Most people that I talk to tell me that they have a “tweeter”, that they “twitter”, or that they’ve heard of “twittering.” So just so that we are all on the same page, when you sign up for a free account on TWITTER, you have the ability to TWEET comments to all of your followers. Why should I use Twitter? Twitter allows you to get your few seconds of fame with your 140 characters. Yes you will be moved down on the list as more people post information but for that split second that you are at the top of someone’s twitter post who knows who will be looking and you have the spotlight to say whatever is on your mind. It is an excellent way to make new contacts, stay in touch with people you know and get real time information. How do I get followers? Well you can search for people if you know their name or screenname, you can also search for people who are talking about things you might be interested in, or you can use programs like http://www.buzzom.com/Default.aspx to add a lot of followers at once. If you decide to use BUZZOM just make sure you know what kind of people you are selecting to follow otherwise your twitter feed will become an advertising board for people you don’t even know. Who should I follow? Anyone that you find interesting! You may want to follow people who follow you, or you may not. Oh, and you should follow me @doodledogtweets When do I use the “#” before a word? The “#” is called a hashtag in the Twitter world. You’ll want to use it before keywords that you think people will be searching for. For instance, if I’m advertising a new blog post that I made that is about creating business cards for a company, I would write, “Check out my blog to see the new #business #cards we created for #business name (or use their twitter name if they have one).” I would then add the link to the post or a picture. What is a RT RT is a retweet. You can and should do this if someone says something that you find especially interesting. It allows everyone who follows you to see what they just posted. What is #FF? When you really appreciate another person’s posts go ahead and shoot them a #FF. #FF refers to Follow Friday, so every Friday you can post multiple people’s screennames with the #FF tag written before the names and other people will decide to start following this person’s posts also. When someone uses your name in their #FF mention, you might want to shoot them a thank you message by typing “@nameofpersonwhomentionedme thanks for the #FF mention” What is #WW? #WW refers to Wedding Wednesday. Post links to other awesome wedding vendors, or just post wedding related info, but make sure you type the #WW before your post so that when people search for great Wedding Wednesday finds they will find you. How do I add a picture to my tweet? To add a picture to your tweet go to, www.twitpic.com and follow the directions. How do I talk to a certain follower? There are two ways to do this, if you want to send them a direct message, it will be private. If you just want to call someone’s attention to your post just type “@” before the person’s twitter name, for example if you want to make sure I see your message just type @doodledogtweets And the biggest question I get from business owners…. What should I talk about? Post links to new pictures, post links to new blog posts. Ask questions. Give industry tips. Talk about anything that your readers will want to read and find interesting.