An introduction in the basics of using Twitter for business purposes. You willl be guided through the labyrinth of questions regarding how much you can get from the daily use of social media, with a special focus on Twitter. Get feedback at: http://de.linkedin.com/in/anadinescu

1. How to use Twitter for your business A short introduction Ana Dinescu http://de.linkedin.com/in/anadinescu

4. You have to offer more than an online presence – you need to provide content and to be able to enter the global conversation

6. What is Twitter A social micro-blogging free platform allowing you to share links and ideas with people across the world in the limit of 140-character “tweets”. You have the option of sending: links, audio and video files, announcements, short observations. For big links, for fitting the 140-character requirement, you have the option of using shorter versions via: http://tinyurl.com, http://is.gd, http://ow.ly, http://bit.ly A very rapid way of communication, with a high possibility to reach a very specific audience. Creating an ID is easy – all you need is an e-mail address. Then chose an ID – recommendable a short name duplicating your name or the name of your company, and write a very short bio – eventually a link to your website(s) or blog(s). The “followers” option allows you to identify people from the industry – all over the world, co-workers, professional friends and connections. You have the choice of making your tweet “public” or “private”. In this case, the potential followers will send you a request for being included. Became a follower of the people following you. In this way you show interest and openness for dialogue.

7. What is Twitter An opportunity for networking and open dialogue Hashtag – # + name of your business or interest- is allowing you to find rapidly discussions and individuals touching your domain of interest. For identifying the trends of the day, follow @hashtagsand the service will follow you automatically You have the option of sending Direct Messages (DM) – still keeping the limit of 140-character -but only to those people who are following you. Via http://tweetchat.com you could chat with people of interest– enter your Twitter username and password – enter a # followed of your area and interest and be part of the conversation. Use http://search.twitter.com – for finding friends, celebrities or organizations to follow Re Tweet (RT)interesting links and information to your followers. At the Retweetssection you will find the “Retweets by Others”, “Retweets by you” and “Your Tweets, Retweeted”. Reply to people of your area of interest by using @ followed by the name of the person or individuality you want to address.

9. How much time do you dispose for dedicating to your social networking?

10. How do you can connect your social media presence – blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Digg, local social networking etc. – to Twitter?

12. Twitter for Business - SWOT As for any other aspects of your business, a pondered analysis of your interests and plans is required. The easiest is a short SWOT analysis, which will map easily the benchmarks of your active involvement in the social media. Be realistic: There will not be 100% advantages or 100% disadvantages. In the same time, you have to understand that your online presence is only the interface of your daily activity. Mostly in the case of Twitter, what you will share with your followers are short ideas about what you’ve achieved, are preoccupied by. And, before starting the complex business analysis, a very important question to be answered: How much you have to share your private agenda with your list of followers? After a short exploration of Twitter, it will be easy to realize that many people are using this platform are sharing various very personal thoughts about themselves. For your business interests, your time is always limited, and the same for your potential followers. It is true that online you must be as “authentic” than in your daily life. But: think twice before posting a link or a tweet for not annoying your audience and overloading them with very personal considerations about you and your program. Keep always a polite and civilized language, avoid personal, gender, racist and any other discriminatory references. Try as much as possible to connect your tweets to your daily life. For example: you could post an observation about a soccer game you can’t wait to watch, but in a very “diplomatic” way as in this case: “Ready for the soccer game, at the end of a fully day”.

13. Twitter for Business – Strong Points Reaching a wider audience from any point of the Globe, active in your area of interest Visibility Your Twitter account could concentrate all the other social media and real life activities – sharing the links with posts from your blog or from the website of your company, updating your successes and media coverage in local and/or international media You are an active member of global conversations about your industry Rapid and simple way to share links and information, independently of your location, in any moment of the day

14. Twitter for Business - Opportunities Developing new projects, partnerships and new business Finding solutions to your problems via online conversations Increase your profile and your leadership potential Sharing up-to-date information about the industry New career possibilities

15. Twitter for Business – Weak Points Time consuming . A possible solution will be to hire a company or to create a new team dealing with updating your social media accounts. In this case, there are new budgetary challenges to be taken into account. Not all the connections made online could be reliable and serious enough for continuing a sustained partnership in real life. Too many first side information delivered to the media. Low or lack of any kind of feedback. Lot of time wasted with unreliable and impossible to check information.

16. Twitter for Business - Threats Your ideas might be stolen and used by your competitors. Wasting your resources – instead of looking for a new project, you have to think about how and what to tweet. Exposure to various influences, complicating the decision-making process. Instead of looking to your own solutions, fit to your special case, you will be tempted to wait for other people’s ideas. Attacks of any kind from the part of your competitors. Hacking, spamming, irrelevant connections.

17. Final Conclusions Twitter, as the phenomenon of social media in itself, is permanently and rapidly expanding and developing. But, independently of these changes, your aims and objectives are more or less the same: you are looking to achieve profits, to continue working to your projects, to cover the needs of your customers, to maintain your company at a certain sustainable level, against troubling economic waters. Social media requires patience and wisdom. As in your business, you – together with the members of your team - are the one and only to decide the strategic steps and the most appropriate changes for achieving reliable results. Plan and organize your social media life with the same care as devoted to your business. Include social media activities in your plans, but as a complementary part, supporting your general efforts. Make, for example, a detailed plan of subjects, topics and ideas to be launched on Twitter during one week or one month. In this way, you avoid being mostly a “trend setter” and you will gain a voice in the global 2.0 concert.

18. Final Conclusions Be authentic, real and trustworthy. Be yourself! Stop focusing mostly on yourself, trying to create visibility for your team and people involved in your projects. Don’t be aggressive or impolite. Keep in mind the various cultural differences and sensibilities. Be careful in choosing your words. If you don’t communicate in your mother tongue, use a correct grammar and avoid misspellings. Answer and be interactive! If you are launching a discussion, be able to give a feed-back and do not let your messages unanswered more than 24 hours. Keep yourself informed on the trends and the industry. Information is power!

19. Recommended Links http://twittonary.com – a small dictionary of various Twitter-related words www.hashtags.org – information pertaining to tags, users, trends www.whoshouldfollow.com – most-followed on Twitter http://twitpic.com – for posting pictures http://twitalyzer.com – measuring your activity and influence http://tweetwaster.com – measuring the time you spend on Twitter http://twitblogs.com – allows you the opportunity to post more than 140-character information http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/twitter - news and information about Twitter from The Guardian website http://twitterlocal.net - identify local business http://tweetmeme.com – find the hottest links on Twitter http://beta.twittervision.com – localize tweets across the world http://www.twerpscam.com/en - how to avoid scams

20. Thank you! Looking forward for your comments and impressions!