the better chance you have of making money online.

Twitter’s simplicity to navigate and its ease of access also help make this one of my favorites. Creating your account is really simple. You can create your own Twitter account with nothing more than a username and a password, as soon as you have created your account and customized your profile you can begin following other people. To follow what a person is doing, all you need to do is to visit their page and click the follow button.

Try it now, create an account and then follow me here: http://twitter.com/blog_4_dollars

(and yes that is a picture of me ! )

Once you are following a person, you will be able to see all their posts on your home page.

A really useful feature with Twitter is the ability to be able to update your messages via your cell phone, simply log into your account and click on ‘settings’ and then ‘devices’ and add your number in there. This is really handy if you are always on the go and you see something to twitt about!

Twitter is the already starting to pick up developer momentum with such tools and add-ons as: TweetMyBlog, TwitterFox, TweetDeck and Twhirl.

Here is a link to many more Twitter applications:
https://twitter.com/downloads

Twitter Fox and Twhirl are basically tools that make your Twitter posting in the same style as instant messaging. TwitterFox is an extension for Firefox and Twhirl is an application.

Tweet Deck is another desktop application that basically helps you organize your Twitter updates. This is great if you want to view tweets from certain groups only.

With the emergence of WordPress plug-ins like “TwitThis” and “TweetMyBlog” the various twitter badges found on numerous blogs throughout the Internet, it is obvious people adore Twitter. Just what is it that makes this social networking site so lovable? Let’s find out.

We all know that Wordpress is one of the best blogging platforms around and now due to its popularity, Twitter has swiftly become the favorite micro-blogging application. So when the two meet up it can only mean something really good.

Some of the most popular Twitter plugins for Wordpress are:
TwitterTools, TwitThis, TweetMyBlog, Twitter for Wordpress, TwitterFeed, and SimpleTwitter.

Here is a link to many more Twitter plugins:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/search.php?q=twitter

Twitter Tools is a plugin that creates a complete integration between your WordPress blog and your Twitter account.

TwitThis is an easy way for people to send Twitter messages about your blog post or website. When visitors to your website click on the TwitThis button or link, it takes the URL of the webpage and creates a shorter URL using their URL shortener! Then visitors can send this shortened URL and a description of the web page to all of their friends on Twitter.

With TweetMyBlog is a plug-in that will automatically announce your blog posts to your Twitter followers and include a link directly to the post.

Twitter for WordPress displays yours latest tweets in your WordPress blog.

TwitterFeed is a plug-in that simply allows you to promote your blog to your twitter followers. It is similar to TweetMyBlog, but not as extensive.

Although Twitter can never replace a blog, it is a great and simple way to communicate socially, you are limited to 140 characters per Twitter post so it makes it nice and easy for people to read too. Try to keep your followers up to date with what you are up to and what you are working on, tweet regularly but not excessively. Try to use Twitter to be a lead-up to your blog posts where readers will be able to read the full story.

Don’t use Twitter to replace your blog , use it as a tool to build on your blog. Use Twitter to give people a taste of what is in store at your blog and use your blog to give people the knowledge about yourself, your business or just some real content that will help others improve their business or their life in general.

I hope this post helps you to improve yourself in some way with the use of Twitter.