Zappos and JetBlue did it – Now you can too! In fact, anyone can use Twitter to increase their brand loyalty by:

- Being real
- Being accessible
- Offering value

Twitter represents the new age of social media marketing. Customers want to learn about you on a personal level. They want to interact, collaborate, and get involved. They do not want to hear one-sided sales pitches. To keep the human factor high, let’s look at some examples of good tweets and bad tweets.

Good Tweets

These are messages that add value to your followers’ lives. Whether they offer advice, helpful links, or just a good laugh, these tweets give your customers good value for their time. Good tweets include things like:

- Links to interesting blog posts
- Offer discounts and special giveaways
- Replies to other tweets
- Links to funny videos

Bad Tweets

Bad tweets include anything that will make people’s eyes glaze over, such as:

- Boring corporate information
- Links to sales pages
- Too many links to your blog or corporate site

Remember: folks want to see your company’s human side. Spamming your followers with too many announcements or blog posts will make you a bad tweeter.

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

If people follow you on Twitter, you need to give them value. Don’t spam them, don’t pitch at them, and don’t bore them with bland corporate terminology. Instead, find it in yourself to get real. Talk to people. Answer their questions. Be candid and personable. Make them privy to unique information. If they follow you, follow them back. Essentially, let them know that they matter to you. If you don’t, you’ll be branded a phony and possibly tarred and feathered by the Twitter community. Keep it real!

In part 1 of this series, we learned how Twitter can help your business by cultivating intense brand loyalty. Now we’re going to show you how to get started on Twitter. The process is quick and painless, and the return on your time investment will be huge. Are you ready? Here we go.

Step 1: Sign Up

Go to twitter.com and click on “Join the Conversation”. This will bring you to the signup screen. Choose a username, keeping in mind that you’ll want to choose a genuine, human-sounding name rather than a cheesy corporate-speak slogan. Reserve your name now, because Twitter names are fast becoming hot commodities, just like domain names were in the 90’s.

Remember: the objective here is to be real. Don’t use dashes in your username, and try to keep it short and simple.

Finish filling out your information, and accept the terms and conditions. If you have a Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail account, Twitter will offer to import your contacts. You can go through this process now, or skip it. When you’re done, you’ll be ready for the next step.

Step 2: Set Up Your Profile

You should now be looking at your Twitter home page. You’ll see a large text box, the latest updates from your contacts, and the icons of people who are following you. (It’s not as creepy as it sounds; “following” someone just means you’re receiving their updates.)

Click on “Settings” at the top of your home page. This will take you to your profile. Add a short bio for yourself. Then click on the “Picture” tab and upload a photo. Use an actual photo of yourself if possible; people like to know who they’re tweeting to.

Speaking of tweeting…

Before you start pounding out messages to the world, you should follow some people and see what they’re tweeting about. Lurk a while and get a feel for the community and its unwritten rules of etiquette. Once you’ve got a good handle on things, it’s time to start tweeting.

Step 3: Start Tweeting

Tweets are updates written in 140 characters or less. But what should you tweet about? In part 3 of our Twitter series, we’ll find good reasons to tweet and help you avoid coming off like a used car salesman.

** Once you sign up – be sure to follow Freeworld Media. **

Excellent slideshow that explains how to bridge the gap between business strategy and design.

Let’s face it: times are hard for lots of companies. Times are hard for the average person, too, which means they’re getting picky about who they choose to do business with. If you want their brand loyalty, you’ve got to earn it. The fastest way to do that is to genuinely connect with people through social media sites like Twitter.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a funny name for a serious marketing tool. It’s also known as “micro-blogging”. Like a blog, Twitter is a great way to share information, receive feedback, and make yourself more accessible to customers. Unlike a blog, Twitter can be updated in mere seconds, dozens of times a day, from virtually anywhere. Twitter updates are written in bite-sized chunks (140 characters or less), giving your followers a real-time understanding of what’s going on in your world.

What does that have to do with my business?

The short answer? Everything. By creating a Twitter presence for your company, you can:

•    Build real trust with your customers
•    Promote dialogue and show your human side
•    Encourage feedback and new ideas
•    Earn an excellent brand reputation
•    Keep people coming back for more

Millions of people use Twitter, and it’s absolutely free. You can use it to send out alerts, announce press releases and blog posts, and put a human face on your business. The latter is where Twitter really shines. When your customers can interact with you, ask questions that actually get answered, and feel like their opinions matter, they’ll come back for more – and they’ll bring friends.

How easy is it to start Tweeting (Twitter code for micro-blogging)? Let’s put it this way: if Shaquille O’Neal can do it, so can you. Stay tuned for part two in our Twitter series, “Get Your Business on Twitter in 3 Easy Steps”.