How to use Twitter successfully, even if you already have a blog

Twitter is becoming one of the fastest growing social networking and micro-blogging sites on the internet today. The whole idea is to say whatever you have to say in 140 characters or less. So the question becomes: If you already have a business website and a blog, then how do you incorporate Twitter into your business's marketing plan?

Before I began using Twitter regularly and I was just blogging, I didn't see how Twitter could help my own online marketing efforts. It wasn't until I actually began using Twitter that I saw its utility. One of the big benefits of Twitter, is that you can tweet about a lot of stuff you normally woudn't blog about. One way I use Twitter is to link to articles and other blog posts I find interesting and useful, but don't want to write a full post about.

If you are a small business, and you already have a website and blog, you can still use Twitter for your marketing. Use it correctly and you will have a powerful tool that can reach thousands of potential customers. Use it incorrectly, and you can watch your online credibility go down the tubes. Problem is, there are so many ins and outs to using Twitter correctly, it is hard to know where to begin.

Luckily I came across this great blog post from TwiTip called 20 Must Read Beginner Twitter Tips for Small Business Owners. I'm not going to go through all 20 tips because most of them are self-explanatory. But there are a few I think are important enough to be highlighted here as well:

Twitter is first and foremost a place to connect, learn, and listen.

Define your goals if you have any (e.g. business promotion, socializing, etc). 

The first two tips are very important. If you think of Twitter as a tool to have conversations with others, than you are off to a good start - that is where the 'connect, learn and listen' comes in. Yes, feel free to jump in with your own ideas, just make sure you are adding something constructive to the conversation.

Being a small business owner, your goal will probably be to promote your business. You can do this by blatantly making each tweet an ad for your business (which might cost you followers). Or, you can use your expertise in whatever field your in (for example, I do copywriting, so I should tweet about writing, writing tips, and the like) to educate your followers while at the same time, joining in on similar conversations.

Create connections don't spam. You most likely would not just walk into a crowded venue where you don't know anyone and say, “Hi my name is Bob and I replace window screens and have great prices.” This method does not work very well on Twitter. (Should be a given but you still see it every day!)

This next tip goes along with what I was talking about earlier: Have conversations with others, give your followers something of value and make connections by following others. Do this, and you'll start gathering followers at a pretty steady clip, which leads me to my final point:

Be patient. Just setting up a Twitter account and posting a few tweets won't mean that you'll get thousands of followers right away. Like everything else, it will take time to earn a following. And don't be surprised when your number of followers fluctuates, this is normal. Don't take it personally. If you stick with it, are diligent and follow the advice in this post, Twitter will become a valuable business marketing tool for you.