I have bookmarked your site and will check back often for new posts.

It’s hard for me to say because I don’t sit down and say “for the next hour I’m on Twitter”. I do dribs and drabs throughout the day. I check the Tweets coming in and whenever I see something interesting I try to send a quick reply. Maybe five or ten minutes at a time, four or five times a day. So I guess that becomes an hour most days.

One thing I’ve done is set up a column in TweetDeck to keep a closer track of people who have replied to me. You see, I have a bad memory, particularly when it comes to names. I can barely remember the names of people I actually know. So I was finding that when people I don’t really know who made a single reply, I’d forget who it was, so I wouldn’t always notice what else they were saying.

By adding them to a separate column on TweetDeck, I can be sure to watch what they’re saying a little more closely. Then over time, I can continue the conversation and hopefully we’ll gradually develop some sort of online relationship.

Like any marketing activity, it’s not a fast process. It’s also not the only way I market myself. But over time, it all adds up.

Andrea

How much time do you devote to it a day? I have to go check to see if I”m following you:-)

Yes you are missing one aspect of Twitter. The @reply. If you want to make a comment directed to me you would include @andreastenberg in your Tweet (andreastenberg is my Twitter user name). This flags me to let me know you are talking directly to me. Of course, anyone else who is following me or you can see the @reply so you need to keep that in mind.

You use the @reply when you have something to add to what another Twitter user has said. I have several people who I “met” on Twitter and had conversations this way. In fact, when I’ve run into these people at conferences they immediately knew who I was.

Another aspect of Twitter is that it is often a stepping stone to deeper relationships. I frequently see someone start following me on Twitter. After a while I’ll get a Friend request on Facebook. Next I’ll see them on my email newsletter list or leaving comments here on the blog.

Of course, not everyone who follows you on Twitter will develop into a deeper virtual friendship. But when it happens, it’s golden.

Hope this helps Laurie.

Andrea

This is a good post and it’s advice I have tried to follow on twitter. In all honesty, however, I have not found it to be that beneficial as a place to connect with others and form new relationships.

It seems to me, that everyone is mainly writing down their own quick message, and that there is not a lot of interaction going on.

Am I missing something?

Happy Holidays everyone.

Bruce County Torusim – Explorethebruce.com